Ifixit gives fairphone 5 a 10/10 on repairability and maintanence
Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10? | iFixit News
While they were happy with what the fairphone 4 brought to the table, they seem to like what was changed for the fairphone 5.
What are you guys' opinions on this? A welcome change? would you get one if your phone died within the next year?
And I give it a 0/10 on having a 3.5mm connector
There is an adapter, buttt yeah I would really miss being able to just plug in a pair of headphones.
That is a solution to a problem nobody wanted.
Is that really that much of an issue in the age of USB-C?
Yes, the 3.5mm jack is more durable than USB-C (since it is rotationally symmetric twisting doesn't apply force to the connector), it maintains compatibility with billions of audio devices and doesn't block your charging port if you use it.
I don't get why you get so much downvotes, because it's not as obvious as people make it out to be and there are plenty of adapters. So it's a good question.
But yes. The 3.5mm jack had the thing companies say they are striving for: simplicity.
DACs are nice and everything but the phone can just decide to not connect properly. The DAC can decide it had enough of your phone. In either case you'd need to reconnect them. And that means unlocking your phone, because a secure phone will block streaming to 'unknown' USB-C devices, unless it's unlocked during the negotiation phase. And if your connectors have become wonky for whatever reason: Well, no music for you.
And then there's the issue where you have to have them at hand when you need them. In your car, on your person, while at work.
3.5mm is great because it actually "just works". One of the few things that can claim such thing.
Yes, I should be able to play music, AND charge the phone without a 9 wire adapter like those universal charger plugs from 10 years ago. Wild concept. I wonder when phone tech will be able to support such a thing
Yes, it is.
my issue right now is that i use one of those charging + 3.5mm splitters in the car, but when they're both connected there's a loud ass buzz. a 3.5mm ground loop isolator works but made bass sound terrible. i'm probably gonna get an old phone just for music in the car 🤦🏽♂️
Yes, it's fucking ridiculous! My cans are now either useless or cumbersome and everything else sounds awful! It's like you people who just want some noise have never even heard decent audio!
No way i'm carrying a dongle
Give it a year or two and most headphones will come with USB-C plugs. You’ll have to adapt back to the antiquated 3.5mm.
As it’s now, most things that you would plug a pair of headphones into (or their current-generation equivalent) has USB-C (or USB-A), aside from home theater/pro audio equipment
High end ones will even have their own DACs and amps, and you’ll regret ever missing 3.5mm
First, same was said years ago, yet 3,5mm is still there in many modern phones - and I for one am happy about it.
Second, if we were to move our audio to usb-c (why, though?), please make two ports instead of one. Forcing everything through one physical port adds a lot of everyday inconveniences and reduces reliability.
Get over it, gramps 🤣
As well as a 5.25" floppy disc drive and betamax, you call that a phone?!? No thank you, I'll stick with my x-phone https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9-nezImUP0w
People complaining about 3.5mm jacks remind of the people who complained about how the iMac G3 didn't have a 3.5" floppy drive. At first yeah it was weird to leave it out, but it's been 9 years since the first smartphone launched without a 3.5mm jack (the OPPO R5 in 2014).
If you want ancient tech then your options will be limited.
Ancient tech? Looks at literally every laptop and desktop sold.
Headphone jack removal is anti-consumer and any device without one is missing a key component. Why would I buy a device missing a key component?
Plus you can find wired headphones EVERYWHERE. Walk into any gas station and pick up replacements for $10. Sure they may not be the best quality, but they work. Also, no charging, just plug them into your device. Also, no setup, just plug it in.
i actually find this argument flawed. Bluetooth is great but does not provide feature parity. correct me if I'm wrong but aptX was supposed to be lossless audio, but it has been shown that it has compression artifacts. I'll be happy with Bluetooth only if we can have absolutely lossless audio
So, the smaller version of the connector that studios use to this day is ancient, huh?
This is not a well thought out response.
The things you mention had workable replacements and/or were the loser in a standards war. Bluetooth headphones have weaker audio, battery limitations on the headphones and the streaming device and the argument for removing them is just not justified outside of forced path to profits for proprietary headphone sales. Also, there are USB-c headphone options and problems are two fold - clunky, costly adapters and increased stress on the phone's main charging port.
It's not even close to ancient and you're argument is extremely weak.
Ethernet must be ancient tech to you.
The difference here is that 3,5mm jacks are not obsolete.
