this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2025
45 points (100.0% liked)
Technology
1282 readers
70 users here now
A tech news sub for communists
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Real question:
Anyone know which phone brands/manufactures are made 100% in China for Chinese population consumption primarily and 1) work in NA and 2) are easily set to English as the UI language?
I figure it may be better to just accept whatever possibility of backdoors Chinese intelligence may build into their electronics as opposed to western (mainly Israeli and US) intelligence backdoors.
I've seen some brand recommendations in the past but figured some of you nerds might have some knowledge on such things. My understanding is it's sometimes difficult to get the phones connected on NA (US) providers.
Maybe look into a Pixel and install GrapheneOS. It's not Chinese, but still a good compromise I think.
This is the recommended method by Richard Medhurst, specifically a Pixel because they have better hardware security (latest tech). Chinese manufacturers don't prioritize or worry about security at all, it's apparently just not a priority for them.
@Justice@lemmygrad.ml
Who is Richard Medhurst? And why is google the one at the forefront of safe hardware??
Edit: Because I want to get a new phone, but having Google hardware seems like too much of a cognitive dissonance for me, and I'd prefer sticking to smth Chinese, ideally.
I agree with your impression, but apparently it's really the best. With grapheneOS though and anything from google wiped, you only want the pixel for the hardware. Medhurst is an investigative journalist who covers palestine among other things. He is/was sometimes on Iran Press TV. I don't think he's an op because he's been harassed by the police several times, had his equipment seized etc.
Your phone still connects to a cell tower, satelites and even other devices when you want to use it and chinese manufacturers don't worry about security because it's not a worry in China, so the hardware doesn't have any of these features. according to him at least.
Exactly. I understand the confusion from some people who aren't as technical but thinking a Chinese phone is safer just because it isn't from an American company is not how any of this works. None of them have even remotely comparable hardware safety features than an iPhone or a Pixel does. That's not me saying Chinese phones are bad, it's just that it's not a concern in China.
This is what I did and I couldn't be happier - ironic that a phone made by Google can be the most privacy-respecting one out there with the right OS
I'd say try a fairphone with lineageOS degoogled. It's private & with driver support for ages edit: i havent had it but itll probably work
Not recommended. https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/24134-devices-lacking-standard-privacysecurity-patches-and-protections-arent-private
ah, got it. is there a private rom that works on a fairphone? (ik lineageos might do that, it can be degoogled lineage degoogled
Private? Sort of. Secure? No, and obviously if you're hacked it's not gonna be private either. Please stay far away from Fairphone. They may be good for sustainability reasons but they can't get their act together when it comes to making their devices even remotely secure. Not just that, they make a bunch of false promises about it.
Stay far away from LineageOS as well since you can't even relock the bootloader and establish secure boot.
Seriously though, simply put, anything other than an iPhone or a Pixel running GrapheneOS is a train wreck from a security standpoint. Samsung flagship phones technically rank third but it's a distant third. Keep in mind the vast majority of custom Android operating systems (they are not ROMs) will actually make things even worse.
I'm looking for alternatives from the pixel drivers being removed from the AOSP.
GrapheneOS will still be able to provide support. Google is making it more difficult but nothing that can't be worked around.
I mean, yes, but its more worrying like about 10+. I run grapheneos also.
You can read about their progress on the Pixel 10 here: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/25099-pixel-10-still-too-early-to-ask-us-when-it-will-be-supported
It will likely be supported, it just might take a while.
ok, i'm just a bit worried on it asto if itll ever be supported.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: