I am looking at getting one as my next phone when my Pixel 7 reaches EOL. Hopefully the Fairphones are still around by then and hopefully they get more support from custom ROMs. I know CalyxOS supports the Fairphone 4

  • fendrax
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    1 year ago

    I have had a FP2 for 6,5 years and I’m pretty happy with it. It is still mostly functional but I’m having issues with the bottom mic. As I don’t make phone calls so often, it is not too big of a deal for me to use my bluetooth headphones when I do. But I know that getting spare parts for FP2 has become very difficult now so if the USB plug breaks down it will probably be game over this time.

    Anyway, I repaired it a few times, either with new replacement parts I bought from the fairphone shop or ones I traded on the community forum. Bottom module, screen and even mother board.

    I have had a premium experience with their tech support, also. When I purchased another used FP2 on the community forum for a family relative, it happened to arrive with a broken bottom module. Mic was not working. As this part was already sold out at that time and I could not find any on the aftermarket forum, I reached out to fairphone to kindly ask if they would agree to sell me one, as they were claiming to keep a few of them in store to fulfill their legal requirements in terms of warranty and stuff (not sure any FP2 was still covered by a warranty at that time but this was what was stated on their shop). To my biggest surprise, after reading my begging, they offered to send me a refurbished module free of charge. And when I asked if I could buy a battery at the same time to avoid having a separate parcel to be shipped for that, they just slipped a free battery along with the bottom module. Free of charge. I had never had such an amazing experience with any customer service before.

    I’m running LineageOS and I’m happy with it. In terms of software updates, Fairphone went beyond their initial promise and it has been only recently that they dropped support for FP2.

    When my FP2 dies, I’ll consider buying a FP5 and I’m happy to have this option. But for now, I’m just hoping it can last for another few months!

    • Kalladblog@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Holy shit that’s awesome. I’ve considered getting a Fairphone or comparable alternative for a while now. Only think holding me back was the design and limited color options (first world problems, I know) as having bricks to carry around is something I despise which is also a problem with new phones in general. They simply are too thick or the screens are too big.

      • fendrax
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        1 year ago

        I know for a fact that the FP2 is quite thick and bulky and often gives a bad first impression to people from an aesthetics point of view. Personally, that has never been an issue for me but that’s a matter of taste.

        Anyway, I believe that anyone buying a Fairphone should do it for a reason and not like they would buy another a regular product. I wrote in this other thread (in French, unfortunately) that buying a Fairphone is like buying a compromise between fairness, repairability, environment concerns, aesthetics and technical performances. There have always been loads of reasons for people to complain about Fairphones. Either they are ugly & too massive or outdated or expensive, the list goes on. While those complaints can be true, one has to keep in mind that improving on one aspect (making a thiner phone, for example) has direct consequences on the others (like, a thiner phone is probably more difficult to be made modular, so either more pricey or less reliable). Someone replied that rather than being a purchase of a tradeoff, it is a purchase of another type of innovation. Instead of being technical innovation, it is social and environmental innovation. I kind of like that way of approaching it as well.

        Also, I pointed out that there is no doubt that giants in the smartphone business would make fantastic ethical and repairable phones if they ever wanted to. Only they would have the ability to propose a series of models which would fulfill anyone’s needs. But hey, they don’t seem to care, do they? In the meantime, I am willing to support the only tiny actor in the field that is striving to at least try with their unique model.