3+ - Brilliant idea but very poor user experience

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I ordered a 3+ from 3.dk (3 in Denmark) they are officiel partner/reseller 4th september an i got it 15th september. During initial setup the phone was upgraded to 8901.3.a.0033 (security patch level 5 july). I quickly discovered that that the phone was quite buggy with this firmware, but was releaved when shortly after the first upgrade was announced.

Fast forward to december. I am still on 8901.3.a.0033, i have tried to request manual update nearly every day - but still no access. I have browsed the forum and tried:
a) Rebooting the phone and then request manual update - no succes
b) Factory resetting the phone and then request manual update - no succes
c) Factory resetting the phone and booting it up without sim (from 3.dk) and requesting manual update - no succes
d) Called 3.dk support and asked if they are blocking update - they are not, so no success or explanation
e) Created a ticket at Fairphone (ticket 397311) explaining the above.
e1) First reply was a link to the support artikel on how to upgrade software - already did that
e2) Second reply was to factory reset and try again - already did that
e3) Third reply was to unlock the bootloader and try manual upgrade - i responded that this was an unacceptable solution (i do not want to reduce the overall security of the phone)
e4) The case was then closed - i requested a reopening of the case
e5) I then got a reply that the upgrades has issues with specific carriers so it was held back - I asked why i could upgrade manually if the upgrade was not validated by my carrier (it makes no sense)
Still waiting response here.

So after 2,5 month i have a Fairphone 3+ that:

  1. Crash and reboot at least every second or third day and sometime 4 to 5 times a day. It sometimes happens during a call, other times when it is just laying on the office desk.
  2. The GUI is rather error prone - sometime you cant answer an incoming call (one of the more serious problems) And lots of quirks
  3. If i am not using a headset - people i talk to often complains about bad voice quality
  4. I cant upgrade with security patches

I came from a Google Pixel 3a - that performs almost flawless on the same network/carrier.

I can only say that from my current experience with the Fairphone 3+, i will urge other to wait until Fairphone has managed to get their software stable - so far i really regret bying a Fairphone 3+.

I sincerely hope that i user experience is the exception - but judging on the response time from support - my guess is that i am not alone.

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I too came from pixel 3a(lovely phone), but my fp3 with android is working like a clock for almost a year now. It is very possible that the phone has reception issues on some network carriers, or rather they have issues with the phone.
You could try different network or stick with pixel, there’s no need in torturing yourself over some silly phone.

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Last night i actually got the first update so my FP3+ is now on 8901.3.a.0066 - Sofar no reboots, but i am no longer able to activate wifi-calling - in the dialer i can’t set preference to use wireless. Anyone else have this problem ?

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Setting the phone in flight mode and enabling wifi - i can still make calls - so VoWiFi works - but i can’t set the preference to user wifi over mobile anymore ?

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Ah, then it looks more like a bug that exists in the latest update…
Edit: See Software update: 3.A.0066

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Yes exactly my experience.
On paper great idea, in reality lousy quality. The Snapdragon 632 is already now to weak.

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Same here! People sometimes tell me, that I am fading out and back in after some seconds. Like I would walk away from the phone, which is not the case (using the phone the normal way, not using speaker, not covering the mic).
So I just can use the FP3+ with headset.

Sadly the support was not helpful. They asked me to do a lot of things which are not relevant to the problem, including getting a new SIM card (why should this be SIM related if everything works with a headset?). But I did what they told me and of course the problem is still the same, even with the new SIM card.

But most important: Is this issue solved with the update 0066?
I am really interested in this!
I still have 0054 and now update available for me yet.

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This issue is stil present on 0066.

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Sadly, it is. And 0066 added some more problems for me:

  • Not just other people complain about my bad voice quality, now I also hear them very bad (2G and 3G).
  • Now the phone crashes and reboots while calling (4G).

(Provider is Vodafone in Germany.)

Support told me that all of these bugs will be fixed with the update rolling out in January 2021.
I really hope this update will arrive very soon. Until then I am additionally carrying an old phone with me (to be able to do emergy calls if needed [accident, medical, …]).

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