> And then you launch any of the included apps. Chrome wants you to sign in, calendar wants you to sign in, photos wants you to sign in, not to mention Google photos pushes notifications ads trying to sell photo albums.

Yes, if you're going to use those apps, you may as well sign in with a Google account. I don't use them, though. There are plenty of better alternatives to all of them.

> The phone is very much designed to be used with a Google account, you can avoid it, but the experience is limited.

No, it's really not limited. It does take a little more setup to install the apps you want, though.