A $20 AliExpress 4G hotspot, model MF800, is the core of a working Linux handheld built by [bkovac]. The device runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916), has mainline Linux support, and costs a fraction of any Raspberry Pi-based alternative. An iPhone USB keyboard case and an Adafruit Sharp SPI memory display round out the build.
The hardware path involves case mods, a PCB mod on the modem itself, fitting the keyboard, and fabricating a custom power board. The software side is harder: getting the Sharp display running on this platform required non-trivial hackery, not a clean distro install. That process is the part worth reading in full.
This matters because the MF800 represents a class of forgotten Snapdragon-powered hardware sitting on AliExpress for pocket change, all with mainline kernel support. If bkovac got a display, keyboard, and Linux shell out of a hotspot, the question is what else in that category is still waiting to be repurposed.
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