[babypuncher]

The phone manufacturers don't have much of a choice unless they are willing to ditch support for all the proprietary Google parts of Android. People probably won't buy android phones without play store access.

[Jensson]

I just bought an android, there was no default search on it and playstore works. As I booted it up it asked me what search engine I wanted, Google wasn't on top or preselected.

So yes, phone manufacturers have a choice here, they don't have to make Google the default.

[babypuncher]

I'm surprised, what brand is it?

[jsnell]

It's likely not about the brand, but about the location. As a result of the Android anti-trust lawsuit in EU, Google has shown a search engine choice screen at initial setup since (I think) 2018. They also unbundled Chrome and Search from the other proprietary apps.

See https://www.android.com/choicescreen/

[Jensson]

Was a Xiaomi Redmi.

I wouldn't recommend it for privacy, but them giving me the choice means manufacturers can do this if they want.

[beebeepka]

What android brand would you recommend "for privacy"?

I agree Xiaomi loves their data collection to the point of selling pole fan that require an app to operate - I saw that one in one of their stores.

So what else is there?

[i5-2520M]

Pixel or maybe Nokia / Fairphone / Motorola (Stockish Android) if you are a regular user, but you will have to change a few options for sure, modded Pixel if Privacy Nut.

[dartharva]

Motorola has notoriously unreliable hardware though. I have only had bad experiences with the brand.

[dartharva]

OnePlus is still reliable and boasts decent build quality and (relatively) non-intrusive software. It has abandoned its "budget phone" shtick though.