I recently asked for recommendations elsewhere regarding a cost-effective phone with the best camera that’s a reasonable price. Almost unanimous recommendations for a Pixel a couple years old. I’m a total noob for privacy stuff but joining Lemmy under the dbzer0 instance, I’m feeling more motivated to learn more and get out from under the thumb of major corps as much as possible.
Can you have a Pixel and still de-google? It seems unlikely… Any advice?
You should look into GrapheneOS if you’re set on using pixel.
And calyxOS as well as LineageOS
Yes, as the other comment said, Pixel is actually an easy device to do this with because it has good community support.
And good operating system support
What version of pixel is recommended?
Depends on budget I guess. I went for 6A which was the cheaper model from last year after the 7 was out. I got mine for £299. The older models always drop, getting them around the time new ones comes out is really quite good value. I’ve not noticed any real performance issues. It’s been a good step up from my old phone. I realised it was probably better to buy the lesser model a year old more frequently than buy brand new models for at least twice that. This was after my last 2 being top of the range Android phones. It depends on budget and what you’re comfortable with.
It is also worth buying outright rather than contract, as to install GrapheneOS you need to be able to unlock and lock the bootloader and on come contract phones, they interfere with that.
As new as you can afford. The older the model, the shorter its remaining update lifetime.
Of course you can, in fact GrapheneOS is specifically made for this purpose lol
I’d just get a Fairphone and flash my own ROM tho. Reparability is a big plus here
Does the Google Camera perform as good on GrapheneOS as when installed on stock? I’m thinking it may rely on proprietary libraries only available on the stock ROM
The camera has always been said to be a particular weak point of the Fairphone.
Yes, I have a Pixel 6a, and have installed GrapheneOS on it. It does what I need and I enjoy the extra privacy. Would recommend.
What do you use for maps?
I haven’t really needed to yet, but I think I’d probably look for OSmand (sp?) on F-droid. It uses Open Street Maps.
Edit: seems they have a few anti features. Maybe I’d just use browser and apple maps in a bind.
Try Organic Maps on F-Droid. It seems to have no anti-features and is pretty solid in general.
A delayed response, but thanks for the recommendation. Looks pretty good so far :).
And you can even contribute to OpenStreetMap to make it better for everyone!
I’d really like something that has traffic data, my frequent routes are often messed up
Magic Lantern is also a more privacy friendly alternative.
I got a Galaxy S20 Ultra refurbished off ebay for $300. It was a flagship phone and was $1,400 when released. It has an SD card slot that allows up to 1TB I think, a 5000mAH battery, and a 108 MP main camera. And it has 12 gb of ram.
Whatever you decide, definitely consider refurbished options.
No need for refurbished, just buy a used one in good condition. Paying more for refurbished is pointless when the only part that consistently degrades over time is the battery - something that can be replaced for much less than the refurb tax.
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If you want take privacy more serious level with some deep understanding in the future, for me Redmi 2 / other phones that compatible with PostmarketOS is enough. For me, android will never been a safe and private place to be for your own data. Too risky…
There are some good recommendations already here. I’ll just add that iodéOS has support for many older and cheaper models, including phones from Samsung, Sony, OnePlus and Xiaomi. I believe CalyxOS also has support for some cheap Xiaomi models. If there’s a particular phone you like then check if there is a LineageOS build available for it before you give up and go for a boring Pixel.
Pixel 6a is a great value, it goes on sale sometimes too.
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Here ya go: https://murena.com/america/products/smartphones/?wcpbc-manual-country=US
The Fairphone is expensive, but pretty neat and repairable. All phones are warrantied through them…
Just get a LineageOS supported phone of your choice and follow this guide: https://lemmy.ml/post/128667
Used Pixel 5 or greater and Lineage OS
Might not fit the de-google aspect of your search, but I love my galaxy S10 plus. Older phone, but still snappy and takes great pictures and videos.
I got mine used for like 400 bucks (CAD) before Covid, so while it may not hit the Google free aspect of your search, you’ll save some $$$
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The S10+ would fit their requirements, as it is supported by iodeOS.
man even a galaxy s6 is a solid machine.
Check the list below , get the cheaper a be happy, i did that at least
An iPhone SE might be a solid option. A new one is $429 and a used one is much, much cheaper.
Note: They come out with an SE every few years, so if you are buying used or reading reviews, pay attention to which generation it is.
