Murena 2 is a de-Googled Android phone with a privacy kill switch that disconnects mic and camera

celmit@lemmy.ca to Android@lemmy.world – 339 points –
Murena 2 is a de-Googled Android phone with a privacy kill switch that disconnects mic and camera (crowdfunding) - Liliputing
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Better off with a used pixel and grapheneos

Poorly yes. Even though

  • no headphone jack
  • super expensive
  • damn huge
  • no SD card slot
  • no hardware switches
  • repairable? Idk
  • yeah no headphone jack is a bummer
  • a used pixel is cheaper than than
  • my pixel 5 seems pretty small, but idk what they are now or what that is so you're probably right
  • even bigger bummer than no headphone jack imo
  • I don't think those are that important, a piece of tape over the camera is fine imo
  • you're probably right there too, I wish fairphone could run grapheneos 😞

Fairphones have no secure element. The devs may be annoying, but what they dont do for a second is waste time.

Hmm, camera maybe but tape? Also microphone is not that easy. GPS, phone antennas and internet antennas are also way shadier

Fairphone uses the latest snapdragon. Unless qualcomm messed up, their processors do support and have supported secure element for a while. What you probably meant was a dedicated secure element chip. That's present on tensor but not on most other smartphones.

Fairphone uses Qualcomm snapdragon chips but they don't use chips made for mobile phones, it's chips for industrial use they buy, so the secure element might be missing. The reason is: they are supported for way longer which allows fairphone such long update periods. The shortlist of other phonemakers who can do the same are the ones who design their own chips: Google, Samsung, Apple.

Qualcomm does list this chip for enterprise grade use and updates for multiple years to come on android. The block diagram has a box labelled security. If the chip was as insecure as people claim, it couldn't be used for biometrics much, if at all.

I wasn't meaning to fault the grapheneos devs, like you said it's fairphones fault for not making it possible 😞

How is a security element wasting time?

Huh? GrapheneOS is not wasting time with features or supporting phones that are not secure to their standards (meaning basically impossible to hardware-crack, which is NOT everyones requirement)

Add very shitty on-screen-fingerprint reader to that list...

Yeah I really dont want to upgrade my pixel 5 for a 6 for many reasons but that is a big one

Pixels are some of the cheapest phones

Not in my experience? A new Pixel 8 costs like 800€, thats like 600€ more than I would consider appropriate for a phone. All these prices are made up

Pixel 8 has full support from google until 2030. Know of any current phones going for under 800 bucks with anywhere near that support lifetime?

Also, the pixel 7a is supported until 2026 and is $500. Both prices are quite reasonable for a computing device you're going to carry around for at least the next three years.

In this case a Pixel 8 is the only real option poorly. How can a phone just last 3 years from now on? Thats crazy...