Is the Fairphone 5 just a repeat of a proven formula or a real improvement compared to its predecessors?
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?
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.
It seems graphene is limiting itself to Pixel devices. The developer is also mostly a one man show, so I don't think he has the capacity to support many devices. He's probably just busy keeping up with Pixel devices as-is.
What I would like to know is, how do /e/ and GrapheneOS compare.
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.
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.
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.
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'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!
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 🤦🏽♂️
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
"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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 2lower 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.
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.
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
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.
I would buy one if they shipped globally and it was about 100-150€ cheaper. The specs are not worth 700€. I would also need official GrapheneOS support as well.
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
For real, we need more phones that are compatible with GrapheneOS. Going to Google for THE De-googled phone is nothing shy of extremely ironic and borderline hypocritical.
Most importantly - more such phones that are affordable. Even specifics like giant size aside, the only Pixel I can afford is the one that is either not supported or close to the end of support. Also they're not even officially available here, which seems to be a common problem.
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.
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
Few comments here that id like feedback from somebody, if possible :
fairphone does not sell mainboards seperately because things like the phone imei is linked to it, which in itself is often linked to the mobile provider. Changing this isnt always allowed, depending on the country/state/whatever
afaik they do still order from china oems, but i think they choose parts that are certified to not be made with childlabor, unethical stuff etc etc. If it is like that, nobody knows. Thats the problem with the whole fight against unethical stuff
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
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.
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.
When i got my FP4 I 3D printed my case with some flexable filament. Once the price went town (and the first case was full of full of dirt and dog food) I bought a cheaper one.
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.
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.
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.
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.
ok specs, not intended for heavy apps like emulators
expensive
no headphone jack
very limited usage in us ( no full us release besides the /e/os release with limited bandwidth support )
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.
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...
In the battery settings, there is often almost no app. Like 2-3 apps with more than 1% usage. To me it looks like it is the OS itself that uses all the resources. Unfortunately system monitor apps don't work anymore on modern Android phones...
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 😂
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)
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/.
That’s great, but I mean to say that the people who would most benefit from a fairphone are those that would never spend more than 200 euro in a phone.
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
Edit: found grapheneOS' response again I'm not saying Fairphone is a bad company but the way they are advertising the fp5 seems kinda shady IMO based on the specs of the device. At most you'll get partial updates after 5 years since Qualcomm will drop support which is still great but don't assume your device will be as safe as a fully updated device. Then again fairphone may commit to extending the life of the QCM6490 but not sure if they'll be capable of that so we'll just have to see. I apologize to anyone who got offended for some reason I was just expressing my opinion based on the track record of the company and the specs of their device
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.
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
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