My old phone’s battery has given up the ghost. Can someone recommend a current generation smartphone, preferably Android, that strikes a good balance between usability and privacy? I’m also fine with an Android phone that’s not that great with privacy out of the box, but has good support for third party ROMs like Lineage or Copperhead. Even better if the phone’s chassis and battery can just unscrew so I can replace it myself.
I’ve looked into the Pinephone and other Linux-only phones, but I’d like to wait until the app ecosystem is more mature. At least with Android I can use the F-droid apps for privacy consciousness.
Samsung Galaxy S9 is best LineageOS supported phone that I know of, with features like water proof, small size(good for single hand use), good camera… Only bad feature on S9 is edge screen(but you get used to it), and glued battery (still not too difficult to replace or take to professionals for less than 100€. Might lose water proof if you replace the battery).
Installing Lineage was bit more difficult than previous phones I have done, but doable by following instructions and repeating them as things act wrong.
You need global model, not sure about carrier locking other than mine which was “DUOS” and it did work, found mine used year ago for ~300€.