Privacy

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Is pixel 4a too old for a new phone? (self.privacy)

submitted 5 months ago by Dop to c/[email protected]

117 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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,

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

4a is end of life already, so no firmware updates from Google. GrapheneOS has legacy builds available for it but doesn't recommend using them, and they might go away anytime soon

get a used device which is still properly supported, don't buy brand new e-waste

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

You could just jot use Graphene OS. They create ewaste just as much as Android. Lineage OS will run on 8 year old phones.

[–] Misk 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I have a 4a running graphene and I love it but after 3+ years the battery life is shot. I really didn't want to buy any of the new pixels because they are all too big and I hate big phones. I was thinking of just buying a new 4a and installing graphene again (because got forbid making a phone where you can just swap out the battery in this day and age) but are you saying this would be a bad idea at this point? Like even if they keep graphene up to date the phone will still be outdated (and therefore vulnerable) at the kernel/hardware level?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

yes and P4a is already one major GOS/Android version behind, it's only getting "extended legacy support" releases. i.e. security fixes are merged and backported where possible, but it's overall not the best setup and they recommend to switch asap.

I'm pretty sure GOS will drop Android 13 (and therefore P4a) as soon as they release Android 15, since the team won't be maintaining three major Android versions.

CalyxOS ported Android 14 to P4a, so you might squeeze an additional year or so out of it if you switch.

I'd either replace the battery in the old P4a, or get a newer model with 7y software support. But buying a new 4a is probably not your best possible move