Spyware-free phones in 2021: looks bleak. The carriers are squeezing old handsets off their networks and forcing everyone to upgrade to their VoLTE (3G LTE) infrastructure which is basically a form of packet radio with internet backhaul which makes voice and data both data and eliminates the remaining pure voice channels. The Linux phones aren't as feature-complete as a flip phone. Even if you get a flip-phone, you can be tracked based on your IMEI, but BigTech can't profit from your data.
The carriers have basically colluded with the handset and chipset manufacturers to profit off your data and keep you upgrading to the latest handset which has a chipset that supports the latest standard. New standards are not really necessary and 5G actually works slower than 3G LTE (4G). 5G is really morphing into 5G LTE (6G) because the standards bodies came up with standards and made claims that don't work in reality (most of the FR2 stuff).
I didn't watch the full video but apparently the carriers are trying to squeeze you into more and more WiFi calling, which interestingly occupies some of the same bands as FR2 but would actually work since everyone has WiFi. What, exactly, are we paying for and what are we getting? WiFi calling uses your own infrastructure all the way to the carrier's servers, so they're just shifting more cost onto the customer and increasing their profits by eliminating the need to upgrade base stations.
I haven't even gotten into right-to-repair.