Pretty much all Android phones are full of unwanted bloatware that is difficult or impossible to remove. If you are an untrusting person (or dog), this is undesirable. Fortunately there is a solution. You can get a clean, stripped down install of Android from Lineage.
Device support is limited, but many popular devices are supported. Swonk found that new 'old stock' Samsung phones are available on some auction sites. Selecting one that was on the Lineage supported device list and following the instructions (carefully) resulted in a nice phone that came out of the box pristine and had an up to date Android install.
Lineage does not come with Google Play, but you can install it if you wish. It is not without problems though. The Google Play app is in the Google bundle, so you get stuck with the other Google apps too.
If you don't want to partake of the Google koolaid, you can sideload apps or just get APKs from other sources and install them.
With a little effort and care you get a cleaner and more trustworthy device.