Murena, a French company urging web users to "escape the digital surveillance," has released some privacy-focused smartphones in the past. Now, there's also a tablet available. We tried it out.
When the package arrived, the label described its content as a Pixel Tablet. Another sticker on the box also helpfully explained that this really was a Pixel Tablet and said that a “Google account is required for full access to features.”
So what's going on? Well, appreciating my dissatisfaction with American big tech companies using the unique directness of the Donald Trump administration to pressure the European Union into ditching its own digital privacy laws, my editor sent me a Murena tablet.
She said, "Here, take a look. This is not American; this is actually European. Protest and boycott away."
Android without Google
Just last week, Brendan Carr, the new chair of the US Federal Communications Commission, came out swinging against EU tech laws, including, of course, GDPR, the bloc's flagship privacy regime.
The Americans might still succeed in getting the EU lawmakers to back down. They have an army of lobbyists in Brussels, an ultra-friendly administration in the White House, and, obviously, hundreds of millions of Europeans dependent on US tech firms, especially Meta and Google.
The calculated bet is that European users will not want to lose access to whatever, say, Google is offering – Google Docs or Gmail, for instance – in exchange for our data. Chinese tech? Same story and probably even more nefarious ideas about how to misuse our data.
What if you don’t want both? On paper, Murena, a French firm, is offering precisely that: deGoogled and ethical devices such as smartphones and tablets.
The irony, of course, is that the company's freshest offering, the tablet, is actually a modified Google Pixel pad. Surprise surprise, it’s called Murena Pixel Tablet and is marketed as the company’s first privacy-oriented tablet.
“Enjoy all the performance and versatility you need, while minimizing data tracking, having a more secure experience, and with no Google services collecting your personal information,” says Murena.
In fact, the firm also claims that it collects zero data about Murena users and proudly states: “We believe in free software, a free web, free speech, and freedom of choice.”
Indeed, an iPhone or an Android smartphone collects several megabytes of your personal data every day to Google servers. Besides, a major part of Google’s data collection occurs when a user is not directly engaged with any of its products.
Murena’s devices, on the other hand, run on a version of Android called /e/OS that removes Google’s apps and services so the search giant can’t collect your data to its remote servers. Data isn’t scanned in your phone or tablet, or in your cloud space.
Being deeply cynical and also on a mission to do my bit in despising whatever the Americans are doing right now, of course, I was ready to try out Murena’s tablet, or, rather, a customized version of the Pixel Tablet released in 2023. It’s Android without Google!
Is that even possible, though? Google claims to be an indispensable part of our modern everyday experience, after all. What’s the experience gonna be like? Let's “choose freedom” and turn it on.
They care about your online confidentiality
I was a bit alarmed at what I saw after turning on the tablet. A warning screen appeared that said: “Your device is loading a different operating system.” It was then replaced with a Google logo, and only then a Murena logo appeared.
I’m not really technical, though, sorry to say. As long as I reach my destination of loading something on a device, I will not care how bumpy the road is – not that this was really a bump.
In a few seconds, the tablet welcomes you to /e/OS and invites you in. I enter. Choose language? English (Canada), definitely – solidarity!
I’m an Android user IRL so everything seems pretty neat and recognizable at first. But one needs to look closer, of course, and I like what I see – the tablet has a pretty large “Advanced privacy” widget where the blocking of app trackers is already turned on. Your IP address is also pre-hidden.
There’s no Google Play Store, but you can download apps through /e/OS App Lounge anonymously, without Google knowing who you are.
And if you choose to manage apps’ trackers, Murena helpfully reminds you: “Trackers are pieces of code hidden in apps. They collect your data and follow your activity 24/7.” The /e/OS can show you whether trackers are profiling you, and there’s a “Wall of shame.”
Oh, and I’m also offered to “fake my location.” Some apps may not work properly, to be truthful, but, again, this is a great reminder that sharing your location isn’t always necessary and that it’s always your choice whether to sacrifice your immediate privacy.
What about the apps? There’s no Google Play Store, of course, but you can download apps through /e/OS App Lounge anonymously, without Google knowing who you are.
It’s a little cluttered and bizarre, and I don’t know seven out of ten apps showing up on these lists. But Instagram’s here, and so is Snapchat, ChatGPT, TikTok, WhatsApp, Fitbit, and others.
I obviously don’t want to install Google apps on a deGoogled device so, for fun (because tablets are mostly here to entertain us), I try searching for Netflix. At first, there are no results but the app then appears after I desperately sign in on the App Lounge through my Google account, sign out, and then log in again as an anonymous user.
It works. So does Prime Video or Disney+. But still, it’s a bit weird that all the more popular global apps appeared on the App Lounge only after I had briefly signed in as a Google account holder.
Does this mean that a better user experience is only possible after showing yourself to Google, however briefly? It definitely reminded me of my troubles using one of the early Kindle Fire tablets – they were and remain trash. Redditors agree.
The Murena Pixel Tablet also comes with in-built privacy-minded alternatives for email, messaging, maps, or browsing the web. There’s a calendar, a notes app, and a voice recorder.
It’s all quite simple. The default web client is called “Browser,” for email, there’s “Mail,”, and the Maps app is from Magic Lane, an OpenStreetMap-based startup.
Who’s the product?
Right, so would I buy the Murena tablet? Yes. I wouldn’t purchase a Murena One /e/OS smartphone, released in 2022, but a tablet? Sure. Let me explain.
A smartphone these days really is something one would find very difficult to comfortably live without. The phone usually stores your banking app, tickets, membership cards, it allows you to leave your wallet at home and do contactless payments.
If you can’t do all that, you will struggle – and on alternatives to mainstream OSes, the user experience could definitely be smoother. If I get annoyed, I won’t give a damn about my data.
But tablets aren’t here to help you with your chores – I can confirm that all I use my Samsung tablet for is reading and watching soccer while my better half is busy with her umpteenth season of Love is Blind on the big screen.
You usually need your smartphone to work here and now, no questions asked. Apple or Google make sure you run into as few problems as possible. But the way we use tablets is slower, one can play with the configuration.
With the Murena tablet, you can avoid having at least some of your data stored by Google. Of course, if you keep using a mainstream smartphone, you’re not going to escape data collection, sure, but a deGoogled tablet is still something. You will have done your bit.
Cybernews recently wrote about how true deGoogling is actually impossible without sacrificing too much. You have to work out most of the solutions yourself – but Murena might help ease your load.
The price might scare purchasers away, of course. In the EU, the Murena tablet is available for €539 ($582) whereas Google sells the same 128GB version for $399.
So yeah, the Murena one isn’t a bargain. But privacy also isn’t a bargain. We should all know by now that if it’s free or pleasantly cheap, you, the user, are actually the product.
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