Update 1
I see a framerate/refresh rate bug that occasionally locks the framerate at a low value upon unlock. Fixing it requires a lock/unlock cycle.
Do you wear wigs?
Have you worn wigs?
Will you wear wigs?
No, don’t recall, maybe.
When will you wear wigs?
HAAH-!
When will you wear Wigs?
For those who have not seen the brilliant interview where Hans Jensen interviews Elijah Wood!
How did you take a picture of your phone?
We’re not doing this again
I’m invoking the mirror clause immediately.
I was there as that unfolded. It was a beautiful thing, and made me love that place in the early days before The Donald and all the corpo-bullshit.
You hold your right index finger to your right temple and blink both eyes.
Noobs. Bet he doesn’t even use Linux.
Should I eat an entire black forest cake by myself?
Don’t do it.
Back when I was young, swimming competitively, my go-to high snack was an Entemann’s All Butter French Crumb Cake and a half gallon of 2% milk. 2700 calories in a clip. Literally couldn’t put on weight.
But this story’s going to take a turn, because let me tell you, that shit catches up, and a poor diet is hard to forget, but when you’re old you do put on the weight.
So I’m going to say no, don’t eat the whole thing. Eat half of it.
Lmao. Well you see I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy.
Just redefine your timescale. If you eat the whole thing by yourself over a week, you’ll probably be fine. Probably.
Well I certainly wouldn’t recommend sharing
If anyone wants a slice, they can get their own cake.
Have you done it before?
No.
Go for it! You won’t get another chance when you’re dead.
True.
Narrator: idunnololz died later that day after attempting to eat an entire Black Forest cake solo
it depends, is it REALLY good and do you have to be anywhere for the next 4 hours or can you just lay around comatose?
I can confirm the cake is good and I can make time.
Probably not but it’s up to you dawg.
Thanks man.
Do you think three wheeled cars should make a comeback?
I’d go for three wheeled bikes.
Those are called trikes… obviously. How have you not figured that out? Bikes are called what they are because they have two wheels, “Bi” meaning two, same as we humans are bipedal because we walk on two legs. If a person had a third leg they wouldn’t be “bipedal with three legs”, they’d be tripedal.
I seriously don’t understand how anyone older than a literal child fails to understand that.
Haha love how angry this made you 😁 You go get 'em tiger 🐯
Is a bin with three wheels instead of two a trin?
That’s his thing. He takes pleasure in being cruel. And because he’s “technically” right, he’ll never own that.
A bike is an object with two kes. What’s a ke?
It’s actually every other ke.
a Latinized form of Greek kyklos “circle, wheel”
I don’t understand how anyone older than a literal child would talk like you, tbh. And assume so much based on a joke to boot.
Only if the front wheel is like a rolling pin
Rear wheels: 235/55R19XL
Front wheel: Fred Flintstone style“Yabba Dabba Doo!”
I’ve legitimately seen a few (with a single back wheel) here in LA. I wouldn’t take it on a highway, but they seem alright. Like a juiced up golf cart you can drive on the street, or maybe a hobbled dune buggy.
Yes they’re fine in LA street traffic. But probably not great in bad weather either.
Yeah, the ones I saw didn’t have a fully enclosed interior like a normal vehicle. Definitely not what I’d want to be in during a downpour.
Aptera LFG!!!
I cancelled my reservation after the 16th prototype and 3rd fundamental design change.
I forgot about this as soon as it didn’t have a headphone jack.
- Does it have USB-C video out?
- Do you plan to run any custom ROMs / Can it run custom ROMs?
It has a USB 2.0 Type C connector, unable to carry video signal in any device AFAIK
Yes. Massive downgrade imo. I really wanna know why they did this. It cant have been thaat expensive right?
To be fair (pun intended) very, very few people ever use the USB-C port for anything other than charging and maybe syncing photos to a pc.
The connector itself costs like 8 bucks, I don’t know how much more expensive it would be for them to design the signal integrity in their motherboard, required to carry the video stream.
Still, for the price and for the market segment they’re targeting, this and the lack of a 3.5mm jack for sound is inexcusable.
