[LetThereBeLight]

Sorry, I should have been more clear in my post. I meant to say that, if I no longer want to support Apple (or Google) because of their behavior, are there any reasonable smartphone options available? It seems to me that this is the only way I can protest against what Apple is doing.

[askafriend]

The problem here isn't the hardware. The problem is the location you're choosing to store your photos.

If you want to protest what they're doing, then stop storing photos on iCloud which means you need to spend less on iCloud storage. That's the most realistic option.