History repeating: Saying goodbye to my FP2 about two years after I sold my FP1-

Tomorrow morning, I will ship my second hand FP2 to a new owner. I feel kind of sad, to let it go. The reason is: For my job, I need stable support for Android 8. Since about 26 months ago, I sold my used FP1 after about 2 years of use for roughly the same reasons, I would like to share my thoughts and impressions.

I only had the FP2 for 7 months. I don’t sell it because I don’t like it. On the contrary, I really enjoyed the FP2 – and compared to the FP1 it aged much better. But I still work in Android Development in a Start-Up and I feel as a developer, it’s important to have access to the latest and greatest in Android updates (You’r experience or requirements may differ :wink:).

To me, the FP2 is and was still a huge step forward from the FP1. With Google Services integrated, it was turn on and use for me. It took me 8 minutes and Threema was installed and a few minutes later, my backup was restored. I mention Threema, because that actually took the most time to transfer. Setting up K9mail and Davdroid was snappy and easy. And the FP2 was stable. I kind you not, I did not have more the two crashes in 7 months of heavy use. I had some problems encrypting the FP2 after installing the new camera, but once you know the workaround, that’s not a real problem.

The camera upgrade was huge for me, I really did not like the old camera module, but was happy with the new one. Custom ROMs support? Wow, Lineage OS is stable on the FP2. Security Updates? Way better the all I knew except for Google.

The only thing that was missing for me? Really only Android 8. Well, maybe the storage could be a bit faster, the processor could have been 64bit and support the latest hardware encryption extension (required for Android 7 and newer) and a bit more RAM would have made the device more snappy. I think all of that is possible today at roughly the same price point.

That brings me to my only critique: You opinion might differ, but I cannot really recommend a new FP2 today. The only reason for that is the older SoC and, because of that, the old Android version. I love what FP2 is doing, but atm, I cannot really recommend a new FP2 to the people asking me. I think the improvements in Android 7 and 8 are significant, and further improvements are coming with Android 9 this year: Be it file-based encryption, project treble, seamless updates, better power saving, better restriction of permissions, Quick Replies, Notification dots. All these really improve the UX of an Android device. And, wow, does Android 8 feel fast.

I do not argue for a lower price, but a more future-proof hardware. I will keep being active on this forum, i will read the blog and I subscribed to the Newsletter. To, with all the improvements of the FP2, I got a lot of confidence in Fairphone. Count me in for FP3 pre-orders. And rest assured: If the FP3 does improve in those areas the FP2 lacks today, I will be able to recommend it again.

What are your thoughts on this?

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I think whether you can recommend it or not depends more on the one who’s asking than the one who’s answering. A stranger recently emailed me as the de facto Aachen Fairphone person to ask me if I would recommend a used FP1 that she had been offered. I clearly told her I cannot recommend it to a power user for whom the smartphone is the primary internet device and who watches videos and streams music a lot; but that I myself was still happily using my FP1 for my most important tasks: phone, music, timer, calendar, (emergency) camera; and that I still preferred internet use on my computer. I explicitly mentioned the lack of security updates and how I myself recently struggled and failed to login to my freemail accounts (through Firefox/Lightning). So basically I characterized the FP1 as suitable for offline use.

I expected a reply like “phew, that was disillusioning”, but she eventually replied saying this (my way of using the FP1) was just like hers and that my reply convinced her to buy the used FP1.

Just one case, yes, but just to illustrate my first sentence. Quite apparently, you are a different kind of smartphone user, so for you it was probably an inevitable choice. :slight_smile:

P.S.: And while I didn’t ask, I strongly think the stranger was not a senior citizen. :wink:

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Well, while I understand your opinion, I hope you found a phone that suits you now well.

My experience with my company phone from a brand new phone with a modern SoC from a known vendor with Android 7 is: The phone itself is fast, but the desktop is still lagging, and email slow. The phone itself comes with bloatware, it comes with vendor tracking turned on, restrictions in some rights result in problems with some of the used software. Overall this brand new phone is not any better than a standard FP2.

My thought is: It does not depend on the latest SoC, but

  • technically: on the vendors’ implementation, on the additional software given by the vendor with the phone
  • ethically: the effort of the vendor in sourcing of minerals, the effort of improving the quality of production chain and their employees
  • the community support from the vendor, and last but not least: the community around

Therefore I think, the Fairphone is still a competitive product.

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Yes you are probably right. I did answer similarly regarding the FP2 (new, 530€). But I would have loved to simply say: Buy it.

I do not want to advertise other phones here, but I bought the new phone refurbished and tried it intensely before selling. The new phone is a late 2016 device from Google. I have to say: It’s blazing fast. Since I specifically wanted the most recent Android, it was a simple decision to make.

I think in general, you are right, but speaking of Android 7 or even 8(.1): It’s specifically the SoC. But that’s discussed at a hundred places in this forum already :innocent::wink:

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