I have been considering replacing my nearly 7 year old iPhone (although very reluctant) and I was checking for options. Really the only phone that caught my eye was the Sony xperia 1 V, but I found no information about how to degoogle and lock down the device. I really like the features and the built in camera apps, etc. Is there a way to degoogle the phone without loosing the funcionality/ease of use?
That has been my experience with Sony phones, too. And as you (and I) pointed out, that device already has official LineageOS support so clearly it can be unlocked. I can only assume this is a regional problem or something. I know Japanese and American variants can have permanently locked bootloaders, which sometimes catches out second-hand purchasers who haven’t done their research.