Im not keen on trying to deGoogle only by purchasing a Google pixel… -_-
Please provide other options with nothing to do with google or microsoft., Such as Fairphone, etc.
As you know(or may not), new CPU’s from intel have remote access hardwired, regardless of the OS you are using. I suspect Google outsmarted the GrapheneOS userbase and went one step ahead.
Based on your stated assumptions about backdoors, how about building your own RISC-V phone?
https://mikrophone.net/
It’s not in a very usable state, but the hardware is open source.
TBH, im not far off reverting back to carrier pigeons.