So I fell for the classic blunder and ended up with a pixel that’s not OEM unlocked despite being advertised as such. After a few hours of searching it looks like the only way I’m getting an OEM unlocked pixel is full price from Google itself. I don’t have $400 for a new phone, I bought the one I have for $150 in 2019.
Are there any cheaper ways to get control of my phone?
lineageos is a good alternative. but if it’s not oem unlockable, you are out of luck with roms.
I’m already returning this one, l was just hoping to find something I could set up that wouldn’t cost most of a check to get my hands on
As long as it isn’t “carrier locked”, you should be good to go. The thing about Pixels, is that they allow you to unlock the bootloader (and critically, for Graphene, relock it).
Buy some old chinashit and flash lineage/cr droid, they actually give you more control than graphene
What about Lineage gives you more control than GOS? I personally have never tried LineageOS since I have a pixel, but curious what it’s like over there.
Graphene is designed to restrict a lot of choices (and root access) to be secure by default, Lineage is designed to give you root control over everything. Very different approaches.
This is actually the best option I’ve gotten so far, crdroid looks good. Is there anywhere I can find a video that explains the daily use side of it?
Why not e/os GSI?
Not unlockable means you can never have complete control of that device unfortunately.
You could return the phone to whomever lied about it being oem unlocked. Pixel 6 used is around $150, 7 go for about $220. Use a service like swappa so you have some assurance you will get what you pay for this time.
You can find services online that people will unlock your phone for you for a fee
I paid ~$180 for my used mint-condition Pixel 6 on Swappa. You have to look up which exact model numbers are bootloader unlockable, then filter on those.
I’ve found many unlocked, used Pixel phones on eBay. I’ve bought 5 of them this way for myself and my family and had no problems.
You mind sending me a link? I could only find 1 eBay seller that stated it was OEM unlocked and they were out of stock.
Why not buy a used Pixel?
That’s what I bought, pixel 7, $150 on amazon but not OEM unlocked. After doing a deep dive on it I’ve found that the only seller on amazon, eBay, and aliexpress that sells one guarantee OEM unlocked is out of stock with no estimated restock. Only other option similar is a refurbished 7a from Google at $350
Return Pixel 7 to Amazon and start looking for used Pixels on Craigslist or FB Marketplace
Or Swappa
USA only, but Swappa is often recommend online. I see a few here listed as unlocked
I’m looking through swappa and it looks like the unlocked tag is for carriers, how to I verify it’s not going to be a repeat of my current situation?
The international model is
GVU6C, which I believe is the model that is sold directly by Google, which is always unlockable. There are several of those on Swappa.
I bought a refurbished pixel 6a for 200€ from a local store with 2 years guarantee. Using it since 3-4 years and am happy.
Maybe think about a used/refurbished one?
That’s what I bought and what I’m looking for, but no one has them with OEM unlocked. The only option I could find that guarantees that is a refurbished pixel 7a from Google for $350
I will bet a lot of the listings you are looking at really are OEM unlocked, they are just not clear about it. I bought a refurbished pixel 7 pro on Amazon in 2023 for $234. The listing just says “service provider: unlocked”. I installed graphene on it.
That said, I see a subsequent review on this listing commissioning that the received phone was not carrier unlocked, so I guess you have to be prepared for some trial and error and returns.
I would broaden your eBay search to just “unlocked” and then maybe message sellers to verify the kind of unlocked state.
Possibly something here is useful: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/13146-any-way-to-tell-if-a-sealed-in-box-pixel-is-oem-unlockable
Are you in the EU? Because at my City the first used stuff store i went to had it. But maybe thats different in different markets.
Sadly no, rural US. I’d gladly move if I could.
:/ HM that sucks. You could go with a phone with lineage OS support, not as secure but at least without bloatware from what I understand.
Or save and try to snipe a good deal on some marketplace
I wish I had the time, but after nearly 8 years my charging port is finally giving up. It doesn’t do data transfer anymore and I don’t know how many more times I can plug it in before it stops charging all together.
for some older pixel (pixel 2) there was some sketchy chinese dude that remotely bootloader unlocks the device for USD$30, tho i haven’t tried that myself. most likely using some leaked engineering bootloader binary.
You can buy them from Best Buy? Scamazon? Walmart?
