Ifixit gives fairphone 5 a 10/10 on repairability and maintanence
(www.ifixit.com)
from DacoTaco@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 12 Dec 2023 20:36
https://lemmy.world/post/9491179
from DacoTaco@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 12 Dec 2023 20:36
https://lemmy.world/post/9491179
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?
threaded - newest
If my FP4 dies in the next year, I will fix it. Because iFixit gave it 10/10.
Too bad about the ~software~ security updates and lack of security features. Might be a good spare phone though
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
What do you mean by lack of security features? Fairphone promises 5 Android version upgrades and security updates for at least 8 years.
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.
grapheneos.org
I’ll forever be skeptical of a degoogled OS that runs only on phones engineered by Google.
calyxos.org
You don’t have to use Google services on the fairphone. And if you use it without those, Android is waaaaaaaaay more private than iOS.
iPhones are barely much better than Android phones for privacy or security, despite Apple’s very effective marketing. They hoover up a shitload of data.
How do push notifications work on Graphene? I am currently using LineageOS with microg services but the experience has been quite rocky
Quite the opposite. Running iOS means you have a device that does whatever Apple tells it to do, nothing more and nothing less. Running Android means you have a plethora of options to choose your level of security and convenience.
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
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Which is why I don’t think I’m getting the fp. I don’t want to pay a premium price for a less secure phone than one with graphene
Same thing also said by the developer of DivestOS. Fairphones are not fully patched until anywhere close to their promised support. forum.fairphone.com/t/…/99302
Why is it currently being advertised as running Android 13?
Buying this phone as a “spare phone” you very well may never actually need seems to contradict the point of it
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
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.
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You’re paying a premium to have a fucking dongle hanging out of your ear
LineageOS, my friend.
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 🥺🥺🥺
I would love to get one.
Too bad they don’t sell them in the US. I would buy one immediately.
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.
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.
To be fair, I don’t think the Fairphone will help much with outdated processors. You can’t upgrade the processor inside, and it comes with a relatively slow processor from day one.
This phone is not for people that need performance; it’s a very basic phone for people that value an ethical supply chain and repairability.
Relative slow my arse imo.Its all about use cases and the (potential shitty) apps you run. Been using the fp4 just perfectly fine for months, and before that the one plus x on android 11 just fine.
I would like to know what apps you use that would need the speed of anything besides the “best”?
( and for anyone wondering, one of the reasons you cant switch processor is because of the imei thats burned in. Changing that basically means that the whole id of the phone changes, including links to your mobile provider. It isnt allowed in some places )
Games
Like…?
Lately I’ve been playing Need For Speed Underground 2 on the AetherSX2 emulator. A Fairphone absolutely cannot do that.
Look bud, I’m not trying to attack Fairphone, you don’t need to be defensive. I’m just setting expectations that this is not a phone for people that need a high performance processor. The chipset is low-end, objectively. I’m sure it’s fine for people who don’t care about that stuff.
Seriously. What mobile games are worth time or money? Aren’t they all just pay to win now?
I can emulate PS2 and GameCube games on my S23. It’s pretty great. My S21 struggled with that, so any Fairphone would definitely not be able to do that, as it has significantly less processing power.
If that’s the sum total of your reasons for needing a more expensive, less free, less repairable phone, then I have nothing left except to laugh at you.
No, I just don’t have the time to explain the hundred obvious ways that a fast processor might benefit somebody, so I chose a single, INCREDIBLY obvious item near the top of the list for most people, and was hoping that I wouldn’t get follow-up idiotic responses like this. But alas!
I used an 11 year old phone for about 6 months while I waited to get a new phone. I never had any problems with processor speeds despite having about 60% the processing power of a then-current phone.
I think people vastly overestimate the need for a bigger better processor.
I never said that everybody needed a fast phone, or even that MOST people need a fast phone. I would agree that most people don’t. I was replying to somebody that said their old phone was slow, and informing them that the Fairphone is probably not a solution to that specific issue because of its budget processor. It’s not a performance phone; it’s an ethical phone that does basic things perfectly fine.
I don’t know who you’re arguing with, and I don’t think you do either.
I’m arguing with you, genius, because I think you’re wrong.
There are not a “hundred obvious ways that a fast processor might benefit somebody”, as you stated. There aren’t really any good reasons. Games are a stupid reason. Everything necessary works fine with an older processor. It’s not the 2000s anymore where software bogs down any computer older than three years.
Now, the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum, What might be right for you, may not be right for some. -different strokes
Great news, really hope the 5 is next.
That and supporting grapheneos would do it for me
The Fairphone 4 supports /e/.
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.
Can’t really find info on that.
Calyx Os supports the FP4 and announced support for the FP5
That just to be said.
I have e os on FP4 and I would describe my experience as follows: Do you want to switch from IOS to Android without loosing the style of the launcher and gain some privacy? Go for it
If you want an Android that does a lot for you and give you tools like a vpn, a tracker blocker ect… Go for it
If you want to customize your experience (e.g. have an “normal” Android launcher, switch accent colors …) ? You get a very rocky experience to say the best.
And at least for the FP4, some stock apps like the Cam were just not working, but to be fair it seemed like that was a suppychain problem…
I consider changing to calyx Os, expecting to get a more customizable Android.
Is e os able to use all the camera lenses? That’s one problem I have with custom roms, they’re often unable to hook into the camera API in order to use anything other than the main back and front camera
Had to check real quick: Yes in the current Version of the stock cam it does recognise all cameras and even takes snappy pictures. That was the problem before but it seems to be patched.
Anyways due to this problem i switched to gcam
Such a shame that this kind of issue is a thing in the first place. I’d love to use a Fairphone and slap DivestOS on it, but potentially losing two lenses I paid for isn’t great at all
I think that should work, due to DivestOS being a fork of LinageOS just like eOS, and in fact the camera of eOS is just the cam of LinageOS (thats what i meant with supplychain problem). So i assume that DivestOS might just have the same camera app as eOS
But you could probably confirm that by looking into the repos
Now that you say it, I’ve never thought about the default cam, I’ve always been using OpenCamera
Yeaa but the open tool being sold for profit they are not my go to apps anymore…
But I still need to switch my calendar to the newly made fork
Do you mean simplemobiletools? OpenCamera is not part of that, I believe theirs is called Simple Camera
Ohh you are right, I mixed that up…
So I just installed the default lineage cam again, and would you look at that, it can use both lenses on my OnePlus 5T. Would love to have more manual controls though.
Thank you so much for reminding me this app exists
Yes that’s what drove me to gcam
Oh well, having aurora store installed for one single app isn’t worth it to me. My second lens is for night mode shots, and I barely use that. It’s just nice to have access to it at all.
