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?
Too bad they don’t sell them in the US. I would buy one immediately.
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To be fair, I don’t think the Fairphone will help much with outdated processors.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?
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!
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.
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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.
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
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.
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.
That’s not fair
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.
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.
I really wish another viable mobile OS would come out. I don’t want android and apple iOS is wearing thin on me.
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. 
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)_/¯
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).
Dang, I haven’t ever tried it. I was hoping for more configurability.
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.
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
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.
Personally, I like using the terminal on my phone, and the only terminal I found for iOS is extremely slow because its emulating linux.
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
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.
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, 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
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.
I’m the opposite. I’ve broken several USB-C connectors, and not one 3.5mm
XLRs on phones? I can get behind that.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yes, it is.
OK
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 🤦🏽♂️
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
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
The car doesn’t have Bluetooth connection?
nah, it’s an 08
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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
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 😄
Attach the dongle to your wired headset.
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.
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 https://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.
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.
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.
Get over it, gramps 🤣
If my FP4 dies in the next year, I will fix it. Because iFixit gave it 10/10.
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.
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.
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.
- that is a solution to a problem nobody wanted.
- Technically 5 if you’re using one of them for the headphone jack (which you wouldn’t need if it was included on the device ready). Also the one with 4 already has a headphone jack included, so you’d still have 4 available ports.
And 3.
They’re small and I could lose it and would have to spend even more money for a replacement.
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:
- Leaving it on headphones is not an option to me (I explained it above)
- Buying one for every jacket might work, but what do I do in summer?
- Please correct me on this but afaik it’s not standardized
- USB output is usually digital, while headphone obviously require an analog signal. I assume the vendors just use certain pins in the USB jack for transmitting the analog signal while keeping the rest grounded.
- I know for certain that Samsung adapters don’t work on OnePlus phones for example.
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:
- My headphone cable is long and sometimes it gets tangled in all sorts of places. The adapters are small and flimsy, if I leave them on the cable I assume they’ll break soon. I have no problems with a broken headphone cable as it is an easy and cheap fix. I don’t think the adapters are seriously fixable tho.
- Everything else uses a headphone jack everywhere. I have yet to see a use for USB-C to audio jack anywhere else. Which makes sense as USB is digital and audio is analog. I assume many people have no use for headphones outside of their phones, I am not one of those people.
I want the headphone jack back.
Lack of one is an immediate showstopper for me, too.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
The specs are not worth 700€
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.
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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?
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!
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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
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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.
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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
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.
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.
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.
then there is absolutely no excuse that Apple, Samsung, Oppo etc. cannot do the same.
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
Few comments here that id like feedback from somebody, if possible :
- fairphone does not sell mainboards seperately because things like the phone imei is linked to it, which in itself is often linked to the mobile provider. Changing this isnt always allowed, depending on the country/state/whatever
- afaik they do still order from china oems, but i think they choose parts that are certified to not be made with childlabor, unethical stuff etc etc. If it is like that, nobody knows. Thats the problem with the whole fight against unethical stuff
Still no 3.5mm jack, still no dice for me.
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.
Same, terrible shame too
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.
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! ;-)
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?
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
I would totally buy one if they brought it to the US.
The engineering team behind this must be amazing!
I would love to get one.