Nobody besides a few grumpy folks opposed the switch from microUSB to Type-C, for example, because we got something better instead.
Floppy drives got obsolete, because again, we got something better - disks! And then flash drives! Always a better, more convenient and functional option.
3,5 mm jack, however, is still completely relevant and is not replaced by anything. It is the only widely adopted consumer-grade standard for analog wired audio. Wireless audio has objective drawbacks: one more battery to control, lower reliability, poorer sound quality (not a big issue with most phones since their DACs are normally not audiophile-grade anyway, but still), higher price, pairing issues, and many more. And USB-C to 3,5mm dongles are obviously terrible: they can get lost, they don't allow you to listen to music while charging your phone/transferring files, and they are yet another component to manage.
Essentially, wireless audio has been pushed down our throats, and we do not appreciate that. For me, not having a 3,5mm jack is one of the criterions that immediately kill any desire to buy that phone. It will just be a massive pain in the ass for me, and I don't want that.
This is just proof smartphones are toys and not real tools.
They do everything poorly. iPhone video and photo looks like garbage compared to a real camera and now you can't even play music without overly compressed bluetooth. This is like wanting a flip phone filter for your camera. It's asinine and backward and you defend it like a lemming because HURR FLOPPY DISK SMALL. Apples and oranges. A universal connector capable of delivering a strong signal is not the same as a low capacity storage format.
But please do go on about how great your tracking device is
you do know that you could have made your point in a nicer manner, yes? why would we want to bring the strenuous tones of hollow outrage from reddit to here?
we are all better than that, even the big danish guys.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://m.piped.video/watch?v=9-nezImUP0w
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
I really wish another viable mobile OS would come out. I don’t want android and apple iOS is wearing thin on me.
Have you tried Ubuntu Touch?
Perhaps next year will be the year of the Linux Phone. Alas, the same problems that plague the Linux desktop plague the phone. Lack of software.
It’s also very difficult to move out of the Apple ecosystem once everything just works the way you think it should. 
I tried it on a spare old phone and found it pretty unusable tbh. Very limited application choices and I hated the UI / app management work flow.
Also I hated that by default the terminal (and superuser privileges) are VERY locked down.
It's possible I just didn't know what I was doing tho ¯(ツ)_/¯
It would end up getting ignored or quickly devolve into the same shit as the others. 😞
Fuck, if Microsoft couldn't do it, then there's not much hope for anyone else.
There was so much competition in the early days of smartphones, its sad we ended up, the whole of humanity with two choices. Meego a collab between Intel and Nokia was really unique and a good model for social media and communications. Windows Phone was good purely to have another major competitor, but the interface was way ahead of Android and iOS for providing a better mobile experience.
RIM Blackberry, Nokia, Palm, all had a red hot go. Amazon tried recently and failed, they look like they'll give it another shot with their new OS.
Yeah its just sad
I miss WebOS as a mobile OS and I can't bear to see what LG has done do it.
Try Murena on fairphone!
Murena uses /e/OS, which is still Android though.
It’s less about the hardware and more about the software. I would love to use a fairphone
The number of comment that says " I would buy one, but" is amazing !
What this company is doing is what every company should do, from laptop to tablet. As well as tractors. Dot being able to repair what you buy is fundamentally flawed!
TBF it's not available in the USA, and a lot of us are in the USA...plus even if we got one, a lot of the bands wouldn't work, so it's not like you'd have a good connection with it.
This is the reason why I never bought an Asus phone despite hating our primary options in the US (Samsung, Apple, Google) and really wanting one. It seems most manufacturers forget that T-mobile bands exist despite them being nearly tied for #2 in marketshare in the US.
How tragic. I'm sorry. As a dirty Yuropoor I'll buy one in your place and enjoy it for you.
That's the biggest thing for me. If I can get a similar phone to work in the US with no stability or functional compromises, I'm happy.
"Not available" in a given country doesn't really mean anything these days. You can buy anything online and get it shipped anywhere. The question I have is does it work on American wireless networks? Because if it does, you can figure out how to acquire a phone...
You're right, it is amazing. These people are giving honest constructive criticism of a product. Companies often have to pay money to get that information. These complaints are generally valid as well.
