Murena One, Android Phone Without Google Has Arrived

Murena One is another attempt to build an Android phone that doesn’t have a trace of Google and its apps. Huawei is another brand that is surviving without Google but its reach is very limited.

Murena One runs on a proprietary OS called /e/OS which is based on Android but doesn’t contain default Google apps at all.

The dependence on Big Tech like Google and increased surveillance were the dominating reasons behind this new Google-less smartphone. However, removing Google from the phone means building many apps and services from scratch.

It is exactly what Murena One developers did in order to remove visible traces of Google.

Murena One specifications

Murena One isn’t designed to compete with the existing flagships in the market. It is a mid-range device that aims to serve a non-intrusive smartphone experience. The specifications include a Mediatek Helio P60 SoC and 4GB RAM along with 128 GB storage, and the option to extend the storage space via microSD.

The 6.53-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080 x 2242 is what you get in this tiny sleek package. In addition, the fingerprint sensor is positioned on the left side. Murena may have non-alluring specifications but it tries to make up in the camera department.

The rear-camera array comes with a 48 MP primary shooter, an 8 MP secondary camera, and a 5 MP depth camera. It also has a 25 MP selfie shooter with HDR support.

Murena One comes with a $379 price tag and a 4500mAh battery that could last a day. You cannot buy this phone directly. There is a waitlist which you need to apply to, in order to get the device at the earliest.

Murena developers include a dedicated app for messaging, an email client, a calendar, a file-storage system, a contacts app, and many more. This is an attempt to shed the dependence on Google apps.

Apps

The phone comes with its proprietary app store that lets you download many popular Android apps. While you can make do without mail and calendar, you certainly need the YouTube app to stay sane.

Murena One allows that but you do need to sign in to Google services( which you can do anonymously). It is certainly not the perfect non-Google smartphone out there. But if Google bothers you, you can give it a try.