Next smartphone I buy, which one do you recommend?

Things that make me angry about my current smartphone Samsung Galaxy S21Ultra on a Verizon plan is the mandatory software updates in which they install WITHOUT MY PERMISSION stupid apps like Netflix and addictive gambling games and stacking block games and Candy crush. God knows what else they install without my permission. I don’t want any of it!

Next phone I buy I want to start with a clean slate, I’m not going to affiliate with any conglomerate like Verizon or AT&T or Sprint or T-Mobile etc, I prefer to go rogue somehow,

which smartphone do you recommend that has no bloatware and it’s customizable?

PanaX,

Just a tip, you can debloat your galaxy without rooting it with adb tools. You can remove any apps you want this way fairly easily.

Not a long term solution, and all the other comments are great options for replacement. Until then, you can remove almost anything you want until you’re ready to switch.

lemmyingly,

The none root method that you mentioned is just removing the application from your profile. It’s still present in the OS.

PanaX,

I don’t think that’s true. From XDA forums, you can choose to disable the app or completely remove it. I have completely destroyed the system from uninstalling critical apps. I have had to do a complete factory reset due to uninstalling core apps. No root whatsoever.

lemmyingly,

I’ve read it a few times over the years. Maybe I keep reading people say the same misinformation. I suppose without root we’ll never know.

Your anecdotal evidence could just be that you’ve ruined your profile; although of course, you could be entirely correct.

I’ve only used it to remove annoying apps, e.g. Facebook. I’ve never gone crazy with it as I don’t care about the manufacturer’s pre-installed apps as they’ve remained silent for me.

pound_heap,

Lots of good advice here, but many might be too extreme. I find such all-or-nothing approach intimidating for people who just started to think about improving their privacy situation.

Let’s see… you are angry about bloatware. It can come from two sources - mobile service carrier and phone manufacturer. How to get rid of it?

  1. Buy only “unlocked” phones. Then the carrier will not be able to push anything to your phone. You will also be free to change the carrier as you wish.
  2. Buy phones from manufacturers that don’t install too much bloatware. Google Pixel has only Google apps, Motorola also is almost vanilla Google. Fairphone is more exotic, but an interesting option. iPhone is OK too if you want Apple ecosystem, but customization is not a thing there.

Now, we are in a privacy focused community and I saw your later comments about Google being an opposite of privacy. I would argue that vanilla Pixel is much better than bloated and locked Samsung already. I see you get recommendations to replace the OS that your new phone might run, and these are valid, but come with significant downsides. There are other ways to improve your privacy stance by changing the way how you use your phone without changing what phone or what OS you run on it.

stewie3128, (edited )

Warning about bringing an unlocked phone to Verizon (even if it’s a current flagship Apple/Samsung/Google device): 50/50 they’ll lock you out of WiFi calling/HD voice, etc. Because they’re dicks.

Pantherina,

Google Pixel. I dont know I want to keep my 4a actually as its small, nice and has a headphone jack.

Octagon9561,

The 4a is end of life and shouldn’t be used anymore.

Pantherina,

I know the mantra

Killercat103,
@Killercat103@infosec.pub avatar

Personally waiting for the shiftphone 8. Fairphone 5 is also a possibility if you value ethics. These should be less bloated than most I believe. The pixel is nicer than most mainstream phones. As it just comes with the vendor who made Android and their proprietary bs instead of yet another layer. The best way to eliminate bloat is a custom rom. Pixel supports GrapheneOS and I believe all of them will be supported by CalyxOS. (They made a build for the newest released shiftphone)

random65837,

Pixel w/GrapheneOS. Insane to do anything else when Privacy and Security is something you want, while also having the ability to have a fully functional phone.

MartinXYZ,

Perhaps Fairphone?

Octagon9561,

Those are plagued with security issues.

N4CHEM,

I’m interested in reading about those. Dou you have a link or a list of some of those issues?

adam_b,

You can read about why GrapheneOS support pixels only, from that you can guess that other phones lack some or most of these features

grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices

Also it depends on the OS, for example DivestOS maintains a web page of all the poor security measures in /e/OS

Also see CalyxOS vs GrapheneOS

In the end, choosing which project to use can be difficult just because of politics between the communities of these projects, saying a certain project is unsecure can get people using that project defensive, so keep that in mind

TechNerdWizard42,

Do be careful, your choices are very limited. All the carriers in the US, except TMobile today, have a whitelist of devices. Even if you make your own phone or buy an awesome phone from out of market, it won’t work.

Technically, there is no reason it won’t work. But the carriers block it from registering on the network unless roaming. Our non-American devices have been kicked off every network now except TMobile.

