FP4: The specs and your opinions

Maybe, but I doubt it. My Pixel 3 has no signs of burn-in after 3 years. iPhones also come with OLED displays and last for 5 years as well. But I’ll see how nice the IPS panel is. But it might still push me towards the Pixel 6. Because I like to read those eBooks/PDFs with inverted colors. So deep blacks as background and white text. It’s super nice to read on.

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You could say the same about 5G :slight_smile: And just like 5G it’s not just about speed. WiFi-6 makes use of multiplexing and beamforming (just like 5G), which means higher speeds, but also the ability to work better with multiple devices in the same area. Things that WiFi-5 often does not do well, especially with 2.4GHz which is a crowded space. At home I have 1Gbit/s, with WiFi-6 I can make use of that, filling up that 2TB MicroSD card of mine by syncing faster with my Nextcloud for example.

It’s mostly about having a future proof device. If Fairphone waited a few months, they would’ve had a WiFi-6 capable device. Which is really not too much to ask in 2021, since WiFi-6E is the next standard already.

I really dislike this trend of killing off audio jacks.

Other than that complaint, all in all, I applaud Fairphone for their progress. The FP4 seems like a very capable and even more sustainable device.

If I had to buy a new phone, I’d probably be deciding between FP3(+) and FP4. No audio jack really is a bummer.

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I like these product launches every 2-3 years, because this makes the company stay alive. Before I got FP3 I had iPhone 6 for 5 years and it didn’t bother me that Apple was releasing new one every year. For FP3 I expect to use it for at least 5 years and when there will be time for replacement there will be option for me, maybe FP 6 :slight_smile:
For now my FP3 is almost 2 years old. There were some bugs from the start and almost all got resolved with software updates so I hope this will continue.
Also, battery will have to be changed after some time and it is good that it will be provided for long time as it is for FP2. This is one thing that always fails for me in every device that I’ve had no matter how careful I am. For me it usually fails between 5 and 7 years of usage.

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I think that needs to be put in perspective. At that point the FP2 already had received 4 years of monthly updates and two major version upgrades. Which no other Android phone of the same age provided. When the FP2 stopped getting updates, other phones had been out of support for at least one year (talking about Android, not iOS here).

I see a clear progress here.
FP1 got slightly below 2 years and no major version change (which Europe’s leading tech magazine labelled “above average but not exceptional” BTW)
FP2 got almost 6 years (support still ongoing; don’t remember what their aim was at the point of release) with 1 year gap (maybe count that as 5 years?) and 3 major version changes
FP3 is supposed to get at least 5 years (my personal assumption: without a long gap) and at least 2 major version changes.

And my perception is that the entire industry is picking up on longer support, albeit just slightly (Samsung has shown 4 years with older models and now guarantees that for more, just as an example). But IMHO that automatically makes it easier for Fairphone, too.

I’m quite confident Fairphone will manage 5 years with the FP3 and that makes me confident they’ll be able to do one more year with the FP4.

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Going OLED would also probably have been much more expensive, since the tech itself is already more expensive and it would have required to change the supply chain while IPS is just the continuation of what they had on FP3(+). However, I still think the chance of burn-in also weighed in the balance since it’s a risk (even if low) that goes against the “long lasting” principle.

Anyway, I wouldn’t be too concerned by this though. IPS tech on phones is actually pretty great. I am always surprised at how good the contrast (and therefore black uniformity) is on my phone’s IPS display, even when compared to OLED ones.

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I hope so. I had the misfortune to buy the OnePlus One once. That display was horrible.

True, but these phones were already in the bin, whereas Fairphone wants to provide phones, which can be used longer. And a safety breach is a safety breach. no matter whether in 15 months there might be an update.
So I’m happy, that the FP2 is safe now, but the one year without any updates was a big issue.

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That’s what I was talking about, just the frame, not the display :wink:. Even the stripes are there :slightly_smiling_face:.

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That’s just not true. Almost everybody around me has Android phones that are no longer updated and they keep the phone anyway.

You can look at the distribution of active phones and their Android version and it’s pretty clear that the majority of people is using a phone that is no longer updated.

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Ok, that’s sad from the security point of view but good for the environment and sustainability :slightly_smiling_face:.
But the majority might come from looking world wide, including countries with less wages. The ‘first world’ countries might have a different percentage of outdated phones.

The size, the weight, (16.4% heavier) maybe I could use a pigeon to carry the phone, no probably a dog and the pigeon can sit on the dog and carry the messages.

Good job I’m a fairtrade vegan freak so will stick to the 36g lighter FP3 till I build up some more muscle and brain atrophy and leave to dogs to roam and the birds to fly while I try to get by.

Hahaha! Millions upon millions of headphones?! How many Fairphone4s do you expect they’ll sell?!

Many people, especially young people, use less and less wired material. Get used to it.

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I think that is the point, why should someone get used to someone else’s point of view.

Just more dictates on how I should consume.

How many people buy their food in a shop, ‘get used to it’ no thanks will grow my own.
How many people drive a car and will go electric ‘get used to it’ no thanks will keep walking and use a bike.

Not dictated by mankind

How many people are going to die, ~ all ~ ‘get used to it’ ~ OK no problem

but death is the only dictate I won’t argue against, well for a while :slight_smile:

The phone is a consumer choice but clearly not enough choice for some and I empathise with their disappointments. Saying ‘get used to it’ is more than a little uncaring it verges on being rude and insulting.

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@Aurelio_Lopez , if you are thinking economically (and it seems you do), calculate this way: the 579€ with a five year warranty costs 116€ per year.
Assuming that after three years you might need to replace a non-repairable phone, compare the technical qualities of the Fairphone 4 with another smartphone that costs around 350€. It could be difficult to get a comparable phone in this price range.
The sustainability of a Fairphone (both for the natural resources and for labor) comes on top of that.
Under this perspective, the price should not matter that much. The decision on whether you buy a FP4 is rather if it matches your needs in functionality, size etc. If you just don’t need such a mid-high-range phone, check the FP3 or FP3+. There, you cannot calculate with a five-year-warranty though if you buy it today.

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That is neither a constant no a given. Wired headphones aren’t going anywhere (of course neither are wireless headphones, they both have their respective uses).
Well, they’ll sell even less if they make incomprehensible decisions like this.

I’m sure they will sell more, but maybe not to you. And whereas I like the idea of a headphone jack it’s becoming more of a museum piece, like real buttons. I remember a similar arguments about touch screens, it the screen fails nothing works, and it’s true.

There’s no doubt jacks seem to be a better option for a cable that flaps around and I don’t want to use bluetooth.

Got a revolution (got to revolution)
One generation got old
One generation got soul
This generation got no destination to hold

Jefferson Airplane > Volunteers

Put your old ladies back into bed
Put your old men into their graves
Cover their ears so they can’t hear us sing
Cover their eyes so they can’t see us play
Get out of the way
Let the people play
We’re gonna get down on you
Come alive all over you
Dancin’ down into your town

Jefferson Starship > Mau Mau

Jack the sailor of old versus the the new bluetooth pirates :slight_smile:

Sometimes I’m really wondering what you are planting on your ground :wink:.

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Nothing from another planet, nor gmos, nothing illegal, nothing that can’t be processed but that could be illegal.

Damn I really ‘should’ know when to keep my mouth shut and sit on my hands but then who’s that grating authority in my head?