Fairphone 4 screen intermittently unresponsive

Help Fairphone 4
1

Hi all, I am having an annoying issue with my FP4.

The touch screen will intermittently stop responding to touch. The software, volume buttons, power button and fingerprint sensor all keep working while the touch is not responding. Resolving the issue always requires locking the screen and unlocking it again at least once, but I have noticed that knocking the handset lightly against a hard surface before unlocking often brings it back quicker (fewer lock-unlock cycles).

I initially thought this was a screen issue - I had recently (Nov 2025) replaced my original screen as it was getting worn, so I thought it might be related to that. But i tried re-installing my old screen and the problem persists so I have ruled out a fault with the new screen. I was also very careful installing the screen ribbon cable so I doubt I have damaged the connector.

I wanted to rule out a software issue (I am on the latest official murena e/os) so I did a factory reset and it did not resolve the problem (although it didn’t occur for about 12 hours after the factory reset – curious).

For now it is a minor annoyance, but if it gets any worse then it could seriously affect usability. Sometimes it takes 5 or more lock-unlock cycles for the screen to start responding again.

I am reluctant to send it to Fairphone support for repair as I expect I will be without a phone for several weeks. They also haven’t responded to the support ticket I opened over a week ago. I do not have access to a spare smartphone so I would prefer not to have to send it away for an unknown length of time. I also don’t know if the phone will still be covered under warranty because, during the process of changing screens 3 times, one of the screws got rounded out and I had to replace it. The warranty says it is invalid if any parts not bought from FP are used for a repair - they don’t sell screws so I had to buy third party ones.

I also flashed murena e/os replacing the standard FP OS - not strictly against the warranty but at the very least I imagine they would ship it back with the stock OS (and I then couldn’t switch back to e/os since the FP4 doesn’t allow downgrades and e/os official is on Android 14 and FP OS is Android 15). And it is likely that they would want me to flash the stock OS as a troubleshooting step, which I would rather avoid (I am 95% sure it is not related to the software).

I was wondering if anyone else had experienced this issue and/or had any thoughts for fixes to try.

Cheers

2

I did not experience such behavior. Anyway, one idea could be to check if the connector of the display is correctly in place or if it has some kind of loose connection.
Second thing you could try, is replacing the screen yourself or with the help of a Fairphone Angel (maybe someone could borrow you a display for testing).

3

Unfortunately noticing this same problem with my brand new FP 6. Only had it for two weeks, first time buying a fairphone. Another problem i have is that the lower half of the screen/specific spots randomly stop responding and then start again. Just now i experienced not being able to type a message because most of the keyboard area was unresponsive. Screen lock/unlock also fixes it but only temporarily. I’m lost and frustrated!

4

Same issue here with my Fairphone 4, bought 2 years ago.

I have noticed that knocking the handset lightly against a hard surface before unlocking often brings it back quicker (fewer lock-unlock cycles).

Crazy, it actually also works to fix it temporarily on my device.

But it keeps happening again & again. @Fairphone_CM

5

Such issues must be reported to support, the forum community manager is not here to do this for you or respond here to each issue.