An update dateā¦
The phone carrier telstra works completely fine. The dual sim is not working. At the moment I am in remote South Australia. Telstra is the only network that works on any phone here. But happy to say the fairphone 2 is going strong. Im going to try the dual sim when I get back to a big city. But from what I have read dual sim may not work in Australia. More to comeā¦
Dual SIM does not work in Australia because all 2G networks have been shut down. There is no workaround. You would have to get a newer phone which supports 3G / 4G on both SIMs simultaneously (like the FP3).
Hi, Iām hoping someone on this forum could help me. My current phone is really on its last legs and Iām keen to buy ethically so the Fairphone naturally has been in the forefront, but I donāt have any travelling relatives or European friends at the moment, but am still keen to support Fairphone and not just buy an iPhone etc. I contacted a Fairphone representative and he said that if I somehow get one out here Fairphone doesnāt offer any support etc in Australia, also getting the new parts seems like a hassle. Iām looking at the Fairphone 3 and maybe using a mail forwarding service or something, but not sure of the best option? Anyone done something similar? Any help would be great?
Hi, there might be a wonderful person on this community that could help you out? It just depends of course on whether youād trust someone. Youāll also have to pay a transport fee as well. (Iām in Aus too!). Probably good that youāre in time for the Fairphone 3, my Fairphone 2 is dying a slow death
You could shop with vireo.de, as they deliver worldwide:
When ordering before X-mas, you get a display protection foil (worth 5.99 ā¬) for free plus a voucher for 10% off with the next order of Fairphone accessories.
I guess, they donāt have an english homepage, but I use deepl.com for translation in such cases.
Edit:
There is another alternative, Clove in the UK, that might even come cheaper than vireo:
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Hi there, I am wondering, if anyone could give me some advice. I am looking at importing a Fairphone 3, from one of the international retailers or mail-forwarding, to Australia, but I am wondering, with the emissions and environmental damage caused from air travel, is that kind of counterproductive to the Fairphone idea? Should I just buy a somewhat modular phone, that I think I can keep for some time, even though it doesnāt stand for what Fairphone does, just because it is available in my country of residence? Kind of an ethical dilemma. I understand Fairphone is about much more than just carbon emissions, but Iām not sure what the trade off is. What if I bought a Fairphone, and paid a carbon offset company? Iām not sure. Thanks for any advice.
I suppose you could use another phone for some time, and arrange yourself to buy a Fairphone next time you travel to Europe for any reason, or next time a european friend or family member comes and visit you, he/she could bring you one (but you probably already thought about it).
I donāt think it defeats the purpose of Fairphone. The best would indeed be not to make it travel by airplane to Australia, but it is more a question of which values you choose first, whether the fairness of Fairphone is more important than the ecological impact the travel would have. As you said, itās kind of an ethical dilemma, and also very personal. At this point, I would say itās up to you to choose (personally, I think I would).
Buying a phone from a company that pays their employees correctly and give them social rights, and that doesnāt use precious metals from mines where children work, etcā¦
Iām not sure this is helping you, Iām just giving my two cents.
Yeah, I think thatās about right, Fairphone is really about investing in a movement I guess, an initiative for change in the industry. Perhaps with enough support, theyāll be global one day Iām not certain, but there are definitely some valid pros and cons. Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I think in an area with (so far and inevitably) such an extremely low density of Fairphones, it is even more important to create and maintain a network of Fairphoners. This topic alone might not suffice actually; maybe it would make sense if you would either create a permanent multi-person private message conversation here so that its participants by default get notified more strongly once someone posts in it ā or at least people here upgrade their alert intensity for this topic (e.g. from āTrackingā to āWatchingā).
I think this would be especially necessary in order to facilitate the exchange of spare parts between Australian Fairphoners. Whenever one Australian Fairphoner would plan a trip to Europe, this would be an opportunity to get new spares for others, too.
Hi,
I am an advocate for Fairphone since they did the crowdfunding for the first model.
And I totally understand your dilemma.
You should do yourself a list of āprosā and āconsā to find a decision based on your own preferences.
Besides the shipping around half the world, you will face some more hardships as well.
The Australian networks are not completely supported, warranty cases will take shipping back and forth again, costing time and money besides the carbon footprint.
