My FP2 is still working fine. So, I’m gonna keep it until it lasts (I hope until FP4). But I’ve already linked the announcement to my brother that has an old phone.
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I’m not a fan of the ever-larger-phone trend. On the other hand, the FP3 is about 10% longer than the FP2, in the other dimensions (width, thickness) the FP3 is slightly smaller. I’m not sure what that means for how I use a phone. I’ll wait until I’ve encountered one in the wild (and until there’s some user experiences floating around) before deciding on this one. I don’t see a need to rush.
I bought it right away. Coming from the FP2, I can use a little bit more battery life and horsepower, NFC, USB-C, QC3, and fingerprint scanner. From what I can tell this smartphone is like a dream come true. Especially if I keep in mind the price and it being a fair product. Only thing I don’t like is I get a free screwdriver with it (useless), but no charger while I have no clue what each and every USB-C cable I got can deliver. It isn’t even that I’ll always need QC3; I will probably put it off by default. But its convenient being able to empower your phone quickly with juice when you need it. It actually even makes a powerbank less a necessity which is good for the environment.
I’ll use my FP2 a while for experimenting with Sailfish/UT and maybe /e/ or something else. Eventually, I’ll sell it.
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If your FP2 works fine, buying the FP3 would even be against the concept of Fairphone, regarding the most sustainable phone to be the one you use right now.
I do feel the “wanna have” myself, but I don’t get me one, unless my FP2 breaks beyond repair.
Cheers, Bert
Still, it takes lots of hours for one full charge (at least overnight).
So, not that much different. And with the toothbrush there is at least some plausibilty for wireless charging to keep the gadget watertight.
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Yep, same here. The FP3 is just way too big for me. I bought a Pixel 3a instead, which offers at least 3 years of updates. With better specs I hope that I’ll reach the same longevity as I could get with the FP3. Main limiting issue will probably be the battery, but as a techie I think I’d be able to replace it, even if that isn’t supported officially.
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I’ll stick with the FP2 until it breaks again (not going to spend any more money on spare parts) or software support ends, whatever comes first. I quite like the FP3 specs, but I’m burned regarding stability, reliability and unfulfilled expectations. Fairphone needs to prove that they can do better and I’m not willing to play the lab rat again. If they really deliver this time, I’ll be happy to consider a FP4 in a couple of years.
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I have a couple questions about the Fairphone 3.
- Will we be able to ship to the US? I remember when the Fairphone 2 came out, US shipping just wasn’t available for awhile.
- Does the Fairphone 3 support CDMA networks? I’ve determines that all but one 4G band my carrier uses are supported, so that should be fine, but the carrier is a CDMA network.
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It is different. I know exactly: 1) how often 2) how long 3) when I use my toothbrush. I use it twice a day, once in the morning, once in the evening, for about 3 minutes each time. If I forget to charge it one day, nothing happens. I often keep my electric shaver attached on the same socket (battery is RIP).
There’s one disadvantage with the toothbrush which is kinda odd but I use a certain brand (with salt) cause it seems the best for my teeth. It has the disadvantage that the salt accumulates on the bottom near the charger, distorting the signal over time, and just looking not very appetizing. I consider it a minor and specific disadvantage though.
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I’m glad there’s a FP3 soon to be available. If anyone from the team is reading this, congratulations!
I switched from my FP1 a little less than two years ago and find myself wondering when I will want to update. FP3 would be a downgrade, technically speaking, and also my current phone is working great. So, I won’t buy it. But in sure as hell going to watch this place, and hope more people will buy it. I’ll help and spread the word.
ETA: by the time FP3 is hitting the market, Android 10 will be available to a selected few, me included. I’m crossing my fingers the structural changes to Android which in theory make it easier for vendors to update will lead to a near-instant update. Nokia and Motorola are on a good path, with three years of updates promised, It would be a good selling point to really have five years of updates. That’s after all a great part of the phones: software.
