So, after following the discussions for quite a while, I decided to pull it off.
Having gone though the support list of various distributions, I chose Pixel 3a for my setup. Among the dirt cheap smartphones, it seems to enjoy the support of almost everything.
I decided to install PostmarketOS with Plasma Mobile. In the meanwhile, I also tested Mobian (didn't work for me for some reason) and Gnome (I ended up being too much of a KDE fanboy).
The overall experience is, honestly, mixed. It sure is exciting, and I've spent a whole day tinkering here and there (and feeling a bit nostalgic for the day I felt this way about Linux as a whole), the hardware support was a pleasant surprise, up to multipoint Bluetooth TWS headphones, but still, system stability isn't anywhere near a daily driver, and software support lags behind in many ways.
In any case, now I too have a platform to look into the future. Year of Linux mobile, anyone? :)
P.S. Any advice on censorship-resistant (VLESS/Reality/AmneziaWG-based) VPNs for PostmarketOS on ARM devices?
Mobian weekly images are currently broken, use an older one and simply update.
Might end up doing just that at some point!
Drop by in the Mobian chat in case you encounter any issues. I ported Mobian to it and would like to see all issues fixed.
I will, if I get to do this again!
Unfortunately, I did not write down the error, but it failed to boot properly with some GPU error, I believe with the -2 code, and defaulted to the terminal login screen.
To be more precise: my device is Pixel 3a XL (bonito), SDC panel. The issue does get reproduced on a stable release as well.
That shouldn't be the case and it looks like you hit a bug.
EDIT: Should mention, -2 is "no such file", probably missing firmware, for some reason.