Cheap 'smartphone' without bloatware

[connda]

Apple is out - so this is a decussion of Andriod (or something else) based phones.

Andriod is simply loaded with Bloatware.  I don't want Google Hangouts, Music, Games, other Google-ware that isn't necessarily core OS components or any other third party bloatware package with the OS which I'm unable to delete.

I currently have a hand-me-down Oppo <deleted>-phone running Andriod 5.x under Oppo's ColorOS.  It's built in obsolescence.
It can not be upgraded and the phone can not be rooted short of "bricking" the phone.

What I want is the cheapest phone I can find that runs Andriod but can be rooted so I can get rid of all the Bloatware including Google's.  I want the phone striped down to the few apps that I personally want while getting rid of all the rest of the crapware.

I don't like these phones.  I use my as a phone, a camera, an audio/video recorder, a "looper" program for guitar, and epub reader, a Thai-to-Engllsh scanner, some Thai-English translators, a graphics to text scanner and a couple of social media programs, Google maps, and Brave browser.

If I can "root" it I can delete the Bloatware.  Because I don't use the phone for much - I don't want to pay much money for it.
So I'm looking for Inexpensive and Rootable.

I've looked online by reviewed phones that are considered "inexpensive" are not inexpensive by my standards.  Inexpensive to me is under 3000 THB.  I'm not adverse to used phones as I'm going to completely wipe it then rebuild it.

Any suggestion?

[Pi Tao]

Huawei = no google .

[2baht]

2 hours ago, connda said:

If I can "root" it I can delete the Bloatware.

Good luck with that! ????

[Lemsta69]

1 minute ago, 2baht said:

Good luck with that! ????

why so you say that? is rooting not a "thing" for cheap phones?

 

I stopped rooting my phones because a lot of critical apps wouldn't run on them despite using Root Cloak et al.

 

banks etc don't normally support rooted devices. 

 

p'raps the OP could ask the question on xda-developers as that's the hub of rooting knowledge. not all devices are supported, you need devs that support the model and supply the necessary files etc

[KannikaP]

23 minutes ago, Pi Tao said:

Huawei = no google .

I have an Huawei and couldn't use it without Google Apps.

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, connda said:

So I'm looking for Inexpensive and Rootable.

I'll send you the phone number of a girl I know as she seems to fit the bill!

[2baht]

9 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

why so you say that? is rooting not a "thing" for cheap phones?

My phone works fine and I have never "rooted" it! ????

[Onerak]

2 hours ago, connda said:

Inexpensive to me is under 3000 THB. 

Most in expensive phones screens are terrible. I pay a premium (premium for me is not more than $300 (on sale) for screen only. 

[Onerak]

12 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

I have an Huawei and couldn't use it without Google Apps.

Huawei used to be good phone but no more. Get a Xiaomi (or POCO brand of the same company for a cheaper line), or Samsung. My next Thailand phone will be a POC but it has to wait at least a few more years. 

[Mickeymaus]

If you want to use LINE be aware that you need at least Android 7 (as of today...). Not so long ago it worked on my old Note II with Android 4.2. So check the apps that you use. 

[xylophone]

16 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

If you want to use LINE be aware that you need at least Android 7 (as of today...). Not so long ago it worked on my old Note II with Android 4.2. So check the apps that you use. 

I'm just getting used to the second-hand Apple iPhone SE which I bought a couple of years ago (although I think it is a 2015 model) and people keep saying that I should get LINE, however I don't think this model has the capabilities to make it work if I read your post correctly???

 

However I'm not unduly worried because this thing has a mind of its own and one incorrect touch on the screen can send me anywhere into the bowels of it, without really knowing where I am, so I'm thinking of switching back to my old Nokia flip phone, which has served me well for years and is a delightful little tool. That is apart from the camera which is very poor indeed, but then again I've never really needed it.

 

I only ever use it for its telephone and messages and nothing else, so the Nokia fits the bill..........and no bloatware!!!!!
 

[fdsa]

just buy a second hand device and flash a custom ROM.

start here: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/

 

 

//lol first I didn't notice the phrase about used phones, then I didn't notice the word "NOT" in that phrase

Edited October 18, 2022 by fdsa

[Lemsta69]

1 hour ago, 2baht said:

My phone works fine and I have never "rooted" it! ????

well then, you have absolutely no idea what the OP is talking about. do you even know what bloatware is?

[Mickeymaus]

57 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I'm just getting used to the second-hand Apple iPhone SE which I bought a couple of years ago (although I think it is a 2015 model) and people keep saying that I should get LINE, however I don't think this model has the capabilities to make it work if I read your post correctly???

 

However I'm not unduly worried because this thing has a mind of its own and one incorrect touch on the screen can send me anywhere into the bowels of it, without really knowing where I am, so I'm thinking of switching back to my old Nokia flip phone, which has served me well for years and is a delightful little tool. That is apart from the camera which is very poor indeed, but then again I've never really needed it.

 

I only ever use it for its telephone and messages and nothing else, so the Nokia fits the bill..........and no bloatware!!!!!
 

I also use my old Nokia if I even take a phone with me. These smartphones are to big for my taste and if they fall down... ???????????? My smartphone mostly rests in the drawer...

[sometimewoodworker]

5 hours ago, xylophone said:

I'm just getting used to the second-hand Apple iPhone SE which I bought a couple of years ago (although I think it is a 2015 model) and people keep saying that I should get LINE, however I don't think this model has the capabilities to make it work

The iPhone SE was first introduced 2016 it can run an iOS version that is completely compatible with the current version of Line. So if you want you can use it for that.

 

As it is an iPhone it will be supported by apple, on average, for twice the lifespan of an equivalent Android phone. While the tech maybe a little daunting and it’s getting slower it will still run virtually every app available.

