Just ordered an FP3. Does anyone know whether charger packs (ie so you can charge a spare battery whilst using another in the phone) have been available for previous FPs and if this is likely to be available for FP3? My last two LG phones have had this and it’s proved very useful.
How long will it be before screen protectors are available?
There are universal smartphone battery chargers.
Worked for the Fairphone 2 battery, should work for the Fairphone 3 battery.
Thanks - anything in particular I should look out for in these (good or bad)?
I guess there’s no other way than to just check them out.
I got a generic, dirt cheap one, and it works great with the Fairphone 2 battery.
Edit: For the people following the link (what was I thinking 
) … the charger isn’t available anymore where I got it back then, but it is still widely available on eBay, just search for “universal battery charger” and you should see multiple sellers for basically the same charger.
So yeah I was finally able to listen to the complete YouTube video. In the YouTube video on the first post (which was the orig. live stream for press) there’s a few more information things which I haven’t read throughout the thread.
Fairhone are not going to focus on US sales in the near future. The next focus point (was announced also via the crowdfunding) is Scandinavian countries because of the belief that there is a high amount of potential customers. They’re aware of demand in US and other European countries.
The Nordic operators are Tele 2 from Sweden, Elisa from Finland, and a few resellers (Etc (?) and Inrego (?)).
In the Nordic countries FP3 will cost 475 EUR. The context was about tax and how much the smartphone would cost in Germany (answer: 450 EUR).
Fairphone will sell a modular earphone in their shop. You’ll be able to detach the wire if its broken.
Bootloader was already mentioned, it was mentioned in stream as Re: to question for a secure mode (not sure what he means with that, MDM?). It was described in the video how easy it is to unlock bootloader.
My comment on #4 is that this is such a simple and clever invention, and actually potentially is going to be also user-friendly to put on/off a sweater or detach cable when you arrive at work or home after commute. I might actually prefer such over wireless headphones.
My question on #5 is does this affect things like Widevine certification? Will the FP3 (with such a nice screen) have a higher Widevine level?
I don’t think, that I would unplug two earpieces more easy than on phone-plug (if I got you right?).
But If you forget about the cable, maybe the earpiece plugs come off more easyly, so I wont pull out the phone anymore and it ends up less frequent on the floor. 
I am glad being able to visit the Stuttgart Fairphoners meeting today.
I came there, I saw (also when disassembled), I touched, I operated the FP3 and - if my FP2 would not operate so smooth I would had ordered one this afternoon.
Does anyone know how I can tell for sure if the FP3 will work in Japan? I know someone that has the FP2 that works here…but wondering about 3 
@Katherine1 the above is correct. However, Verizon is abandoning CDMA. They say 90% of their coverage is already LTE, so they’re going to focus on building up 4G and 5G coverage while phasing out their 3G CDMA network by the end of 2020. FP3 works on their LTE bands. So it should be okay. But no one at Fairphone or Verizon has been able to tell me for sure whether it would actually work. A recent article said Verizon network software is set to only accept approved devices even if they do operate on the right band.
I don’t know if Sprint is different. But for Verizon, it seems like it should work but it’s a risk.
I really like this “Endgadget.com” article on FP3.
It’s not all praise, but seems to be a realistic approach.
Fairphone 3 is the ‘ethical’ smartphone you might actually buy - For $500, you get a capable phone and a clean conscience.
The conclusion of this article (boldface done by me):
Projects include working with gold miners in Peru and Uganda, pushing the latter to adopt fairtrade standards. In partnership with NGOs in the area, the company is working to eradicate child labor by implenting better working conditions for adults and helping children stay in school. Their work also pushes for better methods of mining, to prevent the use of harmful mercury in the processing of gold.
Larger manufacturers have dense, complicated supply chains and it’s all-too possible for ethical issues to slip through the net. If you’ve opted not to buy clothes that use sweatshop labor, and keep flirting with vegetarianism, then this is the phone for you.
And if you couldn’t care about either of those issues, then you should still probably buy this phone. With the 3, Fairphone is trying to make the leap from niche devices for folks trying to do better, to making ethically-responsible smartphones that many will actually want to own.
