Shopping around, seems like every option is doubling down on anti-user garbage… I don’t trust myself to do a root or anything like that - my tech skills are juuust good enough to be painfully aware of my own dumbassery, but I’m doubting an out-of-the-box smartphone that isn’t loaded with shit even exists.
Previously I’ve used Pixel and Galaxy, but those are both chief offenders.
Ironically, iPhones are pretty close to stock with no bloatware installed. You can delete most any of the Apple apps, they don’t allow carrier apps to be preloaded, and you can disable Apple Intelligence to get rid of anything AI they provide.