I actually installed gcam via apk
True, that’s an option too. Just not one you can trust as much, which is what turns me off.
They limit themselves to Pixel devices because they have by far and away the best hardware security. Same reason for Calyx.
It’s mostly definitely not a one man operation and the guy you’re likely referring to has left the project.
Thanks, today I learned.
How do Calyx and Graphene compare?
I see Calyx does support Fairphone.
I would like that as well. In fact I’d like to switch to Calyx, but from eOS.
Check out iode.tech as well. Like /e/OS, also a lineage OS variant but with build in firewall which you can customize (or turn off). Fast security updates and great default informed FOSS apps (unlike /e/OS).
That’s more up to the grapheneOS devs
True, but part of the reason they don’t go for it is hardware things that are missing
For me, the problem was that they don’t support the right bands for US carriers.
That’s not fair
I’m able to use Mint Mobile here in the States on my Fairphone 4. I believe 5 would also be compatible.
I appreciate you mentioning that, thats how I’m considering using the 5 if it ends up as my phone replacement, but I have a hard time interpreting the info around wireless frequency bandwidths supported 🙃 I like pretty user interfaces, networking hurts my brain
The FP4 (sold by Murena in the US) has a decent spread of bands, and works pretty well. Feel free to PM me if you want more detail.
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.
Awesome phone as a concept, which is something that android fortunately still has a lot of.
Happy to report that my Fairphone 3 is also very much an awesome phone as a phone.
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.
The people working in the production chain?
I really wish another viable mobile OS would come out. I don’t want android and apple iOS is wearing thin on me.
Why not Android?
degoogling intensifies
Graphene OS might interest you.
I’m not going to criticize the project, because it’s good. But, to me, using anything that gives Google an edge in controlling the direction of technology is bad. So, no Chromium products and no Android.
I despise Google, and I agree with chromium, but when the only other alternative is using the proprietary walled garden that is iOS, I’ll take degoogled Android everyday.
What can android do that you actually do that iOS cannot?
For starters, you can degoogle Android, you can’t deapple iOS.
You can replace the manufacturer android with a clean, free software and secure Android ROM, like GrapheneOS. iOS is a black box, fully proprietary and controlled by Apple.
You can install apps from third parties on Android, like F-Droid. On iOS every app must be approved by Apple.
You can’t use an iPhone without an Apple account, you can use Android without a Google account.
Android has multiple profiles support, which comes handy for completely isolating apps from the rest of your phone.
There’s much, much more. That’s just what came to my mind right now.
“deapple iOS”
Why would I want to make a secure device less secure tho
stop consuming Apple marketing.
I like phone and do not use google. Not much needs to be marketed to me lawl
How can I download apps (not side load) from a store (play store for example) without having a Google account?
You need a Google account just for the Play Store, given that it’s a Google product.
You can download apps from other stores just fine: install F-Droid for example, or Amazon which has their own app repository too, and you’ll be able to download and install apps from there. (I don’t recommend using Amazon, it’s just an example)
For apps on the Play Store, you can use Aurora Store which proxies the Google Store and does not require a Google account.
And you can prove that the binaries I receive are the binaries from the developer?
F-Droid has reproducible builds, so definitely yes. You can even check the exact code used to build every app on F-Droid.
The rest of stores, it depends. Every store has their own policy and the only one I recommend is using F-Droid or downloading directly from the devs’ website or Github repo. There’s an app to automate this process for updates too, so it’s actually a quite good method.
For a regular user… basically nothing.
I quit google products and services a decade ago, so I was “relegated” to iOS, which… does basically the same exact fucking thing but better in every way. It’s spendy though. I also like their privacy stance, which is “we cost a lot but we’re not selling all of your data to advertisers”
I have not found a single thing I can’t do on iOS that I COULD on Android.
People spout WaLLeD GaRdEn and what I read is “privacy” and I’m in
They’ll complain about unauthorized developers…. Which I wouldn’t want anyway.
Personally, I like using the terminal on my phone, and the only terminal I found for iOS is extremely slow because its emulating linux.
You mean locally or for ssh?
I use it locally.
What sort of things do you want to do locally on your phone that you need the command line for?
Simple terminal applications like
pingorcurloryt-dlp. I also like usingpython -m http.serverto access my files over the local internet.w3msometimes works when my mobile data is very slow and can’t load web pages. I also do usessha lot. I don’t need it if I have ansshapp but it is nice to have, and I switched to android for it.If you do that too much you’ll go blind.
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
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. 
Agreed. I don’t have a home computer. All of my online experience is done through my iPhone. I can’t be messing around with phones I constantly need to tweak or troubleshoot. I’ve done it to myself, but I’m okay with where I’m at rn.
Oh yes please stick with Apple. I don’t think I have ever heard of a better use case scenario.
I can’t tell if you’re being facetious or not.
Seems like an honest recommendation to me. You fit the apple use case pretty well, so if it works for you, great. I’d argue a stock pixel using stock android would be comparable in terms of not needing to mess with stuff since its a very curated experience, since google then controls the hardware and software, like apple.
The trade off is you’re giving google (or apple) 100% access and control to everything you do on your phone.
With a fairphone or any other android with (e, grapheneOS, calyxOS, lineage, etc) you WILL need to change some settings, maybe play around with it a bit to get it working how you want, but you are the one in control. Its really not that difficult to develop the small amount of technological knowledge needed given the amount of help available online and I’d say its a necessary life skill these days just like learning to use a computer became a necessary life skill.
I’m quite interested in the developments on waydroid that would allow the use of Android apps on a Linux phone.
Now that’s an interesting concept.
Linux desktop is far more mature and there isn’t even a year for the Linux desktop yet. Linux mobile will probably never take off within our lifetime lmao.
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)_/¯
Dang, I haven’t ever tried it. I was hoping for more configurability.
Yeah, I’ve put Ubuntu Touch on a Pixel 3a and had a pretty similar experience unfortunately. I see potential, but it’s just not usable yet (for me at least).
I miss WebOS as a mobile OS and I can’t bear to see what LG has done do it.
Wait… was this ever good? I hate it so much on my TV.
I found it to be a very elegant OS, paired with a very elegant form factor in the Palm Pre. This was over 10 years ago, before Android had cemented its place, but WebOS was a bit ahead of its time, or at least out of sync with the time it was introduced. But it was a slick, intuitive OS that influenced the UX we take for granted today. I believe it was the first to have card-based task management. That satisfying “flick” to close an app was first seen on the Palm Pre.
If the palm pre had better build quality and wasnt tied down to sprint in the US I sometimes wonder how things would have played out. It was a better OS than android(especially since it was competing with the g1).
