this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2024
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Ok. Next time I go to Europe, I'm buying a Fairphone.
Unless you're happy with a very mediocre phone - please don't. I very much applaud the idea behind fairphone, but the years I had my fairphone 3 were full of frustration.
Could you explain? What about the fairphone did you find frustrating?
Low end hardware made the user experience frustrating and the overall performance was poor. It's annoying because the concept is good, but a phone that's supposed to be your "long term phone" shouldn't be painful to use after only months. It's certainly very repairable - or seemed to be. I didn't actually have to ever repair mine, but if I'm going to deliberately have a phone for a long time then I need it to stay off with specs that mean it'll still perform after three or four years.
What issues did you have with it?
I use an FP3 personally, on Android 10 at the mo (13 is available, but i'm planning to move to Lineage instead), haven't experienced anything I would describe as a dealbreaker - especially compared to my previous device which was an S5.
On paper it looks rubbish, but compared to my S5 it's night and day. That said, I wouldn't suggest any 'sustainable' device to someone using a mainstream flagship like an S23 etc, as 'sustainable' devices typically always pick older components with the longest service/support life, not the latest and greatest. It's a compromise I am fine with, but people who are very heavy/demanding power users should 100% look somewhere else or just keep using their current device IMO...
Actually, on the topic of FP issues, particularly for the target audience that i is maybe likely to use more FOSS apps on their device, is a bug that mis-clicks after a lengthy amount of time spent in apps that use Jetpack Compose for the UI (like Jerboa and Kvaesitso). I'm not familiar with that tech at all though so this is completely out of my depth. I've only ever noticed fellow FP users complaining about it. The fix is to force kill the app, which can get a little bothersome
Got Fairphone 5 but I can only compare it to my old phone, a Samsung Galaxy A3 I've used for about 13 years. Main complaint is the speaker: points down and sounds worse than my old phone. 90Hz OLED looks great. Perhaps it's mediocre too in comparison to modern phones but I want to avoid using proprietary software. Most phones might as well not even exist.
I wanted a case that covers the screen but Fairphone only have a side cover. Got lucky with one from a 3rd party but it doesn't turn off the screen when I close the cover like my old phone case did. I assume that had a chip in it or there's a software setting I've not found.
Also, I didn't know I could get it with /e/ already installed so I've been trying out stock Android in the meanwhile.
Samsung was pretty much one of the only manufacturers installing hall sensors under the display to detect the magnets in their flip cases. I think they stopped including that sensor around the time they got rid of the hardware home button. Their latest tablets still do include a case sensor AFAIK, not sure if it's the same hall effect one or something else though.
As a side note I miss those cases with the small window, was pretty cool to be able to just flip the lid, see the time, then stuff the phone away
That's a damn shame. I guess modern phones auto wakeup with fingerprint readers or face recognition?
I'm waiting for the FP to hit the NA market. I have run Nexus/Pixel devices exclusively for 12 years, and all kinds of custom roms over the years; 3 years now on GrapheneOS. But the repairability is a strong draw to the FP, and I believe it also allows bootloader unlocking and relocking with a different key, so software-wise it checks that box too. The only downside is hardware, especially the camera. But I'm still quite interested in it.
The hardware being very poor was the killer for me. Unless they improve starter specs or allow you to upgrade hardware I won't ever buy another one.
Have you noticed a difference in camera quality between the pixel running the OS it ships out in and when running Graphene OS?
The graphene camera app is, honestly, hot garbage. At least it was when I switched like 3 years ago. I just use the Google camera with no internet access to it (permission) and bam, great photos, no data sharing.
Can you use google camera when you're running graphene? How? I love the image quality on the pixel but dislike google way too much to use a google phone.
Yeah, it's just an app, installed from the play store or sideloaded. It detects that it's a pixel and the extra features get enabled like when installed on stock.
You lose the ability to preview your pictures from the camera when you don't have google photos installed, but that's true of stock too - and can be fixed by a stub app that pretends to be google photis, but simply reenables that camera shot preview. Be sure to disable auto updates for "g photos" so it doesn't complain about a mismatched app.
I used to be all-in on G - devices, software, services. I even got to ride in a waymo vehicle during development and testing (under nda), a friend worked at waymo for several years (I helped him get the job!), and I was participating in studies for both hardware and software for G (also nda). Starting with... 2017, I bought a nas and started migrating to it. It's not a quick process and there's a definite learning curve, but I've been largely out of the G ecosystem since... 2019? I still buy my phones via the G store, and pay with the store line of credit. Still upload stuff to YouTube, I am a local guide on Maps too. But contacts, calendar, gmail, drive/photos, domains... I'm free, my data is on my hardware in my possession, or at least under my control (domain, email).
