Wait for Pine Phone for $150 [0] or preorder Librem 5 for $649 [1]. However expect beta experience either way.
Also remember that you probably don't want to entirely cut Google out of your life, as for example Linux have Google salaried developers. But that's, I imagine, not what you meant.
Why wait for a $150 phone or preorder a $649 phone while more or less the same thing is available on a $7 phone in India? I think that $7 phone should go on sale in other countries as well, either in its current guise or - probably at a higher price - without the Google bits. It would certainly be an interesting device to use in circumstances where pricey and vulnerable smart phones don't make sense - e.g. when crossing unfriendly borders, when working outside in the dirt where that smart phone always runs the risk of being damaged or lost, etc.
Google invested in it not for it to be available without them. So I say it's not gonna happen even with higher price. They would also not like a suggestion that the same phone without their software is somehow more valuable. Also I feel that the GP asked for less hypothetical options, not more.
"Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant "
i was ok with the first phrase, the second was like grain alcohol spiking a fine bourbon.
The reason i would buy a linux phone would be to avoid having a MITM burned onto the rom of my phone. The device presented in this article doesnt provide that nessecity.
I think the law of averages applies, not knowing how much google and others payout to burn kruft into peoples product, im going to guess that the increased global saturation level of google ASSistant is worth it for google and a good revenue for the OEM.
ill bet the price is subsidied to 7$, i would pay 70$ for this phone, if it had no google ass in it.
I dunno, switching from a phone with a pre-installed Google maintained OS to a custom rom of a Google maintained OS isn't exactally fully cutting Google out.
AOSP and its derivatives may be maintained by Google but they don't call home without the proprietary Google apps. Just leave those off and use something like F-Droid to get apps and you're Google-free. None of the Android devices I use (phones and tablets) has any Google-proprietary code installed, all of them work fine without such.
Also remember that you probably don't want to entirely cut Google out of your life, as for example Linux have Google salaried developers. But that's, I imagine, not what you meant.
[0] https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=7339 - no canonical site yet
[1] https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/