To be fair (pun intended) very, very few people ever use the USB-C port for anything other than charging and maybe syncing photos to a pc.
That’s because even Samsung with its DeX feature barely advertises desktop mode. People use iPads as desktop replacements these days. Once they realize that hooking up a phone to the same USB C dock is an option, they’ll use it.
Google seems to be starting to invest into desktop mode again because Samsung users are loving it. So lets hope it makes a comeback in future generations.
Samsung users are loving it
Only a small fraction because Samsung doesn’t advertise it, even though they could make know off ads of Nintendo’s Switch ads back in the day: Show a person playing some game on the bus, then coming home and docking the phone to the TV and the person grabs a game pad. Done. They could make a variation of the same ad every time some big name game comes to Android.
Not even for gaming, but just general office work/watching videos/whatever else you can do inside a browser.
I still want a laptop thingie with a battery under the keyboard, some ports, and where the phone acts like the trackpad when docked. I know that it would be phone specific due to the size, but seriously that would be amazing. The “laptop” can be pretty cheap being just a keyboard, battery, and monitor as well.
Imagine a spot where someone wakes up, has their phone in a dock to stimulate an alarm clock, grabs it, and drives to work (with android auto, obviously). Next scene they arrive in the office, plug their phone into a dock with keyboard/mouse + monitor attached and start working seamlessly. Later they sit down in a café with just a tiny keyboard writing some emails on their phone, go back home and Screencast videos to their TV.
The connector itself costs like 8 bucks
What? Even if you buy them as a consumer they are less than a dollar each, when you buy them wholesale on a reel for a pick and place machine they are $0.20 each
Fuuuu there is literally only one Xiaomi in there :-/
unable to carry video signal in any device AFAIK
That would be my personal no-go, not with upstream Android getting desktop mode and the ability to run desktop Linux applications. I sometimes use Samsung DeX when I sit down at my desk and realize that all my “regular” computers (= a notebook and a Steam Deck) are out of reach without getting up again.
- Don’t know if it supports video out yet.
- The bootloader is unlockable and there seems to be support by Lineage OS, but I don’t see Fairphone 6 yet.
Unfortunately they dropped the video out from the new model…
They dropped the whole USB protocol to USB 2.0, which consequently dropped the video out
Feels like some are taking steps backwards. Pixels also.
It was probably a cost analysis thing. I’m willing to bet that not a whole lot of customers actually utilized the USB 3.0 protocol in the FP4 and 5.
I don’t disagree that it’s not an ideal choice, but I’m sure they had their reasoning… 🫤
what is the average airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
African or European?
how do you know so much about swallows?
Where are you? What OS?
Ontario, Canada. Ordered from Clove UK. Stock Fairphone OS.
What apps are pre-installed? Anything other than the stock Google stuff?
Minimum set of Google apps, Fairphone’s cam and “My Fairphone.” That’s about it.
What did it cost you including any shipping costs?
CAD $889 shipped. Then CAD $127 in duties to DHL. CAD $1015 total.
Thanks for the reply. I’m also in Canada, and yeah that’s a lot. I hope you love it!
Which provider? I’ve avoided FP because I wasn’t sure the big three would support
Freedom. The only band it lacks for their Torontario network is band 13. I decided to risk it because Freedom used to run the network without band 13 until a few years ago. So I reason the coverage without it should be similar to the before time. That means a bit of a downgrade in signal and probably battery, given that band 13 is lower power, longer range fequency. But then again the FP’s modem is Qualcomm so it may end up being more power efficient than the turd in my Pixel. So I decided to try it out.
Awesome, thx! I might have to try one out for my next phone cuz I love the ethos. Enjoy! 😊
Seconding this, im on a FP4 and in the US so… Some real product reviews would be appreciated.
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Didn’t need to so far but I did it for you. It’s still alive. 😄
No questions, but I’m so fucking pissed that Fairphone is on their 6th generation and still doesn’t offer them globally.
I have to replace my wife’s dying phone, and it kills me that I’ll end up buying some garbage, probably from Google, that will end up as garbage in a few years.