So your choice is really just the small list of devices they choose to support and 75% are the same phone. Samsung whatever with some various sized screen and various sized storage. Or Apple iWhatever.

They make your life hell with a non-standard carrier phone. And yes I’ve been buying out of region phones for 20 years now, even back with Windows Mobile and Palm devices with 2G text based web. Every year it gets harder and harder.

wazzupdog,

Im using my imported Zenfone 9 on AT&T without (much) issue. I did have to change some settings using ADB/terminal as root to enable volte so i can make calls since the phone doesn’t support all the bands used.

p3eySEmuoexo, (edited )

Murena phones are basically Fairphone with /e/OS en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki//e/_(operating_system) with IMHO compare to GrapheneOS.

Their privacy features are really good. It replace Google Services with an open source equivalent. Not sure I can deploy Google applications.

The result is a smartphone mostly degoogled, a good UX and you ‘feel’ the privacy features without being annoyed by them.

EDIT: changed “completely degoogled” to “mostly degoogled”.

Undertaker,

The Smartphone is not completely degoogled. Please check before posting such statements. It can not be compared to Graphene. Graphene is far ahead.

See: divestos.org/misc/e.txt for a list of issues

/e/ is very slow in terms of security updates and they rely on some google services.

The only point you can make: If you want it easy and you don’t care about security and less google but not degoogled is okay for you, /e/ is your choice.

But please stay away from Fairphone. They have several hardware issues even in more than one generation (for example ghost inputs in 3 and 4) but they do not accept them and try to solve with software update which surprisingly did not work. And if you use /e/ you don’t geht support from FP side.

p3eySEmuoexo,

Thank you for sharing your insights and valuable information. I appreciate the effort you put into your response. However, I sense a potential bias in your answer, particularly concerning the original question posed by the OP.

The OP was seeking advice on a smartphone without bloatware and with a high level of customizability, which I believe is the central focus of the discussion.

While I understand that security updates may be a concern for some users, it’s worth noting that as of the October release notes (gitlab.e.foundation/e/os/releases/-/…/v1.16-s), the integration of security fixes extends up to September.

Regarding support, I recommended the Murena phone, which comes with /e/OS out of the box and is based on the Fairphone + /e/OS combination. It’s important to clarify that Murena is a commercial French company, meaning that support comes from them rather than directly from Fairphone. However, this arrangement offers the benefit of commercial protection, including a 2-year warranty. I also feel a little bit unfair the comment about support, as I think that installing GrapheneOS on any device will probably cut you from support from hardware and you will rely one GrapheneOS, that I’m sure has a very good support, but doesn’t have any obligation to replace the device is a problem occur.

I also want to express my gratitude for the link you provided (divestos.org/misc/e.txt). Additionally, based on my personal experience, none of the mentioned bugs have affected me. This could be attributed to my use of the F-Droid store, allowing me to benefit from updates available there as well.

Once again, thank you for your input, and I hope this further clarifies the points discussed. I know that I have a specific usage of my phone, but I think the value of my proposal remains.

MartinXYZ,

Murena phones are basically Fairphone with /e/OS

One of the main features of Fairphones is that they are easily repairable - it doesn’t look like Murena has done anything to make it easier to fix.

p3eySEmuoexo,

Yes it is the same hardware. Only provided by a company preloaded with /e/OS. It is not easier to repair, it is the same.

MartinXYZ, (edited )

They don’t look the same though. I’ve only been to the Murena website and looked at their “phone 2”, that’s not the same hardware as Fairphone.

Edit: okay, I should have scrolled down a bit more. It looks like they made a " Murena Fairphone" too, where they’ve given a Fairphone the Murena treatment.

scottmeme,

Google Pixel or Nothing phone

Octagon9561,

Sure, the Nothing phone is a decent phone but it doesn’t really have anything to offer as far as privacy and security are concerned. On the contrary, I wouldn’t trust Nothing since their iMessage fiasco.

Wes_Dev,

I’ve never heard of this company before the past week, and I’m seeing it everywhere now. I’m also really annoyed with this trend of companies appropriating random fucking words instead of using actual names.

scottmeme,

Yeah the whole iMessage thing wasn’t really what I cared about, given that it’s not a great look for them.

More so all the ex-oneplus talent that they have on staff to make a good quality product.

vxx,

I’m happy with Motorola. I don’t buy high end phones though, as I don’t care about paying 400 extra for a good camera.

I have a G42

bullshitter,

Motorola feels like the best in affordable phones. Plus stock rom experience.