You are correct, however, the USB 2.0 protocol is simply “hitch-hiking” on a 3.x protocol stream in this case. And since the Fairphone is using USB-C to charge it’ll have to be at least USB 3.0 (with 3.1 being the likeliest option since it’ll be really hard to find plain USB 3.0 controllers for SOCs these days).
Notably, the Motorola g7, which many compare the new Fairphone to because they’re using the same baseline, has the same notation in its specs (under “View all specifications”), so does the Pixel 3a XL (again, similar phone), both of which are also using either direct Power Delivery or a sub-standard (Qualcomm’s QuickCharge) as their charging option, a feature of the chipset/SOC and USB 3.0/.1.
All in all, I believe the Fairphone 3, given the evidence, is using a SOC with at least USB 3.x (likely 3.1) with modern Power Delivery features.
Tbh I am not super convinced with the fairphone 3 specs.
I have been interested in a fairphone for longer, as I think it is important to promote a more sustainable society. However, so far I have always got second hand phones which is ofcourse even more sustainable than buying a new one. Currently I have a Samsung galaxy S6 edge that I had for close to 3 years now. It still works fine in general but the battery performance is decreasing, so I will need a new phone sometime in the future.
I do not need a super fancy high end phone, I mainly use my phone for browsing and taking pictures. However, when I compared the specs of my current phone with the fairphone 3 it seems barely an upgrade. RAM is better, battery capacity increased, and more memory. However, the screen seems worse, the camera seems worse, and the fairphone is bigger which is a disadvantage for me as I have small hands and the S6 is already big for me.
I am quite hesitant to get a new phone that is barely an upgrade to my current phone. I am very much willing to pay more for something that is sustainable but I am using my phone so often that I do not want to downgrade. Is there something that I am missing? I am not very tech savvy so I might not be able to interpret all specs correctly
I am no techie either, I am just reporting, what I read in other threads plus my own opinion of course.
The specifications are one point.
The experience is something completely different.
Do you feel the need to get a faster phone with better graphics, as you are playing 3D-games or the like? Is there anything your phone does or should do, that is not the way you like it?
If that is not the case, the specifications are ok for you and you do not need better ones.
Most likely, if you are using just the basic functions (including social media), you will not even recognize any difference, when using a high-end phone.
Same goes, if you use a phone with slightly lower specs.
Maybe read this article:
that is already mentioned in this thread, or this one:
They are both really interesting and might help you decide.
And finally: With Fairphone you get that special feeling, that no other phone can offer. 
Like me, you have a phone that works. Replacing it, even with an ethical, repairable, recyclable phone is not doing the world any good! So I also won’t be buying an FP3 for a while … 'till the FP2 becomes unusable! Then, yes I guess I will stump up the cost of two refurbed iPhone 6s or two new Motorolas (or 50% of the cost of a slave built almost unrepairable iPhone X) on an FP3 … or FP4 if the FP2 keeps going a couple more years ;¬).
Nice that Fairphone takes back old phones for recycling. But best for environment is to use your device as long as possible.
I have bought the FP2 in order to use it as long as possible.
My daughter is using an iPhone 5S and she still receives Software Updates. 5 year software gurantee does not seem very special.
FP3 modules are not compatible with FP2 as it’s a completely different architecture.
FP2 should still be supported 3 more years as I recall an announcement when they released it with Orange in France 2 years ago and said it would still be covered for 5 more years for spare parts and software updates… Which would make a total of… 7 years of maintenance for the FP2! Let’s hope they’ll be able to do it! It’s very special for such a small company to keep it this long… And remember if Apple keeps updating, it’s great… But also to slow the phone down, supposedly to protect the battery life (changed for the small amount of 90€!), but what a damn luck, just before every new iPhone release… to make you want to change it?
Hey Twijfelaar,
Small hands is the key point of your post, IMO. The FP3 seems like it will stay nice in the hand (given the back, given reviews I read, and given the way it looks) but it will be a tad bit longer than FP2 (I read here on forum 10% but I did not verify).
With regard to hand size, the bigger smartphones are horrible for you, which is the recent trend, but as long as the size goes in length it is OK I suppose. What I don’t know for sure, is how the fingerprint reader is going to be for different hand sizes.
A second hand smartphone does not market itself as being sustainable. Other people don’t know or see this. But that is a bad argument to buy a FP3, one Fairphone would disagree with. So for you, perhaps an other second hand smartphone which suits your hands well is perhaps a better solution.
