I visited the Fairphone 2 Hands On in Berlin were Miquel and Tina of Fairphone provided some insight into the Fairphone 2 development.
The event was hosted as part of the Tech-Open-Air-Berlin Sattelites at the Posteo Lab (The picture on the website was actually shot at the Fairphone 2 event ;-)).
A really nice location. Attendance was limited and required registration, but free. We were greeted with organic lemonade, Viva con Aqua, fruit, snacks and vegan muffins. And two Fairphone 2 prototypes to touch and take apart. Sadly i did not bother to make any pictures, but we were asked not to take closeups of the prototypes anyway, since there design was still subject to change. Those two devices did not have working software, Miquel shared the working prototype is to valuable to leave the Fairphone office in Amsterdam.
The venue was full and Miquel gave a short presentation on Fairphone in general and the Fairphone 2 particulary. It was very interesting and generally well recieved. I did not make notes but generally i got the impression that they really took care in designing the phone and choosing the right partners. Not every decision is publicy explained, but it became obivous how complex the design and manufacture of a smartphone is.
After the presentation, there was a Q&A session. A lot of very good questions were asked and i was amazed by the honest and friendly atmosphere. Questions ranged from Software (Android 5.1 with Google Play Services) over general design decisions to the plastics in the protective cover (at least in part recycled if i remember correctly?).
Afterwards, we were able to take a look at the devices and discuss with the Fairphone crew.
I personally like the honest answers in the Q&A and the reluctancy to make promises that are hard to keep. For example, Miquel shared that they are targetting for major Android updates for the FP2 for a while, but cannot make any promises. Tina emphazied that they hear the requests for alternative (non-google) operating systems and are working on that, but they cannot share anythink new it that regard yet. Miquel also shared that there might be news regarding the Fairphone 1 software which cannot be released yet, but he sounded very confident.
). It’s especially good to hear that another source confirms