Hi,
no, it is not bad. I wrote another statement afterwards, maybe you want to read that first.
Nevertheless, it boots slower than S5 and I wrote that I compare it to the S5. If you don’t compare then it will be difficult to talk about “fast” and “slow”, as those are purely subjective categories.
Cheers,
Georg
I’d like to conclude today by giving my comment on 2nd impression after my very first impression:
Final Result: First impression became to me leveled or relativised. The upshot (conclusion) remains that even a minor issue like a module slip and cargo shift after product compound may lead to a major issue for both the customer and the producer. It spoils not only first impression. Finally the biggest issue left is the weak battery. A trusted hardware coming from 2014 claiming higher sustainability deserves and includes longer battery longvity. Also the probable danger of glass and display scrapes for FP2 is the same as with every mobile phone.
regards
Unfortunately, the Fairphone 2 I received leaves me much less impressed than I had hoped for.
Among the positive aspects are definitely the display quality, the sturdy overall appearance and the fast and (almost) flawless usage experience. The touchscreen- and display-flickering bugs were noticeable but not grave. I assume they will soon be fixed.
Now what definitely did not impress me:
The form factor is a matter of taste but it’s not for me. It is definitely a two-handed brick of a phone without even basic one-hand usability. After hands-on I don’t like the rubber-case design decision much at all.
The camera quality in moderate cloudy conditions (like: half the year) is very slightly better than on the FP1 but still not convincing. Indoors it is so grainy as to be useless and decidedly worse than FP1 (I did side-by-side comparisons). Even outdoors it won’t replace the most basic compact camera.
The sound quality is good in depths and mid-range, but the higher range and voices sounded flat and unappealing. It doesn’t do as a music player for me. Neither does it particularly well as a sound recorder.
Taking off the screen didn’t work for me, following the instructions. No amount of pushing would make it move. Thus I can’t judge on the modularity concept.
Rooting is by now possible, but much easier e.g. on Samsung phones. Without I can’t even write to a USB Stick (an Android issue, I know).
Conclusion: I am ready to accept quite an amount of tradeoff in support of the goals of Fairphone and love the fairness, openness and repairability approach. Even for just supporting Fairphone on the way I would accept a lot of woe. I am willing to pay the 40%/60% premium compared to e.g. a S. Galaxy S5 or S4 (both can run CyanogenMod btw). If, let’s say, the core functions of the Galaxy could be graded “A” and the Farphone scores “B”, as with the display, just fine. But camera and sound score “C” at most. A more careful selection of sound and camera chip probably wouldn’t have raised the price by more than 25€. If one device replaces three or more standalone devices (phone, music player, photo, dictaphone) this is quite a sustainability factor and might outweigh the Fairphone’s current sustainability benefits.
I am very sorry, and it really pains me, but I will make use of the return policy rather than becoming an unhappy supporter. I will stay with my FP1 (that I planned to pass on) and make it last as long as at all possible.
All this is not saying that many people might be just happy with this device. It is my personal usage profile that doesn’t align with this phone.
Hi everybody,
having recieved my FP2, I promissed on the board to give my first impressions… I am sorry to say I am not completely statisfied… let me bullit-point them:
While this does not say anything about the phone itself, it does about the organisation, I feel. It seems a bit… sloppy…I come from a Moto G, which is a cheapo-phone. I love the idea of the Fairphone, so I bought two. (One for my wife, and one for me.) But I must say that the experience is actually worse than the Moto G - a 3 year old phone. At this point in time, I’m sorry to say, I would not recommend this phone to anyone. It is a /very/ expensive phone for a mediocre experience - at best 
I am going to use it of course for the next few days. But at the moment, I feel like returning it
I installed Nova Launcher on it; I will de-install this and see if the crashes will stop. But if they do not… I bought a very expensive phone. I don’t mind paying extra for the social part of it. In fact, I want to. But I did not expect a sub-par experience with the phone itself.
Sorry, but I am disappointed.
Paul
This is a known bug that some people experience and will hopefully be fixed soon with an update.
Proximity issues can be found on the bugs list too.
…you’ll have to use a very good USB data cable. Otherwise the fluctuation of current will cause static which results in audio crackles and ghost touches.
I heard that it gets better after a few charging cycles. There are also a lot of topics about battery tips e.g. the battery guide.
Maybe you wanna have a look at this. One user suggested that a new device often lacks sound quality and needs to be used for a while to reach its quality (which can be accelerated by playing pink noise).
