Privacy-focused Android fork GrapheneOS is talking up a deal which should put its software in front of more people in the not too distant future. At the moment, GrapheneOS is only compatible with certain Google Pixel phones, but posts made to social media by the company make it clear this is going to change.
In a variety of responses, GrapheneOS said on multiple occasions it partnered with an Android device maker in June 2025, and is now working with it to integrate support for the software on at least one future device.
Future GrapheneOS phone planned
Responding to a post to the GrapheneOS subreddit, a moderator provided a surprising amount of detail:
We’re working with a major OEM and the devices will be the future versions of existing models they have now. The devices will be priced similarly to Pixels. The initial devices will have a flagship Snapdragon SoC for the best security and support time. It would be available in a lot of countries since it would be one of their regular devices, but with official GrapheneOS support.
The moderator also said the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor would be the first chip to meet its requirements, but stopped short at confirming the future device (or devices) would use the latest Qualcomm chip. However, the wording of its statement indicates it will.
Which Android phone maker is onboard?
While an interesting change of direction for GrapheneOS, there are a few points to pay particular attention to here. Clearly, the company is not able (or willing) to share the name of its partner at this time, leaving it down to speculation.
We should also note GrapheneOS says the devices will be based on an existing model, rather than some future new release. For example, this could mean GrapheneOS will be offered on a special OnePlus 13, rather than the OnePlus 15 or OnePlus 16.
OnePlus is a possible partner too, given its history with alternative software, but it may have become too mainstream to consider a separate, privacy-focused device.
Figuring out which brand is onboard means understanding GrapheneOS’s definition of a “major” device maker, as those which have pushed smartphones with greater privacy — Punkt and Fairphone, for example — in the past, aren’t the same as Samsung or Motorola.
The mention of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 makes speculation harder though, as at the time of writing, only Xiaomi (an unlikely candidate for a privacy-focused phone, but still possible) has launched a phone with the chip, and only in China.
When will the phone arrive?
Although GrapheneOS is making noise about the partnership now, it is still early days, and it doesn’t seem like the first device will arrive before next year at the earliest.
The company stated it has only been working with the brand since June, and doesn’t have an official timeline to share yet. It says its first non-Pixel phone will “hopefully” arrive in 2026, but doesn’t seem to rule out a 2027 arrival either.
In the meantime, you can learn how to install GrapheneOS on your Pixel phone here.
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