Will the new Fairphone 5 support USB C docks?
How many displays/which max resolution?
Thanks in advance!
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At least the SoC would support DisplayPort
Support for USB 3.1 Type-C with DisplayPort
Source:
But I donāt know if Fairphone has implemented it.
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My Fairphone 4 works with a small USB-C dock. I used it on holiday to stream series in a hotel, I connected it with an HDMI port. It also works when I directly connect my FP4 to my USB-C monitor. If it works with a Fairphone 5 is a different story, not many can test this. But I guess it will work fine. Why not pre-order the FP5? If itās not to your liking then you can always return it within 14 days.
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Of course one could do that, but itās better for the environment to check things like these in advance instead of buying and returning, at least if itās a deal-breaker for you, as thatās two-way shipping plus whatever Fairphone needs to do to get the device back in sales.
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Iām pretty sure if FP4 can do it, I assume FP5 could do it even better.
I can assure FP4 can hook up to a docking station providing at least full HD (1920x1080).
Since I only have one external display I canāt test how many displays it can support.
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Letās hope so 
Since Fairphone didnāt confirm anything officially regarding this question.
Hi @yvmuell ,
Not exactly the response I hoped for.
All,
support contacted. Will update here once I get a response
Regards
Nico
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As soon as I have a Fairphone 5 in my hand (might be as early as Sep 11 on the Aachen Fairphone meetup) I will test that. Have a mobile screen setup that accepts USB-C DP alt mode 
As soon as that happens, Iāll keep you updated.
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Thank you, looking forward to learn about your findings!
Hi,
Just received this response from Customer Supportās Paul:
"the Fairphone 5 can connect to an external display via a cable supporting the HDMI Alt Mode standard.
Please note: some newer USB docking stations with HDMI output will also work but not all. The best way to check if a cable or dock works is through trial and error. You can also ask in our community forum if someone has tried your cable/dock.
As for the maximum resolution support, I would have to check internally for more details."
Now I am tempted to preorder
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HDMI Alternate mode, last time I checked, was a dead standard.
From Wikipedia (HDMI - Wikipedia):
āAs stated at in January 2023, HDMI Alternate Mode for USB Type-C is no longer being updated as there are no known products using this protocol, reducing its relevance in the current market. This will reduce consumer confusion as DisplayPort Alternate Mode is the primary video protocol of choice over USB-C.ā
I have 3 dongles/docks and 2 monitors with support for DisplayPort Alternate Modeā¦ None for HDMI Alternate Mode. Also Thunderbolt 3/4 devices usually output to DisplayPort Alternate Mode supporting devices without much compatibility issues (sometimes PowerDelivery protocol causes some mishaps).
I hope it is just a confusion with the actual protocol used (DisplayPort Alternate Mode dongles often have HDMI output), specially since the SoC supports āUSB 3.1 Type-C with DisplayPort and USB2.0ā and HDMI Alternate Mode is not mentioned anywhere.
Iām quite interested in this as my current phone had a few hiccups already and I often use a keyboard with my phone to solve stuff when in a pinch, having a monitor connected to it would be quite welcome and then much later, if replaced, you could still use the old phone as a netbook for web browsing and office tasksā¦
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it surely is a confusion, since not one adapter that uses HDMI alt-mode is available for purchase. It has never been used.
I can confirm FP5 support USB-C DP AltMode 
- default setting is mirror phone screen
- can be enabled DesktopMode in Settings/Display
- lcd is suspended and resumed together with phone screen
Tried with portable lcd āLenovo ThinkVision M14ā (Non-Touch version),
direct connect to FP5 via USB-C <> USB-C is enough to power lcd,
without external powerā¦
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I tested it with my FP5. It works with the Dell WD15 dock, but not with the Apple A1621 adapter.
When a display is connected, scrolling on the phone screen stutters visibly. This does not happen with the A1621 adapter, which means the phone does not even detect that a display is connected.
When two displays are connected, they both show the same image.
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You try as i write?
- can be enabled DesktopMode in Settings/Display
Yes, this is with Desktop Mode enabled. The same desktop is mirrored on both displays.
Desktop mode can be enabled without having a remote display connected. I have tried it with two different Dell docking stations (e.g. WD19TBS) and it worked with both: Phone display was duplicated to both screens connected, ethernet connection was displayed, keyboard and mouse worked, too. Unfortunately something was odd with desktop mode enabled when not being connected to the display but I cannot remember anymore what exactly it was. Therefore I turned that off again. And since you have to reboot to swap between those modes itās not completely convenient.
Not sure if I should open a new topic, but my question seems to fit here:
What are your experiences with FP 5 and USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 docks?
With my TB3 dock TB3TRIPLEDOCKPD (i-tec Thunderbolt 3 3x Display Docking Station + Power Delivery 96W) is basically works - but itās really hard to actually get get the external screen (WQHD connected with DisplayPort) to turn on and be recognized. In most cases, it just complains about āno signalā and goes back to standby. However, this might be a problem with the dock, as it also happens, although less persistent, with my laptop.
Another issue I experience is that the display gets āunstableā after a while, especially when running a game on the phone. The screen will start āblankingā for about a second before showing an image again, and once this started, it will get more frequent, making the external display unusable.
Thatās specific to the FP5 and never happened with my laptop or my previous Nokia 8 Sirocco. The FP5 itself will continue to run fine, but I have to detach it and wait a while until it provides a stable video output again.
I wanted to cross-check with other docks, but it didnāt show any video signal at all on a i-tec USB-C/Thunderbolt Triple Display Docking Station + Power Delivery 100W or on an un-powered Dell DA200 (though maybe in case of the unpowered Dell adapter, it just hadnāt enough power to drive it adapter?).
What are your experiences?
Did you already encounter the āimage stabilityā issue after some time of use?
Iām the happy owner of a new FairPhone 5 after my old ZenFone 6 had a mishap with something sharp.
Sharing my experience with DisplayOut, it works flawlessly in DesktopMode with my Benq PD2725U (27" 4K Thunderbolt 3 monitor with KVM switch/dock/upstream), where it outputs the 4K@30fps without any issue - 30fps is not ideal, but more than enough to replace a laptop for web/emails/office tasks - the monitor KVM switch works properly and the keyboard and mouse are recognized by the FP5 right away, the phone is also charged by the monitor.
With an ASUS XG16AHP portable monitor it outputs the FullHD 1920x1080@144Hz RGB444 8bps, working as expected - one can use a bluetooth mouse/keyboard and have the same DesktopMode experience. Though in this case, the monitor wasnāt charging the phone (even after fiddling with the power delivery settings).
It also works with an ICZI USB-C dock/dongle (old dock, has 1 HDMI and 1 VGA output that are mirrored), in this case I can output to HDMI or VGA, have 4 USB ports, card reader, 1Gbps Network and power input.
It does NOT work properly with a modern HP Universal USB-C Multiport Hub (TPA-U001H), where although it does output video output through the HDMI, it keeps popping up requests for something (akin of you disconnecting and connecting a device), this happens even if you provide power to the dock via its power input, in this case the phone doesnāt charge either.
It terms of stability I had no issues after 20 mins of web browsing and 10~15 mins gaming (tested w/ #Drive - where there is a noticeable keyboard latency - and Crash of Cars), that said there are a few software glitches in DesktopMode (some apps get āstuckā and you have to force exit them).
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