There is no date of arrival for the motorola yet. I only read beginning of 2027. That could also be delayed. And if it is a phone with underwhelming specs, I wouldn’t want to buy it either. But buying a pixel now means not buying a motorola soon.
If you understand what graphene is for and you need that then you wont wait.
Even if you don’t understand what graphene is for or if you need it and are trying to make a decision: graphene on new and used pixel phones works as expected now. It has been tested and proven against many different intelligence and surveillance apparatus. Motorolas new phone may not come out at all (it’s more likely than you might think!), may not end up supporting graphene (or graphene may not end up supporting it!) or it may have serious flaws that need to be addressed (it is a new hardware platform after all!).
If you need it now don’t wait.
If you want GrapheneOS without funding Google, why not get a secondhand Pixel?
This is what I did but you do need to be careful with it - in the US ar least you can’t unlock the bootloader on a Verizon-issued pixel which are very common. Always ask the seller where they got it from, since most wouldn’t be technical enough to check the bootloader for you
This is very important and deserves its own post. Resellers typically either don’t specify or don’t know if the bootloader is unlockable on a Pixel so the buyer has to find out for themselves. Sadly “Unlocked” in an eBay post often refers to the carrier rather than the bootloader. Thanks for mentioning this!
Yep I made this mistake but luckily was able to return the phone via backmarket. Was more educated the second buy and am happy with the phone.
you’re still supporting google if you still do this via resale value.
and that’s why i’m waiting for motorola
How many GOS users are out there, you think? They have zero impact on the resale value.
They’re the small potatoes along for the ride – a majority will stick w android and I don’t want to add to the clusterfuck anymore than I already have.
How does resale value “support Google”?
The same way it helps any brand that people think it’s premium – via reale prices that support the artificial belief that the perceived value is higher than its intrinsic one.
That doesn’t seem to be true in practice.
People on the secondhand market seem to be more drawn to other “premium” brands and to features that are less important for a smartphone than security (e.g. camera zoom).
Most places I’ve looked, secondhand Pixels are priced similarly to or lower than other brands’ secondhand “flagship” phones of similar age - even though Pixels have a killer feature the others lack: security hardware to run GrapheneOS.
Google phone sales don’t even register as change
I’ve had to accept that I’m too careless to have expensive phones, and I don’t need new hardware, so I’m staying at the oldest supported pixel and upgrading in that area second-hand. Currently I have a pixel 6a (with a cracked screen…), but might move to a pixel 8 next year. Somehow I wish I could support Fairphone, but I keep reading things like people having issues with it and I want my phone to “just work”, and graphene has been great for that.
I second this post. I’m stil on Pixel 5 accepting the risk that comes with it. But why should i get rid of a working phone. This is insane. We are creating so much waste just to fuel the capitalists extravagant life. This is why i cant wait to see linux on phone. It will mean dumping Google forever
I’m hopeful. I want my next phone without Google or Samsung - and I really hope Motorola will deliver their promises.
And also that the upcoming phone have to have an extendable storage for me to buy. It is my main principle - unfortunately I had to give up on headphone jacks…Buy it now if you’re ready to make the switch. That timeline sounds a bit optimistic. Last I heard Motorola had confirmed they’re working with GOS on bringing a phone to market, but no release date has been announced, unless I’m mistaken.
It’s a great OS. IMO, it works better than most OEM Android OS’s, aside from a handful of quirks and a few app issues. I get that buying a Pixel seems antithetical, but it’s really just a hardware “shell” for GrapheneOS.
Even if the Motorola GOS phones arrive as soon as you hope, keep in mind it’s an initial launch. It may not be as smooth or stable as the current Pixel GOS experience.
I will wait for Motorola.
FWIW, am using a pixel 7 pro, and don’t feel any need for higher specs. Though I’m not doing any kind of demanding gaming.
Same here on a 7A, which is slower than the pro version. Although OP should know that the 7 series is stopping support in 1-2 years: https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-lifetime
7a user here. I think the device is getting slower and I have very minimal apps installed almost none aftermarket. Only 2 extra profiles set to run only when active. Minimal background usage and still its slowish. The battery is decent still so long as it’s used like a phone and not browsing much or on dimmer brightness. It’s ok.
I think ram and cpu are the same on 7,7a, and 7pro. It’s just camera, battery, screen, and misc that differ I think.
You’re not missing anything whatsoever. I got a great deal on a lightly used Pixel 10 Pro and other than the telephoto camera lens (which is admittedly nice) there is literally no functional difference I notice day to day from my previous Pixel 7 (not pro).
Aside from how the phones actually compare, I think it’d be good to show there is a market for a factory graphene phone. I want companies to see the difference (financially) when they start taking privacy and other pro consumer ideas seriously.
Unless I needed a replacement now, I would wait. It’ll be the first phone designed with GOS in mind but also Motorola’s recent track record isn’t amazing. I’m also hoping they have multiple phones supporting GOS. If initial reviews aren’t great, then refurbished Pixel it is.
I’ll on the opposite side: will the Moto GOS be more affordable than a Pixel one? It seems they’ll go the way of the Signature and beyond
What specs do you need? The cheapest GrapheneOS compatible phone you can get for before the Motorola release is a Pixel 6a, or 7/7 Pro if you need better specs. I use a Pixel 6 Pro and the specs are fine if it weren’t losing support in October. If you want more longetivy get a Pixel 8.
The 10 pro still has graphene support. It’ll be on sale here in a little while because the pro 11 is launching (same with their other variants, I think). Unless we get a for sure launch date for the graphene moto phones, I’d pull the trigger on a new pixel.
Has there been any rumor of Google stopping GOS?
GOS came out with a statement detailing the continuation of Pixel support.
https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/114670995130379882
https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices
They say it’s harder and harder to get AOSP and the Pixel 11 series have an upgraded ‘more secure’ proprietary chip set so they are unsure how long they will be able to continue support.
Man, that’s such a bummer to hear. If only there was a Linux alternative.
Oh there is! https://commerce.jolla.com/pages/jolla-c2-true-linux-smartphone
Keep your eyes peeled. Maybe this is going to be the zero-point for main stream Linux phones. I’ll have mine on Tuesday!
There are Linux alternatives they just need a lot more work though before they could be used as a daily driver.
Dont buy a pixel new. 11 pro is underwhelming anyway, weak af
Swappa.com for a cheap ass used pixel…typed from my cheap ass pixel with GrapheneOS
wait like a month and the pixel price will go down to like 600 dollars. that’s what I did for my pixel 10.
It all depends on how badly you need a new phone. My current Pixel is perfectly serviceable, so I have no problem waiting to see what Motorola eventually has to offer. My current phone will almost certainly suffice until then.
With that said, if my current phone was actually broken or whatever, I would probably buy a cheap/old/used Pixel to tide me over until the Motorola reveal.
