2y ago

Fairphone 5 Launch

inv.tux.pizza

Fairphone 5 Launch | LIVESTREAM | Fairphone

From their newsletter:

📸 Premium 50MP Triple Camera System
The Fairphone 5 comes with a 50MP selfie camera, a 50MP main camera with a finely tuned Sony lens, and a 50MP ultrawide camera for that perfect, cinematic shot.
⚙️ 8 Years of Software Updates
Packing a unique, long-life Qualcomm Octa-core chipset, the Fairphone 5 comes with clean Android 13, zero bloatware and at least five major software updates. That’s future-proof!
🎯 5 Years Warranty
The Fairphone 5’s modular design makes it super easy to repair by yourself. Add to that a five year warranty that’s twice the industry standard. The Fairphone 5 is definitely built to last.
♻️ Made fairer than ever
The Fairphone 5 is made with 70% fair and recycled materials in fair factories under fair working conditions and is a 100% electronic waste neutral. That’s fair!

84 comments

No headphone jack no sale, it makes zero sense not having one
- Genuine question, but for the common user, why should a phone have a headphone jack?
  
  Can't speak for everyone but here are the reasons I prefer an actual jack:
  3.5mm headphones are extremely universal and can be used for any audio device. USB-C and Bluetooth headphones cannot
  Bluetooth is extremely inconsistent when paired with multiple devices and often gets disconnected because of competing devices
  I can't charge my phone and listen to USB c headphones at the same time
  Manufacturers claim the removal of the jack was to improve the water resistance. I have never dropped my phone in water and would be willing to risk it.
  I already have too many wireless things to charge
  I have a small stockpile of broken wireless headphones. Meanwhile my 10 year old wired headphones are collecting dust
  I have never lost something more often than that tiny ass USB to 3.5mm dongle adapter
  I distrust large corporations with incentive to get consumers to buy more stuff from them
  
  ....to plug headphones in. How is this a genuine question?
  People still use their phones to listen to music and wireless earphones are almost universally garbage, require charging, and produce insane amounts of e-waste. Wired headphones don't have these issues
  
  For headphones.
  
  USB-C dongles are notoriously prone to breaking and also are another bunch of silicon and plastic that contributes to e-waste pollution.
  though truth be told, most phone 3.5mm outputs suck donkey balls because of massive output impedance and signal to noise ratio on sensitive headphones (of which most portable audio devices are) and companies should be ashamed of putting these hunks of shit in their phones.
  
  Cars with wired input. More reliable than Bluetooth and not annoying when it connects when you don't want to.
  
  To have a convenient cheap set of earbuds that keep working, never need any charging nor can be lost.
  You can find those everywhere for like 5€, if you don't get them for free with certain devices.
  I still have a couple laying around that have never been used.
  I don't get battery operated devices for things that don't stray further than 1 meter from the device they are connected to.
  
  Media playback is always 3 seconds delayed through Bluetooth for me, it's annoying. Plus I like the wired headset I've used for 7 years.
No headphone jack on this type of device is unreal. I am still using my AKG Earbuds I got with my S8 which are now 5 years old. Meanwhile ask the first gen Airpod consoomers how they are doing.
- Exactly. I still cannot fathom why a company which prides itself on sustainability ditch the headphone jack. Granted, I don't use the one on my phone often, but I'm very glad that it's there when I need it.
  
  Walk around and look, nobody uses wired headphones, people that do are less than the 1%, why would a company keep using them? I notice when people do because it's such a crazy thing to see in 2023.
- [This comment has been deleted by an automated system]
- I dont know about the premium earbuds but as far as the cheap shit ones go wireless are longer lasting simply beacuse they dont have a wire that gets ripped off regulary. Still dosent excuse the removal of headphone jack tho.
- You can get a USB-c to 3.5mm headphone adapter. I got one recently and it works just fine.
  
  Meanwhile I've bought a few and they are all trash.
  I can't charge my phone while using them. They cut in and out. I hate them.
I'm gonna buy it. Since it's gonna be my first Fairphone and first phone I'll buy new; I'm excited :)
I just wish they made Fairbuds XL in those new colors (I mean blue and translusive)
- Fairbuds. The most important reason I will not support this model. Forcing me into their ecosystem by removing the headphone jack should not be what this company stands for. It is literally against their philosophy.
  Bring back the jack.
  If they do, we are talking again.
  
