> Ads in default apps, user data collection and selling the said collected data.
That's almost everyone. Yesterday, I opened a brand new budget samsung phone. Despite not logging in anything and declining every box I could, it was automatically filled with invasive apps. It came with made in India sticker.
At least with xiaomi, I can flash it with a custom rom and remove the bloatware. Many alternatives lock down their phone.
The other phones that I would trust are expensive and out of reach for many Indians such as the pixel (their last device was banned in India).
I flashed my s8+ with LineageOS 4 or 5 months ago and am happy with the results.
You'll need to check if your snapdragon or exynos for compatability.
It gets you the latest version of android (since samsung decided that 2 years is all they're willing to support their flagship phone for) and a complete lack of bloatware.
I'll add that some apps (noteably netflix and banking) can throw a hissy fit on rooted phones and you will have to use something like Magisk to get the app store to function correctly and allow you to download the apps.
All Samsung phones (except those bought on carrier in USA) have unlockable bootloaders.
Xiaomi phones have a waiting period, you are required to log in with a Mi account then use the phone connected to the internet for 7 days to be able to unlock it.
Samsung here seems way more user friendly. And with Treble GSI ROMs, you can flash a custom OS on any phone, except Samsung has less problems on average with the kernel (ignoring their security features) compared to Xiaomi which requires a custom kernel in many cases to enen boot a GSI.
Yep, it's pretty much the only way TV manufacturer's are able to compete these days too. I wish these kinds of things were considered market failures because if a gov't came in and forced the whole market to stop TVs would get a little more expensive but now they wouldn't feel like they had to sell their users out because everyone else is.
The first app I install in any Android device I get my hands on is NoRoot Firewall, and block (global) any offensive IPs or URLs.
Another option that annoys me (but I understand it is user friendly to have it enabled by default) is that when you install an app it automatically switches on Data and WiFi access to it (and the firewall blocks it until I allow it).
That's almost everyone. Yesterday, I opened a brand new budget samsung phone. Despite not logging in anything and declining every box I could, it was automatically filled with invasive apps. It came with made in India sticker.
At least with xiaomi, I can flash it with a custom rom and remove the bloatware. Many alternatives lock down their phone.
The other phones that I would trust are expensive and out of reach for many Indians such as the pixel (their last device was banned in India).