I don’t know what I’d do without Google.
I rely on its search engine for answers to all my questions; I’m writing this article up using Google Docs; its Calendar and Gmail apps help run my life; my phone and tablet are both powered by Android; Chrome is my go-to browser of choice; Google manages my passwords and is my authenticator app for 2FA, and I watch an ungodly amount of YouTube — I could go on, but you get the picture.
It’s scary if you sit and think about Google’s stranglehold over our daily lives for too long, and so I’ve been desperate to try and de-Google where possible. I was glad, then, when the Fairphone 6 Plus came across my desk.
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The standard Fairphone 6 Plus runs Android 16, but the model I’ve been testing for the past month comes preinstalled with /e/OS. This custom mobile OS removes all proprietary Google services, tracking, and built-in Google apps, but is still technically a fork of Android, which means it plays nice with many Android-compatible apps (solving one of the biggest hardware barriers to de-Googling).
The /e/OS Fairphone 6 Plus is available exclusively through Murena for $699.99 / £583 (around AU$1,009); that’s slightly more than the standard model, which retails for $649.99 / £569 (roughly AU$1,100).
Armed with this Google-free phone and a list of apps to install, I was ready to see if I could de-couple from Google once and for all.
But after one month of trying, I’ve given up.
What is de-Googling?
This steadily growing trend is, as the name suggests, an approach to choosing software and hardware that’s devoid of Google’s interference — specifically, de-Googling involves choosing options that have stronger privacy protections for users and less data-tracking services.
But this isn’t just a matter of hopping over to Apple’s iOS ecosystem and calling it a day (iPhones, of course, can access almost all Google services). It’s about maximizing privacy in a way that doesn’t lock you into a walled garden. For some, de-Googling is also about de-Americanizing — that is, finding hardware and software produced outside of the United States.
Especially in the wake of the US government sanctioning International Criminal Court (ICC) lawyers, which left them unable to access essential online services, and previous efforts to ban non-US citizens from accessing the top-tier AI models, it’s understandable that some people want to find tech alternatives produced either in their home region or by more stable allies.
In my case, I used the Fairphone 6 Plus as my day-to-day smartphone, swapped my default search engine to DuckDuckGo, and installed services like Proton to manage my mail.
Instantly, I was glad to be able to access the /e/OS and platforms like its App Lounge (its built-in app store) without a login, which kept my activity anonymous to some extent.
I also liked the neat Advanced Privacy widget, which not only lets you block in-app trackers, hide your IP address, and disguise your location on the fly, but also includes a neat graphic showing how many data leaks you’ve been shielded from over the last 30 days. It gamifies the experience of de-Googling in a fun way.
And while Proton offers paid tiers, I was able to trial its encrypted mail service with a free account, keeping my costs just as low as they were before I switched from my previous Android phone (albeit with a more limited service).
But for all of these early wins, I started to rub up against the more frustrating realities of de-Googling just as quickly.
/e/OS lacks some must-have Android optimizations — even simple ones, like the option to arrange apps how you want across pages (instead, it takes the Apple approach of apps automatically filling up pages; you can’t create gaps or custom arrangements beyond folders and reordering them).
Others on Reddit have also flagged the jankiness of the aforementioned App Lounge and the difficulty in finding navigation apps comparable to Google Maps. I don’t live in a major city, so this hasn’t been a big red flag for me, but it’s true that most Google Maps alternatives lack the coverage and public transport integration to be relied upon.
Plus, while you can use a free version of services like Proton (like I did), I’d need to pay $12.99 / £10.39 / AU$20.79 a month (or equivalent to $9.99 / £7.99 / AU$15.99 if billed annually) for the experience I got from Google for free, which does add up at a time when costs are rising, and I’d ideally be tightening my purse strings. Remember, too, that this is not a cheap phone.
My frustrations also went beyond the general chore of untangling Google from my life.
I butted up against issues with the Fairphone 6 Plus specifically — its sluggish chipset and good-but-not-great cameras left me wanting to go back to my Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra on several occasions.
I do appreciate the Fairphone’s modular, eco-friendly construction, and in our Fairphone 6 Plus review, we noted that its Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chipset “starts sluggishly” before finding its feet in general use.
I’m also lucky enough to be able to test the best Android phones (like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra) on a regular basis, so I’ve perhaps been spoiled by their flagship-level performance straight out of the box.
You may, therefore, not encounter the same hardware frustrations, but trying to de-Google on the Fairphone 6 Plus felt like a double-whammy of difficulty.
In for a penny…
The problem with de-Googling is that it’s full of friction points. And I’ve found that when it comes to tackling that friction, people are very binary — they either want next to none, or, if they’re willing to accept some, they’d also be willing to accept a lot to make their privacy-focused tech dreams a reality.
That is to say, if people want to go the proper de-Googling route — and my ‘people’, I mean the folks willing to put in the effort to find the best app alternatives, and change out their hardware — they are also likely willing (and have the technical confidence) to take the step of installing GrapheneOS on a Google Pixel phone.
The GrapheneOS/Pixel combination still has its drawbacks, but its privacy features are more robust than those you’ll find in /e/OS, and newer Pixel models like the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10a edge out the Fairphone 6 Plus in terms of hardware (which, crucially, would be the only Google involvement in this solution).
Meanwhile, anyone wanting to take the easy route could just switch to Apple.
The Cupertino company’s privacy promises are bold (even following its push into AI), and while picking up an iPhone wouldn’t technically be de-Googling in purists’ eyes, iPhones are slightly better options than regular Android phones for the mildly privacy-conscious.
That leaves the /e/OS Fairphone 6 Plus caught between two paths.
Its privacy features are great, and again, Fairphone deserves credit for offering a truly sustainable smartphone solution. But as someone who was genuinely excited to try to de-Google, I’m not sure whether the trade-offs in both software convenience and hardware quality are worth the hassle.
Still, with some tweaks made to /e/OS and a more flagship-level Fairphone, I’d be willing to try again.
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