  Although I agree with you that the headphone jack should be brought back, I dont think it's fair to say they're forcing you into their ecosystem.
  Apple making apple watches only work with iPhones is forcing you into their ecosystem, but with this phone you can use any Bluetooth headphones.
  
  Well.. they do offer a usbC to jack in their online store (but you can buy from whoever you want).
  But I guess usbC to usbC would work which would make sense if you're using your charging cable which is (more or less likely to be) an usbc to usbc cable.
  I might be wrong tho, but we have usbC earbuds and headphones (or was it apple's lightning wired earbuds? I'm not sure)
  But nontheless I think minijack would make for a more versitile device and I was a little dissapointed when I learned that Fairphone 4 does not have jack. Well FP5 does not have it either but I don't care, I can get jack to C adapter cable from my friend if I ever need it
700€
- Yeah that's the biggest turnoff for me personally, it sucks how we are always expected to pay a fat premium for something more sustainable. There should be some small government subsidies for phones like these, just like there are on e-bikes and EVs in many countries.
  
  Well, if they actually ensure fair wages for as many people in production as possible, that's just what a phone of this caliber should cost.
  Idk, the word price premium sounds more like an arbitrary and baseless increase to me, which this (hopefully) isn't.
  There's a lot more that needs to happen, obviously. Because 700 bucks is a lot of money for many people either way, fair or not.
  Edit:
  OLED. I'm sold. Well, whenever my current phone dies, but then I'm sold.
  
  It is not that Fairphones are expensive.
  It is that every other phone is made by slave labour, which makes them inexpensive.
- Is that alot? Mybe im out of touch but most flagships cost 1k+ iirc
  700 is cheap. Especially considering the hardware, the fact that i can repair it myself with ease. You should watch jerryrigeverything's video tearing it down. Its insane how easy it is to replace any part. The screen comes off the front and has 1 cable connecting it and can be replaced for 100 €.
  People complaining about the cost of a phone that was made in a way that is not only sustainable but also paid 3veryone involved at least a living wage (more than minimum) is something we should all be happy to pay more for. The fact that any major company can make phones of this quality for less is because they pay their workers less than minimum wage (if anything at all), outsource everything to 3rd world countries and exploit their workers.
  If that means nothing to you then you are probably a capitalist or just too immoral to care, in which case, who gives a shit what you think.
  Sorry thats not directed at you, just people who hear all that and still dont even consider changing their mindset around this.
  What phone have you bought recently that will be updated/supported for 8 years and comes with a 5 year warranty? My last 5 phones have come with a 1 to 2 year warranty and fall out of support the following year when the next model comes out. But im stuck with them for 3 years because of a contract i locked myself into.
  I am doing some research and strongly feeling like i might make this my next phone and maybe i wont need to upgrade it for a long long time. That sounds nice.
  
  Frankly speaking specs wise seems kinda competitive to me. I certainly would have bought it if i hadnt bought my phone literaly 3 weeks ago. And frankly speaking if they hadnt annouced that headphone jack is not coming back i would have waited for relase instead of buying rog phone on a promo.
6.46 inch display is too big for me. I'm desperate to find something with a 6" screen but it seems 6.1" appears to be the size most manufacturers are going for.
This phone looks like something I could dig though.
- I have the Z fold. I love the big screens!
  
