I still love my Pixel 6 and I am thinking of grabbing a used Pixel 8 to run GrapheneOS.
I am not one to chase the latest benchmarks. Any phone made in the past five years or so is perfectly capable once you take the bloat out.
Edit: I found a great deal on a Pixel 10 and have ordered it.
Pixels are not and have never been about speed or power. They’ve always been about security, for which they’re still the best. Also the only hardware supported by GOS (for the same reason) which is really the biggest reason to buy them, in my opinion. But I used them even before that for cleanliness and software features.
the #1 reason it’s what i’ve been using is just that they don’t have any locked down nonsense compared to other brands, unlocking the bootloader and flashing another OS is absolutely trivial and stuff just works.
Still rocking my Pixel 4 and it still works perfectly and I have no intention of replacing it. I love that it’s a compact size in an age where I’m expected to put laptop-sized phones in my pocket. Really not looking forward to shoving a zip code in my pants if there aren’t any compact size phones being sold when the time comes.
Currently running GrapheneOS on a pixel 8. It’s the best mobile experience I’ve ever had.
No problems with banking apps refusing to work?
List of potential workarounds for problematic apps: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/8330-app-compatibility-with-grapheneos
Also includes a link to an unofficial list of known working/not working bank apps. If the app still doesnt work there is a link to documentation for the app developers on how to implement support. It is good to include it if reaching out to your bank about this issue.
Pixel 9 running GOS. My bank’s app (Lloyds) won’t work, and never has for me. Additionally, I have a store card, and credit card app, both of which are offered by NewDay, neither of which work on my phone. The official UK government ID app won’t work with it either.
But honestly, I’ll take that inconvenience over letting Google have free reign over my phone.
I wish I had your willingness to deal with these problems.
I’m tired. I just want to go on with my life without all those troubles. When I was younger, I was spending days trying to make everything work on my Cyanogenmod… and before that, I was already tinkering with Linux.
But I’m tired. I wish companies weren’t pieces of shit and they just let us use an open system. :(
Use a computer, or a web site. Or a bank.
Why would you ever carry your entire life’s worth in your pocket. Ever?
In many countries you don’t get a choice.
I only use my computer to check my bank, but I’ll need my bank app for their proprietary 2FA.
Here banks use their proprietary app for 2fa
So if you don’t have a cel phone you can’t bank at all?
Nope. It’s that way many places now.
Personally, no.
GrapheneOS has a community maintained compatibility list. Mine was on the list and it works well, and its updated quickly if something breaks or manages to work.
I also use GrapheneOS on a Pixel 8 here. My banking apps don’t work. They used to work just fine, but they decided to push updates making the apps ununsable on non-Google certified OSes.
you can get around a lot of detection with stuff like microg/kernelsu and other layers of arcane bullshit technomagic
Consors bank app works, but I prefer hardware TAN generators and a desktop browser.
Depends on the bank. My banking app works fine.
Some banking apps work fine. There’s a list somewhere. Fortunately my bank does work
Mine works. The app always cries about lack of play services, but the notification has an ignore-button and it hasnt created problems yet
my bank app refuses to run if the installation source is not Google Play Services. I make a private space with GPS for the app and that solves my issue.
I’m on a 9 and yeah I couldn’t agree more. I bought the pixel second hand (no support for new stock in NZ) but it was so worth it
I began my Pixel journey with the 4 XL with CalyxOS, before switching to GrapheneOS. I had to stop using the phone because of the well-known bloated battery issue.
After a short stint with a OnePlus 6T and DivestOS, which was brief due to the phone’s processor failing, I returned to the Pixel line with the 6 Pro with GrapheneOS. I had to stop using the 6 Pro because of the Tensor modem failing to get signal or connect to cell towers where I know I would’ve gotten reception otherwise. Also, the phone would overheat occasionally.
My current Pixel phone is the 8 Pro with GrapheneOS, and so far it’s been the best one I’ve had, though I have noticed that other phones, like recent Samsung Galaxies and iPhones have better picture quality than the 8 Pro depending on the environment.
With GrapheneOS announcing their partnership with Motorola, I’m hoping to switch to a Moto phone in the future, ideally one with a better camera and processor than the Pixel line. Google absolutely sucks with hardware, with each Pixel having some egregious hardware issue that makes the phone nearly unusable in some cases.
