Originalcahummer Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet but 5a is long known for this issue of the black screen and not working again after. It could easily just be a coincidence it happened while looking at an email.

    DeletedUser55 "So I literally cut the phone in tiny pieces and tossed it out."

    I believe this would be considered hardware failure now /j

    My own Pixel 5a had a similar issue btw, Google confirmed it was a hardware failure. I would recommend contacting Google for a replacement assuming warrently is still valid, I don't believe they will take the phone in the condition it is in now.

    The 5a had a lot of issues, Google paid TWICE for repairs, including giving me a 6a for free. I quite liked Google for doing that.

      I tgink its much more likely your old 5a failed from that known dead scrn defect. Much more likely then you got a specific malware email that was able to brick your phone.

      LocaLola you are shooting yourself in the foot with what you present here, but I guess you have never been here for security matters which neither your laptop nor your feature phone will provide on the level latest Pixels with GrapheneOS do. In any case, good luck and stay safe out there.

          DeletedUser55 Your device had a hardware failure. It's no in any way the fault of GrapheneOS and has nothing to do with malware. Pixel 5a is an end-of-life, insecure device without ongoing support. It doesn't have current GrapheneOS and stopped receiving official security support since September 2024. You would have needed to replace the device either way, and you weren't using the current GrapheneOS on it.

              LocaLola Android 15 is very stable. Your claims of hardware issues on Pixels being worse than other devices is inaccurate and completely unsubstantiated. Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5 are insecure, end-of-life devices without support from the current GrapheneOS. Your claims about privacy and security are nonsense. You do not know what you're talking about. Your claims about switching phones yearly are total nonsense. The phones have 7 years of support from launch. It was your choice to buy near end-of-life devices rather than phones with long term support. You chose to waste your money, especially moving from a 5th generation Pixel (Pixel 4a (5G)) to another 5th generation Pixel without longer support (Pixel 5).

                GrapheneOS Thank you, that gives me a bit more piece of mind.
                For security sake, I know not to touch attachments unless I trust them. I know not to click anything unless I trust the source. 90% of the time I can spot spam that leaks past the filters. The other 10% I catch when I open the email.
                Just to be clear, can I get malware from opening an email?

                    @LocaLola It's incredibly strange that you bought a device that's end-of-life for over a year as a replacement for a device launched alongside it with nearly identical hardware. You could have gotten a Pixel 8a with 7 years of support from the recent launch. You chose to have another end-of-life device that's not even newer than what you already had. You chose to buy another device from the less reliable earlier generations before the Pixel 6. Devices have 7 years of support, not 1, but you choose to waste your money while not ending up with the basics for privacy or security. Your issues are self-inflicted. You're wasting your money and you do not have basic privacy or security. You'd be far better off simply using an older iPhone. These kinds of posts are heavily contributing to us ending legacy extended support sooner rather than later because having it available clearly does serious harm to people. We'll most likely drop web installer support for them very soon and phase out publishing the factory images.

                    You can harm yourself if you want, but you won't be harming other people with your misinformation. When your current 1 week suspension ends, do not recommend using end-of-life devices again, don't downplay the risks of not having privacy/security patches or don't make any further false claims about support time or unsubstantiated claims about hardware reliability. Stop telling people using an insecure feature phone without any options for secure communication is better for their privacy/security. Those devices don't even have basic privacy/security patches or privacy/security defenses. They're entirely reliant on non-private carrier-based communications. There's nothing private or secure about those. You were not suspended due to your ignorance about privacy and security but rather because you are promoting that ignorance to other people and harming anyone who falls for your inaccurate claims.

                      DeletedUser55

                      Just to be clear, can I get malware from opening an email?

                      You cannot simply get malware from opening an email or site. An attacker would need to exploit a vulnerability in the app or OS. Opening a website, email, etc. exposes the app and OS to attack surface which could be exploited. You have an insecure end-of-life device which we strongly discourage people from using due to lack of many important privacy and security patches. However, it's near certain that has absolutely nothing to do with the hardware failure you experienced. That was almost certainly just caused by worn out hardware with faults which finally gave out from the burden of continued usage. It makes sense that a device would die when triggering an action using the hardware more than while idling rather than dying while idle. If your device had been successfully exploited, you would not know. The attacker would now have your data and control over your phone. There's no reason that you would see any signs of it. You should avoid using an end-of-life device to avoid that scenario, but what you experienced is not connected to it.

