Re ethical consumption, my opinion is, if you don’t absolutely need a new phone (broken beyond use) don’t get a new one. And then when you do get a “new” phone, get a second hand one. Fairphone may be “ethical” but it’s still marketing to get you to spend money on a new device. Reusing one will always be more ethical.

i wrote this comment on another post recently, i think you might find some value. the thread has some good discussion. note that i regret using a fairphone, but i dont regret supporting the company. in a ‘lesser than two evils’ sense, fairphone is MUCH less evil.

the fairphone company makes grand promises of 7 years support, despite historically really doing 2-4 years of support very badly. to the point where when the fairphone 4 released, it was going to take so long for it to make an android upgrade that a FOSS group CalyxOS ended up making the port for them. being this late for security and feature releases is insane, especially when they make claims outside of SoC OEM support periods despite knowing that they can’t provide those updates. the fairphone 3 even launched on the same day as android 10 but instead of quickly porting over, they instead ported over their next line of phone (fairphone 3+)

the phone removed expandable storaged and a headphone jack, with obscene pricing for storage upgrades and at the same time as they released their unrepairable line of wireless products. this is just begging for e-waste.

the claims of being ethically sourced are not universal to the whole phone, the fair trade gold standard is limited to some parts that they source.

they have hardware for an extra SIM slot on the fairphone 4, but made it unusable to the user. clearly just an anti-consumer move.

there are other reeasons, and you’ll also notice im not providing sources here. a lot of this is readily available info online and frankly im tired, i hope you can search these things up yourself if you want to confirm. i’m saying these things in good faith if that makes you feel more comfortable. there are reasons to consider the fairphone, but know that if you’re doing this for a ‘long-lasting’ phone, then you’re only getting that on the hardware side and even then you’re vastly overpaying for the value of what you receive.

i still support fairphone in their journey to making mainstream fully modular phones with readily available replacement parts and open schematics. as a big ‘fuck you’ to smartphone producing companies, the fairphone does its’ job magnificently and provides an excellent example of why samsung, apple, google etc are lying scum when they say these things aren’t possible. if a small company like fairphone have been doing it since their infancy, we shouldn’t believe that big tech can’t.

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As an owner of an FP3, here’s my verdict

My device came with stock android, rooted it to get back functionality that Google has ripped out of newer Android releases (including app backup/restore & call recording). My previous device was an S5.

• FP3 feels good to hold, but it’s made out of recycled plastics so expect the matte body to turn shiny after a couple years
• Quite expensive for what it is
• Stock camera software is 💩, grab a copy of Gcam or OpenCamera for a much nicer experience
• Headphone jack
• Replaceable battery
• USB C port is wired for USB 2.0, so no displayport functionality here
• Loud side firing speaker (on left of display)
• Very active forums. If you have issues, they are usually resolved in the following system update, as long as a FP employee comes across the thread
• Charging speed is configurable if you’re rooted. Max speed configured from the factory is 14W, I’ve changed mine to 2.5W
• Updates do take a loooong time to be released, as FP is supporting the device outside of the Qualcomm’s support period
• Good availability of replacement parts and fast delivery

As for reasons to really get this device? Not many IMO. Compared to a pixel, it boils down to the FP being more expensive, being manufactured “sustainably” (via agreements for workers to be paid more, using recycled plastics etc), modular replaceable parts (incl battery), being a reasonably transparent company (if you interact with them via forums - the marketing team seems to like greenwashing so I mostly ignore their stances), and support for quite a few ROMs, as well as entirely replacing Android with a full Linux OS.

I wish the same product manager that designed the FP3 stayed with the company, because it’s a very nice looking device for what it is, and very well thought out, even if the software can be a bit meh sometimes. The FP4 seems like a less-than-ideal direction IMO, and feature-wise distinguishes itself less from generic mainstream devices compared to the FP3.

Personally I don’t think i’ll be getting another FP (Or another mobile device in general?) anytime soon.

From a software perspective, go get yourself a Pixel and flash GrapheneOS! From a Hardware perspective, the FP would be the longer lasting option IMO. If you’re happy with your current device though, give “Capitalism” the middle finger and keep using it.

I’ve been using a FP4 since ~2 months after release.

I cannot straight-up recommend that phone.

The ups:

• Repairability is nice. It’s actually really easy to take apart.
• Battery is replaceable without tools
• They let you root/flash custom ROMs without losing your hardware warranty
• Guaranteed updates until end of 2026
• Spare parts available until 2027
• 5 year warranty

The downs:

• The phone is getting late in it’s cycle.
  • The hardware is from 2020
  • There are only 3 years of software updates left. This is still good, but there are other manufacturers that offer the same
  • Parts are only guaranteed to be available for 3-4 years. That is ok, but you can also get spare parts for much older phones too.
• Stock software is really buggy, and everyone gets a different set of bugs.
• Support is really slow and most of the time unhelpful. “Thanks, we have added the bug to the backlog”. A year later, the bug is still there, even for major bugs.
• Every release adds new bugs, the software overall is not getting better.
• Android OS updates have so far been very late. Android 12 was just released earlier this year.
• They outsource their OS development, and the devs don’t use FP as daily drivers, so they only fix what they are paid for, not what they find themselves.
• The hardware isn’t great
  • I’ve had a few games that I couldn’t even play on lowest settings, because the game is too slow for it (e.g. Space Marshals 3)
  • The camera is really bad. The camera of my Moto Z Play was better, and that phone was a cheap phone released in 2016. The stock camera app is also super slow and laggy. ~50% of the time when you press the shutter, it will not even take a picture at all. Sideloading a version of Google Camera from the Fairphone forum does fix the lagging and the missed pictures, and it does improve the picture quality a bit, but don’t expect anything remotely fitting into 2023.
• The phone is really expensive for what you are getting, and the price hasn’t come down a bit, considering that the phone is out since almost 2 years now.
• Many people seem to expect a FP5 to be released soon-ish

All in all:

It’s a decent, though overpriced phone if you really like to hack and tinker. There is an ethical aspect if you believe their marketing, but in the end it’s using mostly off-the-shelf components. If you are looking for a phone that “just works”, this is not the place.

Also, regarding repairability: For the high price point you can easily afford multiple professional battery/screen replacements if you buy a cheaper mainstream phone instead.

So this is not a straight-up buy or don’t buy. For some people this is the right phone, for many there might be better alternatives out there.

Lots of reviews and users come to the same conclusion:

• a little expensive for the specs
• a little heavy
• camera isn’t the best
• no headphone jack means you may need to purchase wireless headphones or earbuds and wireless earbuds don’t always have replaceable batteries