Yeah, I remember some noise around that, which is probably why they made the Pixi with a lot fewer moving parts after that. For what it’s worth, my Pre stood up great and was still in good shape when I upgraded away from it.
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
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.
I got the FP5 with the latest e/os 1,18t flashed on and i just love this phone.
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.
Can you ELI5 on the Android Stack Security compliance thing?
I would like to know about ASS, too.
NICE ASS
lemmy.today/comment/4055918
As soon as my FP 3 dies they will hopefully have a new phone with a headphone jack. In 10 years or so.
Don’t forget to let them know that at the various consumer surveys they send regularly. But I wouldn’t hold my breath…
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.
Can’t you leave the adapter on the heatphone cable?
Yeah, that’s what I really don’t get about all the people in this thread. No matter how many headphones you have, the adapter is like 10$ at most. Just get as many as you need to always have one where you need it
I don’t intend on turning this into some sort of fight but to me your comment has big
“I don’t see the problem why can’t other people just have enough money”
vibes (Also I checked and an adapter costs me 12$ on Amazon). I don’t think you intended it this way, so I’ll shut up now.
As to my actual answer:
I could go on, but there’s honestly no point. We’re different people with different uses for our phones/headphones. I won’t buy a phone without a headphone jack as long as I still have wired headphones.
Adapters are literally <5 USD including shipping on AliExpress. At that point it’s not about the price if you’re buying a phone anyways, because the cheap phones haven’t abandoned the aux jack.
Also the digital usb adapters should work on any phone (and computer), unlike the “dumb” ones that trigger the DAC inside the phone (if there is one).
I have 2 main problems with that:
So, not repairable and no headphone jack. Sounds Luke a loser.
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.
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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
Same. I got a fairphone 4 after my beloved one plus X which was the perfect size… I just dont use a big part of my screen
The OnePlus X is such a beautiful phone. Sadly there’s no ROM left that’s being maintained.
Ye, latest rom i found back then was a lineageos rom that was android 11, june 2022 release iirc ( or 2021? ). It was awesome and worked great. Alas, after 8 years it is now my spare phone incase of issues :)
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.
S10e forever.
People just don’t seem to buy compact phones. The IPhone mini was a flop.
My daughter really loves my old S10e. Apart from the dwindling battery life, it’s still an awesome phone, capable of taking beautiful photos.
Yeah it’s a shame the processor also wasn’t that power efficient yet. The new Snapdragon Gen2 would bring insane battery life to small phones.
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 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.
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It wasn’t free. You paid for it
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Someone gifted you a phone and you are not paying them money at all?
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They’re probably talking about mommy and daddy that got them the phone. Which is why they’re responding like a 5 year old.
That is no way to insult a five year old!
Agree with the message but not with the tone. I buy used phones from eBay and they are awesome. Like $100 for a newish device.
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Yeah it’s just crazy watching you be ableist as if you have a point
I wasn’t born yesterday.
Since I can’t get the Fairphone in the US, I got a Pixel 7a for $350. It’s not as repairable as my ancient 3a, but if it lasts 7 years like the 3a, I’ll have gotten my money’s worth.
Heck yeah. My last phone was a Galaxy S8 and while I regret paying as much as I did for it, it lasted me until I got my new 5G phone for free.
That’s what those specs are worth if everyone who’s part of it gets compensated for their work appropriately.
Imagine the price of a Galaxy S23 if Samsung actually was fair to everyone involved.
There’s no GrapheneOS support for it, but CalyxOS is going to support it.
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’d jump on the Fairphone first thing if not having a single tie to an advertising/tracking company was an option. But here we are.
Also when visiting Fairphone forums, I get “This community is not accessible in your location.”
It is still a business and a business is gonna business, thus never gonna be as ethical as one would want.
Well I would buy the Murena version of the Fairphone. The one with /e/os installed. Apparently everything works on it, without google learning too much about you.
Sounds like a your country issue.
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I would recommend getting a personal device. Using employer-owned devices for private use is a liability to both yourself and your employer, and it’s exposing yourself to serious breaches by your employer.
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.
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.
To me I’d still say the ZenFone isn’t a small phone. Not only is it bigger than my current phone (pixel 3) its also bigger than some phones in the 2010s that were lauded for their large screens. We literally have no mainstream small phones, what we call small now are just smaller than the ginormous ones that have been normalised.
Samsung basically has a duplicate app installed for each stock Google app. And I think short of disabling it via adb, there is no option. But Samsung has really turned around and has a relatively good update policy in place. If not the Pixel, then Samsung is okay for me. I had love to have the Fairphone but it seems like they sell in limited markets only worldwide.
I never buy phones without bootloader unlocking capability for that reason
I’m still using a S10e, seriously considering buying another - it still suits my needs.
Yeah, I’m writing this on an s10e but the battery really isn’t that good anymore and the lack of security updates doesn’t feel good either. The current s series phones are roughly the same size as the e though, so I hope it’ll be okay.
That said, even the e is a bit too large for my taste. The top left corner is pretty much out of reach without adjusting your grip, so about half an inch less of screen would be preferable imho. Samsung’s one handed mode is much better than the android default though, which kind of makes up for it - and there’s just nothing smaller available.
Agree, I want something that fits in my pocket and that I don’t have to perform hand gymnastics to use.
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.(Comparison: 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.
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.
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.
That’s why i put on a screen protector. It protects the screen, realistically the only external part that matters, and doesn’t really bulk the phone.
I’ve never in my life wanted a case. What’s the point?
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! ;-)
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.
Hitting the dirt and dog food goal really is the biggest factor for case replacement in my house.
Yah, it was a bad print with very porous layers, but it worked… For a while
one time someone gave me a 10/10 on account of my dingus
And I give it a 0/10 on having a 3.5mm connector
Is that really that much of an issue in the age of USB-C?
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
Live by the wire, die by the wire(with a 3.5mm plug/jack of course)
I think phones should have 2 USB-C ports
Only if I can charge 2x as fast!! 😉
There is one that offers this, it has to batteries as well.
This and most phones literally let you do what you’re saying right now.
Yes, it is.
OK
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.
Negotiation is a thing for sure. It is possible, though I haven’t ever seen it implemented, that digital audio over USB-C or bluetooth can be blocked by DRM. It would seem business suicide to do something like limiting audio output to certain audio products but I wouldn’t put it past any short term minded profit seeking enterprise.
I recently bought a phone that lacked a 3.5mm jack, so I bought a splitter with a USBC charging port and a headphone jack. The problem I encountered was that the splitter reported to the phone that headphones were connected even if they were not. I was used to unplugging the headphones and have playback automatically pause, and resume when the headphones were put back in. With the splitter I was no longer able to do that. I don’t know if I bought a cheap ass splitter or if that’s the normal behavior for these things.
