It's almost time to say goodbye to the Fairphone 3.
That’s the subject of the e-mail fairphone send today. They should have dropped the “3”.
In the e-mail they said “that software support for the Fairphone 3 and 3+ will end in August 2026”. That’s not even four years after its end of sale (Nov 2022), so significantly less than the five years required by EU-law for newer phones. (The fp3 is from before this regulation.) They also wrote about “our core philosophy of sustainability and longevity”. What a yoke.
The fp3 is the third fairphone that fails the longevity promise.
My FP1 “died” because fairphone forgot to bind the manufacturer of the SoC to deliver updates.
My FP2 “died” because the bottom-module failed. This could have been swapped in minutes, but couldn’t because fairphone ended the supply of modules too early.
Now my FP3 will „die" because there will be no security updates any more.
So I might not only say goodbye to the FP3 but to fairphone.
/e/OS will provide android security updates from Gogol (even not from hardware manufacturers)
for android 15 to the Fairphone 3 until march 2028.
(and, not yet confirmed, maybe one more year with android 16)
The FP3 was being planned in the years preceding its release in 2019. How many other phones released in 2019 are still today getting updates from the manufacturer?
With FP2 and 3, and following, Fairphone showed the industry and the consumers what was possible, and I would say thus likely contributed to the enactment of the EU law.
Those who bought the phone in 2022 - a year after the FP4 appeared, and three years after FP3 launch - knew what to expect, and made their choice.
As to the FP2 bottom module, I think these were still to be found second hand, long after FP stopped selling.
The promise Fairphone made was at the beginning of the sales in 2019.
The Fairphone 4 came available beginning 2022, so if one bought the Fairphone 3 in Nov. 2022 they could know it was already 3 years on the market.
If so, thanks for helping to get Fairphone off the ground, good luck with whatever you choose, and don’t forget to say goodbye to Google, too, because it was them who stopped security updates for Android 13 in early 2026 (expectedly so) and apparently didn’t certify Fairphone’s attempt at Android 14, while Android custom ROMs without the need for Google certification in the meantime are at Android 15 on the Fairphone 3, so with longer security update support as @piero-e already pointed out.
Perhaps say goodbye to capitalism, if you can, because not getting the modules for the FP2 produced anymore clearly is the fault of Fairphone having to act sensibly and responsibly in a market economy, with real money, as not a charity.
Ok, not knowing better in case of the FP1 was nobody else’s fault.
Essentially, you can say goodbye to them for the FP1.
But without the FP1 we would have no Fairphone.
What to do?
I am very disappointed that Fairphone is abandoning the FP3 and all of us who own one. The whole point of buying a Fairphone was to have a phone long term and not have yet another high environmental cost, throw away piece of tech. We used to have technology that lasted. I thought we were fighting built in obsolescence as the standard on all products, but Fairphone are embracing it.
I can not afford another Fairphone, and I should not be pushed into having to buy one. I will have to get a standard phone now after having Fairphones for about 10 years. Doing this to customers in a cost of living crisis just shows how this company is just as bad as any other phone peddler. If I forked out 500 quid for a FP6, how long before Fairphone deliberately make that defunct? All trust is gone and I’m walking.
Install /e/ os or ask for help to do it and your phone will still get security updates. The problem comes from Android that cannot be upgraded on the FP3 and certified by Google. And whatever the smartphone you buy (Android or iOS), there will be an end of support. Maybe the solution then is a dumb phone.
And also Qualcomm plays a role, in the past they stopped support after 2-3 years. So every upgrade after that is extremly diffult and I think no-one beside FP and Shiftphone ever provided Android certified version upgrades after QC stopped support for SOC. So expecting more from FP is just not realistic and the problem is not FP, its unrealistic expectations based on nescience
Sadly, no perpetuum explainile will stop users from a self-dreamed up fantasy reality from blaming good for not being perfect in actual reality when it’s actual reality forcing good to not be perfect yet.
While Fairphone has real problems in actual reality which should be fixable like e.g. dysfunctional customer support for too many users for a too long time or delays in software development and bugfixing.
But No! Blame them for actually industry-leading achievements which obviously are a nefarious scam. Sure.
I am sorry to hear about all those sharing negative experiences about their use of FPs. I have heard some them throughout the years and that is part of life, I guess. I am still happy with my buy in 2020. I must say I have struggled to keep it usable. For many years I had to deal with the fact that both power and volume - buttons were not working, not once with two times. I could replace it myself with the spare part that a Fairphone angel around me had. Now I had to install a different ROM to get some more updates. That is something that I have always done with my android devices and, even though process has become easier every year, it still requires some technical knowledge and to be brave for the possibility of “breaking” your device. Something that not every phone user is willing to do. I am planning to use my Fairphone 3 as long as I can even though I face different problems now (not compatible apps due to certificate issues). And I would encourage everybody to keep doing so! If anybody needs help installing custom ROMs I am here to help.
Despite everything, we cannot ignore that Fairphone not being a charitative association tries its best to deliver what they promise. We nevertheless should not bound our lives to one company and it is everyone’s right to look for alternatives if necessary.
Your FP3 isn’t going to stop working - it’s just not getting updates. Whether you are comfortable with that is another matter.
In any event, as others have commented, the FP3 was released in 2019 - and 7 years is absolutely “long term” in the world of smartphones - most phones don’t even last three (though that is arguably more about the users and less about the manufacturers).
Yes, FP6 is an expensive phone but assuming your FP3 lasted the same time as two regular smartphones, the replacement cost starts to look very reasonable. I’m sorry you can’t afford another fairphone, but surely you would have the same problem replacing any other handset?
It’s a bit of a deja vu here compared to the responses to the announcement that software support of the FP3 will end after Android 13 back in July 2024
I am very disappointed to learn that software support for my smartphone will end in August 2026, effectively rendering it obsolete in terms of official updates. This situation seems to contradict your policy of sustainability and device longevity.
My Fairphone 3 works perfectly and I have no intention of getting rid of it. Therefore, I will try to keep it updated through open-source operating systems.
The end was not completely in Fairphone’s hands, and 7 years of support since launch perfectly counts as sustainability and device longevity under market and industry circumstances.
Should we start a list of phones from 2019 which can match this? I think it will be short.
This is the way .
We can try to help if you encounter any issues.
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