General Fairphone 3 discussion

sry, I had to look it up and leaving it here for others :stuck_out_tongue:

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Oh yes! There’s a thread about fair computers:

I was compiling a FOSS and/or fair hardware list the other day, but haven’t posted yet. Could be useful for a wiki post (or on Git). IIRC @paulakreuzer made one for smartphones.

I also saw an effort like this posted on Hacker News, but I haven’t had time to check it out yet.

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It feels to me that the FP3 is really the perfect phone.

It has fair trade mark for gold, there is great rapairability with even more modules.
The design in terms stability has greatly been upgraded, with a lot more screws and better module connectors.
The impact for who actuly are able to buy it, 100 €cheaper, that is an over looked achievement I think.
The circular aspect is ready for this century and they are event makeing licenses of hardware tests with a company, super.
50% reused copper, 50% recycled plastics, that is so well thought through! This is what all future products should strive for, more reuse of materials.
2 phones In one, with the estra sim, saving so many more phone not being produced.
And people who made the product are even payed better then before.

Well done Fairphone, looks like a lot of great work has been done to this phone. :trophy::trophy::trophy:

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For the record: The FP3 (that Fairphone has lent me) will boot with all four small modules unscrewed (top, camera, bottom and speaker) and taken out of the device. Please note: The FP3 refused to boot with both all four modules and all screws removed. It only booted again once I had screwed the 12 Phillips #00 screws (there will be 13 in the commercially available FP3) back into the outside of the core module. UPDATE: Actually I think it does indeed boot with the screws not back in – but the display stayed black.

Side note: It took me exactly 12 minutes for one full disassembly. The most time gets lost on 3-4 stubborn screws in the first step of disassembly – I recommend to have a thin needle or thin tweezers at hand to help with lifting the unscrewed screws out. It’s not about force, it’s just that some of the screws will eventually sit/rest in an angle at the outer end of the screw thread (after you have already fully unscrewed them) and won’t just fall out even if you hold the screw side to the ground. Gently knocking on the display doesn’t seem to help much; my vague impression is that you better gently knock at the slim side of the device to help the unscrewed screws falling out.

Be a bit more careful with screwing the top left screw of the bottom module back into place. This screw holds both the bottom module and the speaker module (not alone, but this is the only screw in the device that penetrates two modules at its fringes at the same time). The screw sits in quite a fragile standout hole that looks like it could easily tear open. When you screw these two modules back into their places, bear in mind that this screw must only be screwed back into place once the speaker module is already in its place and once you are screwing the bottom module back afterwards.

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My tip for being careful would be to use the screwdriver that is included in the package only.

It might be small and fiddly (judging by the pictures), but that helps to reduce the force you can apply to the screws when fixing them.

Using a larger tool might easyly lead to breaking something; especially if some screws are in fragile places.
(I wonder, if some explanation to this regard is included in the instructions manual or even in a prominent place in the box.)

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Slightly unfortunate experience: If you hold the FP3 like this (I tend to think most right-handers will do so) …

… the speaker – sitting next to the left of the bottom left corner of the display – is virtually blocked by your hand by default (mainly resulting in a strong tickle). It’s not inaudible, of course, but rather faintly. The tickle is the main effect.

Hi,
As you already can use a FP3, could you give me a favor and test/answer these features/questions?

  1. Could you post the results of the Camera2 Api probe app? Does it support raw format?
  2. Could you post a screenshot of the camera menu?
  3. Does the FP3 work with Google Sky Map? My Moto G4 does not have a sensor required, so I get a warning if I start that App (“Warnung: unfortunately your device does not have a sensor required by Sky Map to work …”).

Truly yours!
Wolf

Forgive me when for now, I’m only addressing 1 and 2. I would recommend Heise’s brief hands-on video. The camera is dealt with from the 1:47 minute mark. It shows the menu and explicitly addresses RAW (closer to the end of the video). And from the device I currently hold (not own), I can confirm that there is a RAW symbol in the Pro mode in the top right corner of the display.

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Looking at the photo … the other right, perhaps?

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I don’t understand what you want to say. :anguished:

Are you suggesting a right-hander would hold the phone in her/his right hand?

I guess, that’s the idea.
Probably preferences differ.

Some other point:
I just saw this picture on the shop-page. It is labeled “bumper-on-off”. So there’s some protective frame for the phone.


Does it influence inserting the plugs (headphone/usb)?
On the picture, it seems not to get into the way.

Well, the buttons are on the left side, and I would assume the vast majority of people would press them with their thumb, so the design seems to be made for holding it in your left hand (ok, regardless of being left- oder right-handed).

We saw a few bumpers. They don’t influence the plugs and we were told they are shipping with every FP3.

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Sorry to say, but I guess, that’s a rather weak argument, as it is a question of what you are used to in my opinion.
Try holding the phone in the right hand and you got your index- or middle-finger for changing volume and the thumb for switching on and off. Piece of cake, have done it myself once in a while. Otherwise smartphones would be a nuisance for lefthanders, wouldn’t they?

Edit:

They don’t happen to come in different colors?
Would be a waste of resources, but nevertheless a nice feature for some people to have the chance to change them according to mood.

Sorry for not being clear … I thought the photo would be showing a left-handed person, because I am right-handed, and holding the phone with my left hand appears to be a strange concept to me … but perhaps I will not draw general conclusions I can’t draw anyway and start to observe more with which hand people hold their phones :slight_smile:

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For now there is just one bumper cover, but there was talk about working on different colors for the future.

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Good approach, I’ll do the same!

On the FP3, the power button is below the volume buttons, not at the right. It took me some time to find the right way to hold it.

OK, that’s a change.
But I guess, they have tested it with lots of different people.
Does it work with the left and right hand equally well?
After getting used to it of course.

I felt I could operate it well with my left thumb when holding it in my left hand. I was just not used to operating it with my index finger when holding it with my right hand, and it takes some more force when the protective rim is on the phone. How it feels after a few days of usage, I don’t know.