Spare parts / accessories / modules you might want to buy later on will need to be shipped as well. And a really important point is, that the Li-Ion batteries might be hard to come by, since they are dangerous goods and resellers normally do not ship them alone (i.e. outside of a device).
You should be willing and able to do some tinkering and experimenting on your own.
If you are looking for a phone to unpack and have fun with for the years to come, the FP is a bit of a gamble, even if itās just the battery you might need later on.
An alternative, that is mentioned quite regularly, is buying a second hand phone. Itās a bit more ecological than buying a new one, though it - obviously - does not change the market or the life of the people mining raw materials or manufacturing the phones. Therefore itās a compromise.
So itās up to you, as alex21 already posted.
But I wonāt give you my opinion, since I am not in your shoes and donāt know what your preferences are and what is ādriving youā.
Maybe do some reading on this forum and ask one or the other question in threads and topics, that you are interested in, to fill your list of pros and cons.
All the best!
Hi there Deanna!
Thanks so much for such a detailed overview of the fairphone process. I am also in adelaide and have been hoping to invest in a fairphone for a while now. Crazy to think that weāre up to the fairphone 3 and we still canāt purchase in Australia!
I was wondering if you might be able to provide a quick update on your fairphone journey? How has your phone continues to perform/be replaced? Thanks again so much
Lauren
Hi Lauren,
Yep! Would be awesome if they were sold hereā¦ One day!!!
You can order a Fairphone to a UK address using this web address: https://shop.fairphone.com/gb_en/
And you can use SkyPax to get a UK address (and then pay Skypax to ship it forward onto you).
I love my Fairphone. Iām on no 3 now and I know people with no 2, 3 and 3+. Theyāre definitely improving with every model. Camera is a lot better now too (though itās not an iPhone, but itās very decent and itās made transparently and as sustainably and fairly as possible soā¦)
Itās also much easier to fix yourself now if you do have problems. Every new phone comes with a mini screwdriver and iFixit provide really easy to follow ways of replacing parts (their app always seems to glitch for me, thatās iFixit not Fairphone, but you can still follow their instructions on their website). The spare parts you can buy through Fairphone webstore. Iāve actually quite enjoyed being able to fix my phone myself!!
Let me know if you have any specific questions and Iāll try to answer.
Deanna
Just in case:
Hi Deanna,
thatās good news, that shipping method with SkyPax, that is an UK-based service.
Could be useful for everyone, when the seller wonāt ship to an international adresss, but will ship to the UK.
Never heard of such a service before.
Do you happen to know, if they would ship batteries that way as well? Any experience?
Shipping costs seem quite expensive, as you have to pay in addition 12 GBP for a standard membership (though once only, if I got it right).
Otherwise, there is always vireo.de, that do international shipping.
Hi Bert,
Iām not sure about batteries on their own. But weāve ordered new phones that come with the battery and havenāt had any problems.
Iām pretty sure I got a free membership, not sure if thatās still available.
Yes it does cost a bit too forward it on so youād have to consider of your and and willing to afford that when needed.
Itās always helpful if you know others with Fairphone and can share the costs.
Cheers
Deanna
Hi Deanna,
Did the folks at FP ever explain why they do not distribute in Australia?
Regards
Gareth
Hi Gareth,
Ummm Iām not sure. I think their long term plan is international distribution but they really are still a young business and I guess itās hard to break into those markets? Not really sure sorry.
Randomly a friend just bought a FP3+ but now doesnāt need it (for reasons not worth explaining here!!) If youād like to buy off her let me know and weāll work out how to get in touch.
Deanna
From what I read (or maybe interpreted), there are at least two reasons:
- Selling overseas requires meeting the local standards and (legal) regulations. Getting the certificates usually takes time and costs a relevant amount of money.
- Selling overseas requires meeting the legal rules for after-sales service as well. I doubt, that a company located in the Netherlands / EU can do so by servicing the customers in Australia or the USA or Canada etc. from Europe. They will have to provide a local network / dealer to provide support and take care of warranty.
Both issues require workforce as well as lots of money.
Add to this the fact, that they are still developing the product as such. Every phone so far has been an improvement solving the issues and troubles discovered by the previous model.
Now, with the FP3(+), they - for the first time - introduced the phone like all the other phone manufacturers are doing, with a big media event press conference and life streaming.
If this phone is really successful and starts earning them good money, they might start aiming for other markets. My bet would be the North-American-market first.