The company's commitment to repairability is commendable but it's in lieu of other important factors. If I have to make the choice between having the newer OS with stronger, more powerful hardware or the ability to repair my device I'm going to choose the former every time. From the get-go the device might last longer simply because I won't want to get rid of it as quickly. The 5 is of course a significant improvement over previous releases but it's still behind. If they can deliver a device that is not immediately outdated in comparison to other phones of similar price then this would be a no brainer for me and likely others as well.
Similarly availability is another major factor. You can't buy what you can't get your hands on. Even more importantly it's even more futile to buy one for a network that doesn't support it at all. Obviously the creators just aren't ready to expand into another market and that's fine but it doesn't make the criticism any less important for their mission.
For the same price, a Fair Phone is always going to be outdated. They can't scale as much as the big manufacturers can and they (are trying to) avoid slave labor etc.
It's simply not possible to be as cheap as the others who do everything to be as cheap as can be.
Framework ship laptops to Australia and has a headphone socket. Great company. Great products. Great experience, highly recommend. I can't recommend products that don't sell and support in my market. I don't have any loyalty to Fairphones or Steamdecks or any other product from low effort companies that don't ship beyond NA or Europe.
Yet they don't sell in the USA, and they don't have a headphone jack. A company meant for repairability and reliability not having a headphone jack. That's like when framework removed it from the 16 inch laptop.
I don't think your comparison to Framework is justified since 1) they made a headphone jack expansion module that's available along with all the other ports and 2) the Framework 16 has 6 expansion bays instead of 4. If you need a headphone jack you get a 25% increase in configurable ports, and if you don't need one you get a 50% increase in ports. Plus, you can easily switch between those two cases.
I would love one of it wasn't so big. I'm sick of big phones.
This. I just ordered an S23, just because it's pretty much the smallest phone you can get (apart from the zenfone, which has a worse update policy).
Got a Zenphone 9 because I don't really care about wireless charging. The hardware is great, but the software has it's problems sometimes, like some missing QoL features. On the upside: Not nearly as much bloatware as other phones, especially Samsung ones.
I'm still using a S10e, seriously considering buying another - it still suits my needs.
Agreed, I happened to just make this mockup chronicling my journey through screen sizes. I loved the HTC One m7, the pixel 2 despite being a bit larger was still comfortable because it still has a "chin" at the bottom. I thought going to the pixel 5 would be fine and I chose it because it's within ~1mm of the same body dimensions, but I forgot to account for the screen going all the way to the top/bottom - trying to press the back button at the bottom of the screen with 1 hand is so much more of a stretch and it sometimes makes my hand sore. Given that I've had the P5 for a while and my hand still hasn't adjusted I just can't go to a bigger phone, especially since the P5's increased height over the 2 lower screen bottom compared to the P2 makes it want to flip backwards out of my hand when I'm trying to reach down to the back button. At a minimum I need my next phone to be same or smaller than the P5.
(Comparison: https://i.imgur.com/gAc306o.png )
That said, I get that FP wants to make a repairable phone that appeals to the masses, and it might hurt that mission to cater to a specific crowd instead of competing with the veritable hand-tablets that other companies are producing. I just hope that they grow large enough to be able to make a "Luddite" version though with a non-cramp-inducing size and a headphone jack. I don't care either way about headphone jacks but I feel like there's a lot of overlap between the crowds that want smaller phones and people who want headphone jacks.
Agree, I want something that fits in my pocket and that I don't have to perform hand gymnastics to use.
If my FP4 dies in the next year, I will fix it. Because iFixit gave it 10/10.
I want the headphone jack back.
Lack of one is an immediate showstopper for me, too.
For me it's the micro SD card. Which the FP5 has... but I use my phone for emulators, and their phones aren't as powerful as I would need. Also, they don't sell in the US, so I couldn't use it even if I wanted.
As soon as my FP 3 dies they will hopefully have a new phone with a headphone jack. In 10 years or so.
Honestly I'd probably buy a phone without a camera before I'd buy a phone without a headphone jack.
I was sold on the idea of a fairphone but that's a dealbreaker to me. I very briefly owned a phone without a headphone jack (borrowed from a friend while my current one was in repair), having to think of that stupid adapter all the time was hell.
Don't forget to let them know that at the various consumer surveys they send regularly. But I wouldn't hold my breath...
I would buy one in a heartbeat if it was smaller.... My S22 barely fits in my pants pocket, and barely usable with one hand.
Still waiting for compact phones to return...RIP sony xperia
I laughed when I saw the size of it. It's the same size as the S23 ultra...
