I am looking for a new Android smartphone (currently on iOS).
Obviously I read about GrapheneOS as the „Gold Standard“ of alternative OS. But the downside is that it only runs on Pixels. Which is kinda weird to buy a device from a company you want to „boycott“ (de-Google).
On the other hand I kinda like the approach of Fairphone: most parts are easy repairable, parts are available and cheap compared to Google and Apple. But the downside here is that it isn’t supported by GrapheneOS, doesn’t have the most capable hardware for the price and probably won’t get 7 years of updates like the Pixel 8a in comparison.
So that leaves me with a „analysis paralysis“: I have to choose a device and a CustomROM.
/e/OS does seem interesting but I read some comments that it isn’t that secure like GrapheneOS. I don’t need that high-level of security but it should be significantly more than stock Android to be worth all the hassle by installing/using a CustomROM. On the other hand I don’t want to sacrifice every comfort for the sake of the last bit of (theoretical) security.
Did someone go down this path as well recently and can share some experiences? Maybe there is even some better alternative.
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But do you really need update from Google if you’re planning on installing a custom rom ? Genuine question, I thought your security updates would be handled by /e/ or graphene or whatever you choose
Not necessarily, they’ll get some OS updates after google pulls the plug, but they’ll stop getting firmware and other hardware-specific updates.
Per GrapheneOS:
https://grapheneos.org/releases#changelog
This is the important bit. Talking about updates on OS level is kind of confusing and hiding the fact that it’s the chipset going EOL in old devices and not the system.
Firmware gets obsolete, not software, is closer to the right idea.