This seems like a normal cheap android phone with a bootloader-unlocked operating system and some pre-installed ad-block and rethinkDNS'ish Apps imstalled?

And no offence, but the advertising video itself is more scamy then the wedding-dress shop around the corner that is always closed and dusty, but still paying a horrendous amount of rent each month...

I never trusted that brax guy

I would consider anything other than GrapheneOS a scam or even a honeypot at this point. Braxman is a complete utter joke, this crap is no different than that MAGA guy selling his freedom phone or whatever it was called.

Never, ever put your money into an Indiegogo project. It's not investing, as you don't earn any money. It's not purchasing, as there are no guarantees of products finishing or shipping. You also don't have any consumer protections or rights, even if the project violates Indiegogo's terms of service and commits fraud, unless you reside in the same country as the company leading the project.

Don't ask me how I know; I am still bitter.

Edit: Hardware-wise, this phone is doing a lot right: microSD, headphone jack, sim slots, NFC, and what seems to /maybe/ be a user-replacable battery without needing a new water seal on the back of the case after opening it up. IMO it falls short on RAM (16GB is the new minimum and this phone only has 8) and they used a screen with a freaking notch in it.

Software-wise, they don't seem to be doing anything new, except for offering a somewhat ready-to-go product that tried to de-google Android. This could be nice for people who don't want to spend weeks or months learning how to secure their phones themselves.

Also keep in mind that AT&T (and I believe Verizon too) do not approve of any new devices with unlocked bootloaders on their network, and as such, this phone does not support the full range of bands used by these companies. Of the three main cell network providers in the US, only T-mobile allows full access to all their bands with devices that ship with official unlockable bootloaders.

I don't think anyone who can install a Rom, or is willing to read a bit of documentation, should buy this.

If your choice is this, or buying some stock Android Phone and using it as is, this might be OK, but you're not getting anything special.

Their shipping estimate sounds like a pipe dream. There is no way this ships in March, or April, or probably even May.

I suppose your level of enthusiasm for this offering tracks strongly with how credible you consider Rob Braxman. I have heard people here and elsewhere say he's a quack or even a psyop. I do know that he's one of the few sources to talk about client side scanning, the illusory nature of Apple's "privacy" and other modern privacy issues.

We need robust options for privacy. Googled Android and Apple iOS are horrible options for genuine anonymity and privacy. So, I welcome any competition in this space.

Nothing new, ordinary Chinese phone as many. Only like that is back side is transparent.

Does it run lineage? Any other FOSS, third party OS? No? Hard pass.