this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2025
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Which phone to get for alternative OS (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 month ago by lavendertea@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/degoogle@lemmy.ml
83 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Recently I've been looking for a phone that will allow me to install an google-free OS. I've never installed a different OS on a phone before. I've been looking online but haven't really found a clearly best option.

Problem with standard recommendation

From what I've read GrapheneOS seems the best alternative OS. Unfortunately they only support the Pixel devices. I want to have local, offline access to my files (e.g. music files, documents) and don't want to be dependent on cloud services. The Pixel with the most storage comes with only 256GB and no slot for an SD card.

Possible options

There are some other routes that may be feasible that I've listed here.

Fairphone 6

  • No USB 3
  • Pricey for what you get, both in terms of hardware and in terms of fairness, at least according to this post).
  • It has an SD card slot
  • You can order it with e/os installed, very convenient
  • No GrapheneOS

Fairphone 5

  • According to this post, the FP6 is a lot snappier
  • Not significantly cheaper than the FP6
  • It does come with USB 3
  • It has an SD card slot
  • Can also order this with e/os.
  • No GrapheneOS

Sony

According to the Bootloader Unlock Wall of Shame Sony isn't the worst of the bunch.

Pixel

Get a refurbished Pixel anyways and get a separate dumb MP3 player for music.

  • Might be an option but 256GB is still cutting it tight with what I want to have available offline.
  • The 256GB option is a lot more expensive than the 128GB option compared to the cost of a 128GB SD card
  • Extra costs from buying the extra MP3 player
  • Have to install the OS yourself
  • Can install GrapheneOS

DumbPhone:

Get a dumbphone for calls, texting, banking, govt stuff, 2FA app, and music listening. Have a separate linux phone for all the other stuff.

  • Not sure how privacy friendly the dumbphones are, might still be using Google Play services?
  • Two devices instead of one to carry around
  • Extra costs for two devices
  • Tinkering with a linux phone could be a fun project

Bonus option: don't get the linux phone

  • Less screen time
  • Only 1 device to buy/carry
  • Can't go on the internet while traveling

Questions

  • What would be your recommendation that allows plenty of storage on the phone?
  • Do you have good/bad experiences with any of these phones/operation systems?
  • Are there any good options I've missed?
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[–] jet@hackertalks.com 28 points 1 month ago

Pixel + GOS - no complaints works great

[–] monovergent@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Pixel + GOS just works, even has proper sandboxed Play Services if the need arises. Never had a Fairphone myself, but I really do fancy a SD card slot and removable battery.

Words of caution on dumbphones though, especially if you live somewhere with 4G as the minimum:

  • The overlap between 4G+VoLTE support and true dumbphones is very small
  • Watch out for KaiOS "dumbphones", which will come bundled with Google's goodies and telemetry
  • Voice calls and SMS are already unencrypted and monitored, so I don't see any undue risks from a dumbphone, as long as you don't store any more data on it than you need and use a true dumbphone rather than one with KaiOS or even Android.
[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Additional dumb phone warning:

SIM swapping attacks take all of 10 minutes to accomplish, and will give an attacker access to your phone number for them to use SMS 2FA codes to lock you out of your email and accounts. You will have zero access or recourse until you physically go into a carrier location and get your phone number fixed. Then you begin a lengthy process of reclaiming accounts to see how bad the damage is.

[–] lavendertea@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thanks for the warning about the SIM swapping attacks. Do I understand correctly that this is an issue on the dumbphones because you can't install a 2FA app on it but have to rely on SMS? I thought there were also some 'dumbphones' where you can install apps, just not browsers or social media apps. But maybe those are the ones @monovergent@lemmy.ml was warning about.

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Correct. 2FA apps are the safest option.

2FA codes sent by SMS are barely better than just a password, but if your password leaks and your phone number is public info on a data broker site, it's simply a matter of when the attacker makes it to you on a list. It's especially bad for people who flaunt crypto or stock wins online and make themselves a target worth trying a SIM swap on.

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[–] lavendertea@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes, I wish GOS would support the fairphone, then it would be a no-brainer.

Thanks for the warning re: dumphones, I had no idea. Is there one that you think is suitable for privacy and 4G+VoLTE support?

[–] monovergent@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

I use the Maxwest Neo Flip LTE as my backup dumbphone

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Does your no cloud policy extend to running a nextcloud instance on your own computer and pulling data over the network when necessary?

If that's something you are willing to do, then I would go with the Pixel and just pull data from your nextcloud device when needed. I believe you can install nextcloud through Docker to make it super quick to update and deploy.

[–] lavendertea@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Kind of, it seems like a lot of extra work to keep that secure and up to date, esp with having access from outside. My current solution is just Syncthing desktop <-> phone and works exactly the way I want.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

In that case, I'd probably go with the Fairphone 6, since you can get /e/OS on it by default, but you can also put lineage on it, if you wished.

