Mobile operating systems are a mess. Basically, there are 2 most common options when it comes to buying a smartphone:

• Buying an expensive smartphone from Apple which has a closed source non-customizable operating system and a walled garden app store. Yes, you can’t even install apps without a permission from Apple.
• Buying a reasonably priced smartphone with a clean open source OS, but bloated with terrible closed source adware planted by Google. It’s so deeply integrated in most of Android distributions that you won’t be able to get rid of it.

I’ve been in both camps for a while, and they’re both suck. I’ve heard about alternative options, but they all seemed like too much of a hassle. I have to admit, I’ve been wrong: it’s very easy to install an open source Android distribution such as LineageOS on any of the supported devices, and it works like a charm. Google Services are not requited to run most of the apps, even if they state othervise. It’s even possible to continue using your apps from Google Play with the help of Aurora Store and other projects aimed at freeing up people from Google’s nasty grip.