Which phone should I get?
Ideally, I'm looking for an Android or LineageOS device with at least 6GB of RAM, compact enough for portability, and capable of running without Google Apps (GAPPS). I'm open to a tablet or flip phone design as well. Since my phone serves as my primary tool for browsing, mobile computing, and communication throughout the day, reserving my laptop and desktop for evening or specialized tasks, performance is key. USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode would be a valuable bonus, though not a strict requirement.
If I were to buy an Android device now to hold on to for a while it would be a pixel.
Relockable bootloader.
Can highly recommend GrapheneOS on a Pixel 9. Everything just works, much easier to set up and keep up to date than LineageOS as well.
Fairphone is not perfect, but Fairphone.
That's my take on it, too.
It's far from perfect and costly for the hardware (but for understandable reasons), but hey, it's Fairphone. Rocking my FP4 here.
I have the same one. Works great and we can het repair parts whenever.
How's the software experience for your usage? I hear fairphone is slow with major updates and updates can be buggy.
I use Fairphobe 5 and iode. I am quite happy with it - have not run into any bugs at all. Just aurora store sometimes has a few problems - never bothered me enough to write a bug report(i don't know much about that sort of stuff).
Good to know. I had heard this complain with some fairphone users insisting not to buy one. Maybe, it was the default Fairphone ROM which had some egregious bugs.
That's a given the way it works. Not much you can do besides switch to the official play store or risk a ban by logging with your google account in it..
I havent seen it. Theres an update just about every other month. Im currently sitting here downloading the newest version /e/ os 3.0 which released thismonth. I havent run into the bugs...but i usually wait a couple of weeks. Just best practice.
But if you dont want to use /e/ theres a huge selection of other OSes you can use. No need to stick with thiers.
A developer focused phone like the pixel line would probably make the most sense since they support the unique hardware features you desire, and GrapheneOS does have the option to never use the Google suite or to use it in a solid sandbox.
Personally, haven't regretted my pixel 9 with graphene.
Modern Pixels are pushing it on portability but maybe I'm just an old man yelling at clouds. My LG G8 is too big for me to fully use one handed and the Pixel 9a that should be delivered later this week is even bigger and I can't help but wonder if I just spent a lot of money on a downgrade. I don't want something bigger in my pocket but that's what I just bought. D:
Graphene on my Pixel tablet has been petty great though, I'm still a bit worried because the phone needs to be able to actually do phone things.
That's just the trends - people like consuming media on their phone, and more screen space helps that (so they demand it)
I use a Pixel 6 Pro with GrapheneOS, if you decide to go that route I would do at least a Pixel 8 or wait for the GrapheneOS phone release.
You need to decide whether you're okay with Android, or want to be able to also run LineageOS. The latter will reduce your options to devices that can be rooted and have their bootloader unlocked - so Xiaomi, Motorola, Nothing, Google and Fairphone - and that too only some models (the ones for which a LineageOS ROM has been developed).
Any midrange and even many budget phones have 6GB RAM nowadays.
Do you just want to not use Google Apps, or do you want to completely remove them from your phone? Again, the latter will need rooting and bootloader unlocking.
Tablets are not very portable.
Probably avoid Google Pixels then. They use Tensor chips, which have poor performance.
Which devices have this, and which don't, is very arbitrary. You'll have to check for each model.
Disagree here. Maybe it's worse than other current flagships, but the performance is nowhere near as bad as the cheap budget phones I've had before. When I got my Pixel the performance felt like an upgrade from my Samsung phone so I wouldn't discount it.
Pixels are in the 'just below flagship' price range, so I would compare them with cheaper flagships or high-end midrangers rather than budget phones.
They also don't have the advantages of budget phones such as headphone ports, expandable storage and FM radio.
I got a Fairphone 4 recently, little over £200 second hand because CEX only had the 256GB version in stock at the time, 128GB would have been a bit cheaper.
Pretty sure this one doesn't do display port over USB-C though. I use comaps, OSMAnd also works but ran really slow for me on a previous device so I switched and decided may as well stay with comaps if its lighter weight even if I don't need that as much anymore.
Lineage os is android. You just said I want a want a Toyota or a Corolla....
Anyway I suggest Nothing Phones. Unlockable bootloaders from the factory, no phoning home required. And great hardware.
Trump phone.
Currently seven persons don't get the sarcasm
lol and it’s gold too.
I bought a used Pixel 8 Pro and put GrapheneOS on it.
all good except some Pixel 8s have WiFi issues with both Graphene & LineageOS (I've tried both on this device) - mine does.
If I roll back to Official Google Android, WiFi appears to work.
As of right now, I care more about not having Google fuck about with my phone than I do about not having WiFi.
Might be worth filing a bug report to graphene then. If it's just Pixel 8s.
Even if it's just another datapoint, more information and relevant logs helps the maintainers.
Apparently it's a known issue, my report wouldn't add naything new.
Simply put, I failed to fully research the phone/OS issues prior to buying it & installing Graphene so I found out after the money was spent.
I'm honestly okay with it - being free of Google on my phone which is still functional for all my needs is more important right now than the WiFi not working.