I had the original Pixel, and now the 5, not sure if I will get one next time but this one is still good.
It’s kind of like my car - I have a 6 speed 2014 Honda, it does everything I want & nothing I don’t want. Newer ones are better in some ways, but not in ways I want.
I don’t want a fancier phone or car, I want a more reliable one that does the things I want it to do. Not stuffed with “features”.
Haha, same boat. Pixel 8 and a 2012 manual Kia Soul. I’m going to drive that thing until it can no longer be driven.
There are dozens of us!
Yeah only one of my kids learned to drive the manual but I love it. Lately I take an electric bike everywhere so hopefully the car lasts. The only one I’d trade it for is the Civic SI but those are $$$ and as long as my car will go I will keep it - they can last, especially the stick shift ones.
Used Pixels with GOS have been great. Also, manual transmission Subaru - last of the dinosaurs I call it. They don’t make them anymore.
I drive the current BMW X1 (company car) and I miss my 2011 Mitsubishi Colt more often than I want to admit.
Yes the X1 is the better overall car but all the CaaS bullshit ruins it for me. More software bugs than miles driven… More beeps, scrrens and popups than possibly healthy; a constant distraction.
the thing about pixels is that putting lineage/graphene/whatever on them basically turns it into a completely different phone, all the complaints about AI and whatnot largely dissapear and they become what i’d call about the best experience you can have on a smartphone. Easy to install lineage (dunno about others, presume it’s equally easy), just works, no bullshit.
Jep. Just that.
I recently had a good laugh when my best friend asked me if I didn’t want to charge my Pixel 6a (3+ years old now) with around 25% Batterie and I just replied “why? That’s still good for over a day”.
The look on his face.
GrapheneOS is literally the easiest OS install ive ever done. Easy step by step guide, and directly from the browser.
I havent used lineage, but i remember putting CyanogenMod on my galaxy S3 was quite the hassle. Whats the process like for lineage?
Funny story, I still have a S3 with cm-14.1. Use it to watch movies.
Oh god I’d memory holed cyanogenmod… The stress
Here’s the install guide, basically identical for all pixels afaik: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/shiba/install/
It’s come a long way from the cyanogenmod days.
I just wish my banking apps would work on graphene.
Did you try enabling exploit compatibility mode for those apps?
Neither of Barclay’s two apps work for me. Luckily I only have a credit card with them I opened for credit transfer, because they’ve gone all in on being app first with missing functionality on the website.
The linked article sums my position up perfectly. I’ve had a Nexus 6P, a Pixel 2XL and now a Pixel 6 Pro which, were it not for a cracked screen and (small but increasing) issues with overheating, I’d be happy to stick with.
However there’s no way I’m even considering a Pixel for my next phone - much too expensive and fuck all that AI bullshit.
Not sure what I’ll go for, and not looking forward to a phone with an OEM skin on the OS but Google has finally driven me away from the Pixel line. It’s a shame.
That is why I’m considering the used Pixel 8. GrapheneOS will support the Pixel 8 through October 2030. Maybe by then this Motorola deal will bare fruit.
this is exactly what I’ve done, and I’m very happy. used pixel 8 with GrapheneOS. works well!
Me too. It’s been a long time since I’ve really liked my phone.
Nexus 4, 5, 6 and 6p here. The 6p was a disaster. Everyone’s battery shit the bed and they screwed a lot of people over. Brutal.
I’ve heard several similar things about the pixel brand. Not sure if the battery issues were due to software or hardware. But having a reliable battery is on top of my list of phone features.
Edit: Nexus 5 was peak android device. I wish it had larger storage or a SD slot but it was still near perfect.
The only contender I see for a Pixel or the flagship Sony ones.
But they cost some serious money. :(
flagship Sony ones
Sony also offers the cheaper “10” series (yes their naming scheme is very confusing), and the Xperia 10 VII is cheaper, smaller, plastic fantastic, has good LineageOS support, headphone jack (!!), and microSD slots too (!!)