Some users reported that it is difficult to take off the screen the first time, but then it becomes easier. There are also tutorials available that show how it can be done easily (see first post in that thread)
[quote=“eqfive, post:164, topic:11491”]
The camera quality [is] not convincing
[/quote].
Basically I agree. Though I also have to say that so far no smartphone camera has convinced me, and I am still very often carrying a decent camera with me. Indeed some phones have a slightly better camera installed, but still I never experienced a convincing phone camera yet.
I am looking forward for the FP-OSOS, which should be either easy to root or come rooted. It is rumored that this should happen in the first quarter of 2016 
[quote=“pwiegers, post:165, topic:11491”]
The backcover is very slippery. It is plastic, but not rubbery. For me, it could be more sticky.
[/quote] Personally I think it gives more grip than most other phones I’ve had in my hands.
[quote=“pwiegers, post:165, topic:11491”]
The proximity-sensor does not always work
[/quote]Did you take off the display protection cover? I heard some people say this problem disappeared after removing it. I never experienced any problems so far (I took the cover off immediately).
This was my fear when I saw th specs. Less than 2500 mAh on a 5 inch screen didn’t seem a lot; and it also proofed to not be a lot. With my usage pattern I hardly get though the day. So far the biggest disappointment for me. I had to buy a Powerbank now, so I can use the phone also during long travels (since I also use it as a work phone; hence I am grateful for the Dual-SIM functionality). So in terms of sustainability, A bigger battery would have prevented me (and maybe also others) from getting an extra battery or powerbank.
The size is rather a consequence of the modularity of the phone than because of a big battery. And of course due to the (for my taste over-dimensioned) display size.
[quote=“pwiegers, post:165, topic:11491”]
But you must actually hold the button while shooting video.
[/quote] I trigger the camera shutter on the screen, not with the button. This way there is no need to hold any button while shooting a video.
Hi everybody,
owning my Fairphone since now 4 days, I am very happy with it: It is working as expected, so far no real crashes (2 reboots over night, don’t know why)…
I even was successful to get it working with myphoneexplorer after half a day of trial, this was essential as the phone is to be used for work and must be connected to outlook…
Highlights:
One con:
In case of low backlight the display flicker a bit while scrolling: this is nasty and makes me a bit crazy in dark conditions. My M8 do not have such problems…
One wish: Bigger Battery still (there is space inside the cover…)
It was a good choice, “Live Long and Prosper”… Fairphone!
See you in the Forum!
Bernd
I’ve had my fp2 for a couple of weeks now and am basically very happy with it. A few questions though:
The sound is probably the vibration motor moving.
There is a battery saver integrated in Android. Go to Settings > Battery and tap the “more options” button (three dots) in the top right corner.
Hi,
Paul again here 
Second impressions:
)So, working with it, for the moment the FP2 for me is a workable phone. I will try some other launchers, and am searching for a good headset to use with it. I am aware of the wiki, but I want an “sports-in-ear”, like this one. But at the moment I am hesistating to buy it, not being sure if it will work
Regards,
Paul
You can have more than 15 screens (I stopped testing at 16) with the standard FP launcher and you can create folders.[quote=“pwiegers, post:172, topic:11491”]
but for the moment this would seem a bug to me
[/quote]
Yep, it’s on the list of known bugs.
I have the same issue with this rattling sound - and it’s even worse when the phone rings and the vibration is on - is there any fix on that? Can other FP2 owners confirm that sound? Maybe it is a manufacturing bug… It is a little bit annoying.
Best,
Daniel*
@paulakreuzer do you have an idea where the vibration motor is located? Just to figure out if the sound comes from that part… Why do other phones not rattle when you shake them?
Best,
Daniel*
On the backside in the lower right corner there are two slits. Behind that is the microphone, right above is the vibration motor.
There is someone else who describes such sounds as very annoying. Maybe it’s something else. My FP2 is definitly not that noisy:
What do you think? Should I send it back for repair? Does anybody else have this problems?
Best,
Daniel*
Hallo, ich schreibe hier mal auf Deutsch, in Englisch könnte ich dieses Text nicht wirklich gut verständlich schreiben.
Ich habe mein FP2 am 4.2. bekommen und möchte hier mal meine Eindrücke/Meinungen dazu posten.
Ich bin sowohl von FP als Unternehmen als auch vom FP2 relativ stark enttäuscht!
Lieferverzögerung von Novemer bis Februar: der Grund ist bekannt und akzeptiert, die laufenden Informationen dazu von FP sind dagegen schlecht / nicht akzeptabel.
