Any cheap way to try the OS on some device before investing in a Pixel phone?

raccoondad

Blastoidea I don't know how Best Buys customer service is, but Googles is absolutely top notch.

It feels odd giving them so much credit, but honestly I never had a bad experience working with them. Getting my phone upgraded for free also made me soften up to them a bit.

I'm sure best buy is similar, I just found Google to be very responsive in their customer service (you can have them call you or text them through the help desk)

Never used Best Buys customer service however, I wonder if you could use Googles help desk since its a Pixel device

ve3jlg

raccoondad I don't know how Best Buys customer service is, but Googles is absolutely top notch.

I have seen many horror stories about very poor Google customer relations in reddit.com/r/googlepixel; That said, people tend to post complaints.

commodore64

ultome I purchased my Pixel 6 Pro from https://www.ebay.com/str/thegizmotrader I followed their inventory for a couple weeks and found the details listed for their items very helpful . They clearly indicate the carrier the phone will work with and whether it is "Network Unlocked" (meaning carrier unlocked) of if it is "Factory Unlocked" (meaning OEM unlocked). You'll want factory/oem unlocked. They have several high resolution pictures of each Pixel and all from the same angels for comparison. Prices seem reasonable and I received it quickly. I'm very happy with the phone I purchased and with GOS.

I would not buy one with GOS installed. The GOS installation guide is very detailed and easy to follow.

Hope this is helpful.

Bouzenzel

raccoondad
Can I use older devices for installation ! Like a pixel 1 or pixel 2xl !?

raccoondad

Bouzenzel No idea I wouldn't think so

missing-root

Bouzenzel

https://grapheneos.org/install/web#prerequisites

Only lists Android 11 as minimum

Dumdum

Bouzenzel
Doing so would be pointless as you would be missing newer features available on the up to date versions, and therefore not get a proper taste of GOS.

TheGodfather

Bouzenzel

missing-root I can't find it ! Can you elaborate please

Bouzenzel

Dumdum I'm already a user of GOS in a pixel 6a for 14 months and I loved it .. I want to buy a secondary device for my work sim and I don't want to invest too much money that's why I'm asking, if possible I want to buy a 2XL and GOS it.

[deleted]

There is nothing like trying out GrapheneOS. You either run it or you don't. It is only available for currently supported devices. You are welcome to build your own and maintain it, but that is not GrapheneOS anymore as are any adulterated "security/privacy" forks of GrapheneOS. If you want to have a first hand experience with this amazing OS and you are tight on a budget, get yourselves a used OEM unlockable currently supported device with a lowest price tag (can not recommend anything below P6) and once convinced you can upgrade. It will provide you with top of the class security and privacy features out of the box. Not to forget to mention that choice of your habits and apps you are running are just as important as the environment you use them in.

raccoondad

Bouzenzel The Google Pixel 2 has long past its end of life, I would not recommend using one

Blastoidea

Bouzenzel
This raises the question “Is GOS on an EOL (unsupported) phone better or worse than stock Google Android of whatever version?

Better or worse = more secure or less secure.

archvile77

Geert this is a good way to go about this if you are unsure. Possibly the best way. Another route is swappa.com, though they have been inundated with cell phone reselling companies lately (used to just be other individuals you'd buy and sell from, you can still do that but you have to do a bit of digging).
I've been on GOS since August of last year and have yet to find any reason to pull me away from it. I greatly enjoy the enhanced feeling of security, and privacy, but a lot of the privacy stuff also comes from using self-hosted platforms and not anything cloud-based. But all of that works with Graphene. The only thing I really miss out on is certain apps that run push notifications through GCM/Firebase (I don't and won't put google play services on here). To me, its worth the trade-off.
Minimize phone time and distractions. Maximize real-world time and interactions.
That's my motto, and GOS helps me with that in so many different ways.

Bouzenzel

Blastoidea of course better !! Give me GOS anyway anytime am OK with it !

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