A 'case-study' on cases for FP2 and FP3

Having experienced many disappointing tries and failures on finding me a case - Bumper, Flipcase, Bookstyle, whateverDoesTheJob - for my FP2 AND FP3 respectively, and wasting lots of time, resources and money ordering them and sending them back right away, I’d like to share my wisdome. And -hopefully - save others the same tedious procedure.

Watch out: Googling (or ebay-search oder amazon-search) “fairphone 3 case” or “fairphone 3 bumper” will get you lots of results, but most, if not all of these cases that are classified “fitting FPx” are actually standard cases made for mainstream phones and not particularely for the FP. So most of them are too small, too short or simply not fitting the height of the FP3. Most of the vendors do not give exact dimensions - for good reason!
To seize the protective effect, the case must protrude the phone in each dimension and most do not.
In particular the vendor K-S-Trade (via ebay and via Amazon) as well as the shop gsm55.de offers quite many cases explicitely tagged as FP2 or FP3 compatible, but they are NOT.
I know, for I tried. And failed.
See my photos on that …

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Optically my favourit, the one with the golden dots from gsm55.de tagged as “fits FP3” … well … it does NOT!
The rubber or silicone bumper that ought to hold the phone is too short and too slack and does also not fit the height of FP3, so the phone will inevitably fall out of the case and be damaged.
Tried it with the FP2 just for fun and also not fitting!
Besides that, the slider mechanism is quite fragile and was already broken.

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Very bling-bling and one of my favourites - also being available in pink, gold, silver and many other colors - this model is … quite as useless!
The small one should fit FP2, the bigger one the FP3, but none fits none. Not long enough for FP3 and not high enough as well and both don’t match the buttons and plugs for both phones. A pity also the slack quality of the silicone (or is it rubber? No clue!).

Both from gsm55.de

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This is offered by vendor K-S-Trade and distributed via ebay and Amazon.
Both bumpers - the one dedicated for FP2 and the one said to dedicatedly fit FP3 - are … THE SAME PRODUCT!!! Who would have thought that?!
And so, by no surprise, both do not fit - neither FP2 nor FP3. Completely useless product this is. Also material is very slack.
Though I really like the pink color, take my advice: DON’T BUY THIS!

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Your diligence and persistence are a credit to the community!

Most reliable solution as it seemed to me at the time was to get out the dreaded needle and thread and make my own sleeve from cardstock and some denim from an old pair of jeans. Doesn’t look like much but it fits like a glove and gets the job done!

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Just to make sure – you did hear that Fairphone is about to produce FP3 cases in black & green, right?

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Cool, I like it. It’s vegan, upcycling and biodegradable. :ok_hand::+1:
Put some swarowski jewellery on it and a pink “hello Kitty” sticker and I order it from you :rofl:

But seriously: I like the idea of the slider and the bookstyle flip case and making photos w/o taking it out of the case.

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I heard it.
Is there a date to it?
And how about pink and golden? :heart_eyes:

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It had slipped my mind that Anna Treurniet still sells her FP2 flip cases. They’re pricey, but they are definitely made specifically for the FP2 and there are clear pictures of the phone in the case, along with descriptions of how the case is slightly wider and taller than the FP2 to protect the edges and corners of the device. They’re leather, which may disturb you - but they’re sturdy and look good. Here’s a review by @JeroenH of one of Anna Treurniet’s FP3 flip cases.

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Thanks for sharing that information, @robbert.f. I hadn’t heard of her yet.
Offtopic: What a tasteful Chesterfield sofa as background, @Dramaqueen. :smile: I opted for antique red, but white with bling buttons makes a whole new style.

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@StephanK It is actually a Bretz Marilyn, from german manufacturer Bretz, and regrettably leather, but they don’t build it anymore. Thanks for noticing :heart_eyes:

I’ve been using my FP3 without the bumper for a few days now and I really love how good the phone looks. Wouldn’t a flip case make it huuuge? Tbh I’ll put the bumper back on when I venture outside.

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@Linn My Fairphone and I - it’s kind of a tough love :grin:
The FP3 is absolutely gorgeous, very beautiful phone, I love the handling experience, dimension, everything. And the bumper is no drawback to me and I rather have it well protected …
:gorilla::iphone::gorilla:

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Nothing else will do for a Dramaqueen of course. :grin: :wink:

Yepp :grin::+1::rofl:

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I’m actually fine without a case, I’m thinking if the case is not slim enough it won’t fit into my pants pockets anyway. It would be better if they made the back cover more rugged.

Same here. Ordered one via Amazon and one by gsm55 “for Fairphone 3”. Doesn’t fit at all! :roll_eyes:!
20200314_154710%5B2%5D|666x500

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Hi Cheetah12,
nice 2 meet u :wave:
Oh, that one, … I almost bought it, too :scream_cat:
Thanks for contributing!
I copy your photo into the post for to make it visible:

I admire all the folks that manage to keep the micro, the lense(s) and the speaker dust- and crumb-free without a case. In especially, when I carry my phone in my pants or jackets pockets. Is there a trick to it?? :thinking: For I really hate a messy phone.

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If you don’t use it a lot, you can design a custom velcro around it. For example like this (you don’t have to buy specifically this one or buy it here its just an example).

Interestingly, there’s also some OSINT research on detecting cameras based on minor artifacts. Which would work around stripping EXIF. Though I guess that’s a bit beyond the scope here.

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