This is not the normal behavior, but I’d consider the adapter part of you headphone cable and just leave it on there. If you want to unplug, just unplug the headphones (including adapter) from the phone?
That means the charging cable also needs to be unplugged if I want to step away. Thanks for the info about it not being normal, I guess I just got a POS splitter.
Ah, so thats what you meant by splitter. Might I suggest, there are some very cheap battery powered Bluetooth receivers. Those might be a good solution for you, in case you hadn’t considered something like that.
Yes, that’s actually exactly what I ended up buying. It’s got a pause/play button, so I hit that and take the whole thing with me.
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.
They could just make magnetic connectors with a shallow socket. But those would last longer and you wouldn't need to keep buying new stuff.
CC: @Petter1@lemm.ee
I love the CC. Makes this conversation feel more formal.
Yes, it does impart a sense of gravity to otherwise mundane chatter. The only thing missing is letterhead with a monogram.
For some reason I don't yet understand, my fediverse server inserts the CC in some replies and I forgot to catch it. I haven't had time to analyze the rooster's guts yet.
too many bits of magnetic gunk collect on those for my liking. Not as much of an issue on laptops, but with a phone carried in a pocket all day it quickly became an issue for me
Idk of any phone that had them built in, I just used one of those magnetic usb adapters you find on amazon
Begs the question why aren’t charging jacks designed like audio jacks?
If you wanted them just for charging it would be fine. Barrel jacks are still pretty ubiquitous.
If you want them to also be data they get less great. They make 3.5mm/etc jacks with 3 “pins” and I assume more. But every time you’re inserting/removing the cable it’s rubbing past the insulators separating the contacts. Their failure per plug/unplug is higher than something like USB-C where the 24 contacts are being pushed together instead of brushing past each other. It would suck if you put in your USB-barrel and one of the contacts broke/bent.
It’s actually a bit crazy - and very impressive - that the cable I use to tickle-charge my phone at 15W could also be used to connect four 4K screens, an external GPU, multiple 10GBe network adapters all while providing well over 200W of power… if my phone supported and of that, that is.
That’s just the USB-C standard, to get 200W and 4k video you need the fancy shielded high-gauge cables.
Well for only 4k, a relatively normal USB-C cable is enough, the fancy cables are for 20 and 40 Gbit/s which is only needed if you gl crazy with your FPS | Hz (more than 60Hz | FPS
Typical stereo headphones have 3 pins. Left, right, common ground. Tip, ring, and sleeve (not sure if the conductor order).
4-conductors used to be common for portable camcorders and early digital cameras. They’d put our composite a/v (extra conductor for video/yellow, still a shared ground). Tip, R1, R2, sleeve.
I’ve seen USB 2.0 (or perhaps 1.x) done over a 4-pin 3.5. And I’ve seen RS232 over 3.5 a number of times too (used to be common in ham radio in the 90s/early naughts).
The video ones are what I was thinking of. Fair enough that I forgot to count ground.
There are plenty of products out there that use TS style audio plugs (more 2.5mm in my experience than 3.5mm) for DC power for portable devices. When you get to data transfer requirements, the higher pin counts of current connectors wouldn’t be space efficient.
See, you just described a thing and made a statement, but I don’t buy that one bit. I’ve broken several 3.5mm plugs but never once a USB-C.
I’m on the side of 3.5mm in phones, but there’s a reason XLR and 1/4" are the industry standards for audio.
XLRs on phones? I can get behind that.
I’m the opposite. I’ve broken several USB-C connectors, and not one 3.5mm
I’m sorry what? The 3.5mm is better because it’s rotational symmetrical?
Thats a minor win. You rarely really need that rotation capability, and what little you need can be made up with thinner cables (which is easier with a digital signal and DACs in the headphone, which can’t be done compatibly with 3.5mm and people are dumb) The you also have to sacrifice connection friction to gain rotation, and that has tradeoffs, especially when that friction is caused by a spring-loaded conductor (which also means more friction likely means fewer insertion cycles before friction starts dropping off).
It also really sucks at strain relief without massive dookie springs or rubber butts…and the bigger the strain relief, the more subjective it is to perpendicular force, which is really easy to do on a 3.5mm diameter cylinder of gold-plated iron/tin alloy with the fulcrum also being at the base of the cylinder.
Other cool thing about what could be done with USB-C headphones. A lot of companies put lead weights full-sized headphones for balance or comfort (more weight makes it feel more secure). Good Modern drivers don’t need to be as heavy as they used to be. How bout instead of weights, they use lipos? Now your headphones can charge your phone (when in wired mode, hell, I’m talking about fictional mid/high-end cans, they could have Bluetooth and ANC while we’re at it since they have power), and your charger port point is essentially moot.
3.5 jack port is definitely not more durable than USB-C. If you have good headphones, the change that the 3.5 plug is gigantic in length and the cable thicc AF which causes a lot of stress in the plug due to very large leverage. Additionally, I prefer to use the DAC integrated in my headphones rather than using the low quality tiny DAC in my phone. And in digital, the cable thickness does not matter really.
Very few people are plugging their large headphones into their phones though. For a more reasonable pair of portable headphones or IEMs the size of the plug isn’t a problem.
But congratulations, you have hit on my biggest audio pet peeve! DACs matter very little these days. Anything talking about DACs and not the DAC/Amp stages is marketing BS. Even dirt cheap DAC chips will acoustically transparently convert the digital signal to analog in audio frequencies because it is so basic to do. DACs on their own are useless for audio anyway, what really matters in your audio signal is the amp circuitry after the DAC that applies gain to the signal to useful levels as the choices there do make an acoustic difference if the design is poor.
What makes you think the DAC/Amp in your headphones is going to be better than the one that is built into the SoC of your phone? I don’t think I’ve ever seen any measurements of headphone DAC/Amps.
I learned that from my father, who mostly listen to music from his phone using external headphone amp for his bayer dynamics studio headphones, or uses digital out (via Bluetooth) and let his other Bayern dynamics active headphones do the DAC. He is sure that he hears the difference, but of course that could all be in his head alone. I myself am not a hiFi enthusiast, I only find the tech behind it very interesting. (I listen to music using airPods and in my car using CarPlay, sorry iPhone user here, but thinking to migrate as soon as my iPhone X becomes unusable) But given my interest in tech, I appreciate the explanation, that cheap DAC chips are very good as well, these days.
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 🤦🏽♂️
The car doesn’t have Bluetooth connection?
.
nah, it’s an 08
Just get a new car pleb.
Honestly Bluetooth in a car has been a must for me for like 10 years now. And having experienced CarPlay, that’s def next (especially for cars that support wireless and have a Qi spot. Thats practically magic)
i like my car :( and i’m paranoid about features in new cars. i can hear a noticeable difference in quality with bluetooth vs wired too. never been a fan
regardless, cars that people primarily use 3.5mm for aren’t going away too soon!