Please, bring these to Canada! 😭😭😭
Buddy, I’m in Torontario guy. Bought from Clove UK for 1016 Canadian peso final-final, after DHL blood sacrifice.
I don’t want to import, I want to purchase from an authorized local dealer with warranty and parts available in Canada.
Even clove says that you’ll need to send the phone back to the UK, at your expense, for any warranty related work. That’s not only incredibly time consuming and costly, but it would negate any environmental benefit of owning the phone!
I can’t imagine how expensive and delayed parts would be, again, missing the point of having a repairable phone.
The demand for at least North American consumers is there. I wish Fairphone would just do it already.
Murena is an official authorized seller of Fairphones, but they come with e/os (you can reinstall the original if you have a computer)
Edit: Damn its available for the US but not Canada.
Got it. Yeah it makes sense for the warranty. I assumed I could get parts in Canada though. I might have jumped the gun on this one. I thought iFixit sells them and they do but I can see their site says “Not sold in Canads” for a few parts I checked just now. Hmm.
E: It seems that Clove also sells parts. I see some FP4 and 5 parts. No FP6 parts yet.
I bought my FairPhone from Clove too. It was easy and the phone works great here.
It is insanely expensive to get network certification and pay for band licenses, and then build an antenna array that can cover it all well. Myriad of frequencies outside of dealing with mafioso policies.
Cell phones need to be the new landline. Just works. But that takes regulation and design patterns.
Opening up their market to another 400 million to multiple billion people would make those expenses worth while, though.
We need ethical, environmentally conscious, future proof options for smartphones in the Americas. 😫
And towers. You live where I live, very low population density and thick forest make cell phones iffy at best. Many places I go have absolutely no cell service and probably never will. I will be dead before we get access to 5G here.
I will be dead before we get access to 5G here.
I have the opposite problem! 5G is being forced on us here (Ontario, Canada), and my mobile provider just closed of their 3g network, and are making 4g more expensive. I don’t need 5g. I don’t even need 4g, and to have to pay for it just sucks.
The US closed out 3G a few years ago. So 4G/LTE is the default now. When we had 3G, the reception was even worse. And 5G is supposed to be the thing. But even in the nearest big town, (Pop. 15,000), the 5G reception is very spotty. But at least my bill hasn’t gone up.
In any case, even my new Pixel 9a only shows one bar where I live. But at least I can send a text reliably now.
I know Fairphone would probably be quite expensive even for the price it offers if it ever came to my country, but for the update cycle they offer and repairable build (looks at my broken screen of old Nokia), it actually makes sense. I don’t particularly need the highest end specs, I just need a mid ranger phone that’s sufficiently fluid and Fairphone fits the bill.
In fact, I was more intrigued by their earbuds. IIRC, they are the only one with a replaceable battery. For a set of wireless ones, that is a huge step. I don’t think their sound profile was/is as good as Sony’s or Sennheiser’s but the simple fact that they don’t have to end up as e waste makes them way more value for money in the long run.
I know Fairphone would probably be quite expensive even for the price it offers if it ever came to my country, but for the update cycle they offer and repairable build (looks at my broken screen of old Nokia), it actually makes sense.
This is why I got a Framework laptop, and why I wouldn’t mind getting a Fairphone. I’m tired of planned obsolescence, and the e-waste it needlessly creates.
I don’t think they’re handling their current scale well just in Europe, even. VoLTE works on a limited number of carriers even in Europe. e.g. only T-Mobile is recommended by FP in Poland, but it’s just one of the four large telcos. I wouldn’t expand if I was at that point. Plus, they’re busy with making their support less horrible (see post on their forum) for now.
edit: damn fp6 doesn’t support any Polish carrier, a step down from FP5 https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/9779766652689-How-to-set-up-4G-and-Wi-Fi-Calling
That’s disappointing. They’ve been around for over a decade, and still have these “growing pains”?
Even phones from much smaller, more niche companies (i.e Pinephone) have had global availability and work on global bands.
This is just about VoLTE that’s used for higher bandwidth of voice calls (and HD Voice). Calling works normally, it’s just that they don’t have the “HD+” icon in the dialer, so they aren’t high quality voice calls). It doesn’t impact my life very much but it’s one of those things that are missing.