Kuro,

Just picked up a new Motorola phone myself, and it does install TikTok and a few other apps by default, so not sure if OP would like that. They were easy enough to uninstall though.

vxx,

I forgot about that, mine had Facebook, but it didnt come back with updates.

Kuro, (edited )

I kind of gagged a little at the sight of TikTok being installed, but really liking the phone so far. Coming from a one plus phone, I really appreciate the stock android

BearOfaTime, (edited )

You nay be able to disable the installer that reinstalls those apps.

Check out Universal Android Debloater

github.com/0x192/universal-android-debloater

StickBugged,

I’ve got a g31 which I’ve had for about a year, and the only thing I don’t really like about it is the lack of custom ROMs and stuff like that

JoeBidet, (edited )
@JoeBidet@lemmy.ml avatar

PInephone! A bit of work, requiring to not being shy opening the hood of a linux system. but totally worth it, the reward is freedom and its continuous cycle of collective learning…

(although the Pinephone is not really a “smartphone” in the sense most people use that word: a restricted computer that allows to run wallgarden applications… a pinephone doesnt natively run “smartphone apps” and is more like a full-blown, general purpose computer running GNU/linux that also contains a modem enabling calls, sms and data…)

iturnedintoanewt,
@iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee avatar

Pinephone hasn’t quite reached daily driver status… And don’t get me started on the PPP.

JoeBidet,
@JoeBidet@lemmy.ml avatar

I have been daily-driving one for more than three years now, and totally happy with it. (with some caveats, some work and nerve-wracking moments, but that’s the exciting lot of the continous learning of free/libre computing…)

iturnedintoanewt,
@iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee avatar

I guess that’s the point, really…a lot of people wouldn’t consider those caveats to be…prime for daily driver status.

JoeBidet,
@JoeBidet@lemmy.ml avatar

sure. but you and OP are maybe not “a lot of people” anyways ;)

tanakian, (edited )

“smartphone” doesn’t matter. it is a computer that runs software. the only question is who controls that software? free/libre software is by definition one that you control. and what you described means that you dont control your device.

so advices: easy way is to just install lineage os or graphene or some other open source android version. you will control it. i dont advice to install google play services.

other advice: you can get a sony phone because it can run sailfish os. also i believe those are great. otherwise install open source android, lineage or something.

sailfish has android emulator (it costs money) but sailfish is not android. it is a linux/qt based system. very polished. not as polished as open source android, but it is fast, lightweight and beautiful. native sailfish apps arent feature rich but do you really need feature rich? then you can get more apps from fdroid store and use android emulation layer.

other, better but harder option: get a device which is well supported by postmarketos.

postmarketos has several user interfaces but neither of those is what you have used to. i believe it is the best option but you must prepare yourself to be able to change. most probably you wont have a working camera. thats ok, i live like that.

slazer2au,

Gigaset. I am using the GS5. 2 Sim slots and a SD card slot, not those Sim/SD slots that most manufacturers use. Replaceable battery.

made is Germany, run stock android. Stock to the point of I have it bugging me to install Oct 2023 patches for the past 2 weeks. Kinka wish I could talk it I will patch when I get back from holidays.

daydrinkingchickadee,

A Pixel with GrapheneOS is okay but you don’t get Android Auto, which kinda sucks.

LemmyKnowsBest, (edited )

ooh no problem I despise android auto and glad it doesn’t force my phone to connect every time I start driving the way it did at the beginning, I had to dig into the settings and figure out how to disable it.

daydrinkingchickadee,

Well you won’t be able to use it at all even if you need it, but if that works for you, go nuts.

LemmyKnowsBest,

I can’t imagine ever needing it. What is it even for? All it ever did for me was instantly answer spam phone calls that I would have rejected, doesn’t let me use my phone until my GPS indicates I’ve reached my destination, and it would automatically answer texts telling them that I’m driving. Like leave me alone big brother ugh!

daydrinkingchickadee,

What are you going to use if you are driving somewhere new and don’t know where you are going though? I used AA for the maps and directions only and I miss it alot.

N4CHEM,

I use a phone holder and my phone sits there with my maps app showing me the navigation.

LemmyKnowsBest,

Same. I pair my phone to my car’s Bluetooth.

No Android Auto overbearing Big Brother necessary.

Seems that guy who loves Android Auto so much thinks there’s no other option 🤦‍♀️

daydrinkingchickadee,

Hey, you’re the one that bought a Samsung phone 🤹

LemmyKnowsBest,

damn i had to screenshot & zoom in to figure out what the heck emoji that was

LemmyKnowsBest, (edited )

I pair my phone to my car’s Bluetooth. Google maps is what I use. You don’t need Android Auto for that.

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