Too bad I need a great camera as I am a sucker for quality pictures and want to minimize the garbled (ai-)details on low quality enhanced pictures
Honestly, if you wanted a good camera, I would rather go for a dedicated option as those have far better image quality due to much larger sensors + lenses. There’s a lot of good small options that are relatively affordable, like many of Lumix’s M43 cameras (particularly the older ones, like the GX800/850) or some of the older Fuji bodies if you prefer something like that. Sony themselves have really solid cameras too, the A6000 series is excellent and nearly all the same (main differences are IBIS for A6500 and up and newer sensor + software UI on the A6700), a lot of people recommend the A6000 as a solid budget pick. I personally use the ZVE-10, which is basically a plastic body no EVF version of the A6400 (which has a metal body)
Sony’s E-mount, Fuji’s X-mount, and Panny and friends’ L-mount will all give you lots of good third-party lens choices. I would stick with M43 and APS-C purely because of the size difference compared to full frame. Sony and Fuji have APS-C options while Panny has M43 ones that are even smaller. The most notable size difference is definitely the lens, M43 lenses can be very tiny!
If you want some content to watch relating to fun budget cameras, I would recommend Micro Four Nerds (mostly covers Lumix and Olympus), Mark Wiemels (covers budget lenses and APS-C cameras), and Mark Bennett’s Camera Crisis (funny guy who likes a good deal, he’s a comedian who likes cameras as a hobby)
You only get AI if you stick with the stock OS or don’t do anything with it.
The advantage of the Pixel is they can be factory unlocked, which permits root or flashing a different OS.
My current phones are Pixel 5 - they $100 these days, and run great with Graphene or Lineage
Your phone lineup is almost a mirror to mine, and your sentiments match mine as well. I used to root phones and flash custom ROMs to get the stock android experience on the garbage phones Verizon would sell me. The point was to get less bloat, and a functional device that I could get to do what I want with it. Once there was a nexus phone compatible with my carrier, I moved to Google’s phones, and stopped tweaking the OS altogether. All Google has done over the years is remove useful features and try and shove AI down people’s throats. I’m now looking at options to degoogle my phone, and I’m not particularly fond of buying any flagship phone should this one die.
Yeah, same, I used to mess around a bit with rooting and ROMs, but for a while there’s been little need from my point of view. Really not sure I can be bothered getting back into that now though.
Not sure what I’ll go for, and not looking forward to a phone with an OEM skin on the OS but Google has finally driven me away from the Pixel line. It’s a shame.
If you want a clean OS, both Sony and Fairphone offer devices with relatively clean stock OS + good support for custom ROMs (and in the case of Fairphone, mobile Linux too!)
The Xperia devices have headphone jack AND microSD slots! Fairphone’s devices are super repairable, which is really nice too, but no jack (they do have microSD slots though).
I don’t trust Google to not put hardware back door in their hardware social contract around Android has always been Google provides the Android as an operating system that’s open source while everyone else just manufacturer actual devices I don’t want my Android phone to be built by Google
I don’t think trying to collect data on the less than 1% of users using alternative operating systems is lucrative enough to destroy your reputation and face obvious legal issues in the EU
Even aosp is a risk, support postmarketOS for truly free mobile phones.
I don’t trust really Google anymore but I think GrapheneOS without Google services should take care of any risk.
If GrapheneOS was available for other devices I might switch but that is not the case. Maybe this Motorola deal will produce something but that’s still a ways out if it ever happens.
I’m on GrapheneOS too, but I think hardware backdoors are a genuine concern. There’s not much an OS can do to fight a hardware backdoor. So I don’t entirely trust it but it’s better than not trying for privacy. In any case, the risk of hardware backdoors is present on pretty much every device we compute on. There’s not a lot of fully open hardware out there, especially for phones.
I’m running LineageOS on a One+ and it’s really good. I get close to 4-5 day usage with regular use just because ask the bullshit isn’t running in the background from Screwgle
GrapheneOS is coming to Motorola soon™
Brands like OnePlus and Motorola have made major improvements to their camera systems as well.
OnePlus is gone from the US market.
Motorola doesn’t have any non foldables here.US android market doesnt have any options left other than Google and Samsung and that’s just terrible.
Motorola has the Edge and G series in the US as well.
