FP2 cracked case after 3 weeks (see first post)

Solution:

Original post:
After 3 weeks of ownership my transparent blue FP2 casing is cracked. I hasn’t had any hard falls but I have taken it off and refitted it about half-a-dozen times, and I believe that’s how it cracked. It is such hard work to remove that I probably put too much strain on it. I now have a crack going diagonally from the bottom right corner of the camera lens almost to the upper left corner of the battery’s location.
I am not happy as those covers do not come cheap but are seemingly not up to the task (it’s already got a lot of surface scratching as well.)
Opinions or similar experiences?

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You may get a black (as urs sais: it’s actually translucent blue) one for cheap as that’s the only color being delivered atm and people who ordered different ones get the color they ordered additionally as soon as it’s available again.
I suggest you watch this topic.

Hello @fgaine, please contact the Customer Support team to find a solution !

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The same issue was also reported by two persons from the Facebook group Fairphone-Freunde (crack going from the camera towards the middle). Blue translucent covers as well. One of them already got the answer from the support team that the cover will be replaced. So maybe it’s a production error, you should open a support ticket.

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@anon73900052 . OK will do. Thanks!

My translucent blue back cover also has already some cracks. One on the bottom left corner and one on the top right corner.I have the feeling that on these spots there is some extra space between the phone and the cover, which makes it a bit fragile.

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+1. Mine (black matte, own it since 8 Jan 2016) has also some scratches on it (mostly near the camera). Luckily, it is not cracked yet (so I don’t need replacement for now).

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When I received my FP2, I was worried as well that my case would break soon. However, I have since followed the strategy to

  1. avoid opening it as much as I can and
  2. use the corner of a credit card or a small plastic screw driver (from an iFixit Kit) to remove the case and to put it back on.

This should significantly increase the case lifetime.

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Yes, that is basic common sense to people who take care of their stuff. However
let’s not forget that it is a device that boasts of having been “designed to be
opened” - I am not making this up: it’s engraved on the side of the handset. It
is supposed to be opened to dismantle it, replace and upgrade parts. It is inten
ding on offering no less than 3 operating systems to choose from, and, if I am not
mistaken, 2 or 3 versions of Android ROMs alone. Last but not least, it is supposed
to last for 5 years. How sustainable are we if we need to replace the casing after just
a few weeks? I have only opened it half-a dozen times as I did not want the sd card in
whilst reinstalling the system or rooting it…

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Opened a support case about 1,5 week ago already with the same problem (cracked case from the camera corner to the center). Haven’t heard back from them.

Oh. I’d better get going then :slight_smile:

Hi,
Had the same problem with my blue translucent cover and filed a ticket to support last week-end. Got an answer two days ago saying they will be sending me a new one.

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I have the same problem with my black translucent cover. It happened after removing the cover for the second time.

Raise a ticket to Support and attach some pictures of the damaged casing. They will then send you a replacement one…

Had the phone 2 weeks, opened the back 3 or 4 times for SIM card access only Now a crack running from the camera diagonally across the back. I would suggest opening from the bottom end. My case is the transparent blue one. I wonder if its weaker than the others.

My translucent black one is being replaced with a transparent blue one. I will receive it this week.

I opened a support case about a month ago, got no reply, so I called Fairphone. I gave my support ticket ID and they immediately told me they are going to send me a new one.

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I’ve opened mine at least a dozen times (and mostly from the top) with no damages so far. But I see that in general opening the case puts rather high strain on the material.

What do you think: might the two-part case developed by @dvl be an alternative or a good basis for a new FP2 standard case (maybe enhanced by a kind of snapping mechanism to avoid that the two parts slide apart when you pull it out of a trousers pocket)?
Then we could add it to the FP2/3 wishlist started by @paulakreuzer.

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Hello all,

recently I’ve discovered small cracks in my FP2 Cover on both lower corners. They look like pretty much material fatique however the phone has never been dropped, bumped, forced in or out of the cover nor has it been exposed to radical temperature changes. So far I’ve removed the cover twice since I recieved the Phone in late february.

Is this supposed to be normal? I don’t think so. Before I contact the support I’d like to hear the community’s opinion :wink:

Cover is black translucent btw.

Thanks

@saski: I’ve moved your post here as it has some discussion by other who also had cracks in their cases, and their is some mention of experiences with support. Though many of them seem related to opening the phone (with cracks especially around the camera), there is at least one mention on the corners:

My translucent black case cracked on both of the bottom corners.