From FP1 directly to FP4

Hello everybody, my name is Anke and so far I’ve been just a reader in this forum. Though I do not really understand all the tech stuff the discussions of those who do are still interesting to me. I’ve been using my FP1 since January 2014 running still on Android 4.2.2. This was my first smartphone ever and I was determined to use it for 10 years! But more and more apps can’t be updated or don’t work at all and I don’t dare to install the “inofficial” update to 4.4. because I am only a “dumb user” :blush:. Anyway, also Android 4.4 would be a bit outdated. In addition, with the stop of 3G in Germany I am quite limited to the mobile use of the phone when I am in Germany (I live in Switzerland though, where 3G still works). Making a long story short: I need a new phone and as I want to support Fairphone I plan to pre-order a FP4. I understand that I have to buy a new USB-C cable to be able to charge the new phone. But which offered by fairphone one would be best and what’s the difference anyway? And do I also need to buy a new charger or will I be able to use the original FP1 charger with a USB-C cable? I intend to use the new phone at least as long as my beloved FP1 so I would be glad if you guys could advise me what additional equipment would make the most sense. Thanks a lot in advance and kind regards, Anke

13 Likes

I understand that’s not the way you want to go anyway, but just as a reference for others perhaps interested … if you happen to have Fairphone Angels in your vicinity, they might be able to help you in person with something like this, it’s worth asking … 👼 The Fairphone Angels Program and Map (Local support by community members)

Fairphone mention the USB-C to USB-C Cable 2.0 as an option sold separately on https://shop.fairphone.com/en/buy-fairphone-4.
According to the details this cable supports fast-charging the Fairphone 4.

They also sell (or offer to include in a Fairphone 4 order, Thanks @yvmuell) the USB-C 3.2 Long Life Cable at a higher price.

While both cables look similar, the notable 2.0 → 3.2 difference should refer to the supported version of USB, where 3.2 would support much (much!) faster data transfer, so the 3.2 cable should be much (much!) better for e.g. copying files between a computer and the phone.

Else the 2.0 cable gets a “durable” in its description, while the 3.2 cable gets a “Lasts a lifetime”.

However @formerFP.Com.Manager, it is not mentioned here yet that the 3.2 cable supports the Fairphone 4, and the find a compatible charger or cable link on this page leads to a “Sign in to Fairphone” page.

If you only need the charger to somehow charge the phone, you can try any charger you already have first before buying a new one.
You just need a cable with a USB-C plug for the port in the phone, and the right plug for the port in the charger, in your case as in most cases USB-A (but there are chargers with USB-C ports, too, and chargers which have both).
The two cables mentioned above have both USB-C and USB-A (via the attached adapter part) on the supposed charger end.

You can even try to continue to use your old cable, you would just need an adapter for the port in the phone, in case of the cable you use to charge your Fairphone 1 it would be a micro USB socket → USB-C plug adapter.

If you want to make sure the charger charges your phone really quickly, you will need a new charger.
Your Fairphone 1 charger might still charge the Fairphone 4 reasonably quickly, but we just can’t be sure without both devices in hand.

Keep in mind that for the Fairphone 3/3+ Fairphone stress the importance of USB-IF certified chargers, and it turned out to be also important for cables.
If you want to try your equipment first and shop later locally, should the need arise and you want to save extra shipping costs, it might be prudent to watch out for USB-IF certification then.

If you use wired headphones with your Fairphone 1, the Fairphone 4 doesn’t have the jack for it built-in anymore. Here’s the official Fairphone adapter for this use case, but there should be generic ones in stores near you, too … USB-C to Mini Audio Jack Adapter (3.5mm) - Accessory | Fairphone.

5 Likes

There seem to be some inconsistency on the HP, because when you click on the " choose what’s included" you will be lead to the 3.2 cable, what would make me think that’s the recommend…

7 Likes

You’re right. You don’t even have to click it, it’s just there in plain sight.
Ah well, editing time again :slight_smile: .

1 Like

Yes for Fairphone, they should really check the HP for consistency and completenss…

1 Like

Thank you very much for the quick response. I will probably buy a new cable and try to use it with my old charger. I assume that if the charger should not work it should be possible to charge the phone via my laptop. The 2.0 cable should be fine for me because I do not copy much between the phone and the computer so I don’t mind if it takes some time. I also do not need to charge the phone really quickly and if I change my mind on this in the future I can still buy another charger.
Regarding the headphones - yes, my old ones are wired and I already noticed that there ist no built-in jack. I had preferred one but I can live with an adapter because I do not use the headphones a lot anyway.
Once again thank you very much for your advice. Have a great Sunday afternoon!

