The design and build quality of the device are bad. Sharp edges that feel so unfinished. The components, like the fingerprint sensor, are beyond unreliable. The camera is absolutely shit. Yeah, great, I can replace parts - against exactly the same garbage they put in at the factory.

Android Auto reliably is a frustrating experience in any car I tried. You have to manually adjust the USB mode, or wait minutes for the phone to connect, every single time you plug in. Sometimes I take a quick stop and the car/phone will absolutely refuse to cooperate with each other. Just connection errors. You reboot the phone, still the same shit. You stop the car, get out, lock it, unlock it, get back in, connect phone, change USB mode, connection error... You give up, the next day it just works again. I keep an old OnePlus in the car now. It has zero of these issues. You plug it in, 100% of the time AA comes up instantly. Fairphone is a waste of time in this regard.

They have no ARKit certification, which I haven't even experienced ever before. You don't need it until you need it.

I also heard the 3 was designed better, but I would never buy another Fairphone after owning the 4. It is the worst smartphone I have ever owned, and I actively hate it every single day. I bought it, because I wanted something that'll last me a long time, and break buying new devices all time. No smartphone I have ever owned created such a massive motivation to get a replacement.

[–] Boeddabart@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I agree, to some level at least. It is not good enough in its current state as my daily driver, but i do believe the hardware is good. Not €700 good (more like 300 good, if we don't talk about 'fair' products). If the software was better, i would've used it as my daily driver.

I don't care about the fingerprintreader and camera for example (but i do understand that it is a dealbreaker for some). I think the camera is actually pretty good (again, not €700 good, might be somewhat software related). I think the vibrationmotor and battery are the things that are the worst on the FP5.

I just wished they focused on software and better new parts for once, instead of earsbuds, new versions of phones etc. They can improve what is already there, for the most part...

I wished i tried out the FP4 first, because for now it is 700 not very well spent. Hope that can change in the future.

[–] gencha@lemm.ee 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Fair. But I will never retreat from my stance on the FP4 fingerprint sensor. Several times these few cents worth of technology stood between me and important financial transactions, to a degree where my banking apps got locked and required unlocking operations involving having a letter sent to me via snail mail. Today, I have all biometric stuff disabled on the phone. Not because I'm paranoid, but because this phone made it an unbearable annoyance, instead of the convenience it should be.

I had other smartphones before that had the sensor under the screen, and this worked flawlessly for years. The garbage sensor they used in the FP4 is the worst fingerprint sensor I've used in the past two decades. It is literally pure garbage.

As you already mentioned, the device is insanely overpriced. At every single corner, you feel how they cut even the tiniest bit of cost to increase revenue. It is a dishonest device from a dishonest company.

[–] Stitch0815 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I disagree on most points :D

I would be most interested on how you think they are dishonest? I bought the fairphone knowing fully well it will NOT be the best bang for the buck.

I bought it because

It has 5 years of waranty

Easily replacable battery (and other parts)

Somewhat sustainable manufacturing techniques

And not as much sweat shop in it as the rest

Edit: formating

[–] gencha@lemm.ee 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The idea that the phone was made purely in manufacturing processes where you could have a good conscience is ridiculous. Like any similar greenwashing strategy, it relies on indirection and fragmentation. You have no way to validate their claims other than some badges they bought from eco licensing companies.

The warranty is worth nothing. At the launch of the phone it was already crystal clear that no security updates would be released for the SoC of the phone after 2 years. So you get 3 more years of cute Android UI on a phone that's potentially insecure. They knew this when they designed and marketed the phone!

I have not yet replaced my battery, but I remember thinking this would be a win. This phone is a piece of shit. Why would I ever want to prolong this suffering?

[–] Stitch0815 1 points 1 month ago

I don't remember what they wrote back during the 4 days but I never had the feeling they were pretending it was made only in manufacturing. Today they write all(?) their nickle is from recycled sources. You could probably write an enitre philosophy book if that really matters but I leave that up to someone else. For me less sweatshop than the other phonea is enough.

Do you have a source for the SoC I didn't find anything but I am also not that SoC savy. Depending on how bad the security risk is. As someone whose Bluetooth and wifi chip died after 2.5 years in my previous phone. 5 years of warranty is worth a lot to me.

I guess the last part is your experience with the phone. I am almost 2 years in and very happy. It does everything I want it to do and a bit more. No it's not a flagship but I don't need or want that.

[–] lemann@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 months ago

These are pretty fair points I'd say

I haven't used the FP4 personally so can't really comment on that, but a lot of the community who owned the 3 weren't too keen on the 4 the last time I was on their forums. Most of that was due to the software issues you mentioned, as well as the removal of the 3.5mm jack.

The improved GM1 isocell rear camera on the 3+ is pretty good for what it is, but on the software side there's practically no optimization there at all. In full manual with OpenCamera I can take better pictures than my iPhone 13 - lack of HDR (camera hardware supports it, no software implementation) and OIS aside. Others have used the Google Camera app on auto and they're very happy with what they get, I'm personally not too keen on the overprocessed look that some environments can exhibit though.

Ever since the leadership changes and designer departure following the 3+ release, a few mistakes have been made - unrepairable fairbuds being the worst one IMO!! Plastic sustainability of those buds aside, the three tiny unreplaceable batteries will be a one way ticket to the landfill once they're worn out.

Personally I'm hoping they develop a true successor to the FP3, really like the feel of this device

[–] sperwing@lemm.ee 2 points 2 months ago

It's an OK phone. I don't have any problems with sharp edges, the fingerprint sensor and camera are working well, certainly better than those of the Sony Z5 premium I was using previously.

[–] danielquinn@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I have an FP4 and I love it. I only ever have problems with the fingerprint sensor when my hands are dirty or overly sweaty. The camera works rather well to be honest, but I did replace the app with the Googled one.

I can't speak to Android Auto, 'cause I've never used it, and don't know what ARKit is. I do heavily use Google (and Organic) Maps though, and I find the accuracy of both the GPS and compass to be quite good.

Honestly, I generally find the hardware to be pretty solid and have been using it since the FP4 was released without issue. I connect it to my computer to transfer Very Large Files all the time, and regularly push a lot of data through the wifi.

I've been abusing the shit out of the battery though, so I just ordered a replacement one. Something most phones still can't do. It's Fairphone's killer feature in my book.

I'm not posting this to invalidate your experience, just to demonstrate that there are others who feel differently.

[–] gencha@lemm.ee 1 points 2 months ago

ARKit is what allows you to use augmented reality features in certain apps. It's niche, but it's rare not to be available.

I thought for the longest time that the fingerprint sensor is right when it complains that I should clean it. Have you ever tried to clean it by rubbing it? Causing it to lock down because it interpreted the input as a quick series of invalid fingerprints? Because that's what kept happening to me. After several times of this happening, the next time I just rebooted the device. After reboot, it unlocked on the first try, without me having to clean or dry anything.

When you just wanted to pay a bill, and suddenly you can't unlock your banking app because of this, it's quite annoying. Now you need the app password. Okay, let's pull it out of the password manager. Oh right, you can't unlock that either now. So let's enter the 100 characters master key again.

I'm truly happy for every other owner who never went through this 😄

The camera is not terrible, but the missing stabilization frequently leads to blurry images. In low light it's almost pointless to even try. I was used to better image quality from phones when FP4 was released. They could have done better for the price.

I'm actually glad to hear that you were able to exercise the ability to replace a part. I'm sure others have too. I should put that more into consideration next time I come the subject.

I appreciate you took the time to give a different perspective. So I wanted to provide a bit more context from my experience.