Cheaper options than Graphene?
Update:
I wanna thank everyone for the advice, I'm shipping the bunk phone back for refund today and ive got my eye on a few from swappa and back market for when I get the money to buy.
I'll probably try out graphene but after looking into crdroid I'm pretty stoked about it having all the customization I've been wanting for ages. Which ever feels cleaner to manage and easier for the family to pick up will probably be the go to.
So I fell for the classic blunder and ended up with a pixel that's not OEM unlocked despite being advertised as such. After a few hours of searching it looks like the only way I'm getting an OEM unlocked pixel is full price from Google itself. I don't have $400 for a new phone, I bought the one I have for $150 in 2019.
Are there any cheaper ways to get control of my phone?
like this
heiligerbimbam
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Postmortal_Pop
in reply to heiligerbimbam • • •rb411
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Ulrich
in reply to rb411 • • •like this
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SatyrSack
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •USA only, but Swappa is often recommend online. I see a few here listed as unlocked
swappa.com/listings/google-pix…
Postmortal_Pop
in reply to SatyrSack • • •SatyrSack
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •The international model is
GVU6C, which I believe is the model that is sold directly by Google, which is always unlockable. There are several of those on Swappa.phonemore.com/models/google/pi…
Google Pixel 7 - Models and versions
www.phonemore.comfloofloof
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Postmortal_Pop
in reply to floofloof • • •krolden
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Unlocked Pixel for sale | eBay
eBayfloofloof
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •SomeLemmyUser
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •I bought a refurbished pixel 6a for 200€ from a local store with 2 years guarantee. Using it since 3-4 years and am happy.
Maybe think about a used/refurbished one?
Postmortal_Pop
in reply to SomeLemmyUser • • •SomeLemmyUser
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Because at my City the first used stuff store i went to had it. But maybe thats different in different markets.
Postmortal_Pop
in reply to SomeLemmyUser • • •SomeLemmyUser
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •:/
HM that sucks. You could go with a phone with lineage OS support, not as secure but at least without bloatware from what I understand.
Or save and try to snipe a good deal on some marketplace
Postmortal_Pop
in reply to SomeLemmyUser • • •SomeLemmyUser
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Often its just stuff getting Into the port so the cable doesn't fit anymore all the way
Postmortal_Pop
in reply to SomeLemmyUser • • •Oh regularly. I've been keeping this guy alive for years. The issue looks to be that the port itself is beginning to seperate and the blu g91s isn't all that repairable.
I've been carrying it around long enough that the whole phone has a ~3° warp to it from my jeans holding it too tightly to my thigh. If you sit it glass down on a flat surface it wobbles like a bad table.
blackbrook
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •I will bet a lot of the listings you are looking at really are OEM unlocked, they are just not clear about it. I bought a refurbished pixel 7 pro on Amazon in 2023 for $234. The listing just says "service provider: unlocked". I installed graphene on it.
That said, I see a subsequent review on this listing commissioning that the received phone was not carrier unlocked, so I guess you have to be prepared for some trial and error and returns.
I would broaden your eBay search to just "unlocked" and then maybe message sellers to verify the kind of unlocked state.
Possibly something here is useful: discuss.grapheneos.org/d/13146…
Any way to tell if a sealed in box Pixel is OEM unlockable? - GrapheneOS Discussion Forum
GrapheneOS Discussion Forumartyom
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •🏴☠️𝔊𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔰🏴☠️
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Not unlockable means you can never have complete control of that device unfortunately.
You could return the phone to whomever lied about it being oem unlocked. Pixel 6 used is around $150, 7 go for about $220. Use a service like swappa so you have some assurance you will get what you pay for this time.
hexagonwin
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Ignoranceisnotabliss
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •like this
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Postmortal_Pop
in reply to Ignoranceisnotabliss • • •BigBolillo
in reply to Ignoranceisnotabliss • • •exu
in reply to BigBolillo • • •BigBolillo
in reply to exu • • •Lytia
in reply to Ignoranceisnotabliss • • •dx1
in reply to Lytia • • •sobchak
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •sic_semper_tyrannis
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •electric_nan
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Postmortal_Pop
in reply to electric_nan • • •electric_nan
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •☂️-
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Postmortal_Pop
in reply to ☂️- • • •☂️-
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •almost any phone that can have its bootloader unlocked has lineage available. to make sure it's well supported, try to find one from their officially supported list.
a lot of cheap motorolas or xiaomis in there.
or an older pixel, might be cheaper and still supported by graphene.
Telex
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •shiftymccool
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Auli
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •relaymoth
in reply to Auli • • •Postmortal_Pop
in reply to Auli • • •Octagon9561
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Postmortal_Pop
in reply to Octagon9561 • • •I ended up finding one on backmarket, should be here soon. Hadn't heard of them or swappa before this thread.
I'm not too invested in the security side of things, it's just the nice fat cherry on being able to genuinely own my next phone.
Octagon9561
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •Postmortal_Pop
in reply to Octagon9561 • • •Octagon9561
in reply to Postmortal_Pop • • •