Kill Switches

The Librem 5 provides three kill switches that can be used to disable hardware features of the phone.

The locations of kill switches on the edge of the phone

Each switch enables the corresponding hardware feature when it is in the “up” position, closest to the top edge of the phone, away from the SIM tray.

When a switch is positioned in the “down” position, the corresponding hardware feature is disabled and power to the peripheral is cut.

  • The Modem switch controls power to the M.2 modem card.

  • The WLAN/Bluetooth switch controls power to the combined M.2 WiFi/Bluetooth module.

  • The Camera/Microphone switch controls power to the camera and microphone.

When all three switches are in the “down” position, these additional features are disabled:

  • Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) unit – GPS and other networks

  • Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) – accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer

  • Ambient light and proximity sensors

These features will be enabled if any of the switches are in the “up” position.

It is also possible to disable features that are enabled when a kill switch is in the “up” position by disabling them in software. Note that it may not be possible to cut power to those features in software.