You should do what I did and just fuck up your ears with loud car stereos in your teenage years. Now I can’t tell a damn bit of difference.
honestly, not a bad idea. i’ve already got the tinnitus but i need to step it up
CarPlay transmits audio over wifi
oh huh, good to know. if android auto doesn’t already too, hopefully it will by the time my arm is twisted into getting a new car
You can retrofit a head unit or a screen to an older car. It works really well and gives so many more years to an older vehicle.
Look for “CarPlay screen” on amazon
oh i know. i’ve just been on the fence about that since it’s got 200k miles haha. it’s rocking an amp with the stock headunit
I can very much recommend! It’s nearly as buying a new car, at least for me xD
I upgraded my car without Bluetooth using a carPlay ready touchscreen auto radio to replace the old thing that was mounted in the DIN drawer thingy
Even if they gave us a second usb-c port instead of a 3.5mm jack I’d be fine with that, don’t make me choose between charging and decent audio
In car, I can recommend using android in the car using the touchscreen of the car. There you can manage audio as well as charging the phone. One cable to rule them all.
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!
I’ve got the Bose QC 45 headphones which can do both Bluetooth and 3.5 mm. The audio quality is the same between the two delivery methods. The only difference I’ve noticed is an occasional video/audio synching issue with Bluetooth which quickly corrects itself and is usually only an issue with older devices. It’s my understanding that this and the audio lag issue have been solved recently in newer devices.
I personally think Bluetooth is a shit standard that has slowly been fixed over the years, but it’s pretty much 100% there at this point
The real question I have is: is a decent DAC that hard to find? I bought a shit one because it’s only a back-up option for me, but I can’t imagine the good ones are scarce.
Tell it to the phone companies. A DAC and amp should be part of my phone.
Bose is shit.
No, the DAC used should be one that the headphones are designed for, so using integrated DAC of the Headphones should lead to best results just using a high end external DAC would be better.
Lol, your phone has not a good enough DAC that this would be hearable ä, but you do you
No way i’m carrying a dongle
Attach the dongle to your wired headset.
New headphones come with lightning and USB C cable these days
I ain’t buying new ones either
See it positive: you don’t have to choose from many phones if you that much want a headphone jack 😄
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 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.
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 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
If you can tell the difference between well-compressed, high bitrate audio and lossless audio played on the same equipment, then you’re in the minority. However it’s pretty easy to accidentally end up with a combo of phone / app / app settings / headphones that results in a suboptimal listening experience, either because you’re using a bad codec (like SBC on any device or AAC on many Android phones) or because your music is being compressed twice. You can avoid the latter issue by streaming uncompressed music or by using a combo that doesn’t recompress your music (like Apple Music -> iPhone -> Airpods Pro/Max).
It’s also possible that the reason Bluetooth headphones sound worse isn’t because of losing information but because the headphones just aren’t as good as your wired ones. If you get a portable Bluetooth DAC like the Qudelix 5k, you can connect it to your phone and connect your wired headphones to it.
You don’t have to be happy with Bluetooth. You can buy a USB-C DAC for like $10. Apple’s “USB C to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter” is 9 USD direct from Apple and it tested extremely well. You can use it on any modern phone or on your laptop or tablet, too. (You can also use the Qudelix 5k this way.)
If that adapter isn’t good enough (maybe it doesn’t output enough power for your high impedance headphones), then most phone’s built-in DACs + headphone adapters would have the same problem. Basically only Sony and LG (RIP) phones ever had especially good onboard DACs and amps, and even with them it would often make more sense to get a dedicated portable setup.
For anyone who is happy with Bluetooth, though, they don’t have to worry about all this and they get to reap the advantages of the headphone jack’s removal. The extra space can be used for more battery, if nothing else, and it’s easier to prevent dust/water ingress when you eliminate the headphone jack.
Also, I think you’re thinking of LDAC (by Sony), not aptX (by Qualcomm). LDAC is not lossless, either, but it’s much higher bitrate than anything other than the very recently introduced aptX Lossless, which - under ideal conditions - features lossless compression.
Wired headphones don’t have to incorporate their own DACs, which means any budget wired set will be better than wireless one of the same price - everything can go into the actual analog part of the equation.
The adapter is extremely inconvenient, it’s a small dongle that is easy to lose and you can’t even charge your phone and listen to music at the same time, which I personally do very regularly. Besides, making everything go through one port increases wear and tear and reduces reliability of the device.
3,5mm jack doesn’t take any significant amount of space and the value of extra teeny tiny piece of battery is ridiculously low. This has always felt like a bullshit excuse to me.
Just my 2 cents.
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 can’t tell you if any of my laptops have a 3.5mm jack. If they do, I’d rather have another USB-C port instead. And arguing that just because it’s still used in desktop computers, then it can’t be ancient, I’d like to draw your attention toward the rs232 port that still isn’t phased out entirely.
In case I missed it, would you like to point out where exactly you’re being forced to buy a specific phone?
I happen to be writing this on an android 13 phone with a 3.5mm jack (I had to check, but it’s there), it’s not like you can’t get a phone with the connector.
So, the smaller version of the connector that studios use to this day is ancient, huh?
pfft musicians what the hell do they know about music
NOTHING
My electrician says that woodworking doesn’t need ancient tools like hammers.
Actually it’s even older. And it’s also not used in a phone.
The argument that 3.5mm jacks are somehow superior to a digital stream is so laughably flawed. The 3.5mm jack is a shit connector, always has been. It got its success from being paired with the original walkman, not exactly hifi equipment. The durability of the jack is wanting and a few specks of dust in the socket and you’re getting static when you move about.
I don’t know how many sockets I’ve had to replace over time because a male jack broke off in the socket. It’s one thing that the jack is so thin that it can break in your pocket. But when manufacturers then mount sockets, that doesn’t allow you to push the broken part out, and also uses some weird one-hung-low socket with a weird footprint that you can’t source with less than a 5k MOQ, and that is only after searching for an hour. Which then leaves you having to do all sorts of weird cowboy tricks in order to have a working sound output… Then you will get to my level of annoyance with the 3.5mm jack.
All those problems are not really a thing with 6.3mm jacks, but, by all means, keep believing that 3.5mm is superior because professionals use something that looks like it, and disregard everything else.
Ethernet must be ancient tech to you.
In an end-user device? Yes, it’s irrelevant. Use wifi unless you have a special usecase.
Wow, so gaming with reliable latency is a special usecase? Wi-Fi is awesome for convenience but it can never be better than wired because of physics.