What is their plan to provide long-term support? How long do they say they will support it? I had the FP1 and after a few years there were no more firmware updates from I think Qualcomm. Google eventually stopped supporting the chip for newer android versions, and fairphone didn’t have the resources to do it on their own. Then there was a major security vulnerability. I don’t remember which one, but basically remote code execution was possible just by visiting a website. With no updates for the FP1, it was unusable from then on for everything remotely private.
The hardware worked fine until the end, but this mess made it unusable. In comparison, my recently bought Pixel 9 gets updates until 2032.
FP1 and 2 were really bad compared to what the new models offer. They now use LTS chips designed for IoT devices and promise new Android versions and Updates for at least 8 years. Ive used a FP3 for many years before I sold it (it still recieves updates) and now happily use the FP5.
They now use LTS chips designed for IoT devices
This is no longer the case for the Fairphone 6. It uses a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, which is a regular SoC for mobile devices. I believe this is because Qualcomm finally extended support for these chips past 5 years.
Good question.
There was an announcement about QC extending SD 7 and 8 support for up to 8 years but they say it depends on the OEM. Maybe FP is part of that deal. Maybe not.
Now let’s look at the Pixel’s update support from another angle. The problem I see is that the hardware may not last that long in practice. Specifically due to the lack of parts or the prices for those parts. For example a replacement for my Pixel 8 Pro’s battery is currently CAD $160. That used to be $80 when I had a Pixel 5. The screen repair cost is very high. Over the year-and-a-half I’ve had it, its battery capacity has gone down to 92%. A battery I have almost never fast charged. If this degradation rate continues, it’ll need replacement by year 2-3 of the device life. That’ll be $160-200 for another 2-3 years. Then there’s the parts availability. The Pixel 6a, supported to 2027, has a fire-hazardous battery defect requiring battery replacement. Our extended family has a couple. We checked with the authorized repair shops and it turns out they no longer have those batteries. That’s 3 years into the device’s support lifespan. This means it’s quite plausibe that I won’t be able to replace my Pixel 8 Pro’s battery next year, let alone in the 6th year of its 7-year support lifespan. In other words that long of an update support is only meaningful if it’s supplanted by the necessary availability of parts, and ideally the ability to replace them without specialized tools. I’ve tried replacing a Pixel battery in the past and I broke a screen. I’m sure I can get the hang of it if I had the requisite hot plates, high end suction cups and a few spare devices to practice, but that’s not practical for most users.
Yes, good point. One time I got a replacement battery for my FP1 at no costs IIRC. On the hardware side it’s definitely an advantage to have replaceable parts.
yeah it’s not like google ever abandoned any projects
Unlike FP, Google at least Manages to provide security updates that are not more than 1,5 months old or even more
And that is for the FP5, since launch day.
Fairphone 6 will get updates until at least 2033
PS: A ton of questions in the comments here can be resolved by a simple web search…
Google eventually stopped supporting the chip for newer android versions
The chip was made by MediaTek and Google just provides Android and usually no firmware support in the first place… So how exactly is this related to Google?
I don’t remember which one, but basically remote code execution was possible just by visiting a website
That sounds like a browser issue which is unrelated to the OS.
The hardware worked fine until the end, but this mess made it unusable.
Uhm what did you expect from a 1st generation smartphone made in 2013? That the software will always be up-to-date even 10 years later?
The chip was made by MediaTek and Google just provides Android and usually no firmware support in the first place… So how exactly is this related to Google?
Newer versions of Android were not available for the FP1. Older versions didn’t get the security updates. That was the issue.
That sounds like a browser issue which is unrelated to the OS.
No, it was not a browser issue. I don’t remember which one, maybe heartbleed, or any other of the famous vulnerabilities with a logo and a website.
Uhm what did you expect from a 1st generation smartphone made in 2013? That the software will always be up-to-date even 10 years later?
