DeGoogled phones, made in Europe: Fairphone, Volla, SHIFTphone, Punkt – a full review.
With the growing trend to deGoogle, European phone makers are becoming popular alternatives. Let’s look at the top five in this review.
Conclusion
The reviewed phone makers – Volla, Fairphone, Shift and Punkt – focus on producing deGoogled phones with a deGoogled OS preinstalled. It’s great to see the trend of going Google-free growing, and it’s a strong push-back against Google’s strategy of killing Android freedom and of making it impossible to install any app from any app store on Android.
That’s not a very useful conclusion
As an American, this is mostly a nonstarter, but right now, the only alternative that really intrigues me is the Jolla Phone (which I invariably have to look up to make sure I'm not getting it mixed up with Volla), because it's the only one that isn't just running a custom Android ROM. We need a true, viable alternative to Android and iOS and, to me, a de-googled ROM is only a half measure. Furthermore, the alternative needs to be free and open source, and community-driven.
Makes me wish I'd gone into software development 25 years ago because now I can only wish I could be the change I want to see in the world.
And I can guarantee you'd be basically helpless and mostly useless as a mobile dev in this landscape...
I'm painting a grim picture but the reality is that the task is so ginormous that it would take tremendous ressources and thousands of devs to make it happen.
This. I was putting a lot of hope into the PinePhone, but the effort required to 1) make it at least barely usable and then 2) keep it that way across updates is just too huge.
And believe me, I tried back then. Even as a software developer, I couldn't live with it, making all the possible sacrifices. After more than a year of struggles I just got a Pixel 7 and couldn't be happier to this day.
While Jolla phones aren't running Android, they sadly still require the Android kernel.
As I understand it they use the Android kernel since the hardware manufacturers does not add hardware support in the Linux kernel. So they don't really have any option.
However, it is still an issue that it can't be 100% de-Googled.
*Linux kernel
The Jolla and the Volla phone both don't run Android. Or more precisely, Volla sells an version of their phones that uses Ubuntu Touch instead of Android.
if you can use your banking app on it or not.
If not, change the bank (and tell them why). This is the sustainable way.
I don't even use a banking app lmao
Yeah, mine has a hardware key thing for their security theater.
How do I know if my bank allows that before I switch? Also, how many other apps might not work on the new system?
Shame on tuta for the headline. Sure, they’re European companies, but according to the article everything except the Volla phone is made in China.
Per the article, the Volla phone starts manufacturing in Taiwan (which I 100% support) and then finishes in Germany so that’s the only one of these that I’d actually consider.
A big thing about the Fairphone is ensuring proper compensation to the entire production chain for the phone.
When it comes to electronics its essentially impossible not to have it go through China, and even if it does not go through China, there is no guarantee that workers are not being exploited. So making sure that there is no exploitation in the production processes is more important for me than avoiding China altogether.
We live in a globalised world. To demand a "pure" X phone is simply ludicrous. Children mine many important minerals with little to no protection in west African countries, and if it's not children, it's probably Uyghurs or some other minority for the rare earth metals, the chips are made in multiple countries but mostly China and Taiwan using Dutch machines, assembled by suicidal hand in East and Central Asian countries, and sold in Europe. And that's not even all parts of the supply chain! Nearly every single link exploits one person or another, the money is used to lobby or forcefully keep the status quo in said country while making mostly already wealth Westerners rich.
To have a purely European phone, you'd probably have to pay 5k at least for the phone. Every European country's citizens will resist mining in their country because they are acutely aware of the environmental damage it does and who will get rich from it, but they will gleefully buy the same product made under horrible conditions in other countries and not bat an eye when asked if it's hypocritical. "At least it wasn't my backyard".
If you have one of these phones be great to hear some personal experiences.
I have had a Fairphine 6 running e/os for several months now, and I could not be happier. Fully de googled, but all apps I've needed run perfectly fine. Also I get around 40 hours of battery, so I charge the phone only every other day for about an hour.
It's not quite degoogled. MicroG makes calls home to Google. Deactivate device registration and Cloud notifications in Micro G settings if you want to stop calls home but keep Google apps. Otherwise mtalk.google.com is making queries.
I basically just used Shizuku and Canta to remove the MicroG settings. I'll just bank on a different machine that sits at my house constantly. F google.
Also, the article leaves out that the phone has a kill switch that defaults to kill microphone and camera. I think it is configurable but I have not tried since I like the default.