Yes, yes it is. Most people couldn’t care less, they just want convenience.
What are the physics you’re talking about?
Wi-Fi is a shared medium where airtime is split amongst multiple clients on a radio spectrum that is open for all the public to use… Wired gives each device dedicated bandwidth with no interference. Wireless gets better and better, but it can never, and will never, be faster than a dedicated cable.
None of that are physical limitations, it’s purely implementational. Legacy ethernet was half-duplex as well, before switching and dedicated pairs for tx/rx became the norm. Handling of the shared medium is done with CSMA-CA and not -CD, which was used for ethernet, so at least we learned something.
Copper is also susceptible to interference, both RFI and EMI. Sure you can mitigate the effect by shielding and twisting the wire pairs with different amounts of twists pr length. But in the end, copper is also susceptible to interference.
I’m not an RF engineer, and I don’t have an idea of what can be done to mitigate noise in wifi even further. But claiming that it’s an inherent physical limitation, that can’t be mitigated, that’s just defeatism. It’s about the implementation, not physical constraints.
It’s absolutely a physical limitation and to argue otherwise is a waste of time. You can use complex multiplexing algorithms to squeeze more out of a single wireless channel, but at the end of the day you’re sharing that airspace with anything from another WiFi signal to a microwave oven. To go faster with wired all you have to do is, like you said, add another pair.
EMI can be sheilded, yes, or you can move to optical and then you’re literally transferring at the speed of light on a dedicated medium. You simply can’t do that with radio. It’s not physically possible unless there is some signaling technological breakthrough that we have not yet conceived.
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
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.
You’re basically making the exact same Betamax vs VHS argument. The only different is Apple is the Porn industry embracing Bluetooth in favor of wired products.
Aux vs Bluetooth is not analogous to Betamax/VHS. It’s more like WiFi and ethernet. WiFi can replace ethernet most of the time, but there are clear benefits to wired connections.
How is this not technically also the same? WiFi can replace Ethernet all of the time with degraded connectivity outside of super secure offerings. The same argument is made for production quality vs home release quality.
Please define “weaker”.
What are you talking about? How are you forced to buy some specific BT headphones for your phone?
And the argument about USB-C headphones being clunky? Sure, it may not be optimal, but you could always just buy a phone with a jack or give in and switch to BT.
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.
I’m sorry, but I had to say something. I’m so tired of non-technical people moaning about the out phasing of the 3.5mm jack, and especially the arguments about audio quality and vendor lock in that has been raised in this thread. I had to make sure that it was understood, that the view is not unopposed.
Could I have done it more diplomatically? Maybe, but I also wanted to drive my point home in as short a post as possible.
I asked chatgpt to help out rewriting my comment, but with your criticism in mind. It came up with:
While 3.5mm jacks may seem like a staple, it’s worth noting that technology evolves. Much like the transition from 3.5" floppy drives, change takes time to be widely accepted. The omission of the jack in smartphones isn’t about dismissing tradition but adapting to newer, more versatile alternatives. It’s been nearly a decade since the OPPO R5, and as technology progresses, embracing these changes can lead to a broader range of innovative features.
I don’t want to bore people to death, but I can also see now how perhaps I could have attacked the technology instead of the people.
We are better than our old /u/ on reddit, and we must strive to keep it that way. Competing with reddit on toxicity, will be a fight we’ll never be able to win.
Thank you for calling me out on my BS, and helping us all to keep the fediverse a better place.
Being an electronic engineer and a programmer I would categorize myself as a “technical person”. I am also a person that prefers devices that are as reliable an repairable as possible. A headphone without a battery and with a replaceable cable can last you literally decades. A TWS one, will not.
To add to that, using a dongle means a separate device that can break (and is most likely not repairable), that isn’t necessarily compatible with anything you plug it in to, that has a dac (which is redundant since your phone could use the internal one if you had a 3.5mm connector) and that will cause extra battery drain (regardless of how much more, it’s more than 0).
There are literally 0 benefits to removing the headphone jack. Several people have even shown that devices that “don’t have enough space” for it can be modded to add the 3.5mm jack and you don’t even lose any functionality.
Removing the headphone jack is a step backwards.
AND it’s on purpose. It’s to make you switch from your good headphones that work with any analog output to shit that requires their specifications and can be remotely fucked with so you gotta keep buying.
[Citation needed]
When you punch me in the nose, I don’t need proof of your intentions.
Translation: it’s original, unpublished, and unreviewed research.
My own background is in embedded electronics too. Whether there is a benefit in removing the jack or not has not been part of my arguments.
Some people will say that the jack needs to go for waterproofing, but I distinctly remember owning a Sony Xperia M4 which had both a jack and an IP68 rating.
I’m also not saying that your arguments aren’t valid, I just value different aspects… Except for the part about an external DAC being redundant. An external DAC, with RCA or XLR connectors, some proper cable can potentially give you a better result than the internal DAC and the 3.5mm jack. Emphasis on the “potential” part.
I haven’t used wired headphones on a regular basis, since that Xperia in 2015ish, and I don’t miss untangling the wires, or fixing a broken socket where the solder is cracked, the pins are broken inside the plastic housing of the socket, or clearing a socket of a broken male jack.
IMO the 3.5mm jack is a poor connector. It breaks too easily, dust in the socket leads to static and to be quite honest if I can tell a difference in sound quality, it’s my BT headphones that comes out on top.
As long as there’s a demand for 3.5mm jacks in phones they’ll still be marketed. But if people could stop pointing out that another overpriced smartphone lacks the jack, it would just be swell. Just buy a more modestly priced phone instead of forking over +700€ for a frigging phone.
I currently have a Sony Xperia 5V. It has an IP68 rating, it’s basically a flagship phone and it has a headphone jack. Manufacturers don’t include the jack because they don’t want to but it’s 100% possible.
Sorry, but that bit about the external dac is pretty dumb. We’re talking about using a mobile phone and you’re talking xlr and rca? Really?
Maybe use a case? I usually have a small roud case for my IEMs that barely takes up space. You’re already carrying a case for tws so I don’t see why it would be a problem.
At least you can fix it. If the battery on a wireless IEM dies, 9 times out of 10 you can’t fix it and need to get a new one.
Maybe don’t use shitty jacks?
Don’t know how or where you use your phone but that literally never happened to me. Honestly, none of the issues you mentioned have been a problem for me. Maybe take better care of your stuff?
And regarding people pointing out the lack of a basic feature. Yeah, no. If a company makes shitty products, I’ll keep pointing it out. Also, there are fewer and fewer phones with a headphone jack every year. Cheap and expensive. So no, price has nothing to dp with this.
mama always stupid is as stupid does
I’ve read at least once in this thread an argument, that 3.5mm jack is superior to BT or USB-C, on account of the audio quality. If you’re using your phone for playback in a setup where you can tell the difference, then an external DAC, with proper connectors, is warranted.
