I was using a Fairphone 4 for quite some time until last autumn when I lost it. I was dumping stuff at a landfill and by the time I noticed it was missing it was several hours later. I managed to locate it but by then it was below a couple of meters of garden refuse.It was kind of sad to watch it slowly die for two days until it ran out power.
Now I have replaced it with a Fairphone 5 and want to give you my impression of the new phone.
Disclaimer: I did not inform myself about the differences between 4 and 5. All I knew (and still know) was that it has an OLED display.
First, the stuff I complained about about the Fairphone 4 and are still not fixed.
The missing headphone jack. I had to purchase two dongles which I first have to get out and connect. After I do that it no longer fits into my belt pouch. I somewhat worked around that problem, but I am still annoyed.
Then the bad aspect ratio of the screen. I don’t care if it is now the industry standard, it is still bad. The extra length gives little advantage and the phone tends to be so top heavy that I struggle to reach the icons at the bottom and the keyboard without using two hands, which makes it somewhat awkward to use.
Anyway, let’s start with the differences.
First, it now has the advantage of an OLED display. It is not a huge deal when it comes to the image quality. But it at lest lessens the third complaint I had about the Fairphone 4: That it had no status LED. With an OLED, I can use an app that simulates it while keeping the loss in battery charge at a reasonable level. Depending how I configure the app it is however still considerable. But not critical.
Then there is material. It is too slippery compared to the last one. I have applied an anti-skid surface that I got from a store for skateboard supplies. It is also thin: Opening the back to get to the SD card is no longer as comfortable as it used to be. I don’t do it as often as I used to in fear of breaking something. Not a big thing. I could get a replacement after all if it actually breaks.
My biggest complaint is the battery power. I configured it similar to my old phone (without the status LED app of course!) and tested, how long it lasts. As it turned out I could barely get past one and a half day with minimum usage! That would not sound bad if not for the following: It is winter. I have yet to have a day with really heavy usage, like hiking trips with lot of photography and geolocation. I fear the battery would not last a whole day. Compare that to the Fairphone 4: When I lost it, it was about 40% charged and managed to survive for two whole days until it died! That was phenomenal!I am currently trying the low battery option and will see how much it will get me back.
On a really positive note: The GPS, that was pretty bad on the Fairphone 4, has much improved!
The camera: Well, it had already much improved with that big update on the Fairphone 4 and did get even better on the 5. How much? I am not really sure. Months have passed and I have used it only sparingly in the last weeks. So I don’t want to comment here.
Conclusion?
Although it may sound trivial to many users, the fact that I have a status LED back (sort of) is a really big improvement.
But the lower lifetime of a battery charge is a big setback that I did not expect.
Would I still get it over a Fairphone 4?
I am honestly not sure. One or two bigger improvements over several aspects that got worse.