3 Likes

One more question: I am unsure as to which version of FP4 to by. As you might already suspect I am not a heavy user of my smartphone. So the “small” version with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage will most definitely meet my needs. After all, I have not even used the full capacity of the 16 GB storage of my FP1… However, I love the green colour of the bigger version and would spend the extra more money just for this colour… :blush: But I read that too much RAM is bad for the battery if you don’t really need and use the capacity. Thus, it might be wiser to buy the smaller version. It’s not a question of the price (regarding the term I’m planning to use the phone the differende would be acceptable) but a question of responsible use of resources. What would you recommend?

1 Like

Yes that’s what I would buy with a red case :slight_smile:
And true more RAM will use more power, maybe not a lot but it all adds up.

Maybe use some coloured nail varnish on the grey case :slight_smile:

I wouldn’t care about the battery usage, it will be negligible and if you intend to use your phone as long as you did with the FP1 then surely go for the bigger ram. It is not sure that more ram uses more battery, it could very well be that it even saves battery. It really depends on a lot of factors, e.g. whether more memory swapping must be done because of the smaller ram.

2 Likes

Seconded.

More internal storage is more future-proof, too, 256 GB might make the difference between you having to use an additional SD card or not, and if not now, then perhaps later, who knows.
If it’s not a question of the price for you, you now have the chance to make sure you will not regret the purchase of the smaller version in a few years time. And you will get your preferred colour :wink: .

We don’t know any difference in the use of resources yet.
It might well be that the number of chips produced and used might be the same in both phones.
RAM and storage chips come with different capacities. The ones with smaller capacity are cheaper, and the resources used for smaller or bigger capacities should be negligible compared to everything which goes into the phone.
In chip production in general the difference often is how many parts of a chip passed a performance test and how many parts failed. Resources used in these cases are the same, but if the chips are not a complete failure and can be used with smaller capacities or fewer cores, it uses resources pretty well compared to throwing away a whole chip. But I don’t know the details about the Fairphone 4 chips. We would need a look at the equipped mainboards of the two phones to compare.

4 Likes

Well I like the extra SD card which isn’t encrypted by default as long as it’s external. Then I don’t loose any of my personal media/data etc. when the phone dies.

The OS is the main user of the memory. My 7 year old Samsung alpha did have 32GB but I only ever used 10GB

My FP3 has 64Gb and 14GB used by the default OS, only 3GB by apps.

The rest is on my SD card formatted as external/portable

1 Like

At the moment I like to have this setup, too.
But I don’t lose my data because I have a backup of it somewhere else, not because I trust the flimsy SD card to keep it safe :wink: .

2 Likes

Hi I have back ups ~ copies of the SD :slight_smile: but don’t use cloud storage, google etc.

2 Likes

Isn’t this the old “anecdotic evidence” again?

My FP3 uses 48 GB of the 64 GB and only 15 GB are used by the system. And thats with me keeping 78 GB of music on the additional SD card (which isn’t even my entire music collection)…

Not to mention the people I had to help as a Fairphone angel in order to free up some space because they could no longer add new photos or documents or apps because storage was full.

Edit: ok, sorry, I probably didn’t give the context enough weight (someone who managed with 16 GB on an FP1). In that case 128 GB are likely enough. But still, I for one always - on FP1, FP2 and now FP3 - just managed with the internal storage because music could be stored on the external card. So I’d still say “The OS is the main user of the memory.” depends heavily on the usage pattern, more so if the phone (partly) replaces a computer.

2 Likes

Hi, thanks to you all for the replies. I am still undecided but still slightly tend to the nice green colour :smiley:

I thought only of the battery, mainly regarding battery life. Although I don’t really have a clue I can imagine that resources for chips are not that big a deal. Still, it feels like a waste to buy a phone with so much storage if I don’t need it. But hey, maybe I will start making thousands of pictures and films with the new phone (nobody who ever saw my photos would believe that!) or use an app for everything instead of just the browser :wink: And maybe future Android will need more storage.

2 Likes

Since the Fairphone 4 camera can do 48 MP output, the resulting picture files could be huge depending on the quality settings and could use lots of storage :wink: .

2 Likes

Surely since everything is modular, you can buy your favourite colour back cover as an extra.

Hi @cimbalom Welocome to the forum.

However

a) the body of the phone, the side you look at and the edges are still the same colour as what you buy, unless you buy multiple modules for hundreds of Euros etc. Modules that are not even available yet, or ever to be, likely/maybe?

b) even buying the back colour means you have an extra colour you don’t want and

c) have you seen the cost of just the back cover, I’ve though there was an error ??? The older FP3 is still 25 Euros for a slim piece of plastic

I finally decided to pre-order the bigger version in green :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: Just to make sure I have enough storage in case I want to keep - unlike today on my FP1 - more than 24 pictures :wink:

6 Likes

It good to be nice to yourself and at the same time up the fair trading.

All the best