While browsing through the privacy community, I read about the BraX3. A new privacy centric phone developed by YouTube content creator Robert Braxman.
Before I support their IndyGoGo, I’d like to get your opinions about the company and their last phone, the BraX2, which apparently didn’t get the most glowing reviews.
If you look through Braxman’s content history, he never does a video showing how to flash a phone, he only talks about it. You can do a search and from random videos from people you’ve never seen before doing step by step showing how to unlock a phone, flash it, and lock bootloader, Braxman shows nothing.
Look at hist website from 1995. He uses buzzwords. There are free website builder tools that can make a website more flashy than his. I question his skill level of what he can do vs what he has someone else do and then he takes the credit to sell.
It would be cheaper to buy any Pixel and then flash any custom ROM yourself, rather than pay an extra $100 for flashed phone that you can do in 10 minutes.
I flash GrapheneOS for free because I only touch the computer for a few steps, the rest of it is waiting for the installer to finish and automatically reboot phone.
I liked my Brax phone. It died when I jumped in the pool with it, but it was great!
Now have a fair phone. I like it too 🥰
Braxman makes very hyperbolic videos to sell you his shit.
very sketchy, would not trust.
If his primary credential is “YouTube content creator,” that’s probably a hard pass.
I think that holds true in this case… but I’ll be damned if the ltt screwdriver isn’t the best hand tool I’ve ever owned.
No. Just install GrapheneOS for free yourself
Show me a decent phone with SD card slot, replacable battery and a headphone jack I can install Graphene on and I’m set!
Pixel 5a is the last phone with a 3.5" headphone jack.
The website uses google services while promoting a phone that advertises avoiding google services… And it seems to be completely broken for me on any android browser I use. Also his main website seems to use the Microsoft store logo for his store logo lol
720 display?, it doesn’t say it has a removable battery? and can somehow promise years of software updates when they rely on third party custom ROMs for their software…
Also I don’t know of any android phones that block replacing the battery?
The website says 6GB RAM and the indiegogo page says 8GB RAM
The hardware seems meh and the software is based on FOSS ROMs that support a wide variety of devices that actually exist. Ubuntu touch is advertised as Coming Soon™
The BraX3 phone offers the most privacy-friendly location service through the Lunar Network
Please anyone who can find the Lunar Network website, link it because right now to me it seems they’re using a now defunct minecraft server for location services
I’ve got scammy vibes from this guy for years, even when I was new to privacy I never felt like he was reliable. Did he dub himself “the internet privacy guy” lol
Overall, I think the phone will probably come out at some point, it’ll be kinda sucky from a hardware perspective for anyone who is used to mid range phones and the software could be fine or it could be buggy AF but I don’t think it’ll be anything special or offer anything unique enough from a privacy perspective to bother with.
I don’t think he can guarantee software updates as he has no control over the ROMs he relies on and I would not expect any sort of support for bugs etc. I don’t think he is knowledgeable enough to trust not to have privacy/security issues with the phone, especially when his whole shtick is “privacy”
It sucks that headphone jacks and sd cards are so hard to find in phones today but I’d prefer to use a dongle and external storage or self host and have a better refurbished phone running LineageOS or any other degoogled ROM than trust this guy.
I am waiting for my Brax3 phone. I am thinking about requesting a refund. I have heard that a Pixel phone with Graphene is a much better choice.
One of the reasons I was excited for the Brax3 was the headphone jack. Pixels don’t have them anymore
Look at FairPhone. I got a Pixel 8a recently and flashed Graphene and I think this is the best tradeoff but I understand wanting jack etc, as I would have liked too.
In hind site for me, turns out Blutooth is great as it works well with my OTC hearing aids and my Bluetooth headphones too. I liked the hearing aide support as it gives me proper calibrated sound where generic stuff will not.
GrapheneOS devs have a problem with this guy https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/20165-response-to-dishonest-attacks-on-the-grapheneos-project-by-robert-braxman
I think Millenials and zoomers forgot about the oldest, most important axiom of Youtube: If it’s being advertised or sold by Youtubers, it’s likely a scam!
Just buy a Pixel and flash GrapheneOS on it. Or if you want a challenge, then buy a Samsung phone with an Exynos chip in it and flash some GSI (generic system image) on it.
I’ve gotten this advice a bajillion times. It’s not the worst advice, but the Pixels just aren’t very good. They lack basic hardware prerequisites like an sd card slot and audio jack (which the Brax3 would have).
