Hello everyone, I’m looking into getting a fairphone 6 soon, as I’ve been rocking iphones for the past 8 years (before that it was blackberry ui and t9 dial phones). I have always been into reducing e waste and got all my iphones from family members and refurbished shops. So why am i switching? Well i dont like apples products and ios as of late (my favourite being ios 7 and 10 plus I loved the old skeuomorphism look on the app icons). My husband has been an android user for years and has shown me the joys of android and this recent apple keynote just made me want to get an android I have NEVER felt that after an apple keynote before like EVER.
The only caveat of the fairphone 6 is the camera as I was looking at the pixel 9 pro and sony flagship as the cameras looked good, but all of them are boatloaded with AI and im tired of AI being pumped down my throat (im sure you can all agree with me on this). My question is is the camera on the fairphone 6 quite flat looking, as I like to take nature pics at times and love the telephoto feature on my current iphone, pixel and the sony one. I really dont wanna fund the unethical practices of the other companies, and im not sure if the main camera in the fairphone 6 can be switched out for a telephoto lens and also have magsafe as those are the only two things i like on my iphone right now. Also how are the accessibility features on it as I do have some sight issues, so large font and text is vital. So yeah those are my questions and things I like to let you all know about my experience with android. Plus if any of you know an android version thingy that has a resemblance to those ios versions that’ll be brilliant.
Also i know how nerdy android users can be so do nerd away as my husband can help dumb it down for me. This is also why android seemed to scare me off a bit as its way too complex at times.
And to ensure you are aware: the FP has no telephoto lens and when you buy the FP with standard FPOS Gemini KI is also part of Android although you can disable it.
If you want to use the Magsafe function for accessoires only (and not for charging) you could try to fit aftermarket Magsafe rings into a case for the FP6 or onto the FP6 itself and hope it sticks.
On a side note: I found the Apple Keynote to be far more interesting than the last couple of years. Adding new features for existing products and upgrade the base iPhone 17 quite a bit are things I haven‘t heard from Apple in a very long time!
The version of Android in Fairphone is very stock. The “complex” Android devices are often Samsungs as they customise it a bit too much and their own software isn’t up to scratch from a UX perspective.
I have recently moved from an iphone XR to a Fairphone 4.
I LOVE the repairability and ethics.
I am happy with the OS - still learning some of the settings but no issues.
Camera - fine for nature photos - certainly no worse than the iphone which wasn’t brilliant. Quite good for macro (insects, flowers), not brilliant for longer range.
Some minor irritations:
no camera on the ‘front screen’ - have to log into the phone to select. Its a pain if you are hoping to photograph a bug that is swiftly departing. It doesn’t seem to be possible to add camera to the top scrolldown menu. Worth checking if this is the same on the FP6.
overall phone seems much less touch sensitive than the iPhone. I thought it was just being laggy, but it actually doesn’t notice some of my finger presses. Would be interested to know if others experience this!
Hey! First of all, cool that you are open minded about this and looking to switch. Your questions are very fair!
The answers above already answered your questions about magsafe and the camera. I agree with the others that the camera (I have the FP5) makes fair photos but there are better phones for photography.
Regarding accessibility: I don’t use the features myself but I know that you can turn the font size up to enormous amounts. I think it’s well supported throughout Android, as in most apps deal with it well. There is also screen reading support etc.
Android isn’t more complex than iOS from what I have seen (as an example, I’ve seen enough seniors with little tech knowledge get the hang of it), it will just take some getting used to!
