Reading another post about when weāll switch from our present Fairphone, I have come to a rather ridiculous but sincere advice: if I consider what happened to those devices I specifically used really longer these last years, I abandoned them when recharging the battery becomes unfeasible.
For most of them I did replace batteries (like will be possible on the FP) : in fact, I renounced when the charging interface broke.
Which, to me, meansā¦ the next Fairphone may well profit from two USB connectors
I knew you would smile.
But now, the more I think about it, the more I believe itās interesting.
Having two charging plugs would indeed definitely increase lifetime, at least it certainly would have for the devices I had to abandon.
But it brings much more: in a context where USB on-the-go is soon to become the norm, where MHL video output through the USB port is already developed so much that you find, today, crappy hybrid adapter cables that allow to both recharge the phone while outputing the MHL video part through a tentacular Mains/usb/HDMI cable network, I definitely believe that UHB is not dead and worth considering as a future on its own.
Iād even go as far as saying that a second, normal USB port (normal as in ānot miniatureā) would be very cool to instantly plug all these USB sticks that your neighbor hands you with his-paper-for-the-conference-ah-too-bad-otherwise-youāll-have-to-buy-the-preprint
Daring, yes.
The phone with two USB ports.
Mind you: theyād talk about us -for lots of reasons
Indeed. A flaky USB port is what made me abandon my previous phone too.
I donāt know about including a second one though, let alone a full sized USB plugā¦ Even the micro USB ones take up quite a bit of space.
To get an idea of how crammed up it already is, take a look at images of the motherboard (like this one from the iFixit motherboard replacement tutorial).
With all other features requested here we would end up with a phone like a brick
Iād rather have one, and on the bottom of the phone - but definitely with enhanced repairability! If you canāt fix it, you donāt use it. And the way itās sitting on the motherboard right now isā¦ unfortunate.
Top left in the image. Nearly impossible to fix if broken.
Iām not sure about this: remember that in Europe (and only there) we just spent ten years to obtain a standard for wired charging. Which BTW is the sole reason why Fairphones ship without chargers.
I hope everyone here remembers the nightmare it was just a few years ago.
Starting with wireless means for the next ten years every company will bring back its own personal way of doing, with oh-yes-so-nice-wireless-chargers modified every year even inside the same company.
Please no.
Iām not lazy to the extent I need dropping the phone on a (probably large and ugly) mat instead of plugging it.
And when I find myself too old to actually see the plug good sideā¦ maybe weāll have the next, symetric, USB plug available?
This, is an idea: please replace my wish of a plain-size USB plug with a 3rd-gen, symetric USB one, please!
So people want bigger AND lighter phones. Let me say that many of you are not aware of the consequences of such demands. You MUST ask yourself: How can you make a phone lighter and bigger? The answer, to my knowledge is: More plastics!
I think the case should be durable and recyclable first and foremost. Plastics is nothing but waste. Please FP educate your buyers about consequences of their demand and how THEY/WE continue to demand unfair, bad products. As customers we are spoilt little kids that will get everything that we want and because we are not aware of ANY consequence we continue to demand that products become worse and worse and worse.
My wish would be that FP2 would be manufactured in Europe to European standards.
There is recyclable plastic! I would only say that the FP should use plastic, which does not harm the human body and has a recycle symbol, so you know, how to recycle it. (recycled PET would be cool, made from ocean wasteā¦ but is it harmless for the human body?)
This would take away workerās income and the possibility to change the working conditions where they are bad, namely in China. Europe already has good standards.
I agree with Stefan. Fairphone wants to make changes. To be part of a solution instead of a problem doesnāt mean you have to do everything perfect from the beginning, it means you should try to do everything better than others and get others to do it better too.
If Fairphones would be produced in Europe with European Standards they would be part of the Problems that still exist in Europeās Tech Industry. But if they produce the Phones in Africa and China with much higher standards than they have over there, then they are part of a solution of their problems.
I think we should not ask for the very latest technology found in high-end smartphones, because the more complex it becomes, the less likely it is to be constructed easily with fair trade in mind. I really believe that we should stay within the mid range spec and not increase prices. People who want a top spec smartphone have lost the main idea behind the fairphone should buy an iPhone 6 or a Samsung Galaxy S-whatever. So my wishlist is fairly limited:
a performing gps
-android 5 + updates for at least a couple years
-openeness to custom ROMs
-4.7in screen
-keep existing features: Peace of mind, FP launcher, automated power on/off
Thank you for great overview.
I am a happy FP1 owner, too. Have a few wishes:
Must do: Improve open mechanism of the cover - for the sake of female nails (if not yet improved in FP2)!
I miss a little tiny hole to put into a string (like many phones have) to carry the phone in a cord. Yes, I also experienced the impressive resistance of FP!Ā“s materials. My phone has been dropped to the floor many times, without any damages at all.
Big big big personal wish as voluntary option: I LOVED my former HTC Desire ZĀ“s external slider keyboard, which still works faultless after 4 years constant use. Knowing very well that this a marginal option - but if anything would make me choose another smartphone again - it would be the feature of an external slider keyboard. Weight does not matter for me, actually I like heavy goods. So btw, no prob with FP1Ā“s weight at all
BR Regina
The crowdfunded Jolla smartphone introduced a replaceable back-cover with a slider keyboard some weeks ago, so something like that is actually possible!
I agree with almost all points mentioned / aggregated in the OP, but hereās a few additional thoughts, based on the experiences Iāve made with the current model:
CPU: Another Mediatek driven device would be a dealbreaker for me. Go with a widely supported chipset, Qualcomm for instance, instead.
bootloader / root: open and root enabled by default (or even better: make root disabled by default for security reasons, allowing us to enable it with a switch, say in the developer settings)
Add LTE. Having LTE improves how future-proof the device is with LTE800 broadband for rural areas massively rolling out in 2015. Make it LTE dual SIM!
At least 3GB of RAM. Apps are getting more and more RAM-hungry these days, 1GB doesnāt cut it for me at all these days
Keep the SD card expansion
Screen size: 4,5" minimum, better even 5"
no wobbling back! This is so annoying when using the device while it lies on a flat surface
OS: Keep Android, but support alternate systems by making sure drivers for components are available (see point 1: no bloody Mediatek!)
Massively improved beta testing of software updates. Maybe even consider expanding on community alpha/beta testing. Oneplus just made the first Alpha of Android L available for the OPO to let anyone test it who wants to which gets them tons of feedback in return.
better sealing of the camera module. I hate having to disassemble the phone every 2 months because of dust accumulating behind the cover affecting picture quality.
related to the previous point: Make it even more easy to disassemble. After having had to disassemble the phone for cleaning a couple of times, there are unavoidable scuff marks. For the record: The back cover of my previous phone, the Samsung Galaxy S, still looks unharmed due to it being much more easy to disassemble / clean without leaving traces.
of course, keep up the great aspects and even expand on the fairness of the whole device and its components