Personally, I absolutely hate the /e/OS launcher. It reminds me too much of iOS. And I honestly hate it.

[–] lavendertea@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thank you, yes, that does seem super convenient and in case /e/OS sucks I could change it to Lineage

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

So I wanted to make sure before you did so, and it turns out the Fairphone 6 is not as of yet on the lineage OS website as officially supported. So you might be stuck with sl/e/OS for now. I'm fairly certain the Fairphone 6 will get lineage. It just does not appear to have it yet. So you might either want to wait or consider buying the 5 instead, which already is supported for certain.

https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#fairphone

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[–] FrostyPolicy@suppo.fi 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Personally, I absolutely hate the /e/OS launcher. It reminds me too much of iOS. And I honestly hate it.

You can install whatever launcher you want. No need to stay on the default (don't like it either). One of my old phones has /e/os and I'm using Zim Launcher.

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[–] mikey@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

If I were you, I'd wait until Aug 20, when the new Pixels get announched; they might have one with 512GB and you should be able to install GrapheneOS a bit after launch.

[–] lavendertea@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago

Good idea, I'll definitely wait and see what they come out with. A 512 GB Pixel + separate MP3 player might be a good option. Thanks.

[–] rdri@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Is GrapheneOS even a good recommendation at this point? I won't be surprised if changes Google makes to Android will effectively kill it, as soon as this year.

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[–] Core_of_Arden@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It's nice to see how many people wants alternatives to Google and Apple... I just wonder what would have happened, if so many people had actually supported either the Ubuntu phone, or the Firefox Phone?

[–] lavendertea@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No idea, this is the first I'm hearing about either of them. Sometimes a great idea can fail because it is too early. A lot of people around me who have never been interested in tech are messaging me asking about what browser is most private, what social media alternatives there are, etc. Maybe there is more momentum now?

[–] Core_of_Arden@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

That's my experience... And I really hope it is true, everywhere else too...

[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago

We still have a chance with Linux mobile.

[–] DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Sony Xperia with Sailfish

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[–] smeg@feddit.uk 5 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Out of interest what music files and documents do you need with you at all times that will fill up a 256GB phone?

[–] monovergent@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Not speaking for OP, but having a 1 TB microSD would let me:

  • Sync my music library in FLAC without having to re-encode over storage limitations
  • Have more of Wikipedia downloaded through Kiwix
  • Keep a backup copy of my photos and important documents on hand
  • Pop the card directly in the computer and bypass the clumsy MTP protocol when syncing files

All for under 100 USD

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[–] lavendertea@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The convenience of cloud is to always have access to your documents when you need them. I want that, but without relying on a cloud provider. Syncthing syncs from desktop to phone when I'm home and I always have access to everything when I'm away.

There's about 100GB of various photos, files, documents, notes I sync. Music collections can easily grow to significant sizes if you don't use streaming services.

[–] Witziger_Waschbaer@feddit.org 9 points 1 month ago (7 children)

Have you thought about getting a homeserver? Immich is great service to selfhost for photos, paperless ngx is a very nice selfhosted document management system and there are several options for notes. If you use a VPN to connect you phone to your home network you don't even have to expose any service to the general web.

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[–] eruchitanda@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Fairphone 5 with CalyxOS?

No updates, but you'll have one of the best Android OSs, and a SD card slot.

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[–] krolden@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Sony phones are supported by sailfish OS

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[–] saimen@feddit.org 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

https://volla.online/en/index.php

This might interest you. Comes with own google free android OS or Ubuntu Touch.

I have no experience with it though, just stumbled upon it when looking for alternatives.

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[–] DreasNil@feddit.nu 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

I got my FP6 with /e/os a few weeks ago and I love it so far! Only downside is the camera which will apparently get a software update eventually.

Edit: someone told me to enable the HDR setting which wasn't enabled from the start. So there's hope for the camera yet! I haven't had time to try it out but it sounds promising.

[–] lavendertea@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Nice, good to know. Have you run into anything with the USB 2 connection?

[–] rapchee@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

fyi it's usb-c 2, not old usb 2

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Which is completely not confusing to anybody

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[–] DreasNil@feddit.nu 3 points 1 month ago

I only use it to charge the phone, so nope. Works just as expected. I rarely even have to charge it, the battery is awesome compared to my old iPhone!

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[–] Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

They're not new, but if you can get a Oneplus 5T or some models after that, they run LineageOS fine. With Magisk even my banking apps work. All save the finerprint reader work well. Sadly I hear OnePlus is going to stop allowing unlocking in new models.

[–] lavendertea@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Thanks, looks like it doesn't have an SD card slot unfortunately. According to these specs

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[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 month ago

The simple fact is a Pixel + GOS will be the most secure option by far and is going to be the most frequently updated.

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