Any tips on purchasing de-googled phones...?

There are a number of them out there now, do they really give significant protection against big tech watchful eyes?

Thank you so much!  There are a number of vendors of de-googled phones out there... one of them is "Brax" who has a YT channel on it I've been watching... but never pulled the trigger on a phone... how can you have confidence that such phones, like maybe even VPN services, aren't some kind of 'honey pot' where the NSA actually focuses MORE intense scrutiny... ?

 ... and how far do you go with your own 'paranoia' about this?  TO the point of getting off the internet entirely? Seems like the electronic media is also capable of being used for much good, witness the weekly homilies from Bp Williamson on the Telegram channel...