Edited October 18, 2022 by sometimewoodworker

[2baht]

10 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

well then, you have absolutely no idea what the OP is talking about. do you even know what bloatware is?

Absolutely no idea! An I dont "root" phones!

[Lemsta69]

4 hours ago, 2baht said:

Absolutely no idea! An I dont "root" phones!

right, so you're the Jon Snow of Android phones ????

[Nong Khai Man]

I Still use a Burner Phone ( DORO ) Which must be at least 20 Years Old it's only good for Making / Receiving Calls & SMS's........BTW I Found it on my last visit to The U.K In 2015........Probably used to belong to a Drug Courier,So I Just changed the SIM Card........555 !!

BTW, What's This ROOTING Thingy You talk of ?? I Only know of One Kind of ROOT....& It's NOT the planting of Plants / Flowers.....555 !!

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Nong Khai Man
More Added

[2baht]

2 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

right, so you're the Jon Snow of Android phones ????

Absolutely no idea who Jon Snow is, does he "root" phones too? 

[BritManToo]

19 hours ago, Onerak said:

Huawei used to be good phone but no more. Get a Xiaomi (or POCO brand of the same company for a cheaper line), or Samsung. My next Thailand phone will be a POC but it has to wait at least a few more years. 

POCO M3, worst phone I ever owned.

Never charged properly, then a year later a software update bricked it.

 ......... it was cheap though.

[Lemsta69]

3 hours ago, Nong Khai Man said:

I Still use a Burner Phone ( DORO ) Which must be at least 20 Years Old it's only good for Making / Receiving Calls & SMS's........BTW I Found it on my last visit to The U.K In 2015........Probably used to belong to a Drug Courier,So I Just changed the SIM Card........555 !!

BTW, What's This ROOTING Thingy You talk of ?? I Only know of One Kind of ROOT....& It's NOT the planting of Plants / Flowers.....555 !!

 

it means that you modify the phone in order to obtain read/write access to the root directory, or / in Android/Linux terminology. 

 

the attached screenshot shows what the root directory looks like. if you can obtain "superuser" access to all of the files contained therein you can essentially do what you want with your phone. 

 

eh. remove all unwanted apps and the associated file repositories. for whatever reasons, Google and the phone manufacturers don't want you to delete the junk they ship with the phone.

 

for cheaper phones this means the precious storage space is taken up by garbage that discerning users neither need nor want. 

 

rooting a phone is a term that describes various methods of circumventing the security measures that Google and the phone manufacturers put in place to stop you messing around with the system files. 

 

in theory this restriction is a good idea because it safeguards the user against malicious apps etc. or just messing around with the system configuration files and bricking the device.

 

in practice it's a right royal PITA because you can't get rid of the dozens of unnecessary apps that they load the phone with. you also can't add a whole bunch of really cool third-party features that the dev community comes up with. their creativity knows no bounds, unlike the shortsighted Google and their telco lapdogs ????

[Lemsta69]

android root dir. unrooted phone so I cannot "mount r/w"

[connda]

On 10/18/2022 at 4:57 PM, 2baht said:

Good luck with that! ????

How's that.  If the phone can be rooted you can use computer apps like 'adb' to in developer mode to remove apps off of the phone.

[connda]

On 10/18/2022 at 5:37 PM, Mickeymaus said:

If you want to use LINE be aware that you need at least Android 7 (as of today...). Not so long ago it worked on my old Note II with Android 4.2. So check the apps that you use. 

Just an FYI.  The OPPO I have runs ColorOS over Andriod 5.1.
LINE works fine.  However, if it didn't it would be fine with me.
LINE is a "honey-gatta-have" app that my wife wants on my phone as she insists it will save money with "free calls."  If it died today I'd celebrate and remove it.  It would save 1/2 a gigabyte of space on my phone.

LINE like so many Andriod (an Apple) apps is a combination of spyware and data collection and advertising junkware. 

[cleopatra2]

14 minutes ago, connda said:

How's that.  If the phone can be rooted you can use computer apps like 'adb' to in developer mode to remove apps off of the phone.

ADB does not require the phone to be rooted. 

ADB works on unrooted phones. 

[connda]

On 10/18/2022 at 6:00 PM, fdsa said:

just buy a second hand device and flash a custom ROM.

start here: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/

 

 

//lol first I didn't notice the phrase about used phones, then I didn't notice the word "NOT" in that phrase

"I'm not adverse to buy used phones." I.e, Used phones would be fine.  Probably preferred.  As you said, I'm just going to flash it with a custom ROM.

You were correct.  Nice site for checking out specifications.  Then I just need a site where I can purchase an older, used phone.

[connda]

2 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

ADB does not require the phone to be rooted. 

ADB works on unrooted phones. 

It doesn't work on mine.  I also want to be about to flash a custom ROM when needed without bricking the phone.

[Lemsta69]

6 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

ADB does not require the phone to be rooted. 

ADB works on unrooted phones. 

afaik you can't actually do much via ADB without root/SU, but it's been a very long time since I've rooted a phone and I've forgotten all the steps. 

[cleopatra2]

1 minute ago, connda said:

It doesn't work on mine.  I also want to be about to flash a custom ROM when needed without bricking the phone.

ADB if setup correct works on all Android phones. 

Flashing a custom rom will likely lead to some propriety software and functions not working correctly. Example would be volte.

If you only want to disable bloatware the tool I would recommend is universal debloater

 

[cleopatra2]

1 minute ago, Lemsta69 said:

afaik you can't actually do much via ADB without root/SU, but it's been a very long time since I've rooted a phone and I've forgotten all the steps. 

ADB will run all of its commands in a shell on the phone. Similar to how chroot works in Linux.