                          8 days later

                          DeletedUser69
                          I fail to see how a laptop or a feature phone would be in any way comparable to a Pixel, not only in terms of security and privacy.
                          I believe none of the software I rely on professionally can be installed on a phone, and I also need two screens (one extra with my laptop), a full-sized keyboard, and a few other things. I also almost never use wireless connections (anywhere). And that's just work. Phones also famously cannot store huge amounts of data.
                          A feature phone is above all small and very, very portable. Even a P5 cannot compete with that, and the latest Pixels are proper bricks. Sure it has no security or privacy to speak of.... but it also has no internet capability, no GPS, no Android. No zero-click attacks. I'm also not an idiot and will not discuss anything on the phone (not any phone) that I consider sensitive. Mundane stuff, yes. Hardly any SMS, as it's very impractical, and even those mostly deleted immediately.
                          P5 to accompany a feature phone only as a camera, an alarm, GPS, etc. Nothing else. Hardly any sensitive data (if any at all). Almost never going online. A P5 without a case still fits into all my pockets. No later ones do. Even my P4a 5G (in a case) only fits into some. Why I use it? Jack port, and very good call quality. The P5's top speaker is under the screen so call quality is terrible (I tested it), and it doesn't have a jack port.
                          Have you tried listening to music on a recent Pixel with wired headphones using an ethernet connection? I never use Bluetooth and very rarely use Wifi. Have you tried holding it in your hand for hours for navigation on a walk outdoors without a bag?
                          Have you tried actually using it as a fully functional computer for professional purposes?

                              LocaLola Sure it has no security or privacy to speak of.... but it also has no internet capability, no GPS, no Android. No zero-click attacks. I'm also not an idiot and will not discuss anything on the phone (not any phone) that I consider sensitive. Mundane stuff, yes. Hardly any SMS, as it's very impractical, and even those mostly deleted immediately.

                              You were suspended for a week for spreading misinformation and now you come back and your first comment is again - misinformation!
                              Feature phones are the worst in terms of security and privacy since they in (all cases I know of) run proprietary code that can easily be exploited and often is.
                              Just a few years ago, a variety of feature phones was found to contain preinstalled malware. Please just stop praising these devices already! No one, absolutely no one should use these.

                              Edit: deleting SMS does nothing. These can (and probably are) stored on the ISP side. Deleting them does absolutely nothing.

                                  GrapheneOS

                                  Believe me, I'd love to have a truly private and secure phone that's just right for my purposes. But such a phone DOES NOT EXIST. As in globally. I have a few practical real-world requirements for a phone beyond security and privacy that are impossible to ignore. And Pixels from the P6 upwards simply don't meet them.

                                  I need a phone that I can carry or even conceal on my person. There are no such smartphones more recent than the P5. NONE. So I need to do the best I can, and use the phone that has the best possible security and privacy and has the right size, and also has a jack port. That's my P4a 5G. Already a compromise in terms of size, as it does not fit into some of my pockets (with case). I avoid Bluetooth, and hardly ever use Wifi (because I'm not ignorant...). The P5's speaker under the screen ruins call quality and it does not have a jack port.

                                  I'm not a phone-obsessed screen addict, nor do I have any use for a big phone screen professionally. A feature phone still gives me better peace of mind about zero-click attacks (e.g. Pegasus) as it has no internet capability, nor GPS. It also fits into all my pockets, including the smallest ones. I do my best to minimise the amount of data I store on it. As it is, most people around me have far less awareness about cybersecurity than I do which does compromise my privacy and data security. I'm doing my best.

                                  Any Pixel from the 6 is too big for me to be practical. I'm really p*ssed off about the ignorance of phone manufacturers who only release phones that are oversized for many people like me, and are riddled with privacy and security issues on top, and may also cost a lot, and also have hardware issues... Thanks, but no thanks.
                                  Btw, I never said the Pixels have more hardware issues than other phones. I said that they have them. I would add that I have never owned a phone that had any hardware issues (never used an iPhone). I also never said that the P5 is as private and secure as the latest Pixels. Because it's not true.

