Since I need to run a few apps that won’t work on LineageOS (because dumb developer security stance), I need to buy a “regular” android device that includes all the google “services”.
Ideally, it should be a cheap second-hand phone that will still receive security updates for a long time.
Are there bands that are better (well, “less worse”) than others from a privacy perspective?
If you are rooted and the app doesn’t need any gapps, try hide prop config magisk module. (Some apps have fallbacks for gapps built in like Uber has OSM as fallback for gmaps in India atleast)