Hi,

A friend wants to degoogle his phone, so I suggested the OS I’m currently using. The one we can’t talk about… He wants a small/compact phone, so I suggested pixel 4a (not buying second hand though), but I’m afraid that planned obsolescence may kill the phone rather soon. What’s your opinion?

Cheers and thank you for your help,

  • Imprint9816@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    4 months ago

    Pixel 5 is end-of-life and shouldn’t be used anymore due to lack of security patches for firmware and drivers.

    I understand if your friend is on a budget and simply can’t afford a non EOL phone but, they should really consider a 6th gen Pixel or better if they care at all about their data security.

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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      4 months ago

      Has there been a successful exploit against a phone with old firmware but modern Android security patches?

      • Imprint9816@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        4 months ago

        I am not sure if there is an example of that specific situation as it would be pretty odd for a phone to be receiving security patches but not firmware updates.

        Anyway its not super relevant as the Pixel 5 does not receive firmware or security patches anymore.

        OP also seems to be inferring he suggested to his friend to use a very specific security / privacy OS that does not recommend using that model phone anymore for the exact reasons I mentioned. Plus the model is only receiving partial support as a stop gap for users to have time to get a newer model and won’t be supported much longer anyway.

        • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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          4 months ago

          Custom ROMs will receive upstream Android security patches but not patches from proprietary components (firmware). For instance, my Moto g7 power has Android security patches from May but the latest vendor security patch level is 2021. (I’m running Lineage OS) I’m curious to know if the older firmware is a problem. I don’t think it is easily exploitable outside of government backdoors. Not that it matters much as I plan on keeping my phone until it dies.

  • Ilandar@aussie.zone
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    4 months ago

    Yes, that is too old for a new phone considering it’s already past its end-of-life for both official support and your OS. I’m not sure why you’d recommend them to buy new either - a phone like that is only going to be good value if you pick up a used one for cheap. A new model will be massively overpriced for what it is (and may not even be new, just refurbished and repackaged).

    • StormWalker@lemmy.zip
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      4 months ago

      Because GrapheneOS is a debatable triggering subject for some people. Basically the OS itself is amazing and very good. But the project leader is apparently arrogant and offensive. And offended a load of big known online personalities. Apparently he says his OS is the best and better then everyone else etc etc. So the question is: do you use and support a project where the product itself is amazing and just what the world needs, but where the project leader is offensive? Some say yes, some say no. = Controversial subject.

      Personally I use GrapheneOS because I need a good camera and I like having a flagship modern phone. Currently I’m using a Pixel 7 Pro. I also like the privacy and security features that graphene offer. I don’t see another project out there that can offer me the same. The product is good.

        • StormWalker@lemmy.zip
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          4 months ago

          Well yes exactly. It’s all just big personalities online that say that these things happened. Who knows really what the guy is like. A few big names online say these things about him, but I personally have never had any Interaction with him. So it could all be true, or partly true, or not at all. I guess no smoke without fire… but there is always 2 sides to every story.