cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/45425575
I mean we all know about the sideloading restriction thing. So I wanna explore alternative OSes, just gathering info, not sure if I’ll even end up buying another phone (currently have a Samsung as a main phone, and in North America they are bootloader locked).
Like I know Graphene OS is supposedly more secure, but is it worth paying so much more for a phone? And used phones are kinda sketchy btw, most originate from a carrier so unlockability is in question (I’m not playing the buy/return “lootbox” game lol, so much hassle and its never guaranteed when a seller would even accept a return).
The moto I was looking at apparantly was on CalyxOS’s supported list, but they suspended development for some reason, so Lineage is the only Custom ROM left other than Graphene.
Graphene seems cool, but idk if its really that much better. Getting a pixel is directly giving Google the most money, and I don’t feel so good about that after they closed sourced Pixel device tree codes (or whatever that thing was called that they closed sourced), and then they killed sideloading, feels wrong to be buying a pixel right now. So that leaves me with just Lineage. And I could get a much cheaper phone too going Lineage.
So TLDR: If you were to recommend a phone to someone, which would you recommend? Expensive phone for Graphene, or Cheap phone and just use Lineage? Or something else?
Where? Ebay?
Yep, got 3 on ebay in the last year. Sellers have gotten better at listing OEM/factory unlocked vs Carrier unlocked.
One of the 3 wasn’t OEM/factory unlocked, so I sent it back and got a different one.
https://swappa.com/
Thanks for the website recommendation, but:
I looked at a few Pixel 7a listings, and I see “Unlocked” then immediately next to it is “Mint Mobile” which doesn’t exactly build much confidence of it being factory unlocked. It could be using Mint Mobile’s variant of the OS that would block bootloader unlocking. 🧐
You have to search for factory unlocked, because carrier unlocked is also a thing people shop for.
I second the recommendation to buy a used pixel.
Whenever I’ve purchased a phone from Swappa, I’ve used the message/questions feature to ask the seller to confirm the bootloader is unlockable. You might have to explain how to check, but they’ve always checked and added a photo confirming before I bought.
That means it’s unlocked, but not factory unlocked.
But also can find listings that are factory unlocked if you’re worried about that.
Swappa is great. I’ve had no problems there.
I got a return Pixel 8 on eBay a year ago for $350 or so. Read the description and a handful of user reviews before purchasing and you should be fine.