Agreed.

OP, this is the best Speech-to-Text solution, IMO. I’ve used Whisper on Windows (link to GitHub) successfully to transcribe graduate-level class recordings with very minimal manual fixing, mostly only certain last names.

FFS, that’s what that sound at work is…

You’re right of course, but I didn’t feel like playing the cat and mouse game with Google for access to certain apps and functionalities that I often use.

I had a Xiaomi as my previous phone, a POCO F2 Pro. I ran it with the stock firmware after disabling all possible tracking options in settings, and after debloating with a script easily found on xda. As much as I would have loved to install a custom ROM and root it, I didn’t want to forgo Google Pay and access to banking apps.

It was quite good and very powerful for the price. Bested flagship devices from Samsung and others when it was new and for up to a year after that. Dare I say, it was one of the best phones I ever owned.

Then after 2 years it stopped charging. I had to crack it open and replug a connector between the mainboard and the USB-C port. Worked flawlessly after that.

I switched to a Pixel 7 since. A friend is still using the Xiaomi and loves it.

I would consider them but the Pixels are very good for the price as well.

Not sure if this counts, but a simple FOSS BIOS/UEFI option that could be installed on most desktops and laptops. The current options (Libreboot, coreboot) are very limited in compatible hardware.

Check out Prey Project

Even if you hide the search bar, you can hit the windows key and start typing your search query. The search bar doesn’t have to constantly take up screen real estate in the taskbar.

Hence why I always hide it on my systems.