Mobile OSes (featuring Fairphone 5) - Gridranger

Dávid Bárdos

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Mobile OSes (featuring Fairphone 5)

Table of ContentsHow to select a mobile OS<br>Grouping OSes<br>Trade-offs<br>Mobile OSes<br>Ubuntu Touch<br>SailfishOS by Jolla<br>iodéOS by iodé<br>/e/OS by Murena<br>postmarketOS<br>Selecting a device<br>About my Fairphone 5<br>My selection process<br>How to select a mobile OS🔗

Perhaps Android was a great idea back in the old days, but since Google transformed it into a spyware platform, Google Android devices are effectively working against their owners. That's why I started to look for alternatives, and perhaps you have the same reason for reading this article now.

I started drafting this post on 20 November 2025. It took a while to get it into its final shape. I'll summarize all the things I've learned and experienced about alternative smartphone OSes. Most of the credit isn't mine as I've read tons of helpful posts and discussions on this topic on Mastodon and on various sites. I hope I can spare you some time with this, so you don't have to spend as much time as I did collecting this info.

If you find mistakes, misinterpretations, or anything outdated, feel free to reach out through the comment section (click the 💬 button at the bottom of the screen). I'll be happy to fix, improve, and update this article.

I tried these OSes on Fairphone 5. It's no longer available to buy, but most things written here are true for other devices running the same OSes. I will mark those parts that are Fairphone 5-specific.

Grouping OSes🔗

First, there are the customized, degoogled Android versions that are built on top of the AOSP (Android Open Source Project), a free and open-source base for all Androids. Commercial stock Android versions are built on top of the same foundation. Most degoogled variants are forked from LineageOS, as it is popular, has a large supporting community, and has a long history. Back in 2014, I, too, flashed its predecessor on my very first Android device, and I loved it.

Examples:

AOSP based:

CalyxOS

GrapheneOS

LineageOS

LineageOS based:

/e/OS

iodéOS

Second, there are the mobile Linux distributions. These are closer to traditional Linux OSes than Android and emphasize openness. They are mostly community-driven and open-source, even if they have some closed-source components. (Note: Some components of SailfishOS are proprietary and closed-source, but otherwise it belongs here.)

Examples:

Mobian

postmarketOS

SailfishOS

Ubuntu Touch

This article will discuss the ones written in bold.

As a last comment here: yes, Android is built on top of the Linux kernel, but the whole stack is different otherwise. Commercial Androids are closed, vendor-locked ecosystems where proprietary software dominates the system. The mentality behind the system is very different from that of Linux.

Trade-offs🔗

It's important to clarify beforehand that replacing Android with a different OS comes with compromises. This list helps to avoid any disappointment that would come later in the process. These aren't Fairphone 5-specific but are true for all Android devices that can run alternative OSes. Things usually lost are:

You can't pay with your phone. This works almost exclusively with Google's software. Neither can degoogled Androids make it available, nor can mobile Linux distributions. I won't repeat it for every alternative.

Explanation: Google pretends to be a gatekeeper of security. Funny, isn't it, after they turned out to be one of the largest spyware companies in the world. The real reason is to lock users and developers into their ecosystem. There are some rare banking applications that work without Google's API and are perfectly secure, but that's less than 1%. Some degoogled Android variants provide a collection of services called microG to make most applications work. Unfortunately, microG also doesn't support any API for NFC payments.

The main camera will not work. Although secondary cameras (like ultra-wide) and selfie cameras might work to a certain degree, for many devices, there is no solution so far to make the main camera work properly.

On these devices, the images taken are noisier, blurrier, and more discolored than...