I have an S21 Ultra, so the size doesn't bother me too much. But the Fair phone is objectively a worse device on every level. I want something S23 nonplus non ultra sized if I'm going for an average long lasting daily phone.
The Zenfone line is your best bet for a compact phone today. I switched from the LG V60 to the Zenfone 10 when it came out and it's no contest. I loved my V60 but its laughably massive to me now
RIP sony xperia? I just got a Sony Xperia 5 V and it's a great phone. Maybe a bit tall but the width makes it very comfortable to use with one hand.
I wouldn't say the Fairphone 5 wins prizes for looks or functionality but it does show that it is entirely possible to make a phone with a replaceable battery and repairable components in a modern form factor. If they, a small boutique phone maker can do it, then there is absolutely no excuse that Apple, Samsung, Oppo etc. cannot do the same.
One failing of Fairphone is you cannot buy the mainboard (the core component) from their store. All the other components yes, but not the mainboard. The core is not just the CPU, flash but also some other things like microphone are on it. It would also be nice if people could order all the parts that make up a Fairphone 5 and assemble one entirely from scratch.
I've also read through their ethics / green reports in the past, and while it talks it up with "supply chain engagement" reports and so on, most of their components are still made to order by Chinese OEMs so how far does it go down the chain in reality.
One failing of Fairphone is you cannot buy the mainboard (the core component) from their store. All the other components yes, but not the mainboard. The core is not just the CPU, flash but also some other things like microphone are on it. It would also be nice if people could order all the parts that make up a Fairphone 5 and assemble one entirely from scratch.
good point. with the mainboard available they would be on Framework's level and that would be amazing
then there is absolutely no excuse that Apple, Samsung, Oppo etc. cannot do the same.
There is an excuse: it costs them money. If you can easily and cheaply repair your phone, you won't buy a new one.
Few comments here that id like feedback from somebody, if possible :
I want a fucking headphone jack, thanks. Also 3 full size USB ports, a physical keyboard and a inch-thick battery, because fuck you.
They got us in the first half.
Okay but I'm absolutely serious and I bet a lot of the upvotes on that ARE unironic. There is a market for chunky, powerful portable devices -few manufacturers seem to want to cater to that type of customer however, probably because of a worldwide capitalism hegemony that exists to make you as placated and dumb as possible rather than empower you as a individual or something
I really like the idea of these phones and I’d really buy one of my employer wasn’t providing me a phone and allowing me to use it for my private stuff.
Of course, it might be expensive for the hardware, but just look at the price of a non repairable and non ethical iPhone.
Thanks for the advice, but I’ve already thought about it a lot and I see more advantages than inconveniences. But if course I agree with you about the risks involved.
Still no 3.5mm jack, still no dice for me.
I don't like it (that's why I keep a Galaxy S9) but that ship has sailed.
I've got a Galaxy S9!
Just get a dongle.
Same, terrible shame too
this is great! i have a friend who needs a new phone and is ordering one, and i'm gonna get my hands on it to help him out and eventually flashing LineageOS on it if it comes out
i just wish they complied with the android stack security features so that it would be compatible with GrapheneOS. it would be the perfect phone
I would totally buy one if they brought it to the US.
I like the Fairphone 5 but €40 for a case is unforgivable.
I'm feeling like it's a gouge because they know not many (if any) 3rd party cases exist.
If you look at other recyclable or sustainable phone cases it's not actually that much expensive. It seems unreasonably priced if you compare them to cases that are not at all eco friendly.
I have already made that comparison, and still have found it double the price of other cases that you describe.
Cases from recycled materials should be cheaper, as they are don't having to purchase virgin material, not more expensive.
Anyone charging a premium for recycled material products is usually targeting and taking advantage of 'green' customers.
The ability to recycle most plastics in 2023 is pretty standard unless they're overly cleaning or bleaching the material, in which case it is no longer environmentally friendly.
Hey now, you're looking at this all wrong: if you break your phone because you didn't have a case on, it should be easily fixable! ;-)
I have a FP5 and honestly:
You don't want a case. Seriously.
Just get one of the Screen Protectors and you're good to go.
I have just recently bought a FP5 as well and I wouldn't trust myself without it. Without a case it's pretty slippery. And just because it's easy to repair the screen doesn't mean I risk it getting broken more than necessary. So the 34 Euro I paid definitely was worth it. Especially considering it's made out of recycled material.
