Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 324 posts

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#12

Post by stuckinadrawer »

miki_tyler wrote: post #6
mikece wrote: post #4

Google Pixel: what you’re wanting is exactly why it was made. (Added bonus: you can shed even more bloat by installing Graphene OS, something that requires a Pixel at the moment.)

From what I know, Google typically provides support for Pixel phones for about 3 years, which is relatively shorter compared to the 5-year support period offered by Apple for iPhones. I wonder if there are better alternatives available.

For the latest Pixel phones they guarantee 5 years of support by now.

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#15

Post by Maro »

stuckinadrawer wrote: post #12
miki_tyler wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I know, Google typically provides support for Pixel phones for about 3 years, which is relatively shorter compared to the 5-year support period offered by Apple for iPhones. I wonder if there are better alternatives available.

For the latest Pixel phones they guarantee 5 years of support by now.

For the latest Pixel 6 and 7s, they guarantee 3 yrs of Android OS updates and 5 yrs of security updates:

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en#z...

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#17

Post by scscsc »

stuckinadrawer wrote: post #13

If you are in Europe you could take a look at the Fairphone 4. It's designed to last long and it's repairable as well.

I have just seen someone using such a phone.

It looks good, just a tiny bit bulky.

Not sure on how it will do long term.

My OnePlus has been serving me well for more than 3 years now.

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#18

Post by bobsmooth »

sphars wrote: post #5

Honestly, the Pixel phones are probably the best compromise between your requirements. While Samsung gets slightly longer support, the bloatware, IMO, is just too much (depends on your definition of bloatware though). Plus the Pixels are first for latest Android and are generally well-supported with third-party ROMs (Lineage, Graphene, AOSP, etc). So my suggestion is the Pixels, (the "a" series for a less expensive c…

I like a lot of the built-in Samsung apps.

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#19

Post by jillesvangurp »

The short answer is no.

There is the Google Pixel. But it has limited updates and proprietary software for things like the camera. That camera is really nice though and it's as close as the Android experience Google intended to ship because this basically is Google's version of Android. I have the Pixel 6 and it's fine.

Nokia stays close to that but ships their own camera app. It too has limited updates that run out after a few years. Other than the camera software, it's basically "stock android". I'm not sure there even is a stock version for the camera at this point. There are plenty of alternative camera apps though. I always had a weak spot for open camera, which is nice. My previous phone was a Nokia 7 plus. The camera was not great but otherwise a fine phone.

The fairphone is probably the closest to what you want. But you are buying older hardware and at a premium. And fairphone OS is based on an older version of Android and also limited in time for updates. The updates run out at some point though they are pretty good at keeping the security patches going. Repairability is great though.

In short, long term support is hard to get. No-one seems to be willing/capable of doing that. At best you have phones that become unsupported at some point but at least allow you to install alternative firmware (without any promises or support).

Post reply on HN