I was getting the itch to buy a new phone to replace my Pixel 7a a few months ago. At about 10pm I got my USB cable and followed the instructions. By 10:30, I think I was booting into GrapheneOS for the first time. It's been working great ever since. The battery life is not quite as good as before, but I also switched some stuff around -- I'm running Owntracks instead of Life360 for example. So who knows how much worse it really is. If at all.

Biggest thing I'm losing out on is Google Pay. But that was almost always a novelty anyway. I never found my phone could 100% replace the need to have a credit card on me, so nothing much has changed in my day-to-day life.

But I'm now installing apps from F-Droid instead of the Play Store, so there's that!

My question is, should I install graphene on it right away?

yes, you should

Been running GOS for a couple years now, it's flawless, I've installed it on my wife's phone as well, she has no issues with it either, so really no need to be a hardcore nerd to run it, just follow the instructions and reach out to the appropriate community/forum if need be.

Side note, I used to run Lineage, GOS is a breeze to install and run compared to Lineage (which was great, don't get me wrong, shout out to the devs!).

Grapheneos on Pixel 9 fold. Runs like a charm. You have a normal phone by default for all your normal daily stuff, but it's ready for all the advanced things you might want anytime.

Yes, on the spot.

People will tell you they have their wife on it.

I have everyone up to my old mother on GrapheneOS and after the initial fiddling with permissions, I don't even touch it.

7a on GOS. You should do it.

Yes

I am on the 6a with graphene and very happy.

Easy to do as well.

If you are on a contract phone it might be locked down (as in you can't unlock the bootloader).

might as well? My 10 will be arriving soon and I'll be doing the same. Reverting to stock is also an easy enough process

im on a 8a with graphene an its great but im in a different situation where i got my phone refurbished an i installed graphene as soon as i got it

Is your new phone provider providing a carrier-locked phone?

I'd say go for it. I can attest that it's a very polished experience and the GrapheneOS devs go at length to ensure that their work is both secure and reliable. Just make sure it's the factory unlocked variant so you can unlock the bootloader. Any apps that require regular Android can be put on a separate phone.