Fairphone 5 : Test the phone before buying it & have sales person

[y_cho]

I am with a relative , trying to explain why she should buy a Fairphone 5.
There are several blocking things

1. The design cannot be seen in real life. Design and social value of the product is much more important for people for the mass market. (the person is reluctant because there is no white option!)

2. Explaining the value of the product is complex for a non tech person.
   Why would I want to change my battery ? Why would I want to change my screen? Can t I do this with Iphone aswell ?

PROPOSED SOLUTION

1. Have a way for people to test it in shop. Have a way to rent it 1 week.
2. Have a way for people to meet with a sales person explaining the advantages of the product. And how to switsh from iphone or samsung to Fairphone.
3. Have a way for users of the FP5 to demonstrate it to a LEAD in its area , via the fairphone app for example ! = My relative would go on fiarphone.com and see persons in the area willing to demonstrate the FP5 !

[Stanzi]

I’ll try to give answers to some of your points.

Blockers:

1. In Austria, the phone is also sold in normal electronics stores (e.g. here), so one can just have a look at it like with any other phone. Maybe they have them in a store in your country as well. Also, she could also just buy a white cover.
2. Any (Li-Ion) battery degrades over time. Idk why or how, it’s just a chemical process that happens. So if you can’t change the battery easily, your battery life will degrade after 2-3 years (or around 500 charging cycles). I think this is a pretty reasonable argument for why you would want to have a removable battery. Same goes for the display. At some point, she probably broke her phone display in the past or at least had a friend who broke theirs. An easy to repair display should make sense for anyone, regardless of the technical knowledge.
   This is like climate change: Almost nobody is a climate scientist who really understands exactly how it works, but nevertheless we can (almost ) all agree that it is a real problem that needs to be fixed. Same for e.g. battery chemistry.

Solutions:

1. see Blocker 1
2. 3. have a look at the Fairphone Angels Programme, they do exactly what you’re describing: fairphoneangels

[Volker]

@y_cho

Have a way for users of the FP5 to demonstrate it to a LEAD in its area

Check with the local meetings at Fairphone Community EVENTS :community_round:
The community FP5 is often present during these meetings.

[y_cho]

Thanks for all your good answers !
Have a nice day

1. I have been on those links it doesn t seem that straight forward.
   I have proposed a button on the forum : “available now for demo” in :“lyon france”

2. In the shopping process. Have a button
   “I want a demo in my area”.
   “Start using the phone in your area with a fairphone fan tomorrow !”
   The shopping pipeline is very important… to transform visitors in customers.
   “Enter your email to be contacted by a fairphone fan” => email with people in the area on a map

[yvmuell]

@Stanzi

have a look at the Fairphone Angels Programme, they do exactly what you’re describing: #fpangels

I would like to add that this might be true somehow, however FP Angels are no sales persons, and not all have a demo device and dont necesaarily help to switch from other phones. Angels are not necessarily a tech person or speek for Fairphone or are trained by FP.

On a Meetup this can be done somehow.

[yvmuell]

@y_cho

“Start using the phone in your area with a fairphone fan tomorrow !”
The shopping pipeline is very important… to transform visitors in customers.
“Enter your email to be contacted by a fairphone fan” => email with people in the area on a map

Thats not what Fairphone Angels are for. Just to avoid misunderstandings. There is no shopping, sales pipeline. When we help than with our daily driver.

[Stanzi]

Of course, but that is even better imo. Why would anyone want to talk to a sales person to get an honest opinion? Asking an Angel how their experience with their phone is (even if it’s not the same generation) gives one a much more realistic and valuable opinion than any sales/marketing person would ever provide.

[yvmuell]

Yes this might be true, however thats just not how all heavens act, as not all are actively having meetups. We currently have 2 demo FP5 I’m aware of for entire Germany and Austria. So I disagree that all Angels are doing what was searched for in general or actively.

The Fairphone Angels Program (Local support by community members) - Offers and questions

From your other topic I feel there might be a misunderstanding, so a few comments. Fairphone Angels dont have demo devices. Very few more active members organizing meetups currently have a FP5 to demonstrate it. You can arrange meetups without being Angel. Angels, at least at my heaven are more contacted to help when something is not working to test a module if the Angel has the device and is willing to use their daily driver for testing.

[y_cho]

Thanks @yvmuell , for your explaination.
Then I think it might pretty much improve the sales process for fairphone.

Another blocker I have noted is that people interested in the fairphone read in review things like “This is a middle range phone with the price of a high end flag ship”.
Also this is VERY missleading for buyers, because it make them think the value is bad. But when they see the product, they say "the screen is as good as an iphone…the photo looks the same… the design is a little bulkier, but not that bad "…
Lots of review says the photo is average, but when you look at the actual photo it s better than a 1 or 2 years old phone… But people when they read the review they feel like they are going to have pictures from a phone in 2000

[Incanus]

What’s your suggestion? Bribing the reviewer for a better test result? Samsung, Google, Apple phones are the benchmark regarding AI driven photos. The FP5 seems to be catching up, but the FP4 was more like a real camera. You need to know, what you are doing and what the shortcomings are. Not like the AI fully automatic picture painter, modern smartphones are. They are making pictures they think are the best under these circumstances, sometimes even rendering stored pictures into your own shots. See the ‘moon zoom’ Samsung is using.

The Fairphone is a more or less mediocre phone for a quite high price, if we are honest. But obviously it is necessary to have a higher price tag, when you combine really long support time, fair mining, fair wages for workers, a modular design and sales figures that would give a Big Tech CEO a heart attack.