FP2: ich gehe mal nicht auf die einzelnen Bugs ein, die sind ja schon länger bekannnt soweit hier im Forum ‘mitgelesen’ wird.
Was ich nicht toleriere ist, das diese Bugs nicht vor der Auslieferung bemerkt worden sind und behoben wurden. Gibt es bei FP keine Qualitätskontrolle? Oder wurde das ‘unfertige’ Gerät bewußt in diesem Zustand ausgeliefert und die Auslieferung nicht noch weiter zu verzögern? Die Bugs des Displays fallen doch sofort beim ersten ‘Draufschauen’ auf, ebenso die LED-Bugs! Auch die WLAN-Bugs fallen doch relativ schnell auf (das ! bei Rückkehr in den WLAN-Bereich und die verminderte WLAN-Geschwindigkeit).
Mein aktuelles Smartphone ist das Samsung Galaxy S5, welches ja gerne als ‘Vergleichsmodell’ zum FP2 herangezogen wird. Das S5 benutze ich seit Dezember 2014, es ist nicht einmal abgestürzt bzw. hat nie selbsttändig gebootet etc. Das FP2 zeigte dagegen schon nach der ersten Nacht morgens die PIN-Eingabe, es hat also einen Neustart durchgeführt, warum auch immer. Ich benutze ich mein Smartphone sehr viel, es ist praktisch ständig in Gebrauch: auf dem Fahrrad höre ich Hörbücher über ein Bluetooth-Headset, Tagsüber läuft Musik in Form von Radio oder Google Play Music über WLAN. Mittags wird mal ein Video über Amazon Prime geschaut. Abends wird es mit einem Pulsgurt und einer Fitness-App 1-2 Stunden mit einem permanent eingeschalteten Display benutzt. Zwischendurch wird es zum Lesen von Zeitungen, Mails, WhatsApp, Facebook, Tapatalk und zum Telefonieren (irgendwie klingt der Gesprächspartner sehr ‘blechern’, ich bin ständig dabei, das FP2 am Ohr rum zu schieben um den Partner verstehen zu können) benutzt. Weiterhin werden Bücher über die Kindle-App bzw. über PDF in dunkler Umgebung, also mit sehr wenig Helligkeit auf dem Display gelesen. All das macht das gerootete S5 vollkommen problemlos. Das FP2 ist bereits am ersten Tags damit kläglich gescheitert. Immer mal wieder reagiert der Touchscreen nicht, es bootet neu, es flackert etc. Das Flackern des Displays beim Lesen in dunkler Umgebung stört mich sehr stark.
Noch was: es gibt ein Spiel, welches ich hin und wieder mal spiele: Pinball Arcade. Diese Spiel konnte ich vor Jahren schon auf dem Galaxy S2 gut spielen. Auf dem S5 läuft es super, auf dem FP2 dagegen eher schlecht, die Kugel rückelt über das Spielfeld und das ganze Spiel setzt irgendwie zwischendurch mal aus, es ‘friert’ sozusagen kurz ein und läuft dann weiter…
Zu den Ersatzteilen möchte ich auch noch etwas sagen:
bis auf das Mainboard sind die Preise m.M. nach in Ordnung. Sollte nach eingen Jahren ein neues Maiboard benötigt werden, ist es sehr fraglich, ob ich dafür über 300 € ausgeben würde. Ich hatte in der Verwandschaft mal ein defektes S4. Zuerst war die USB-Buchse ausgeleiert, später ging es ständig selbsständig aus. Die USB-Buchse auf einer kleinen Platine hat 8€ gekostet, das Mainboard später 120€.
Beim FP2 habe ich die Besorgnis, dass es Teile und Akku irgendwann nicht mehr/nur schwer zu beschaffen gibt (siehe FP1).
Mir gefällt das ganze Projekt wirklich sehr gut, umgesetzt wurde es bisher meiner Meinung nach bis dato aber schlecht!
Es ist ja mit 540€ auch nicht gerade ein Schnäppchen.
Seit Wochen sind die Bugs bekannt, es gab jedoch noch nicht einmal eine Ankündigung für ein Update. Einige Fehler wurden ja noch nicht mal lokalisiert. Und ob das Flackern des Displays wirklich ein Software-Problem ist?
Ich werde das FP2 noch knapp 2 Wochen liegen lassen. Sollte es bis dahin kein Update geben werde ich es wohl oder übel zurückgeben.
Hoffentlich klappt dieser Vorgang dann zumindest ‘problemlos’.
