You should consider buying a flip phone and only put in SIM card when you need it, assuming you can acquire SIM card without your name on it where you live

I bought a Fairphone 3 and put LineageOS on it a few years back and can recommend it. LineageOS is less secure than GrapheneOS as far as I can tell but the privacy aspect is there, as you have a completely degoogled phone. I have some friends that have the same setup on the newer Fairphones and they are also very happy and have a smoother experience than me, because it is a newer phone.

Fairphone is an European country that has a move to open source (https://www.fairphone.com/en/open-source/).

To the compatibility and functionality:

• SMS and Calling is no problem, VoLTE works and as SMS app I recommend QUICK.
• AppStore I recommend F-Droid and Aurora Store. With Aurora Store you can download and install all apps that are on the Google Store. Just check, that your Banking Apps and so on support non-Google-Android OSs as some people I know had to switch back because some banks and services only work with Google Services (and that is a shame in my opinion, a Bank should NEVER be dependent on other companies for transactions and authentication. I for my part switched bank because of such a thing.)
• microG can be used to use apps that need Google services, I do not use it but friends use it and are happy

In general you will find an replacement for every app you now use that is from a big company. Open Source came a long way and most alternatives are even better in my opinion.

Privacy finished with the first Smartphone

I'm currently testing lineageos on a oneplus 6t since it is dirt cheap (from 50€$) ob ebay.

So far my track record has been:

• Around 6 months of daily use
• wifi, bluetooth, lte, gsm all work without issues
• calls work 99% (same as iphone)
• headset needs usbc bc no headphone jack. Works with adapter but so far only for music
• camera works, qr codes work
• nfc works but without google services, ive found no oayment provider thay supports it
• around 16 hrs of battery life under normal use
• no ads in os (or browser, thanks to ublock)

As with all custom roms, you need to unlock the bootloader and if you dont encrypt, you should not do anything on the phone that cant ever be found by a third party, say law enforcement. I would argue that the majority of phones with a locked bootloader arent any better but apparently, if you want that extra security, graphene on a pixel seems to be much more fitting. I have heard of issues with reliability so I'll stick with lineage.

I do develop for and did try postmarketos (actual linux) and I love it. But its absolutely not end user ready from last time i used it. If you tinker and want to help, postmarketos deserves your help but please dont use it as a daily and expect more than 80% reliability. Its for people who love linux and want it to become the real deal and who can manage their frustrations.

What apps do you need? Do you know that app support is lacking on GOS or just think it? I would go with Pixel8a and GOS.

Rotary

Pinephone. It is what I use.

Use Galaxy with debloater (you can also remove Google Play Services) + AdGuard DNS + TrackerControl (you can get with droidify)

You can also dual boot Linux desktop distro on it also.

This way you get best performance and all the choices.

In EU, I would recommend a xiaomi. Cheap, bootloader unlockable (which breaks security a little since you cant relock), but they are a gamble in terms of reliability.

GrapheneOS tested and I ended up going back to Apple.

It’s good in concept but in reality you’re just forced to used play services because most apps require it, but you lose mobile payment and access to some apps because you’re not running a whitelisted OS. App makers don’t give a fuck because custom ROM users are fewer than Linux users, and we all know most software and games don’t give a fuck about Linux users.

Stock GrapheneOS also feels like a jump in the past in terms of UI and accessibility. I felt like I was always going out of my way to make it somewhat usable.

The Pixel also has a battery that doesn’t last long and poor charge retention on idle (Android phones do be like that though). I found out that many tasks cause it to heat a lot. Something like updating an app takes ages and shows visual bugs, like no progress indicator.

I hate Apple but at least I trust that they don’t sell my data to everyone, and they have a good UI.

If the end it’s about how much you’re willing to trade your convenience for privacy. I realized I wasn’t ready.

pigeon with paper that lights itself on fire when human skin touches it