Arg, it’s so frustrating. Punkt isn’t a smartphone. The rest are just shipping with Android OS so we’re still in the US walled garden. I REALLY wish the EU would put proper investment into Jolla. Mandate banking apps work on an EU specific phone provider, give people a real alternative.
I can’t expect the average person to take on the pain of moving to Sailfish in the hope enough demand means banks would naturally move to an EU alternative. But do please move to Jolla/Sailfish!
Conclusion
The reviewed phone makers – Volla, Fairphone, Shift and Punkt – focus on producing deGoogled phones with a deGoogled OS preinstalled. It’s great to see the trend of going Google-free growing, and it’s a strong push-back against Google’s strategy of killing Android freedom and of making it impossible to install any app from any app store on Android.
That’s not a very useful conclusion
It sound like something AI written but with some human intervention to make it look like less odd.
Don’t quote me on that thoughThat’s just how Germans write
Remind for myseld in 70 years:
Don’t reincarnate as german
/jk
that though
.
As an American, this is mostly a nonstarter, but right now, the only alternative that really intrigues me is the Jolla Phone (which I invariably have to look up to make sure I’m not getting it mixed up with Volla), because it’s the only one that isn’t just running a custom Android ROM. We need a true, viable alternative to Android and iOS and, to me, a de-googled ROM is only a half measure. Furthermore, the alternative needs to be free and open source, and community-driven.
Makes me wish I’d gone into software development 25 years ago because now I can only wish I could be the change I want to see in the world.
While Jolla phones aren’t running Android, they sadly still require the Android kernel.
Price is the biggest issue for me. Those phones cost over 600 euros while you can get Pixel 9a for 400, probably less if there’s a deal (I got 8a a year ago for 250). 650 euros for a mid-range phone is a lot. 200-400 euros more just not to buy a Pixel… I will think about it.
That’s the advantage of large phone manufacturers is that they can buy in bulk.
There’s also used phones with unlocked bootloaders.
I pay to support the company and for privacy, not quality for sure. With Fairphone 6, the quality is fine for me.
if you can use your banking app on it or not.
If not, change the bank (and tell them why). This is the sustainable way.
I remember people saying this about Windows Phone. It’s a nice idea, but reality is that most banks will be happy to let the small percentage of users that make this request leave.
How do I know if my bank allows that before I switch? Also, how many other apps might not work on the new system?
You could ask them.
Due to regulatory restrictions (second factor must be bound to a certified hardware), I think all German banks use integrity checks for devices (SafetyNet/Play Integrity). Those will usually fail on rooted devices (unless you get lucky with magisk) or won’t work at all in the first place.
IMHO, german banking apps are really the end boss.
If you have one of these phones be great to hear some personal experiences.
Got Fairphone 5 with eos, pretty happy with it.
I have had a Fairphine 6 running e/os for several months now, and I could not be happier. Fully de googled, but all apps I’ve needed run perfectly fine. Also I get around 40 hours of battery, so I charge the phone only every other day for about an hour.
40 hours of battery?
You mean on standby?
No I mean with day to day use, watching videos, listening to podcasts, scrolling through Lemmy, messaging, etc…
I rarely call though.
That doesn’t surprise me. I have an android based MP3 player that is just an old stripped down version of android with a battery size half that of my phone and it lasts 4x as long because it isn’t running nearly as much bullshit.
I can confirm this. I have gone longer than that I think. I noticed my battery still at 97% when I plugged to charger before bed recently. It’s amazing.
Shame on tuta for the headline. Sure, they’re European companies, but according to the article everything except the Volla phone is made in China.
Per the article, the Volla phone starts manufacturing in Taiwan (which I 100% support) and then finishes in Germany so that’s the only one of these that I’d actually consider.
A big thing about the Fairphone is ensuring proper compensation to the entire production chain for the phone.
When it comes to electronics its essentially impossible not to have it go through China, and even if it does not go through China, there is no guarantee that workers are not being exploited. So making sure that there is no exploitation in the production processes is more important for me than avoiding China altogether.