How about wireless instead? They can be more discreet, and you don’t always have to care about stowing then away. There’s a bit of a difference between rolling the wire(s) up or just plopping the individual TWS in a case, where orientation is handled by a magnet.
Nothing to do with the jack. I’m talking about the pins coming from the circular part of the socket and going to the PCB. I’ve seen them break inside the socket housing, where you can’t get to them. Leaving you with the options of either
If you want to avoid this issue, then you need to evaluate the socket in the device as part of your purchasing considerations. But most stores don’t like it when you take their stuff apart. Instruct your users (in my case friends and family) to be really careful OR just use wireless.
Or, and bear with me here, I’ll keep using my devices how I want, as I’ve found a perfectly good strategy for not breaking a 3.5mm male jack in the socket? Most of the times I have had to deal with this issue in this millennium, I haven’t even been the culprit.
And I’ll keep telling you that nobody really cares, most of your arguments are moot, and your opinion is not that of the vast majority.
I wonder how that could be /s
It started with flagships IIRC, sure it may have trickled down into other segments.
First of all, I didn’t say that but it is true. Bluetooh is not just technically inferior, it also has severe limitations in bidirectional communications such as phone calls. Which you know, you tend to have when you’re usign a mobile phone.
However, the real difference comes when you compare the headphones themselves. Something like a Moondrop Aria or a Truthear Hexa is under 80USD and will be significantly better than a wireless IEM that costs the same. You can even go down to 30/40USD and still fine good products.
You need the IEMs to be “discreet”? What? hahaha that’s a first. Also, rolling up the wire takes a few seconds. None of this is an issue.
Then don’t buy crappy devices? I don’t know dude. I have audio gear more than 40 years old and I’ve literally never had this issue.
Ah but you keep the conversation going and that’s what matters my friend. Also, who cares if my opinion is “in the vast majority” or not? Do you only share your views if you know other people agree? That’s dumb.
Yeah, uninformed consumers and increased profit margins will do that to the market. Go figure.
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Not trolling, just sharing facts.
Neither dumb nor arrogant. Have you seen the size of an XLR connector? Or headphones that use an RCA jack? Do you even know of a device that has those connectors and doesn’t require external power? If you don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t talk.
Technology evolves?
You need an extra clump of stuff in your pocket that’s terribly unreliable now or your top shelf standard audio equipment now needs replaced by our branded earbuds that sound terrible. PROGRESS.
This isn’t progress. This is forced obsolescence. Literally everything about it is worse. I can put my phone in a plastic baggie when it’s raining, but I’m not carrying around an extra fucking DAC/amp everywhere. I just have to deal with crappy wireless earbuds.
What company does this? I keep hearing the argument, but I have no clue who it is.
I haven’t found a phone my Jabra headsets couldn’t connect to. Only my ps4, but that is not really part of this discussion.
Thank you!
Much appreciated, unironically. All hail the fedi!
You know the kind of guy who writes nothing but bad things and troll comments, and then wonders why his life sucks? Well… that was me. Every time something good happened to me, something bad was always waiting around the corner. Karma. That’s when I realised I had to change. So, I switched from reddit and joined the fediverse. I’m just trying to be a better person. My name is
Earlbigdanishguy.We need to be better, reddit can go suck a donkey, but if we want this to be a viable alternative down the road, we need to be better. Calling each other out on bull shit behavior is warranted from time to time.
He didn’t even make a point. That was all insult and comparisons that don’t compare.
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.
Obvious troll is obviously trolling.
The headphone jack is a perfected technology with no competition in terms of usability, performance, environmentally friendliness.
Your analogy makes no sense.
I don’t know if it’s me you’re calling a troll. If it is, I can assure you that I truly believe that the 3.5mm jack is a shit connector, it’s only place was in portable equipment, and that it’s superceded by bluetooth.
Maybe I presented my views in an inflammatory way, but as I’ve stated elsewhere, I wanted to get my view across in as little text as possible. Maybe also be a little provocative, so I’d actually get people to read the comment. But I believe what I said and it wasn’t formulated in that way to piss people off, just to entice and drive the point home. Exaggeration promotes understanding, but maybe my exaggerating got a little too much and disabled the understanding part.
I’ve been tinkering with electronics for close to 30 years by now, and my electronics engineering career is in its 3rd decade, and I have encountered issues with 3.5mm jacks time and again.
Trying to repair broken sockets or broken off jacks, still seated in sockets, is tedious and so low reward, when you can just get some BT headphones.
The BT headphones will break, sure, but I’d rather have good use of some 100€ headphones and a 300€ phone, not be frustrated by the wires tangling, and then discard the 100€ headphones when they break than the phone which can live for much longer. Besides if you’re buying the right BT headphones you’ll be able to source parts for it much easier than an obscure 3.5mm socket with some weird footprint.
Maybe it’s not time for the 3.5mm jack to die, for some, but for the rest of us, we don’t really care about it. Live and let die, but please stop moaning about it.
agree, and not just for 3,5mm jacks. If there is a way to do it with a cable, i will choose the cable instead of a wireless solution. The only time I didn’t was with a wireless mouse that, after a while, I just kept on the cable anyway. They are so very convenient, especially the 3,5mm jack.
Yes, same applies to everything. Thank God USB exists and powers so many wired (and also wireless) devices.
Also, Ethernet on computers is a must.
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.
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.
If they gave us a second usb-c port instead I wouldn’t complain so much. So dumb that I have to choose between charging and audio
A second or dual charger and you can do both anyway with wireless headsets.
A solution to a problem no one asked for.
The engineering team behind this must be amazing!
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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.
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.
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They meant Google. There are truly open OSes that are not quite so captured: 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.
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.
I would totally buy one if they brought it to the US.
I want the headphone jack back.
Lack of one is an immediate showstopper for me, too.
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Genuinely curious, is it the lack of Bluetooth earphones? I can’t remember the last time I saw someone using wired earphones
It was definitely a showstopper when Apple first did it because most people were still using wired earphones, but these days everything is wireless
Not OP, but some cars don’t have bluetooth. My 2009 honda civic didn’t have bluetooth for music. It had bluetooth, but just for the handsfree calling (really dumb), but I also swapped the head unit myself to an android head unit. While there are adapters for USB-C to aux, I found the ones I got weren’t super reliable. My phone doesn’t have an aux, but I wanted one. I made the sacrifice of no aux to get 5G on a different model phone instead. It’s worked out, but when looking for phones in the future having an aux port is a point in that phones favor.
This is why I hope to go for Sony in the future.
