They have to start somewhere. Unfortunately part of the issue is that most OEMs do not even support their budget models as well as their flagships, so they would fall short of basic reasonable GrapheneOS requirements like 5+ years of timely security updates.

Yep. I like my midrange phone I got for ~$300. I'm not paying top-dollar just for GrapheneOS.

Pixel 9a was $350 during last week's Amazon prime day sale. Currently at $399. Likely to go down again for Black Friday, etc..

I'd love a phone around that price that would run Graphene.

Why not just buy an older pixel a model ...? Like a 7a ... It is cheaper and runs GOS.

I personally can't buy phones without physical dual sim.

Dual eSIMs when travelling have failed me too many times.

Everything is moving to esim.

Enshittification at its finest to save a $.

Yet another attempt by carriers and phone manufacturers to take away control from users.

When I was looking, the older models were around $500. Looks like they came down in price. I also looked at used, but my company stipend/discount would only apply to new.

you can get a used 6a for ~$160

You get a used 7a for that price.

I bought the previous year's Pixel model for about $300 to run GrapheneOS, and I'm pretty happy about it.