Just get any small Android device which is supported by AOSP and derived distributions, install one of those (Lineage comes to mind, AOSP Extended, MoKee, etc) and you're set - no 'crapware', no data harvesting if you don't feel like being harvested. No need to pay ₤1000 when you can get what you want for around ₤150 I'd say?

> get any small Android device

Examples? I was shopping a while ago and the _only_ option I saw was Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact.

I actually love mine, except they look old. Damned durable though. Slipped out of my hand in Home Depot and took the fall like a champ.

There aren’t many (any?) Android phones the size of the SE with remotely acceptable specs.

I'm hoping the trend will shift again soon. Stop buying giant phones people!

I've been using the Sony XZ compact, headset jack, waterproof, USB C, figureprint scanner. XZ2 has no headset jack, but at least USB-C for a standard wired headset.

I have been a big Xperia fan for awhile now but I can't really reconcile paying that much for the XZ2 or XZ2 Compact when the XA2 (which I ended up with) is small-enough--as small as the Compact, but manageable, and I don't have large hands--and costs half the money or less.

The design language for the XZ2, particularly the weird back, is unappealing to me too, and the button configuration hearkens back to the Z3 (still, IMO, their most satisfying design).

If only Sony had not followed the fad of putting a glass back on the Z3/Z3C... I've replace the back on my wife's Z3C two times now and lo and behold, it is cracked again. The back glass is more vulnerable than the front glass which makes it all the more annoying that it is there in the first place as it serves no purpose other than to look shiny.