I'll only buy devices with GrapheneOS

jonas

I've been using GrapheneOS for a few months and I've been really happy about it, so I wrote I short blog post I'd appreciate some feedback on: https://www.jonashietala.se/blog/2025/08/28/ill_only_buy_devices_with_grapheneos/

de0u

jonas It's clearly written and I suspect people will find it encouraging.

The "Pixel devices, the big drawback with GrapheneOS" section doesn't say why it is that at present only Pixels are supported. The issue is that a device needs strong security hardware that is usable by a non-OEM OS. Some devices have relockable bootloaders but not good hardware security, and for others it's reversed. This is detailed in a FAQ entry, and linking to that might be useful.

Xtreix

jonas Your article was shared on the GrapheneOS Discord several days ago. I enjoyed reading it overall. The part about the Pixel hardware was explained by @de0u as you read.

de0u

jonas I see that you added an update about device security requirements to your blog post. Thanks!

P.S. I think "lagg" should be "lag".

dc32f0cfe84def651e0e

de0u Some devices have relockable bootloaders but not good hardware security

Would you mind to list them, please? I'm curious.

jonas

de0u The "Pixel devices, the big drawback with GrapheneOS" section doesn't say why it is that at present only Pixels are supported. The issue is that a device needs strong security hardware that is usable by a non-OEM OS. Some devices have relockable bootloaders but not good hardware security, and for others it's reversed. This is detailed in a FAQ entry, and linking to that might be useful.

Thank you, that's a good call.

I've made a small update to the post.

de0u

dc32f0cfe84def651e0e I am unaware of an organized list of determined-to-be-deficient devices (let alone with reasons for each device). Given the number of Android phones that are shipped each year, keeping such a list up to date would be difficult, and it's not clear it would be valuable.

People often inquire about Fairphone support, so I think there a lot of threads mentioning that. And I think there are a lot of threads discussing MediaTek devices. So these web searches might be fruitful:

site:discuss.grapheneos.org fairphone
site:discuss.grapheneos.org mediatek

I don't think the GrapheneOS team is overlooking any devices that meet the requirements in that FAQ entry.