I feared that the fingerprint reader would be hard to reach with it, but luckily it works pretty well. A slight touch is enough to unlock it.
I've never in my life wanted a case. What's the point?
The engineering team behind this must be amazing!
I went with pixel 8 Pro and graphene os, but I did consider fp.
Can you even use a new fp in the US?
If it works it's likely not supported officially by any carrier (this probably also applies to Canada and possibly Mexico), but it's at least not for sale in the US. Not sure if it's sold to all of Europe or just the EU/EEZ however.
Yeah I'm a techie but not super well versed in mobile tech so I didn't want to roll the dice. I'm happy with graphene os on my pixel though, and supposed to get 8 years of support out of it.
I was happy with my s20+ but EOL on it was in like Feb so I jumped on black Friday when I could trade in and pay $500 for an 8 Pro.
You can technically. But you might not get service in certain areas because it doesn't have support for all of the US bands.
I came really close to importing one until I found I couldn't use 5g, and there'd be very little LTE support for T-Mobile.
Ended up getting a Pixel 8, hopefully they can get it to the US sooner than they did the FP4.
Ive been considering GrapheneOS. I only really use Banking, Android Auto and occasionally Maps from the play store (although I LOVE Organic Maps).
I've had a fine time with GOS so far. If you just want to lessen Googles grip on you instead of going balls deep on security/privacy, it's been just as fine as a stock rom. You can install play services as a normal ass app sandboxed and control it's perms to get your push notifications and if an app doesn't work out the box there's a compatibility mode that lessens the GOS behind the scenes workings so it'll run.
I don't have any map app yet, but all my banking apps work (one with compatibility mode) and haven't had any issues with anything so far.
Graphene doesn't and won't ever support android auto, sadly, it's the only thing I miss
Edit: well, that's what they said, but now it's optionally available!
I would love to get one.
I got the FP5 with the latest e/os 1,18t flashed on and i just love this phone.
Has anyone had success importing one into the US to work on T-Mobile?
I haven't tried but Murena sells Fairphones to the US market but no release date announced it for it yet.
I will be buying one. Sorry, the 3.5mm jack days have passed. The perceptible quality difference from current gen BT headphones is negligible for 99% of people. If you are in the 1%, listen on your dedicated hardware at home, but dont bog down item specs for the rest of people.
Yes but also no, but also yes. Here's why:
So I'd probably overall argue that those who really care about audio probably have a separate DAC like https://www.techradar.com/audio/hi-fi/ifi-hip-dac-3-review
Which is probably an unpopular opinion.
I disagree on point 1; I use cabled headphones/earbuds more than the screen. My audio jacks get more use than the all the usb jacks combined (short of peripherals like keyboard that stay plugged in constantly).
I'm fairly(pun intended) certain my next phone will be a Fairphone. What would be the main reasons not to buy it? I don't mind the size, I don't need an amazing camera but I do wish it had a headphone jack. That said, I expect to flash Lineage on my OnePlus 6 and use it a bit longer, to avoid e-waste for a bit.
Reasons not to buy it that ive seen so far :
My personal opinion is that if you can flash a rom, you might as well get a fairphone if youre ok with the price. Fairphone is a bit behind on updates, but lineageos fixes most of that (specially once they release android 14 )
I'm in Europe, so the problems with coverage shouldn't be an issue here, as far as I've seen.
As mentioned, I'm a bit miffed about the headphone jack, but I guess I can live with it if their Bluetooth chip is optimized for audio ( I found a post on Fairphone's official forum from a guy who says he's tested the Fairphone 5 several Bluetooth codecs, including aptX,and it works, so that's enough for me.
I also don't use emulators, so yeah, I guess there's very little reason for me to avoid Fairphone.
OK specs overall but too big for me and no headphone jack, I wouldn't get one.
The FP5 still have some strange overheating issue. Some day I go from 90% et 10% in 2 hours, sometime it takes 2 day, without any changes in my usages. A reboot fixes it for a time, but I have to do it every 2-3 days...
While I didn't have that issue, switching my fp4 to e/OS did give me roughly 50% more time on the battery. There are software trade offs though so if you just want the OEM experience then I guess it'll be a case of waiting for an update.
Even though I really want to support them, I don't think I could get used to it. I really hate large phones, I tried to get used to them but eventually I always switched back. That is the dealbreaker for me, but I also don't like that it has a slower processor, worse cameras, and worse battery life than my 3 year old phone.