  I don't mind big screens but they are hard to use with one hand and in the pocket they are too big.
  I didn't realise it until later on in its life, but the Pixel 5 was the perfect phone size for me. I hear the Pixel 8 is going to be smaller but the rumor is it has a 6.1" display.
- I just found my old Moto G1 phone (4.5 " screen) yesterday in a box - charged it and used it for a while for some utility apps and for listening to music and some old favorited podcast episodes that were still on its harddrive - and my god was it NICE to handle it and use. It is so light and thin... just wow.
  Then I saw it had the last security update available from march 2016 and did not even dare to turn on the WiFi.... But I might go back to use it for the utility apps, OTP, music, and maybe just as a phone (for days when I want to be offline but reachable).
About warranty
https://hackertalks.com/comment/685905
- Informative, and unfortunate.
I hope it gets a US release with antenna designed for US networks
- US FP4 user here, I ordered the EU model and had it shipped over, works well enough, minor radio issues and a lack of carriers (Im locked to T-mobile). Im very excited for the US release as I can then recommend the phone to others who dont have to pay the adopters tax.
Hopefully in the years to come they'll slowly reduce the size of the phone. 162mm tall is just too big for comfortable single hand usage.
Did they at least use their own keys when signing the operating system this time? I like what they're doing creating a fairer supply chain and all, but the software side keeps being neglected. So much so I'm regretting my purchase of the fairphone 4 and instead wish I had gotten a phone which placed more significance to the security of the OS installed.
- Would you be able give me more details of the issues faced in your previous phone?
  
  Unfortunately I don't have the time to give a writeup. Its mostly the lack of timely security updates. Or really most updates to the OS. They lag months behind and are of poor quality.
  I switched to DivestOS to mitigate this but the installation procedure carries the risk of bricking your phone, in a way other phones don't.
  The most telling example of the poor quality of software security I think is that the OS is signed with publicly available test keys. This means that anyone with access to your phone could install any OS they want and you would not know it.
  This is maybe not a high risk scenario for most, unless you give your phone to some dodgy repair shop, but its telling of how little thought went into it I think. Because, signing your OS with the android test keys should really not happen in a production with good QC.
This actually looks pretty nice. I'm going to need something to replace my OnePlus 6T when it eventually needs replacing. Shame there's no smaller version though.
Hmm.. worth a thought
So, can I use their camera app on a custom rom, and retain access to all the features of all the lenses/cameras?
Would be a shame to lose all that.
It already has an entry on the postmarketos wiki https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Fairphone_5_(fairphone-fp5)
Does anyone have an idea if there is a chance that the FP5 will work better on Linux than the FP4? If it gets on par with the OP6 but with a functional camera I will buy this phone in a heartbeat.
The processer looks good, since it has Linux support, but usually it's the device drivers that are the real problem.
Will it ever come to US?
- Fairphone 4 is sold and supported in the NA by Murena (maker of /e/OS):
  https://murena.com/america/shop/smartphones/brand-new/murena-fairphone-4/
  https://murena.com/america/products/spare-parts/
  I hope at some point they will carry Fairphone 5 as well.
I thought the fairphone 4 was getting official support for Ubports, but I haven't heard about it in a while.
Was really hoping that would come true and that we could see the fruits bear of ubports be on a modern spec'd device.
Ever since version 3 of their phone I've been considering one of these but my needs are slightly different. But I love the idea of having such a flexible device.
MicroSD slot?
- Yes, up to 2 terrabytes capacity i believe.
Price?
- £649/€699
  source : Fairphone website
  
  LOL just buy an iPhone and avoid this junk.
I find the "gotta have the jack" camp quite amusing. As wireless protocols become better and better, I don't miss having a jack on my devices. In fact I prefer not tearing the cable when moving from my pc to do something. The lack of a plug is not a net loss but also focuses the hardware to do something else. Personally I really like usb C being truly universal. One good cable can connect different devices ranging from monitors, headphones, microcontrollers, HIDs and so on. Input interfaces come and go 🤷
- I'm a live sound engineer, and whenever I need to play music from my phone over the PA, I now have to dig out yet another goddamn adapter to do so. A tour manager or road engineer with an apple device wants to play tunes over the house PA? Hope they have their own adapter, because my "universal" USB-C adapter won't cut it.
  
  I totally agree that the dongle jungle is annoying. In my case I just put a Bluetooth receiver on a 3.5 jack on a PA system. Proprietary connectors have always been a pain. Remember when every year pcs would release with a other required swap of proprietary cables.
- For me I really only miss the days of not having to charge my headphones. Its hard to remember that's something I need to do
- They're referring to the people saying they refuse to buy a phone without a headphone jack.

84 comments