                                  Have a look around here and on other platforms and see all the people who get frustrated with the size of Pixels and with the hardware problems. Some try various Pixels before they give up and go back to the P5. At their own risk, since neither Google nor the GOS project has any interest in smaller phones P5-sized), apparently. I personally also have something against financing Google by buying new phones from them, but that may only be me.

                                  Based on what I'm reading here, my phone use is far more conservative than it is for many. I will never say a P5 is in any way "better" than a P9. But let's also not ignore the fact that much like driving an armoured SUV or wearing the safest boots around even if they are a few sizes too big, the latest Pixels don't work for everyone. And without any support for the P5 and P4a 5G by the GOS project, they may even opt for other phones and OS. Not because they want to, but because they have to.

                                  This of course does not apply to people who's life literally depends on the privacy and security of their phone.

                                    LocaLola A feature phone is above all small and very, very portable. [...] Sure it has no security or privacy to speak of.... but it also has no internet capability, no GPS, no Android. No zero-click attacks.

                                    In many countries all cellular phones are required to have GPS. And disabling GPS only reduces the precision of a cellular network's ability to localize.

                                    Any cellular phone supporting VoLTE (which in many countries is all cellular phones) contains code that uses Internet protocols to make and receive calls.

                                    I believe that all cellular network operators are moving toward requiring all phones, including feature phones, to support GPS and VoLTE. For better or worse!

                                        DeletedUser87

                                        Thanks for this. I honestly do appreciate it. I keep learning.
                                        I can however confirm to you - as it was confirmed to me by a source I trust - that the kind of remotely deployed military grade spy software that i ran the risk of attracting for a while simply did not work on feature phones. This is not a theory. It comes from field experience. That was the reason why I switched to a feature phone for a while.
                                        It was also confirmed to me that said spy software was successfully contained by Gen5 Pixels as long as the SMS app's permissions were set properly (as in: removed). leaving only network permission on meant the app sent home all SMS data.

                                        I'd really appreciate if you were more specific about what feature phones in what countries were affected, and in what ways, and also how a feature without internet capability and GSP that's never linked to a computer can send any data anywhere. None of the data on my former feature phone was ever very sensitive. I even mind what I say on the phone, I never say where I will be or where I am if I think that's sensitive information.

                                            de0u

                                            That's useful info thanks. One phone I used did have VoLTE capability, but the one I use now as a second phone does not (as far as I know). It definitely does not have GPS.

                                            If the carrier can exploit the phones vulnerabilities that's bad, but also currently at least not my main concern. This may well change if my carrier is compromised. And a phone's location can be identified anyway as you say...you don't need GPS for that. I'm not in a situation at the moment where giving up using a SIM card altogether would be needed. If I think I'll need it, I'll adjust. But even then, I'm afraid the fact remains that a huge brick of a phone does not work for me.

                                            Until then, I remain very conservative in my phone use, and keep my eyes on my environment at all times.

                                              LocaLola internet capability

                                              feature phones do have internet capabilities. Just because you can't see them in the GUI, doesn't mean they don't exist. Everything else is already answered by the article I linked. The software you mentioned doesn't need to run on a feature phone, since the lack of any security measures means that threat actors can just siphon off everything at the ISP level.

                                                  de0u

                                                  While we're at it, my ideal phone would be a small simple phone that's encrypted and smart enough to protect my data but not smart enough to be exploited, without internet capabilities, without anything. Just bare bones phone functionality executed to the highest possible standard of security and privacy. It wouldn't be bad to have a smarter, also relatively small device that could be connected to it to provide some useful smart functions... but again, in a way that's very difficult to exploit. I'll like a simple efficient solution. The more complicated a system is, the easier it is to exploit.

                                                    DeletedUser87

                                                    I avoid Chinese tech as much as possible, and I'm not in Russia. Nor have I ever owned any phone mentioned in the article. It is interesting though, and I'm not surprised at all.
                                                    As I was saying, I'm very conservative with my phone use, so even if this happens, the data sent over will be minimal. Useful for some I'm sure, but very limited.

                                                      I have learned a lot about security just by using graphene OS and interacting with the community. You will find that is the case, at least it should be. I have been using on and off for 3 or 4 years. I have no plans to use anything else, and I am trying to see how I can get myself to not use my iPhone anymore. My likely second phone will be another pixel. If you are going to buy another pixel, get at least a Pixel 8. You will be able to enable memory tagging for each individual app.