There are things missing from this that I want but the better sourcing and the dedication to a responsible platform makes me want to get one. I'm in the states though so I have to get a reshipper in order to get one which really sucks because it's going to jack up the price anywhere from 40-100 euros.
I like repairable hardware and own a Framework laptop. It has a headphone socket that I use every day. If Framework made a phone I might be interested. If most fairphones end up paired to disposable wireless earbuds with limited battery life that end in landfill I don't get how that is more sustainable than adding a socket for the declining but still sizeable number of people who cling to wired stuff that just works.
My rugged mid-range Nokia refuses to take damage. The thing is cursed. I have dropped it so many times it is ridiculous. It might be years before I replace it. Has a jack as well. Made me totally re-evaluate what I value in a phone. I realized I am not a feature/performance fetishist. I want solidly made gear that has regular updates.
I would love to get one of these, but I'm in love with my foldable. If they ever release one (I know, pipe dream probably) I will absolutely snap it up. But I just love my foldable so much. Can't imagine not having the big screen anymore.
If only they sold their phones to the 99% of us who live outside of Europe. 🙁
Edit: Guys, not literally 99% of the human population... It was a joke playing with the idea of "the 1%" having privilege over "the 99%"... You guys who can buy this phone "are in the 1%". No need to be a number Nazi 😂
The EU alone is about 450 million people. There's more countries in Europe than in the EU. I think you got something wrong.
It's 741 million right now, and to be fair about 91.8% of the population lives outside Europe.
Then again how many of those people would be in the market for a fairphone anyways? Can we include China and India? Not sure if the Chinese government would see kindly to the fairphone (maybe I don't know) and Indians would probably be outside the target since the fairphone is rather expensive (or maybe not I'm not sure)
Huuuuh 99%!? 😅
They actually support their phones for years. You can even still get most parts of the Fairphone 2 which was released 8 years ago. New android versions are provided for a minimum of 5 years, often longer.
They also source their materials and labor as ethically as possible.
None of it is perfect of course, but considering the fucked up phone market, they're doing an amazing job.
You can buy the parts for even fair phone 2 in their website
why can you no longer get parts for the first gen fair phone?
repairability means jack shit if it doesnt get supported a year later.
I think this will be Apple's plan when the EU forces them to sell devices with replaceable batteries. The EU says end users should be able to replace the battery without special tools, heat, solvents. It doesn't say the battery can't be DRM'd up the ass, or how long or what quantity of replacement stock should be made available.
So I expect Apple will do exactly that - DRM'd expensive batteries in limited supply. So even if you wanted to replace the battery you won't be able to get hold of one. Maybe they'll allow OEM batteries but in the typical Apple way - gimping the phone and putting scary warnings on the screen that the battery is not Apple certified, that rapid charge, screen brightness, or something else is disabled. Because Apple are dicks.
I like the concept, but without a truly open OS; like pinephone is doing with GNU/Linux, it's still a device controlled by the most powerful company on the planet.
As a pine64 fan ( proud owner of pinecill and quartz64 as daily drivers ) , i rooting for them and the pinephone. I like the idea of a linux phone, but unsure how stable and functional it is. Specially with official documents/websites needing certain apps ( government document signing, 2fa, ... ).
Still, awesome idea
Currently you can get /e/OS for the FP5. The FP3 and 4 are well supported by LineageOS and Ubuntu so I'm hopeful that they'll be coming to the FP5 too. In the meantime I'm loving the device itself. If Lineage isn't out for it by New Year I'll be trying /e/.
This is not the function of the phone.
They meant Google. There are truly open OSes that are not quite so captured: https://itsfoss.com/open-source-alternatives-android/
You might be in the wrong subreddit buddy, I'm sorry. If you type 'Elon Musk' into the search bar, you can find your way back to the bubble maybe.
Some days ago a bought an Oppo F11(model from like 4 years ago) with 6GB/128GB from a random AliExpress seller, brand new for like 60 bucks.. so I am not paying $700 for a FP5 if I can keep buying a new cheap device every 2-3 years for $60. What's the point into repairing a smartphone if I can get a new smartphone for the repairing price? LOL. I believe this thing about FP it's more about the hype and gossip than for repairability tbh.
I feel the price is justified as they make way less sells by employing the longevity-oriented tactics. They need to return the money somehow.
