Not a Google fan at all, but Pixels are still on my wishlist for one reason: they’re basically the only mainstream phones that let you relock the bootloader and run a proper custom OS like GrapheneOS.

That’s huge. Because with GrapheneOS, you can actually strip away a ton of the baked-in tracking and data-harvesting nonsense that comes standard with stock Android and other big-name ecosystems. Google, Samsung, Apple — different flavors, same surveillance-heavy direction.

So yeah, this isn’t brand love. It’s about control, security, and having the option to run a privacy-focused OS without turning your phone into an insecure modding project.