Own FP5 with CalyxOS installed. I like this setup, only battery life is not very good (not sure how it goes on official Android). BatteryGuru sais 10%/h with screen active and around 1,2 %/h idling
I recently bought the FP6 with android preinstalled and installed /e/os myself because it was cheaper that way. Installing the is is not difficult at all and there is a detailed guide availabe.
I'm pretty satisfied so far. I'm not missing any functionality except for the headphone jack, but I was willing to compromise on that. Sadly it's almost impossible to get a phone with headphone jack nowadays anyway.
I generally look for smaller phones with long battery life, and value durability and longevity over cutting edge features. In that regard, the phone is very good in my opinion. It's smaller that current flagship phones and over the holidays I even went a week without charging it, on day-to-day use I'm currently charging it every 2 to 3 days.
I can't speak about how repairable it is yet myself, but according to FP and ifixit repairs should be very easy for things like changing the battery and doable with some steady hands for more complex repairs. There are no glued down parts, everything is screwed down or clipped in and you can buy spare parts straight from the manufacturer.
Got Fairphone 5 with eos, pretty happy with it.
Been using a Fairphone 6with e/OS since basically it was launched and couldn't be happier! All my banking apps work.
I've been using a Shiftphone 8 (after upgrading from a Shiftmq 6) with the degoogled ShiftOS-L. It does the job. The removable battery is really nice since I can carry around a spare battery and quickly swap if needed. However, it is made by a small company, so updates are quite sparse. I'd like to switch to iodéOS once it gets out of beta.
Where DeAndroided phones? Gib linux.
jollaphone
Interesting that they don't cover puri.sm5 or NitroPhone, the latter having been built around GrapheneOS which the Tuta article implies is still a ways off for degoogled phones. This is actually a Pixel9a that has been modified to degoogle it, and seems like the most security-focused consumer phone I've looked at so far.
https://shop.nitrokey.com/shop/nitrophone-5a-807
Useful article in any event, thanks.
Purism is American does not run Android, and the NitroPhone is a rebranded Pixel with Graphene and disconnected sensors. Useful for privacy, not for e.g. European independence. Not much different from a particular reselling Pixels with Graphene.
Edit: Changing my reasoning.
The OP's and article's subjects did not specify a need for the less secure Android OS. And the NitroPhone is entirely deGoogled which @goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com or others could understand by reading the linked article, rather than rushing into snark-combat.
Tuta's article was not about nonPixel phones. It was about escaping the Google ecosystem which aligns with the Nitro's purpose, along with its hardening of security by physical removal of pixel's sensors, to start. The [re-]design philosophy and methodology appear sound. If I were looking for a new, deGoogled phone now in the $900+ USD range, it would likely be my top consideration.
But again, it was an interesting article.
Lot of money for a grapheneos pixel 9a (729 euro), you kan buy them for 429 euro on. https://www.belsimpel.nl/telefoon/google
Hopefully within 2026 we can start to refer to phones as 'Android/Google Phones', 'iPhones' and 'FOSS Phones' - No longer referring to them as 'DeGoogled'.
But I am 100% understanding why we use the term now, it came from a Reddit sub. I think (and hope) if we start using the alternative term - FOSS Phones or Open Source or Sailfish/Jolla or whatever else they are.. that people will start looking at that option quicker.
DeGoogled sounds to many like it is a bit of work to get rid of google (Buying a google phone and having to remove it). At one stage that was true, custom roms etc.
But I am hoping at this stage anyone buying any of these phones will already know why they are choosing them over other brands.
Got the volla quintus on Black Friday. Have been fucking around with the dual boot going back and forth between Ubuntu and their Volla OS since then. It’s fun and works for me.
It's also useful to have a look at this great resource: https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm
Ty, great source
Price is the biggest issue for me. Those phones cost over 600 euros while you can get Pixel 9a for 400, probably less if there's a deal (I got 8a a year ago for 250). 650 euros for a mid-range phone is a lot. 200-400 euros more just not to buy a Pixel... I will think about it.
That’s the advantage of large phone manufacturers is that they can buy in bulk.
There’s also used phones with unlocked bootloaders.
I pay to support the company and for privacy, not quality for sure. With Fairphone 6, the quality is fine for me.
Pixel 8 pro now 539 euro
It was a good offer, I know.
Are any of those available in the US?