With that being said, price is still a big concern. As things stand, Fairphones are still enthusiast-grade product, being way more expensive than alternatives in the same spec range. While buyers expect it to serve them for almost a decade and put that into price calculations, they're most likely to change it quicker.
And as a person for whom the price of Fairphone 5 is two monthly salaries, I have to pass anyway. I still commit to green electronics while saving a buck by buying used phones in a good condition - super green, fairly cheap. And I recommend everyone on a budget (or even just ideologically) to do the same, as the most green phone is the one you don't have to manufacture.
one time someone gave me a 10/10 on account of my dingus
Awesome phone as a concept, which is something that android fortunately still has a lot of.
Too bad about the software security updates and lack of security features. Might be a good spare phone though
What do you mean by lack of security features? Fairphone promises 5 Android version upgrades and security updates for at least 8 years.
Iirc the chipset, QCM6490, will lose support after 2028 meaning the device will get at least 5 years of security updates and not the promised 8. Pretty sure that's why grapheneOS doesn't/won't support it since the company doesn't keep to their promises
Running android puts rather a low ceiling on security and privacy
Edit: ok look y’all, I’m stoked that there are some privacy and security-focused routes for nerds to take, but aggregate security for the average user who goes to a store and buys what the salesperson recommends is an important metric.
Buying this phone as a “spare phone” you very well may never actually need seems to contradict the point of it
That is a 700+ dollar "spare phone". Must be nice. It seems like an ok phone but it's so expensive that the sustainability angle seems like pretense. My last phone (Moto G4 XT1625, Android 7) was $170 and was technologically obsolescent and physically decrepit by the time I replaced it after about 6 years. I'd like to see how many fairphones are still in use after that long.
Thats true but I was referring to it being useful for travelers or as a work phone. Just being useful when you don't want to expose your personal device
LineageOS, my friend.
Software updates of the old phone or the fp5?
Crap meant security updates I'll edit it in but their phones overall. The company is notorious for not providing full security updates for the promised length which can end up jeopardizing the customer. Then specifically for the fp5 there's the lack of a secure element and iirc verified boot but I could be mistaken
They provide updates for as long as Apple. More than any other android OEM.
Educate yourself before you attempt to speak with authority.
I'm really sorry I hurt your poor little fee fees 🥺🥺🥺
Poor Luke :(
More repairable compared to pretty much everything released nowadays, but no 3.5 jack. And yap, the latter part sucks
Although, to me those scores don't mean shit. Like damn, smth like 1+ 5(t) requires to remove just a few more screws to do the same stuff (yap, on mine I replaced the display, battery, and that flexpcb with ports 2-3 times). Yeah, okay, it's still has decent 7/10; but wait, what's that, crapple phone 14+ also has 7/10... Do I need to elaborate on why it's bullshit? Just software pairing alone should automatically mean negative final mark
Aaand then we have 1+ 6, which gets 5/10 despite internally being pretty much the same as op5 except the back being glass and not proper metal.
The no jack part is absolutely true and a disappointment. But you have to give credit to it's reparability. I know it has a lot of limitations, you can't swap the CPU if needed, but it's much better than any other phone.
Too bad they don't sell them in the US. I would buy one immediately.
they're selling the 4 with degoogled OS in the US, so perhaps they'll do the same with the 5 at some point.
Amazing.
I'm sick of buying a new phone every three years because the battery is dead or the processor is slow, nothing can be replaced without it being wildly expensive and now it's a paperweight.
Great news, really hope the 5 is next.
That and supporting grapheneos would do it for me
That's more up to the grapheneOS devs
For me, the problem was that they don't support the right bands for US carriers.
I'm able to use Mint Mobile here in the States on my Fairphone 4. I believe 5 would also be compatible.
That's not fair
I've being following Fairphone since 2013, waiting for them to sell to Taiwan. After a years of waiting, in 2019 I just said fk it and bought one from official store, ship it with international packaging forwarding service. Couldn't be happier with my Fairphone ever since.
I generally try to check every few years to see if they sell to the US yet. Last I checked they would finally ship FP4 to the US, but it will only work on T-Mobile :/ gonna check back in a few more years.
Well if you're on ATT or any of it's mvno's good luck ever using any devices that isn't on their approved list. I can't even use my carrier unlocked Oneplus 7T. Really the only choice for device freedom in the "land of the free" is T-Mobile.