Using ThinkPad T480 as a mobile phone

# Using ThinkPad T480 as a mobile phone Source: [https://grego.site/blog/thinkphone](https://grego.site/blog/thinkphone) 26/07/2026ThinkPad T480 can be used as a fully featured mobile phone, supporting calls, SMS and mobile data\. Here is a video of me receiving a phone call on mine \(with the 25 year edition keyboard\): This laptop already has a SIM card slot for LTE modems\. However, the PCM pins for audio transmission are not connected\. Luckily, thanks to an bug in Intel Management Engine, we can flash[Libreboot](https://libreboot.org/)instead of the stock firmware\. This removes the whitelist for wireless cards and lets us choose our own modem\. A good choice is Quectel EG25\-G, since it was used in PinePhone and received some scrutiny\. In particular, inside is an ARM core running Android \(mostAndroid phones[1](https://grego.site/blog/thinkphone#1)standalone modems have an Android system running in the modem\)\. There is a[custom firmware](https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk)available with free software userspace\. You set this firmware to register the modem as a USB audio interface and get the audio for phone calls\. SMS and mobile data work out of the box\.  M\.2 versions of Quectel EG25\-G \(suitable for the T480\) are quite rare and don’t have compatible antenna connectors\. I needed conversion cables for the antennas, which were really finicky\. But it can be done\. Therefore, you can now throw away your mobile phone and use a laptop only\! You can even use Android apps natively with[Waydroid](https://waydro.id/)\.