Small phone with privacy friendly OS (feddit.org)

submitted 2 months ago by Flubo@feddit.org to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I am desperately looking for a small phone compatible with a privacy friendly OS, best would be if the phone is not too old, lets say Less than 3 years.

I had a pixel 5 with graphene. Its Brocken and to be honest it was already too big for my small hands.

Usually phones with a width less than 70mm are considered easy to use with one Hand -even with small hands. I dont need a big screen at all since i have good eyes and use small fonts.

E.g. the unihertz jelly max seems perfect but i didnt find an easy way to put a privacy friendly OS.

On the other Hand looking at the supported devices oft graphene/ callyx and e/OS not a single one seems to offer ONE small phone.

Are there people here with the same Problem? Whats your solution?

I See 2 options for me: either i get a cheap (second Hand) big phone and hope that there will be smaller phones again in the near future. or i give up on using phones with one Hand and get a fairphone or pixel (second hand) again... What do you think is better? The Option to compromise in privacy is not an Option for me.

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[-] kusivittula@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 months ago

I'll be getting a new phone soon but is it a good idea to attempt to flash a new OS on a new kinda expensive device? i hate the idea of a used phone, but i wouldn't wanna brick something worth a month's rent. been over 10 years since I've attempted that (unsuccessfully).

[-] monovergent@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 months ago

If you are flashing GrapheneOS, it is a very simple and safe procedure. I've even interrupted the flashing when my laptop went to sleep, got the system corrupt warning, and just flashed again without a hitch. All that's needed now is a browser with WebUSB support and USB cable.

[-] Telorand@reddthat.com 2 points 2 months ago

A good idea? There's always risk, no matter if you're an expert with a 100% success rate. My heart pounds every time I flash a device, new BIOS update, install Linux, etc., despite having done those things many times.

That said, I flashed Graphene on an older Pixel, and they make the entire process stupid easy, provided you can read. They have a web installer where you just install a couple of prerequisites on the host computer, put your phone in recovery mode, plug in your device, and click buttons in order via your browser. No need to transfer image files, muck around in TWRP recovery, or anything like that. It uses some Google API to facilitate everything.

But if you can't afford the loss of the device to the unlikely but still possible event of a bad flash, either because of cost or loss of utility, you should at least take a moment to consider your backup plans before proceeding. Only you can decide if you think the risk is worth it and sufficiently low.

this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2025

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