Yeah, ive got the edge+ 2023 and it’s done me well so far. Cases are a pain and so are screen protectors because of the curved glass. Its the Achilles heel to an otherwise flawless phone in my eyes. If they can take this platform and remove the curved glass and add expandable storage for the Graphene release, they’ll find themselves back in the mix for top 2 android manufacturers.
Edge Plus 2022 didn’t even have the curved edge, LOL. I don’t understand the marketing but it was also great. 512GB, baby!
Just use the liquid screen protectors. Served my old curved phone well for 4 years. My One+ has one as well just bc they work well and are cheap!
Both edge and g - 2026 model only goes up to 128gb storage.
Ok? But they do still sell them in the US and they aren’t foldable.
yeah but I dont want those. I want a flagship.
I was going to get a flagship this year but google and samsung are not sometnig I would ever consider.
Ill have to import via aliexpress now probably, which sucks.
It’s all of the US own making. Ban everything Chinese including EV’s, and lately routers. Than make a monopoly for the 3 manufacturers left. Meanwhile in China, I can buy whatever I want. Any brand, manufactured locally or internationally.
Hell, the iPhone is not even in the top 5 of best selling phones here. That is called competition - something the US lost track off thanks to the lobbyists.
But you keep doing you and just get left behind. https://www.wired.com/story/us-government-foreign-made-router-ban-explained/
I made the move to Android with my current phone (Pixel6 Pro). I won’t be sticking with Google phones after this. I already replaced my pixel watch.
On us market we are basically out of options. Its just Google and Samsung now
It’s pretty much the same in Canada unfortunately.
I have a Galaxy watch 7 that I am looking to replace.
I am really hoping to move away from Google services completely but I also like having notifications on my wrist. I haven’t found a decent replacement yet.
I got a Pebble Time 2 and, so far at the almost-two-week mark, no complaints. I get notifications just fine.
As an OG Pebble fan I was really looking forward to getting a Time 2. I am in Canada though and it’s $350 plus after exchange. I had one in my cart but just couldn’t press go.
I’m in Japan so I feel you on the pain. I never had an original pebble. My pixel watch (which is actually a replacement after the other one literally started falling apart despite the fact that I’m not particularly hard on watches), was on its last legs with battery life. It was that or some sketchy 2000 yen thing that sends data who-knows-where.
Google being a trash company would be the major reason not to buy a Pixel.
That’s why I buy my Pixels used.
Precisely why I will buy a used Pixel and put GrapheneOS on it.
The problem with older Pixels is that Graphene will stop supporting them.
That is why I am looking at the Pixel 8. It is supported for 7 years taking it to October 2030. The Pixel 6 only had 5 years of support which ends in October of this year.
I thought they extended the support for the 6 to 7 years?
That starts with the Pixel 8. Anything older is still 5 years.
I’ve had 5 pixel phones, and 4 of them have stopped booting after about a year of use.
Meanwhile my last Galaxy phone lasted over 6 years.
Even with their cheaper retail price, they haven’t been more affordable to own for me.
That’s really weird. I’m on my 4th Pixel (9 Pro), and my kids are still using my handed down 4a and 6…
The only one that has ever failed was the 4a from that firmware update that killed the batteries, and Google replaced the battery for free and now it’s running like a champ
from what i’ve seen it seems like the pixel line just has a curse placed upon it, where every model has 1% of phones suffer from fairly major hardware problems and the other 99% are perfectly fine.
Similar experience here. I loved the Google pixel and wanted to keep loving it, but they’re just not well made. My partner and I have both had them for years and they just don’t last. Meanwhile, we’re not big fans of Samsung, but their phones do last.
I have heard lots of things about how terrible the Pixel 6 is. I have had mine since launch with no issues. Maybe I just got lucky, I don’t know.
Y’all think GrapheneOS will ditch Pixels?
And if they do… where would dev focus move to?
GO team already announced a partnership with Motorola earlier this year, idk if it’s more of a collaboration to bring GrapheneOS security to Motorola devices or what. Excited to see how that turns out
Oh I forgot about that. Yeah, that’s promising.
I would bet the GrapheneOS devs see the writing on the wall with Google.
i loved my nexus 4 T_T
also just got a pixel SPECIFICALLY to get graphene and the only thing i hate about graphene is i can’t also put it on my galaxy tab because i’d love for my tablet to have it too
