I was thinking about using graphene OS, but I’ve read some lemmy users dislike this OS due to perceived misleading advertising and the pixel 7a you’re supposed to install graphene on because it’s from google (an advertising company).
Another option would be lineage OS, but there is so much false information about this OS, namely compatible phones that simply don’t work with this OS and no support.
what works for you? I want a phone with no google, that doesn’t force me to use the manufacturer’s ecosystem and that won’t show the apps I don’t want or need (on an asus I own you cannot neither get rid nor hide bloatware)
I wish the modern xperia phones were more popular and got more love. Hardware-wise they are amazing, i just wish they had easily-replaceable batteries.
I just replaced the battery in mine. I had to get a heat gun to take off the back plate, as well as a new seal for the back plate. I’m not 100% convinced it is still water resistant, and I don’t plan on finding out.
The hardware is good & you can get phones under 6".
They have 2 big flaws: price & years of continued support. The catch 22 is you can get a good price on them after the support window (2 years, but looks like 5 will be going forward). Luckily LineageOS always picks up after the support window if willing to take on possible firmware vulnerabilities knowing software will continue to be updated—but the camera requires the proprietary apps/libs or it looks low-end.