Hello and farewell - I think I'm giving up on the Fairphone 5

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Hi, long time reader / first time poster here - but sadly I think it’s time to say goodbye to my Fairphone 5.

The problem is just… nothing seems to really work?

First though I wanted to share my experience with the FP5 and get any potential solutions before I jump ship. Apologies if there are similar threads or each issue is discussed individually elsewhere, but I wanted to put my perspective all in one place.

I have had the FP5 since early 2024. It was a very lovely gift from my family to replace my Pixel 4a (RIP) that I had been holding onto until one drop too many smashed it to pieces… I had been watching Fairphone with interest, and I decided that rather than getting another Pixel, the time was right to give Fairphone a go. I loved (and still love) the company ethos and mission, and I was accepting of the fact that it meant I wouldn’t be getting the “latest and greatest” in smartphones. I was hoping that it basically would be as good as my Pixel 4a, which at that point was many years old.

I have really really tried to love, or even just like, this phone, but it is becoming increasingly frustrating. Sadly, I cannot think of an aspect of the phone that fully works as it should in day-to-day use. I will give some examples:

- Calls: the fundamental thing a phone should do, and it is just so irregular. Sometimes the call quality is fine (but never great), and other times, in identical circumstances, the quality is so poor as to be unusable. This was not the case on the same network in the same locations with my 4a.

- Apps: even having researched and adjusted all the settings, everything closes in the background the moment you swipe to a different screen. This is particularly frustrating when doing 2 factor authentication or approving payments - by the time I’ve gone to get the code, the app or website I was previously on has reset. Additionally, every few weeks-months it seems every apps’ data gets reset, even for frequently used apps.

- Camera: in perfect lighting, standing still, it takes nice photos (similar to my 4a). However it’s just too slow when opening, meaning I’ve missed many a moment. And the lowlight capability just isn’t there - I tried to take a photo with the lead singer of a band I had gone to see, and it was just a totally blurred mess and I was too embarrassed to ask to retake it.

- Contactless payment: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and I have no rationale as to why.

- Screen and unlocking: similarly, sometimes the fingerprint reader works, sometimes it doesn’t. Tap to wake seems basically non-existent? I am not sure if this was formally removed like the always-on-display, which brings me to…

- Company behaviour: I appreciate the reasons behind the decision (processor incompatibility, as I understand it), but to remove what is quite a key feature from your phone without even a “sorry” is quite rubbish. And the many well documented support service issues. Like the phone itself, the company seems quite irregular and unpredictable in their behaviour.

If I took more time I could probably think of additional frustrations, but that will do for now. As a theme, things sometimes work but not always, and when they do it’s not necessarily done very well.

As I said, I really wanted to love this phone and the company and go “all in”. I even got the Fairbuds, but am thinking of replacing them too as the audio-video delay still hasn’t been fixed (as least on my pair, despite software updates).

I know individual issues have been covered in separate threads, so I suppose what I am really asking is:

Has anyone else felt this way?

Are there any obvious fixes I’ve missed? I’ve been a keen reader of this forum so I think I’ve stayed up to date on most things, but please do chip in with suggestions.

If nothing improves I think my replacement will likely be a refurbished Pixel 10 Pro (hoping to get a phone that will last me a long time).

Thanks for your help and support as always! It has been lovely reading a forum that is generally so kind and well mannered.

From an avid reader and aspiring, but not quite successful, eco-tech convert,

James

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That sounds frustrating indeed. My experience has been quite the opposite so far: I haven’t had any of the issues you describe, and everything — virtually everything — has been running smoothly. However, I own a Fairphone 6 with /e/OS and have only been using it for less than three weeks. (I hope things stay that way…)

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That’s good to hear! I wish you good fortune with it :grin:

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Yep, I hit a lot of the same problems you have, and finally gave up after about 18 months with my FP5, switched to a Nothing Phone (3). It’s been so nice not having to fight with my phone for basic functionality. I’m really hoping the software issues are temporary, and that fairphone figures things out, I just couldn’t put up with it any more.

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About the calls.Just a thought.
Is your SIM card set to 5G/4G/3G/2G?
If so change it to 4G/3G/2G and see what it does for calls.

