So my roommate has informed me that Android and Motorola donate to Republicans more than Democrats whereas Apple does not, claiming this as a reason that the iPhone is better than an Android phone. While I could find statistics confirming the fact about Motorola, I don’t even know what they were referring to when they mentioned Android and I tried looking for “Android” and “Android Foundation” and came up with nothing. If they’re referring to the fact that Android, while it’s an open sourced project, is maintained by Google, I’m already aware of that and would like to de-google my phone as much as possible (note: my phone is a Motorola Moto G Power (2022)). I however couldn’t find any stats to support the Apple claim and my roommate has yet to provide me with any sources.
In any case, for my next phone, I’d like to move to a more privacy-focused phone. I’ve heard about the Fairphone, but re this comment, I’m slightly dissuaded from getting one when it comes to the US. I got a Motorola phone in following the advice of this post regarding the safety of the hardware used, but I might want to switch off of the phone when it comes time to upgrade to a new one down the line.
I’m not sure what to go with, so feel free to give me tips on that. Also I’ve wanted to install an alternative OS on my phone but all the ones I’ve seen aren’t compatible with my phone at the moment.
I am very satisfied with my Fairphone 3. I still get monthly security updates. I can easily unlock the bootloader and install any alternative ROM I desire. I can repair any broken part without having to unglue something. But it also seems to be the most robust phone I have used in years. There’s a reason a used Fairphone is as expensive as a new one.
If you really want to go all-in on privacy a Pinephone or Librem 5 would be options but they have their own bag of problems. They are better suited for tinkering.
And regarding the comment on firmware updates of the parts themselves, that is a general computing problem that seems to be the worst with single board computers like smartphones. The solution would be parts with support for open firmware but they are almost impossible to find. I think Fairphone is going a good middle ground. I don’t expect there to be any phone where this is better.
Unfortunately the Fairphone isn’t available for sale in a lot of countries yet.