The BraX2 phone is a darling of privacy nerds who are tired of the constant data sniffing in their smartphone by Google. The phone offers a de-Googled experience; that is, an Android smartphone without Google Mobile Services and so which does not report activities on your device to Google’s servers.
It is a value proposition that appeals to a small segment of the global smartphone market. In this article, I look at the top 2 features of the BraX2 phone, as well as a look at everything else it offers, so you can see if this is what you want.
Table of Contents
The best 2 features of the BraX2 phone
No Google Mobile Services
Of course, the most attractive feature of the phone is the lack of Google Mobile Services (GMS). This is the number one reason why anyone wants the BraX2 phone. Whether it is in your pocket or you are using it to surf the Web or chat on WhatsApp, the lack of GMS means that there is no background mining of your personal data. None at all.
No data farming by apps
On your regular Android phone and iPhone, 3rd party app developers also take advantage of your data. Their apps are constantly asking for this information or that other information. In the BraX2 phone, data farming by 3rd partty app developers is blocked. Your phone, your data.
Other things you should now
Other than the above two features, the BraX2 phone is an unimpressive smartphone in terms of specs and features. The display is fairly large and unremarkable. There is no higher refresh rate or protective glass of any kind. It ships with a dated version of Android Open Source – version 11. Dated, but privacy secure, of course, which (again) is why you probably want this phone.
Keeping the power on in the BraX2 phone is a fairly adequate 4500mAh battery. There is no fast charge here, so you will have to be patient charging it. In use, do not expect the BraX2 phone to deliver outstanding performance. Why? This device is powered by a 2018 budget chip, MediaTek’s Helio P60. No; you will not get anything close to top performance. Especially as there is only 4GB RAM included. For storage of your media and other files, you have only 128GB memory, too. You will likely need a memory card to get some more storage space, but that means you have to give up one of the two SIM card slots.
And do not expect outstanding photography either, for the simple reason that the brands behind the best camera phones in the market spend millions of research and development to tune and tweak the cameras in their products for outstanding image capture and video recording. This is not the case with BraX2 phone. User privacy is its focus and is what the manufacturer has invested in. The phone can take photographs that you are able to use, but it won’t wow you.
Lastly, there is no headphone jack and no wireless charging as well. If you are in the United States, you also want to know that the BraX2 phones does not support CDMA networks like Verizon and its MVNOs.
In summary, the BraX2 phone is great for the user privacy, keeping Google and 3rd party app developers away from snooping on you and farming your data for their purposes. This two-pronged privacy protection is its great shining point. If this is what you want and you are willing to sacrifice everything else – and I mean every thing else – the BraX2 phone is exactly what you need. You can get the detailed specs and price here.