Not who you asked, but I also refuse to buy a phone without a headphone jack. I am constantly listening to music/podcasts/audiobooks on my phone while out and greatly prefer using wired headphones over wireless for a number of reasons-
-Bluetooth can be finicky in connection. No matter the pair I’ve used, just the act of walking can make the connection falter at times and there’s no way to fix it
-Bluetooth headphones have a much worse cost/performance ratio than wired when it comes to sound quality.
-I use the mic when taking calls and even a cheap wired mic is dramatically better than any bluetooth one
-Wired headphones don’t have a battery. This is huge for me. I hate, hate, hate it when caught out and my headphones run out of battery. Additionally, batteries put a life span on electronics that I like not having to think about with my headphones.
-Simplicity. If I want to use my headphones, I plug them in. If I don’t, I unplug them. I can quickly switch to a new device when I want to use them on something else. I don’t have to think about what they are paired with at any time or fiddle with it when swapping devices
-Small case, but I like that when I need to take my headphones out for a bit, I can just ease one out and leave it wrapped around my ear rather than deal with the case just to talk to a cashier
Absolutely that, confirm as OP.
No, it’s because of batteries. At least for me. We’re creating more ewaste by shoving Bluetooth earbuds down our throats due to no headphone jack.
Edit: Currently rocking the Pixel 7 Pro, and once I’m done with this phone (I hope to have it for at least 4 more years), I hope Sony still has headphone jacks on their phones. Since that’s what I’ll most likely go for.
Same here. I work long shifts and know that some 200MAh batteries aren’t going to cut it for long before being thrown in the trash. I have some nice BT headphones that I use at home or on flights but my primary pair are still wired.
My $350 Motorola phone has a headphone jack and an SD slot. And apparently superior build quality from what I’ve seen of my girlfriend’s and coworker’s P7s.
I too can vouch for Motorola. I have the 200$ G31 and it’s got a headphone jack and micro-sd-slot. I’m very pleased with its quality and performance so far, and hope it lasts some years to come.
Honestly I feel that.
For me it’s mostly two major reasons: Security and ease of use.
I don’t leave Bluetooth turned on unless I actively need it.
And wireless headphones are just one more thing to charge. I’ve tried them. It ended up more of a hassle than just…plugging in a wire.
Oh okay. For me, the hassle of coiling the wires and resolving knots was infinitely greater than keeping track of the limited battery life of my earbuds
One of the best headphones I’ve ever used had magnets in the buds which basically eliminated tangles completely. Highly recommend sport earbuds with magnets.
I could plug a MIDI keyboard to my Galaxy Note 9, play it on FL Studio Mobile and send the audio to a mixer
The delay inherent to bluetooth headphones is unbearable for me
Also, you know, wired headphones don’t have batteries
BT delay is such a pain in games. And honestly for me not needing fucking batteries for every damn device in my life is a highly preferred feature. Fucking hate that every device has a separate time limit that I have to keep track of.
I use wired headphones and I use an aux jack in my car. I have a set of BT ones I use if i’m walking around but if I’m stationary (which is the case 90% of the time I’m using my phone) wired is better. Better sound, no battery to worry about failing, no BT delay turning everything you watch into a shitty dub.
Yes agreed. The headphone jack is a perfected technology. If a device does not have a headphone jack I am not buying it. Full stop.
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.
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.
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.
Yea so many damn good phones basically are useless here in the states. It sucks.
How tragic. I’m sorry. As a dirty Yuropoor I’ll buy one in your place and enjoy it for you.
Please do lol, I’d love to own one but it’d be a wifi brick at best here state side.
It’s compatible with most of T-Mobile bands.
Unfortunately T-Mobile is really crap in most of the USA outside of major cities. I’m basically in a dead zone with T-Mobile in my town. ATT isn’t much better and Verizon is the best but both are still lacking… literally dropped calls in some areas.
That sucks when you are stuck in an area like that. I’ve had t-mo for about 15 years now and they’ve been great and have solid coverage everywhere I’ve been in and outside the state. Verizon really is a better option for more rural locations though generally. I had them for a little while when T-Mo didn’t have great coverage where I was. And I really dislike ATT so they were a hard pass lol
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.
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.
And 3.
They’re small and I could lose it and would have to spend even more money for a replacement.
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.
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).
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’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.
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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?
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.
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I mean, you can’t find replacement parts sold separately for most 10+ year old devices, especially consumer grade. Suggesting that you should be able to buy replacement parts for tube TVs is kind of an overkill, and I think 8 years for a mobile phone is a great deal. Don’t go into extremes.
Also, yes, I assumed you know about a brand if you decide to talk about it.
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.
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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 😂
Huuuuh 99%!? 😅
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)
Still no 3.5mm jack, still no dice for me.
Same, terrible shame too
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.
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.
There is an excuse: it costs them money. If you can easily and cheaply repair your phone, you won’t buy a new one.
Technical excuse I meant.
Oh I know. But there is no technical excuse and they know it.
greed isn’t an excuse. Oh, sorry I was late but I have a good excuse: I’m lazy
“Sorry I’m late, it’s because of who I am as a person” is my usual reason.
Yes my apologies. I gave a really good excuse though gestures to self in the general
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 :
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.
What about aux in the car?
Those days are even further past
Not in my car… I would love to have bluetooth.
USBC to headphone jack Dongle.
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 www.techradar.com/audio/…/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).
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’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…
That sounds mostly like software and or firmware
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…
Yeah it’s a real bummer that androids Monitoring is shown so badly…
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.
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.
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.
murena.com/…/murena-fairphone-5-availibility/
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
Capitalism isn’t purposeful in that way. One company might be, but if there was really a huge demand for that kind of thing someone would make it.
You’re mistaken. Imperialism is capitalism, my friend. War is just easy profit to some. Regardless, tech companies LOVE to work with the state to design products; most motherboards do have backdoors used by the likes of the NSA. So I think there’s a fair case to be made for it being more of a don’t-piss-off-the-government decision rather than scarcity of parts or demand.
There are products like the pinephone or what have you and they aren’t very successful, because most people demand convenience and not seeming weird to their peer group, both understandable impulses even as they lead us astray.
The government isn’t stopping manufacturers from making phones with bigger batteries and headphone jacks.
@invaderDJ @Porous_gray_matter. SBCs and their recent popularity show there IS a demand, as well as the existence of the pinephone period. I’m not convinced either. The government, -especially the USA’s undeniably has a vested interest in keeping versatile, powerful technology out of reach for most.
It’s definitely more than the market is not large enough or willing to pay enough to make it worth while. A phone with 3 USB ports, a physical keyboard and a huge ass battery?
That’s not a phone, that’s a laptop. The amount of people willing to pay for that is going to be miniscule.
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.