Fairphone 3: physically disabling the microphones?

I think it breaks the warranty total end of.

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OK, at any rate it’s a good reminder to read the warranty properly before I start tinkering too much with the phone.

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Probably better to get an answer from Fairphone as they are the first arbitrators when it comes to interpretation. support[at] fair phone dotcom

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Well… It’s hard to tell. As I understand the warranty, if the module was part of the smartphone when you bought it, it will void the warranty of the whole device. If you bought the module alone as a spare part, it can only break the warranty of the individual module anyway (except if the damage dealt to the single module induced damage to other modules).

But yes, contact Fairphone for an official answer.

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I would greatly appreciate a hardware kill switch (single would be sufficient) to kill the microphone and camera’s on the Fairphone 4.
You wouldn’t have to compromise in the modular sense if you physically break the connections on lanes on the motherboard.

I like how for example framework did it on their laptop: Framework | Framework Laptop

I notice there is a hole above the golden chip in your second photo. Might that be part of the “entry channel” – combined with the squared black rubber or plastic box I circled in red – into the actual microphone (the silver box)? Both the silver box and the golden chip are a few milimetres away from the actual outside of the device, so I would think there needs to be some structure to channel sound to the microphone.

Or did you notice a hole at the top end (i.e. its end nearest to the outside of the FP3) of the silver box?

That would also be my layman’s opinion.

I do not know. If I had to guess, I would say that box (including the golden chip?) is for the proximity sensor, automatic brightness and / or camera relevant.

If I am not mistaken, this should show the top side of the top module.

Sadly you have already seen my good pictures. I have increased the brightness a bit to make the hole more visible. I do not remember whether this hole actually “goes all the way through”.

Interestingly, judging from this photo there is no hole on the other side for the primary microphone in the bottom module (but it may be just my finger in the way).

I am pretty sure that both silver covers were without any holes.

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Update: FYI everything seems to be still working as expected.

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