# Drawbacks of imported Pixel phones in countries where it's not sold

**URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/drawbacks-of-imported-pixel-phones-in-countries-where-its-not-sold/28209
**Category:** General
**Created:** 2025-06-09T16:50:53Z
**Posts:** 4

## Post 1 by @KevPham — 2025-06-09T16:50:53Z

I encountered this [article](https://www.androidauthority.com/imported-google-pixel-phone-mistake-3562340/) detailing the experience of a journalist using an imported Pixel 7. It inspired me to look at previous discussions on this forum, there is not a lot of advice for folks living in countries where the Pixel is not sold.

Since imported phones may have issues with VoLTE and phone calls in non-supported countries, they must rely on Wi-Fi or WhatsApp/Signal calls. However, you may be installing Graphene OS anyways, so all this could be a non-issue as long as it is paired with a secondary device.

If you do live in one of these countries, I would love to learn about your experiences with purchasing and using imported Pixels! Do you think it is worth using it along with a burner phone?

---

## Post 2 by @asanyan — 2025-06-09T17:08:04Z

I do live in one of these countries, and imported pixels are too prohibitively expensive to even consider due to ridiculous import taxes. If it cannot even work as a phone, then I guess there really are no good options for us, even for those with the resources.

I still use the phone I bought in 2019. It’s terrible in terms of security but I have few options. A phone costs about the same as a month’s worth of minimum wage and I’d still have to go for a privacy invasive device. It’s not worth it, in my opinion (why would I pay this much money just to be spied on all the same?)… I could and probably should try to move at least my WhatsApp to a BlissOS VM in my laptop at some point in the future.

I understand why PG doesn’t want to recommend other devices but maybe a section on how to neuter a potentially compromised device would be helpful. I’ve been thinking about purchasing a “soundproof bag” for a while but I don’t know where to even look for one, if it’s even viable, etc.

---

## Post 3 by @KevPham — 2025-06-09T17:22:25Z

> [@asanyan](#):
>
> I still use the phone I bought in 2019. It’s terrible in terms of security but I have few options.

I guess one issue would be weighing whether it is better to use a end-of-life phone with verified boot or a Lineage OS phone with an unlocked bootloader. Chances are that most people in your situation chose the latter because of similar issues with purchasing new phones.

For most cases, I feel like compartmentalization is the best bet. Don’t do anything sensitive on these android devices and keep them to a separate desktop computer or laptop.

> [@asanyan](#):
>
> understand why PG doesn’t want to recommend other devices but maybe a section on how to neuter a potentially compromised device would be helpful. I’ve been thinking about purchasing a “soundproof bag” for a while but I don’t know where to even look for one, if it’s even viable, etc.

Do you mean a faraday bag?

---

## Post 4 by @asanyan — 2025-06-09T18:30:37Z

> [@KevPham](#):
>
> Chances are that most people in your situation chose the latter because of similar issues with purchasing new phones.

I agree. Both are insecure, but LineageOS is at least privacy respecting.

> [@KevPham](#):
>
> Don’t do anything sensitive on these android devices

That would be ideal not possible unfortunately, school/banks/doctors pretty much require a phone # for contact.

> [@KevPham](#):
>
> Do you mean a faraday bag?

No, faraday bag is for electromagnetic signals, a soundproof enclosure is to prevent a potentially compromised device from listening to conversations.