GrapheneOS isn't perfect, but it's close. My Pixel Watch works with it, they got Android Auto working a couple weeks ago. The only broken app I have is PayPal, and it was working previously, so I think it's a pp issue and not graphene - regardless it's a small inconvenience. If you get a day or two and feel ambitious, give it a go. It's more work, absolutely, but it's more control and privacy.
Thanks for the detailed reply. I am planning to test drive GrapheneOS. The things making me doubt the switch is basically my payment applications (I do nearly all my payments via Gpay or similar apps), my camera, and compatibility with my fitness app (Garmin Connect). Other than that I don't really have any worries. I suck at changing my routines so the change-over period might be painful but I'm thinking of carrying around two phones during it to reduce the effects, though I don't know if that is good or bad for quicker transitioning.
Ooh, that's a showstopper - nfc and other physical card payment alternatives through gpay don't work, as graphene is not recognized as a g partner and is not given the necessary clearance; they are viewed by g as any other custom rom maker, not a manufacturer. One of many: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/9226-graphene-os-features
Android Auto was seen as impossible for several years, and is now available, but I'm not sure if gpay can be handled the same way. Assume that it is never going to be available, and a pleasant surprise if it changes.
I have not tested other nfs/cardless payment apps, so I won't give you false hope on that front.
If you use the Google camera app: everything works. I have not heard of any camera issues at all, with any apps; that's not to say "literally everything works" in that category of other apps, but I'd be optimistic. I could install others and report back.
Garmin Connect launches and let me get to the registration page.
It takes me a few hours to switch from one device to another, as I take the time to backup the outgoing, restore to the new, go through all the system settings, setup my watch, install obtainium (foss app using Github etc as the repo for direct from developer updates) and restore+install all apps, open them individually, set all settings for all apps, then do gplay apps, restore, open, check settings...
Which takes quite a while when I'm physically disabled (slow to type in credentials and stuff especially), and run my own server for data and services (example, I need my passwords for X app, I need to install bitwarden first, I need to use my custom domain to connect to the server, I need to login, apply my usual app settings, now I can grab the password...). Switching devices is far and away still the most painful part about leaving stock. But I do it all in one go, because otherwise I'll forget stuff for the next week or so, and because I use my phone for everything - clock, calendar, email, medications management, maps, location sharing, media consumption, IoT control, banking, network admin... I can't have downtime, it'd drive me mad and would cause issues.
But once I have that all set up... It's great. I used to hop between roms a decade+ ago, and that was fun and exciting, but at this point I need it to work, reliably. This fits both checkboxes ☑.
(edit: for context, it took me an hour almost to the minute to write this reply, so I'm /very/ slow :p)
I appreciate the effort you took to type the reply out. Thank you, this will help me a ton.
I have more questions but I don't want to waste your time by sending you questions that came out stream of consciousness style.
If you would be willing to share, I'd like to know what kind of disability you have. DMs are fine, and even more it's 100% alright if you don't want to share at all.
I mean, I don't mind. I'm into this stuff and I like helping others who are interested ^^
I suffered a hemorrhaging stroke at 21 that robbed me of physical and cognitive abilities, as a summary. On my right side, I lost fine (or any) motor control of my fingers, hand, lower arm, toes, foot, ankle, and lower leg, along with losing ~90% nerve response on that side too. Quarter blind in both eyes, struggling with (verbal) speech, both processing and producing (extracting or counting letters from a word, or taking in 'bulk' info like a name and address without a pause, I struggle with hard). Emotional control, too, which is weird (example, happy songs, or songs that I associate with happy memories, cause me to cry even if I try and fight it). I am alive, but I haven't 'lived' since it happened, losing a ton of abilities to do things important to me. I'm trapped in a body that has tried to kill me, I'm a prisoner of my own existence.
I have people that care about me, and I am grateful and appreciate of that... but bluntly, it's a struggle to want to be here anymore. I've been through therapy and it did help (I was in a bad state before, my fiancé left me and they were the last reason I had to keep going). But it's just so devistating, every day.
Anyway. Shoot me more questions if you want =)
I'd really like to hear more about your experience. When did you get it? Was was it about the phone that wasn't up to your expectations?
I answered above replying to another post.
I saw it. Thanks. I'll have to reevaluate my choices I think.
Do they have a store there? Planning a trip to Europe
I think it's in most mobile phone stores. I'm not sure though. All I know is that it's not here in Canada.
Most mobile phone stores sadly only sell big brands noeadays. I've been looking for a store that sells Sony, haven't found one yet
Now that's surprising. Sony isn't some small startup brand.
It is. And this isn't just in Europe. I look wherever I go when I see electronics shops, I just want to try one before buying it