For me if I don't have a need for the GPIO pins, it's "why get an expensive pi when I can get a used ex-corporate small form factor quad core, intel core i7-something desktop PC with 16GB of RAM and a real SSD"... For like 150 bucks on eBay. RAM apocalypse and price of equipment has affected this a lot (these used to be like 90 bucks depending on era of core i7), but they're vastly more useful when a general purpose x86-64 linux is installed on them. Or even just put proxmox on it and then various things inside that.

You are asking a meaningless question in order to promote, brag, justify and make public your own know-how having already accepted and understood whatever limitations in order to justify your own choice.

The point of a rasperri PI is to allow general, easy, and intentional bespoke availability of a fully programmable platform, where it also allows you access to low level, but practical means of acheiving home automation via GPIO etc.

I have 5 old phones in my cupboard, the most recent 3 of them have locked bootloaders and could potentially be rooted simply because of them not being region locked, while not gauranteeing me any real and complete support such as a PI would.

Nevermind even thinking as far ahead as GPIO pins etc etc.

At best, 1 out of the 5 phones might be able to eventually, and with effort/time and possible additional cost for extras give me parity to a PI, even exceeed the PI in compute.

But that is not the point. You know it. I know it.

Your post is not in search of an answer. You know the answer, you are the minority, and you know this.

You would not get an expensive PI if you had what you need from your old phone and skillz.

So why ask us where you already knew the answer...

It's because you are not asking anything, you are trying to show off and be dishonest by posing it as a question while assuming generousity by 'helping' people not 'waste money'

You are transparent buddy.

Yep, the typos are understood and left as is. Does nothing to take away my meaning.

Similarly, you can get old thin clients for $10 - 30 off ebay that are equivalent or more powerful than a Raspberry Pi, if you don't need GPIO.

https://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/

Pi's are expensive trash

Is there a project that can handle GPIO from a USB port? To me that and a generalized linux distro for phones is would be the compelling switch.

I've always found it a bit absurd that an old phone can have more sensors and connectivity than a fairly expensive hobbyist computer, yet we rarely consider using it as one

As long as it's not an iPhone. Once Apple has bricked your old iPhone, you can't even run your own software on it anymore. Despite all their lip service to being environmentally friendly, that thing is nothing but an expensive paperweight and e-waste now.

A Pi is the Apple of small compute. It's the in thing, flashy, with loads of just as capable competitors.

No one cares if you have overpriced white earbuds or not for Pi tasks.

Is there a peripheral you can plug into the USB port that exposes gpio pins?

Pis jumped the shark long ago. Let them try to hawk it to whomever they please; I ain't bitin'