Hi my first post, I’ve been looking at Fairphone 5 for some time because I like to be able to swap batteries, I’ve hung on to my LG V20 for quite a while now, it’s now starting to show it’s age, getting clunky and there’s been no software updates for it for some time.
Before I commit a lot of money to buy it, I would need to know a few thing before going ahead, hopefully you can help me out with your knowledge and experience.
I noticed the phone doesn’t come with a charging data cable which you have to buy separately, can a cheaper after market usb c work well with it, is there specific type I need to get for date transfers ? Do you need a specific usb plug or will any usb plug will do ?
I plan to buy two extra batteries so I can swap on the go, is there an aftermarket charging stand to charge it outside the phone itself.
Can you use usb to usb from old to new phone to transfer images across.
I understand this phone has the potential to last 10 years with 8 years of updates, which is a plus point.
My phone is 4g I don’t know if my 3 network sim will be able to jump up to 5g if it’s swapped over, what has been your experience on this ?
How good is the aftermarket accessories amazon or eBay.
Where there any issues when setting ip the phone going from old phone to new ?
Lots of questions I know, it’s quite imortant to ask the right questions before spending at least £700-£800 on phone and accessories.
Not an expert as I got my FP5 less than a week ago but I remember using usb to usb in the setup process to transfer some files from my older phone, so it should be supported.
Not many issues in changing over, obviously not completely smooth if your data is on proprietary software like Samsung Calendar or Notes but there are easy workarounds.
Since the phone is still pretty new to the market, there aren’t many accessories available. I found a few on eBay but not sure what Amazon has. Generally though, aside from cases and screen protectors things should be pretty universal (USB-C accessories, phone holders…).
I know too little to answer the other questions but I hope I helped you a bit!
Except if you have an extremely specific use case, I don’t consider this a good solution. Is there a reason why you would not consider an external power bank instead? It is much more universal, cheaper and you won’t always have to open your phone and turn it off to change batteries. Also, you avoid external battery chargers. Those usually are very slow and won’t charge to 100%.
Edited to add:
Some more discussion on external chargers here:
Hello
I used some previously used chargers and cables, but some I didn’t feel so comfortable with as they heated quite a lot (even with slow charging). So I would definitely advise to get a good quality charger and a cable.
There is a growing market for accessories, you can find separate threads on this forum dicussing that.
I am happy with my 5G, no issues whatsover, but some people experiencing reboots, and the fix to that is expected at the end of this year. It is generally advisable to replace a simcard if it is more than two years old.
Not sure where you are based but perhaps there is a local store or a fairphone angel, or someone on 3network sim to give you some relevant advice.
Thanks for all your replies, I think I will push the boat out and buy official usb charging cables.
I like to have spare batteries to hand when I’m outdoors and a long distance from any charging plugs so an instant 100% battery makes a big difference in such circumstances, bulky powerbanks is really only a back up, you have to wait a while for it to charge up batteries, also batteries are smaller and easily fits in your pockets.
Well, it won’t be 100%, best case 80% if you charged those with an external universal charger - if you find one that fits. Or you always have to cycle them through your phone for charging as well. While the FP5 is made to be opened, there are limits on the amount of times you can do that before stuff breaks - particularly the back cover. I’m fairly sure that it was designed for rare battery swaps, not multiple per day, week or even month over a longer time span.
That totally depends on the size you get. Something with the capacity of two FP5 batteries should also not be that much more massive. But that is subjective to a degree. For myself, I’d be happy to take a powerbank with as much capacity as possible when I’m outdoors and not knowing when to get access to a power socket next.
Modern powerbanks support QC and you can charge most of the battery capacity within 30 minutes or so. Also, you can do so when convenient - you don’t have to let your battery run down to 0%, which I suggest avoiding anyway! Also take into account how long you’ll need access to power once you have to recharge all your empty batteries either in your phone or through an external charger that might take all night just for one.
(Sorry, I’ll stop there. I’d just find it unfortunate if you made your choice based on incomplete information and expectations about the battery swapping. Really, it sounds much better in the beginning that it turns out to be in the end.)
One last note: If outdoors is a really important use case for you, then this phone might simply not be the right one for you. Something with huge battery and designed for outdoor might be better and last longer under the circumstances, even if not fair and/or repairable. I recall there were some such models under the CAT brand in the past.
Ok thanks for your information, I’m still learning about the Fairphone 5 and will make my choice eventually. I did consider Samsung Galaxy pro however it has 128GB internal memory, FP5 has 256GB and expandable up to 2TB, it certainly a factor in my choice for a future proof long lasting phone.
For reference I currently have LG V20 a very good phone now showing it’s age and have brought batteries for it with an external charger which came in handy when the charging port stopped working and cost a bit to repair it beong so old, to be able to repair your own phone easily is another plus for FP5.
If you do decide to get a FP5 then I advise you use the SD card as “portable” or “external” storage, and not format it for use as extension of internal memory, since this option is well-known to cause problems. See the forum SD card guide.
As portable memory, you can still have apps like the camera, save directly to the SD card. Typically the only serious drawback with this option, to my mind, is that the SD card content won’t be encrypted automatically by the phone.
Actualy i think the sd card being unencrypted can be good too. My old phone broke and i just poped the sd card out and saved almost every picture from it. The problem with it ofc anyone could do it like if someone stole your phone
Exactly, that was my point. That is the only real drawback to my mind.
However, I also took care to say ‘automatically’. The user can of course take steps to use their own security solution, but this isn’t the place to discuss the details
