FP 3 + with /e/ OS gets stuck and unresponsive

[macwood]

Good morning everyone,
some months ago I bought a Fairphone 3 + from /e/ foundation, with already their /e/ OS pre-installed.
I’ve not been using Google apps since a while, I have some experience with flashing ROMs… but the idea this time was to avoid the hassle and the risks, to buy a phone with already a Google-free OS.
The FP3 with /e/ was the perfect option (even though I would have preferred an OpenOS from Fairphone, like it was for the FP2).

Unfortunately, since always, I have a problem with the device suddenly getting stuck… it happens mostly when the battery is low and the screen is locked, but sometimes (even if it’s rare) also when the battery is well charged, or when it’s charging.

For example yesterday evening, my battery was at 15%, I used the phone until 6% then I connected it to the charger and used it for other 2-3 minutes while it was charging.
I locked the screed and went to sleep… this morning the alarm didn’t ring, I lost a couple of phone calls while still sleeping and when I woke up and tried to unlock the screen, it was stuck. The power button on the left side was unresponsive. I needed to hold it for 10 second then the phone restarted completely.
For sure the battery was at 100% after charging all the night.

Some days I just realize that the battery is low, so I tell myself “let’s connect it to the charger”, but before I manage to reach the plug, it already entered into this “frozen” state and I need to force restart or remove the battery.
Usually the notification LED keeps blinking but the phone is completely unresponsive, there’s nothing you can do to wake it up. I don’t think that the issue is the low battery…

In other rare cases, it even happens during calls. I’m talking, then at some point the other person is not answering me anymore and I realize that the phone needs to be restarted…

I was wondering if anyone had a similar issue, if you would suggest flashing the original OS with Google stuff (which is a pity, considering that I paid an extra to have /e/ preinstalled), if I should contact /e/ foundation before…

any feedback is welcome
Thanks a lot!

P.s. One thing I forgot: sometimes, after forcing the reboot of the phone, it’s showing the wrong charge level. Like it was 10%, I force restart and after the reboot is showing 100%… then in 5 minutes it drains and goes back to 10%…

[urs_lesse]

Of course, I cannot guarantee that this has caused your problems, but just to make sure: It is strongly recommended not to let a Li-Ion battery discharge to the levels you have mentioned. You should recharge the battery when it has gotten down to 20% (better earlier).

“Deep discharging” the battery to single digits or even 0% will wear out the battery much quicker than necessary.

[macwood]

Thanks a lot for the quick reply, it’s good to know because by default /E/ is showing me the alert at 15%, so I never thought about charging it before… I could check if it’s possible to move the alert to 20% at least, from the settings.

Hopefully the battery should not be damaged since it has less than 1 year, but do you know if there’s a way to test it and be sure that it’s properly working?

[urs_lesse]

You can set your own percentage in Settings > Battery > Energy Saving Mode (Note the explanations at the bottom about the effects of Energy Saving Mode). I have set mine to 25 %. I think 15 % isn’t very damaging, but I would not let it run to single digits repeatedly.

[Alex.A]

@macwood

do you know if there’s a way to test it and be sure that it’s properly working?

The app AccuBattery from the play store (yes, sadly, but you can get it from Aurora Store or from the /e/ app store), it has very precise stats.

And btw., although it is indeed advised not to let the battery run too low, I regularly use my FP2 down to 2% (yes, not that good), but battery life still seems quite ok after 1y, AccuBattery estimates 97% of original capacity.
It is also important not to charge it up to 100%, this can be as damaging as letting it discharge to 0% (basically charging to 100% and discharging to 0% is quite equivalent in terms of battery wear).

Otherwise for your issue, you could try reflashing /e/OS on your phone, it might help solving the problem.
In any case I think you should contact the /e/ support team, if this is a software issue it has to be brought up.

[JohnLi]

Hello,

I had a similar issue when I got my fairphone 3+ and installed /e/OS myself on it.
I had this the first 2 or 3 days.
I think it was related to… the samsung charger I used… Since I got an official fairphone charger, I have no more problem.

[mutosan]

My lipo has been discharged several times to 15% or even 10% and I have no issue at all. What you mean is the voltage of the lipo which should never go under a specific number. There is no proof that the battery gets worn out faster if you go under 15 or even under 10%. My battery is soon one year old and still I can use it for 2-3 days before i have to recharge it.

What he discribes is a software, sensor or battery issue. First I would change the battery and send the original one in if it is still under warranty. Where I live the have 1 year warranty.

[anon9989719]

Just to be clear the FP3 comeswith a Li ion battery not a Lipo which are characteristically quite different.

The lithium-polymer life cycle is also shorter and the batteries store less energy than the same sized Li-ion. This isn’t so ideal if you want your product to last a very long time.

LiPos are probably in the pipeline at Faiphone though I hope in general the future is without lithium.

Moving away from lithium – towards sodium?

[mutosan]

Its a typo as I am using also Lipos but not for my phone. Still spreading miss information should be sopped right away. Did you write that after the link? If yes you did not read right. At the end it states that Li-Po is slowly replacing Li-ion. And in the article he speaks of charging cycles which has NOTHING todo withe deep discharging. Also with the new research of lipos they will get a big boost.

[anon9989719]

Going off topic, better stop here.

[macwood]

First of all… thanks to everyone for the inputs
So I tested with Accubattery for a while, the battery has a capacity estimated at 95% more or less… I guess it should be fine.

But the possible issue with the charger is interesting because indeed I’m using a Samsung charger (from my previous work phone).

If I check in the history, it looks like the charge is not continuous.
I attach a screenshot. On another phone I tested, this does not happen.
I’ll try another charger and eventually order the FP one.

It’s strange because on the other phone I tested, I used the same charger which is not working correctly with mine. But anyway, not all the batteries are equal.