That said, I bought my current phone for the capabilities of the camera. Fairphone can’t match this, even if a lot of the “camera” is software (and some dedicated processing hardware) today. Still, I’m really, really curious about how FP3 will compete, camera-wise! If it’s not too far behind the development, I’m already happy!
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I don’t expect shipping to the US.
To sell the phone there would require obtaining the needed certification.
That is costly.
Additionally, they would have to offer support, meaning lots of logistics etc.
For now - regarding their blog-post - they are aiming at a stronger foothold in Europe. Once that is achieved, they sure will expand to foreign markets. (Just my guessing of course.)
To the technical question I can only do wild guesses. If the frequency is correct, I would expect it to work.
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I fullheartedly agree to all your points.
I just wanted to point out, that the toothbrush serves to prove, that wireless charging takes its time. And wireless charging is kind of needed to make it working more foolproof in the bathroom.
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No. If you’re on Verizon or Sprint, you should be able to use 4G LTE, but in areas without 4G coverage (on supported bands) the FP3 can’t fall back to 3G / 2G CDMA.
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Will the Dual SIM deactivation bug (https://bugtracker.fairphone.com/project/fairphone-android-7/issue/55) be fixed in the FP3?
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My 2p on wireless charging: my previous phone was an HP Pre 3. They were one of the first parties to offer wireless charging, and with quite a nifty magnet-self-aligning technique to keep the thing in place too. I’ll admit I liked having that feature, but mainly out of a combination of laziness and aesthetics.
Upgrading to the FP2 a while ago meant trading in this feature for dual-sim (which is useful for an expat like me) and WhatsApp support. In practice both of these were more important to me, so in my path forward I never really looked back to wireless charging.
Having both had phones with and without wireless charging, I guess for me such a feature is nice to have, but not a deal-breaker.
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Thanks for this new product.
What about the SARs (head and body) of the FP3 ?
I can not find those values in the specifications.
It is the most important value for me to buy a phone.
Many thanks for any answer, Brgds
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- Max SAR head (W/kg @ 10g) = 0.388
- Max SAR body (W/kg @ 10g) = 1.405
https://shop.fairphone.com/en/?ref=header& (The tech specs/ Network)
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I want to encourage anybody who hasn’t done so yet to read the TechCrunch article linked to earlier (and I know Oath tracking settings are a chore) as it includes comments from Fairphone founder Bas van Abel and answers many questions …
As for me … My backup phone (> 4 year old Lumia 640 Dual-SIM 3G version) finally lost software support back in June and is only 3G, which is being phased out in favour of 5G at least in Germany.
So I was looking for options.
Shiftphone’s otherwise pretty neat 5me is based on a Mediatek SoC, which could spell doom for long software support and Custom ROMs.
The 6mq based on Qualcomm with promised Custom ROM support is a bit larger and way more expensive than the Fairphone 3. And announced for Q1 2020 currently.
The Librem 5 is fascinating, but Single-SIM and way more expensive than the Fairphone 3.
The Fairphone 3 is almost the same form factor as the Fairphone 2, it’s just “longer”, which should be fine with my holding and carrying the phone habits.
I ordered one, but I will wait for Fairphone Open OS or LineageOS as well as perhaps a flip case before demoting my Fairphone 2 to be the backup phone.
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€450??? I guess all the Fairphone 3 needs now is a fair price for me to consider buying one.
That article also includes a very interesting paragraph:
Out of the box the phone comes with Android 9 preloaded. A post-launch update will make it easy for buyers to wipe Google services off their slate and install the Android Open Source Project instead.
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True !
Ethics is not only about the hardware, it should be in the software too.
For many people having their life monitored by Google is a serious concern too.
I’ve opened a discussion that is specifically about getting a Free/Open source operating system for the FP3 that works out of the box (and could be pre-installed as a buying option !).
See : FP3 : Open OS ?
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