You might want to read some of the reviews. I’m aware of 2 in Dutch but you might appreciate them in other languages as well.
@BertG Thanks for your input. You are right that I do not need better specs at the moment. But what about the coming years? My previous phones all had to be replaced at a certain point because they could just not handle the newer apps anymore. And I am a bit worried about downgrading camera wise.
I read different reviews but they usually compare to current phones and say it is not a high end one, which is fine by me. I was just a bit surprised that it is also not so much better than a 4 year old phone model.
@JeroenH Thank you for your response. Indeed the current trend of bigger phones is super annoying imo. I travel a lot with public transport so the length is already a bit of an issue with my current phone as it is hard to reach the top of the screen with one hand (I generally need the other one to prevent myself from falling over 
).
I think for now I will just do with my S6 and read some more customer experiences with the fairphone 3 once my battery really died, and decide at that time whether indeed another second hand phone would suit me better. That would be unfortunate though, I really like to support sustainable businesses
Why don’t you look for somebody, who puts in a new battery into your device? That would be the most worthwhile way in regards to our environment.
To keep up with the software development and security updates you coud install a Lineage custom rom (https://www.cyanogenmods.org/forums/topic/download-lineage-os-16-for-galaxy-s6-edge/).
@JeroenH yes, but the VCX score for the FP3 isn’t on the VCXX website, or at least I can’t find it 
@mheiber thanks for the technical explanation. You’re also right to reference the SoC specs and other smartphone with the same SoC, as that will tell us what we need to know (unless for some reason FP did not put the required pin connections in place on the USB-C port? - from what I can tell, USB 2.0 and USB3.x use different pins).
@Katherine1 and @Paul-Gabriel_Wiener, I think that @ChuckMorris is correct about the network compatibility of the FP3 on Verizon - it will work on 4G most of the time as most 4G/LTE bands for Verizon are supported on the FP3. However, if Verizon is still using CDMA for 2G/3G (I don’t know, but I assume it is as otherwise millions of people would no longer be able to use their phones…) then the FP3 will stop working as soon as you lose reception on one of the LTE bands it supports. So, in general, I would say that no the FP3 will not work on Verizon (or any network which still has legacy CDMA infrastructure).
In addition Verizon should just say “no, you can’t use the FP3 on our networks” because the FP3 has not been certified by the FCC 
Actually, I just saw this on the FP website, which says that FP3 will not work on 4G/LTE in the USA: https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032577632-Connectivity-of-the-FP3-outside-of-Europe
@tomgey actually Samsung do make their own SoC, the Exynos range, which is fairly comparable to Qualcomm’s and is used in the Galaxy range in many parts of the world. However, you’re right to say that FP cannot design and make their own SoC, that really would be overreaching themselves! (and losing sight of their mission).
What about me? I fully support Fairphone’s aims, ambitions, goals and the way they are going about it. However, I’ve no need to buy an FP3. My smartphone and my wife’s are currently working fine (her Moto G3 seems to be indestructible, so repairability is not an issue, although no more security updates is) but I will be encouraging my friends and family to get a FP3 when they need a new smartphone - in fact they’re probably already sick of me on FB/Twitter! 
I notice that the FP3 is now listed on Sky Mobile for 15 GBP per month SIM free: https://www.sky.com/shop/mobile/phones/fairphone/fairphone-3?handset=15394&swap=36MSWAP24… strangely with the ability to upgrade after 24 months! I don’t think this means to an FP4, I think it’s just part of their standards offers… which kind of defeats the point of the Fairphone! Still, is 15 GBP for FP3 as a service too much? The total contract length is 36 months, so it would be 540 GBP in total and I presume without the full FaaS effect. I also see that Sky Mobile aren’t listed on the Fairphone page with operators: https://www.fairphone.com/en/for-business/?ref=footer
The Phone Coop was listed as a partner in the press conference, but there is still nothing about the FP3 on their website.
I’m also a bit disappointed that iFixit don’t yet have the repair score on their website, although they do have an article there: https://www.ifixit.com/News/the-fairphone-3-is-here-and-its-not-the-only-sustainable-phone-on-the-way
Cheers