Hello! My smartphone is dying, so I’ll soon have to buy a new one. I’d like my new phone to have pure Android, without all the apps that manufactures install. Ideally I’d like to remove the majority of Google services too, but there are some that I can’t replace yet, so I’m still dependent on, like google maps. What smartphone do you suggest me? In your opinion, would it be better to buy a smartphone with already stock android or to buy any smartphone, and then replace the OS?
If you want something devoid of Google stuff, you’ll likely want to go with a phone that can be flashed with GrapheneOS, which can also optionally run Google Play services in a sandbox for more privacy and control.
LineageOS would probably also be a decent choice if they don’t absolutely have to have no Google at all.
I’d recommend GrapheneOS just because it’s much more private and secure (and everyone should care about privacy and the security of their shit)
The thing with grapheneos is that it’s not available to anyone. For example, pixel devices are extremely overpriced here in brazil. So, the best we can do is something like lineageos or /e/.
“/e/” also is a pretty good choice if you want microG ready to go about your life