I’m using my phone very often. So the battery would die often before I’m home. So I’ve got to charge during the day using a powerbank. The fact that it is very easy to exchange the battery of the Fairphone makes it even more attractive to me. I think I’m not the only one with that situation. So I think a “Phone addict package” could be a success.
That Package would contain:
Spare battery
Charger
Battery case
Maybe second back cover because it wears out if you open it every second day.
Ideally it would be possible to plug the phone in while changing the battery to not having to boot it.
An alternative to my Idea could simply be a bigger battery that makes the whole phone bigger. If you do that, better don’t make it 6000 mAh, make it like 10000 mAh and enable it to charge other devices.
I’d buy that! I personally wouldn’t mind a phone twice the thickness, it would be a nice conversation starter too…
That been said, the package with a second battery and a (rigid!) pouch for that battery (so it doesn’t get shorted or bent in your carryall or pocket) would be nice to have, and wouldn’t require much investment from Fairphone (well, just have a plastic battery case built).
The only issue with that is that the phone’s back is apparently not very sturdy, and apparently tends to break if you open it often. You could of course consider the back disposable and replace it every month, but isn’t that is a little ridiculous for a phone claiming it “cares for the planet”?..
I guess it would still last half a year. Not perfect but okay. I thought of asking for a special back cover with a direct battery access that will last longer, but I think that would be pretty difficult to invent and just not really worth it because you’d still have the original back cover that is produced not to use at all.
It could also be interesting if the Fairphone people would try to encourage others to produce unofficial auxiliary for the Fairphone. It doesn’t have to be them who sell that.
I thought about that, but that would be quite expensive: It would simply mean redoing the phone’s outer shell! In a different, better material.
I know it’s possible because my old Samsung Note’s back lasted for a decade without the slightest issue, and I did open it quite often (spare battery…). But then again it wasn’t built in a recycled/sustainable/whatever plastic.
Anyway. This is an interesting, but rather low-sales feature (most people won’t bother), so Fairphone wouldn’t want to spend too much money on it. Their goal is to make money, not lose it!..
Be nice please. You would get it if it were a joke. The fact hat people want smaller phones is 20 years old. So yes, I know that. I never said that I want the main Fairphone to get bigger.
3D printed thing normally don’t last as long as normal mass produced plastic parts. So in that case I’d really prefer to just get a spare one when the original breaks.
Nowadays USB wall chargers often have intelligent features like agreeing on the perfect voltage with the phone, there are old “dubious USB input” that don’t communicate at all and only deliver elecrticity. So it would be possible to only accept good chargers. Also a manual mode to enable external power for 5 minutes would do it.
What the Qualcomm Power chip set does is negotiate a power via voltage depending upon the battery state.
a) this means is requires a battery to work
b) the chips are there to charge the battery not the phone.
No battery, no negotiation > no power.
20 years ago the phones were smaller so not really quite a ‘sensible’ point. But it seems phones are generally bigger and I’m referring to the wants for a small phone in the last two years and more specifically by user of this site.
I’ve not heard of that before.
On this site you will find 3D printed covers and I’ve never heard of a problem
I have a ‘new’ laptop by frame.work On their site users are making their own expansion cards and full on cases. Even the Framework team promote them.
It depends upon the plastic.
I have ‘plastic’ shoes and wellington boots. I used to buy cheap and none would last a year. The shoes I have now lasted 8 years and the wellies 3 years. So I’m pretty sure | could get a back cover to last 4 or 5 years. Still I don’t really know and probably will never know for a while.
I am in favor of a second battery, I have 2 spares, I am a heavy data user & i don’t want to buy a battery when there are none available from Fairphone, I don’t expect FB3 batteries to around for more than 6 months from now. Once they are gone they are gone. When I would like to keep my FB3+ for another 8 years because I don’t need a FB4.
You mean like the batteries for FP2 which should have disappeared years ago already following your expectations?
While this used to be an issue for the FP1, batteries have been well available most of the times for all other Fairphones. And once they are gone there might be alternatives from other sources like this one (yes, I have seen that at the moment they don’t offer FP3 batteries).
I too would like more battery capacity and I too would welcome a ‘fatter’ phone if it delivered said capacity.
Just because a ‘focus group’ of social media influenced 15 year olds opine for thinness does not mean in the real world of movable commerce & constant communication there is not a need for better. To me, the obsession with thinness equates to reduced real reliability & reduced real world repairability.
IMHO almost all designers could do much better as they are engineers. However, they are always constrained by either marketing or accounting (or both) input hence our current dilemma…
Much as I genuinely applaud the efforts of FP, the very attempt of trying to please all of the people all of the time was doomed to failure. I’m a perfect example of someone who loved the concept but, at this time, will prob go back to the mainstream in less than 12 months due to fundamental usability issues no one is addressing.
In this market space I’d personally unashamedly drive towards ‘a’ market that facilitates a decent future and then add the ability to customise the offering over time in order to broaden overall appeal. That’s how my own invention succeeded. Also, think how the new Mini is sold & the way there is a myriad of elements to configure making each vehicle almost unique, but certainly unique in the minds of buyers.
I have found the ‘trick’ to understanding business direction is to talk to people but to do so to try to understand the thoughts driving what is said. I’m deeply into Neuroscience & Psychology so find it easier than most.
That is indeed very important. For instance, people complaining here aren’t necessarily hostile to Fairphone (just see the general gushing as soon as somebody Fairphone actually talks), they are just frustrated because they feel abandoned (rightly or wrongly so, that’s not the point).
You’re right, but I wouldn’t put an engineer in charge of communication either, his/her time would be better spent doing the technical stuff, isn’t it.
A cheaply paid, part time spokesperson would be IMHO enough to keep the crowds placated. (S)he just needs to know what (s)he is talking about.
Okay, “a vastly overpaid, part time spokesperson.”
Better?
By “cheaply” I didn’t mean that this person should be paid peanuts (as everyone knows you’d get monkeys), I meant it wouldn’t cost Fairphone much compared to the more technical staff.
Apologies Kurt, but said position is genuinely equally as important as the engineering imho as they are not only intertwined but inexorably linked to the point where the sum is greater than the parts (1+1=3).
Far too few businesses even properly consider, never mind understand, human interaction. For most its a ‘focus group’ tick box exercise only when it needs to be so very much more. Hey ho
While I wholeheartedly agree about the fact that “customer control” ( ) is more often than not underestimated, it’s nevertheless a fact of life that you won’t pay a marketing freshperson the same salary than a seasoned, highly specialized engineer.
You wouldn’t even pay the same a young inexperienced engineer, and an experienced, highly sought-after specialist engineer either.
It’s not a question of importance, it’s a question of how much of something you actually need (assuming your resources aren’t infinite). You would indeed need the best engineer (you can afford), but in this case to just keep an eye on the client forum you don’t need the best and brightest, even I could do it!..
) is more often than not underestimated, it’s nevertheless a fact of life that you won’t pay a marketing freshperson the same salary than a seasoned, highly specialized engineer.