Well, that is exactly the claim, isn’t it? “The one that lasts” implies for me that it doesn’t randomly become unusable after a few years, even though the hardware is technically still fine. Smartphones have now reached a point of stagnating innovation. We already have most functionality we need, so it’s in theory a good time to produce phones that last until the hardware falls apart.
Can we get a side by side photo of this with your old phone (pixel 8 pro)?
Want to see how much smaller it is and is it is small hands friendly
It’s not too much smaller,
Not going to lie that is slightly disappointing. Was hoping that the reduced screen size would make it smaller and easier to hold. How has your experience been with regards to holding the phone - is it substantially easier¿?
Actually I prefer the larger size of the Pixel. I don’t know if I’m jist used to it or it’s my hands but I’ve tended to like bigger phones. I always type double-handed.
Is it pretty “snappy” ? Wondering if there is any lag time or if runs smoothly right away or what settings I got to mess with to minimize responses time.
How do you like it so far?
Any good/bad surprises?
What OS/rom you planning to run or keep it stock?
What were your motivations for getting it?
Snappier than my Pixel 8 Pro.
So far I like it. The screen is great. The speaker is decent. The camera looks to be fairly decent. Not Pixel 8 Pro level at zoom, but otherwise it seems comparable to some of the Pixel a-series cams I’ve seen. The only thing that bugs me so far is the shittier haptic feedback compared to the Pixel. 😄
I am shocked how fast and good the power button fingerprint reader is. Especially coming off of the Pixel’s in-screen reader.
Running stock OS for now.
Among other things, a combination of Fairphone releasing the 6 with improved camera and Google stopping publishing device code with Android 16. The future of third party OSes on the Pixel line is now in limbo. I’m still unsure how well the Fairphone will work on my carrier in Canada since it lacks one of the bands used. Seems okay for now. I’ll need to take it out in the wild and see the impact on signal and battery.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions (:
I am looking at moving to a OS/Rom that is geared towards pricy and thought the pixel was it! Alas, like you stated the pixels future with a custom OS does not seem clear so I was hoping that the fairphone might be it. I definitely have only done surface level research so far ( I’m poor and don’t want to excited yet haha)
What band does it lack? That’s definitely something I would not have thought of till you mentioned battery life. Looks like I got more research to do before I purchase anyways.
Any chance you’ll update this post with a reply on your results for battery life I would be most interested in the effect and if it’s negligible?
My current phone is about 5 or more generations behind. I’m not a photographer or big picture taker so the drawbacks you noticed wouldn’t even be on my radar haha
Appreciate the detail in your response and time again thank you!
It lacks LTE band 13. Reply to some of my comments in a few weeks time and I’ll see the notifucation and update with some real world testing. If money is a problem, don’t spend it on this. Get a second hand Pixel 7/8/9 when yours dies and use that as they can be found relatively cheap. The a-series are even cheaper but you have to watch for battery issues. The Pixel can still be locked down fairly well with the stock OS by disabling various apps and components, and by throwing anything you don’t trust in Private Space.
Thanks for all the great info on your post and replies, yeah I’m going to just bite the bullet and do it. Guess it’s time to do real research 🧐
Check what the parts availability is where you are. Some signs point to possible lack of/difficulty obtaining parts in Canada for example.
What’s your favorite dinosaur?
☺️ Ducks 🦆
Delicious AND waterproof!
Does the flashlight led have multiple brightness levels?
Tried flashdim from F-Droid, doesn’t seem to work.
Best app ever
Never heard about it. Works great in Pixel 8!
that’s an android feature. technically I think any phone could do it.
If the hardware isnt able to switch the LED at least like 200 times a second, then it cant do proper PWM that doesnt look flickery so no you can definitely have a phone that isnt capable of it.
Why would they use PWM to drive an LED in a DC circuit when they could just drop the voltage to make it dimmer?
Could be done but voltage regulators just burn a bunch of energy which doesnt seem very smart for a mobile device. Also if you already need a transistor for switching the LED then just picking one that can do so at 200Hz or more is gonna save you an extra part and give you much finer and easier control over dimming.
How’s the battery life?
Not sure yet but it seems decent so far. Will report as I get more usage.
Keep us up to date on this. My batteries have always sucked
