First findings with the new Fairphone 3

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I received my Fairphone Monday evening. The following is my first impression.

(I’ve honestly barely used it, but I am confident something like watching a video has improved beyond my lower limits, and the same for battery life.)

Somehow, I am able to keep a firm, natural grip on it. How this is going to work out e.g. during commute we will have to see. The machine is quick compared to FP2, and the screen is gorgeous (and large compared to FP2, with a higher screen to body ratio but not as high as the trend). I try to be content with less good screens, but I’m a sucker for it (MBP Retina is also gorgeous). In order to install the SIM card I had trouble getting the battery out with my nails (partner couldn’t do it either). Had to use a tool on my pocket knife. Not something I’ll want to do often (I guess it was to compensate for the design flaw in FP2 battery). Fingerprint and NFC work flawless (I’ve used the latter together with my national ID card). I’m still in the process of migrating which goes a bit slower because no cloud backups being used (more hereunder).

I’m puzzled by Google’s choice to suggest different search engines which end up just wrappers around WebView (Chrome), and separate “browsers”, while they did not offer the option of Firefox. I had to manually install Firefox Preview in Google Play Store instead. Also, I had trouble obtaining applications I already purchased on my Google account. It just mentioned the price, not the option to download. If I clicked on the price, it eventually said I already owned that application.

I made a thermal picture of the smartphone lying idle for 5 minutes after booting up to the config screen. I intend to make some more pictures with my thermal camera, but I want to document clearly the circumstances / use case. Any requests on that matter? One I was thinking of, was having the screen on 50% brightness, and watching Netflix or Prime Video for say 10 minutes.

I’ve managed to avoid Google Drive automatic backups, and am using DAVx5 + Nextcloud + WireGuard for my calendar/contacts. I have not attempted to save my WhatsApp data as the pictures/videos of my child are the most important, and they are backed up automatically with the previously mentioned software.

One feature I miss coming from LOS 16 (= Android 9 + mods) is the option to scramble your PIN. Without this option, a PIN is as secure as a pattern (very easy to leak if you watch over shoulder).

[EDIT1]My FP3 barely fits my old Feuerwear case which I used with the FP2 (the Velcro has worn out)[/EDIT]

[EDIT2]The front camera field seems slightly odd, the fingerprint sensor would ideally sit a little bit lower, and the USB-C port not being in the middle makes a FLIR camera on the bottom not a good fit (I already bought a standalone though).[/EDIT]

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I hope you can enjoy your phone soon.
Still, all information was and is readily available on the order page.
For switching from another phone to the FP3 they have a section called

Easy to use, easy to switch
…
Make a stress-free switch from your old phone to the Fairphone in just a few easy steps. How to switch >

On the linked page they focus on switching from IOs to Android (I will report this as - at least - misleading), but they link to the tutorials as well.

Regarding the SIM card, the tech specs section clearly state:

Network Dual Nano SIM

That’s something one unfortunately has to check with every new phone.
I myself wonder, why they can not just decide on one form-factor.

Admittedly, not all informations are “ready to read”.
In my opinion special infos for FP1 or FP2 users are not neccessary, since the phones are not so special and they are directing all their marketing and information at the mass-market now. Giving FP2 users a special treatment would seem a bit odd for the rest I guess, as they wouldn’t need that info.

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I’m in the same problem… Did you get your problem solved ?

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The industry moved on. The smaller nano SIM is the default almost every modern phone uses since a few years.

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I got problems with my Norwegian tele company and MMS. With the same company, I could send and receive MMS more or less without trouble until end of July, then some issues in August, but then I could send again until the end of August. Last time I had problems with MMS, it was on a very old phone and when I called my company, they said they did an update but didn’t include that phone type because it was so old. I am wondering if Fairphone is not very common in Norway and that this is why they don’t include it in updates, but no one in my new company have said that this could be an issue. Anyways, I have reset Access Point Names several times, tried to insert various things manually, restored them, etc, but nothing has worked. Read that someone in Norway has a problem with MMS with another company, so not sure what to do.

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Hi Rani,

this is definitely an issue that your carrier should solve for you. The correct MMS APN settings should be listed on their website so that you can add them under Settings > Network and Internet > Mobile Network > Advanced > Access Point Names. For OneCall settings please see

Btw: It is really sufficient to post an issue once here on the community forum.

My carrier in Germany is Telekom.de and it has a dedicated/separate APN profile just for MMS. I never use MMS myself, though, because I prefer OTT messengers (Signal) with SMS for fallback.

Best wishes,
Thomas

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