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Thank you for the tip! Sorry if this is a stupid question but would that mean I wouldn’t get 5G internet? (not that in practice I feel the difference is massive)

Is there a reason why this improves call quality out of interest?

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I feel validated it’s not just me, thank you. As you say I really hope things improve because I want them to do well as a company!

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Yes, no 5G internet.
It seems that 5G is giving problems, as there are statements on this forum where users say their phone works better on 4G.

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Hello
has it always been like that or since the update to Android 15?

In my experience, when there is nightlight mode on, pictures need more time to be processed and when I move the phone too early, the picture gets blurry. Was it also your experience?

My calls and NFC are very reliable so I can’t advise here.

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That’s helpful to know, thank you

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Hiya, I would say the app situation has never been great, i.e. closing very readily in the background, but in the last few months got to the point where I could not swap at all from one app to the other without everything going to sleep/closing in the background. I don’t think it was distinctly different after the Android 15 update.

I would definitely agree with your comments about night-mode photos. I think I was just surprised at how extremely still and motionless both the photographer and the scene needs to be for it to work. Even on my Pixel 4a (released in 2020 as a lower-end phone) the night-mode was quicker and more able to manage moving aspects.

I did really want to love this phone! Which is why I have persisted for a while.

Thanks for your comments :blush:

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I understand we are getting personal about our phones and have our - sometimes - unique expectations.

There is a dedicated thread on memory management issues linked to Android 15 - that is why I asked - with the company representatives confirming looking into it.

https://forum.fairphone.com/t/fp5-android-15-killing-background-apps-more-aggressively

But some users - included myself - are not experiencing that. My apps (apart from Spotify) do not usually close and I am able to complete most of my actions (payments, authentification, shopping). Hard to say how I would feel otherwise, perhaps would struggle like you or look for some radical solutions (a factory reset might be one).

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Thank you, this is a useful read!

As you say, always tricky with phones because they’re such personal things. Thanks again :smiling_face:

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About the night-mode photos: I just played around a bit and there is a 1 second delay with night-mode switched on. With it switched off, the photo is taken almost immediately.

I have disabled night-mode in the settings now. I’ll have to correct the aperture manually by selecting a dark area in the frame, but that’s something I have done for so long it’s almost automatic :slight_smile:.

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I’ve also nearly reached my limit with my fp5. I bought it on release and was originally very excited for it. I do still love the see through back and being able to hot swap the battery has been a life saver but the experience of using the phone itself has been just so so for the whole time I’ve had it. I’ve never had the launcher issues resolve for me. Even on the latest software versions with desktop mode off and all the other tweaks that I’ve found on this forum. Eventually I always have to go back and clear the data from the quick Step app to make my app switcher work. The camera I knew not to get my hopes up for but still agree the night mode is kinda useless for anything other than taking a landscape photo on a clear night. It’s frustrating going to take a photo only to realize it came out blurry after the fact. That happens to me even in normal usage during the day sometimes too.

I’ve tried e/os and I would say it’s an overall better experience than the stock rom but still has many of the problems you mentioned e.g. the camera is still the same experience. At this point I’m hoping I can live with it for a little while longer but I’d be lieing if I didn’t say I’ve have started looking at other phones.

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I’ve had mine since early fall and I’m very happy with it still!

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I totally agree with you. I love the ethos of the company and am fully behind what they stand for, but unfortunately they are designed for the upper middle class that can afford something more expensive to contribute to a greater good (or make them believe they do..). I have a FP4, my wife a FP5, and they simply cannot compete against other brands. After my FP4 bricked due to the update that wasn’t supposed to be released and the VERY poor customer service I received, I won’t buy a new one or suggest it to anyone.

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Indeed the personal stories shared here are understandably frustrating. As many posts in this forum tell, the company’s customer services seems to be part of the problem, rather then a solution (at least up to a couple of months ago, hopefully). STILL it is important to remember that people who doesn’t have problems are less inclined to attend this forum or share their OK experience.

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I have mine since the launch of the FP5 and it performs just fine for my needs.

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Thank you for sharing your experience, that’s validating!