I just got the FP6 e/os after nearly 7 years with FP3 (and before that the very first crowdfunded FP1).
The first FP1 was google free by default which was great.
My FP3 was made google free by a friend, who first installed lineage OS and then after a few years e/os.
Now I got the FP6 e/os right away. and I was a bit surprised to see that it is about 50 € more expensive than the google one. I would have thought that Fairphone (the company) is all for the alternatives to google, due to the “data octopus” issue etc. So it would make more sense to sell the e/os-FP cheaper than the google-FP.
Also, I just read about the MyFairphone App (actually don’t know yet what it’s like), that’s only available for the google-FP. Why not for the google-free e/os FP?
and finally, when I bought the FP6 (which was really difficult as I was without phone) the first pay option after credit card was google! (and then Klarna, which is really bad in Germany, as it affects the Schufa score negatively, long story…)
so why this closeness to google all the time? did I miss something?
The common user wants every app to work and Google has imposed ‘security’ features that can only be met with certain Google ‘services’. And since Fairphone want to sell phones to common users, they have to kneel down.
I hate it, but in this capitalistic world I understand it.
Not defaulting to full Google would kill Fairphone.
You could always buy a FP and install e/OS yourself, I did that when I bought my FP 3. That would save you the 50 Euros. It takes about an hour, maybe less if you have done that more often. I heard that there is a possibility you can brick your device, if you do something wrong. If it works you have save the 50, if not and you have a brick, what do you do? Will FP or any other company take the phone back and refund you. Only asking
Allerdings sind keine Google-Apps vorinstalliert – Fairphone hat es nicht rechtzeitig geschafft, dafür eine Lizenz von Google zu erhalten.
Translation by Deepl
However, no Google apps are preinstalled—Fairphone was unable to obtain a license from Google in time.
Which to me sounds like kind of an accident that the FP1 came without gapps (but a homescreen shortcut to install them), in order to not further delay the already delayed shipping of the FP1. IIRC they intended to ship before christmas 2013 but only started to send the first few devices between christmas and new year because of other delays (also mentioned in the article). My take is Fairphone intended to have the FP1 come with gapps preinstalled but they had to make a compromise.
thank you for commenting on my phrasing. yes, the first FP1 was google free by default / how we got it, but that was a side effect of google’s reluctance to cooperate with FP.
but for me (and probably many others) it was great, as we could decide not to activate google. and the FP1 worked fine all the time as it was.
I remember that this was an issue when the next FP1 (what was it called again, don’t remember) came out, because then it had google and some users were asking if this could be reversed
I think the last time we got some numbers was for the FP2 and the share of people using FP Open OS:
So 8 years ago that share was 5%. I’d guess the numbers would be somewhat higher today as degoogling has gained popularity in my view. And compared to FP2 times it’s now possible to buy FPs with alternative OSes preinstalled (self-install still is a barrier).
If you brick by trying to install another OS your Fairphone you can reach out to support and for about 50 euros Fairphone will reset your phone.
But all your data will be lost.
thanks that’s interesting! and yes, the number could be a bit bigger today - and maybe even more so, if both phones cost the same (my +25€ -25€ suggestion).
Murena is selling Fairphone devices as well, similar pricing, would you like them to change them to match Fairphone website?
As far as I understand, the devices are assembled with FPOS and then someone needs to flash alternative OS, I would assume it is to be expected that this service costs something.
Went from iPhone to FP6+ /e/os straight. Never had Android before, and have nothing with google ^ ^ so I do not miss anything they offer by going anonymous. Payments are Curve, hit or miss, like on my old iPhone - possibly PEBCAP. Moving pictures and music in a win11 environment is a breeze compared to the iPhone mess (Cx File Explorer is scaringly great). 50 euro well spent,
Same here, I bought the FP6 second hand specifically to run it with /e/OS. No wireless payment for me, since I also use Magisk, but that only meant an additional 5€ to get a phisical debit card from my bank. Never had the need to pay with the phone.
FP4 here. I installed Iodé OS with integrated microG. Hence utterly degoogled. All apps function properly including those from Google app store. Despite Google’s ‘enhanced security’ policy.
On the topic title question, I guess by now I am not breaking any confidentiality anymore (if it was ever meant confidential) – at the Fairphone launch last year, I learned that the share of Fairphones with /e/OS pre-installed that Fairphone was selling through their own shop then (so this should be Fairphone numbers) was somewhere between 10 and 20 %. Which I find quite significant given way back FP Open (self-installable degoogled operating system option for the Fairphone ) was only ever estimated at 5% operating system share, and also considering Murena sells Fairphones with /e/OS, too.
Thanks, that’s interesting! (your surname isn’t Hanning by any chance?)
I didn’t know they already sold e/os FP5, good initiative. My FP3 had friend-installed e/os and that was great. (after first having had friend-installed lineage).
just one more thought on the price issue: Fairphone does the numbers PR thing, = they don’t sell the phones for 650 or 700 € but use the 649 and 699 € figures. hoping that that will persuade people to consider more to buy a phone?
I still think it is in their capacity to change the prices for the google-FP and the e/os-FP they sell on the FP-page. so make the google-FP a tiny bit more expensive and the e/os a tiny bit cheaper (that’s the + - 25 € proposal). Do this just for a year to find out if the 50 € difference is an issue for customers (and earn x times 25 € more with the google FPs).
I think first and foremost Fairphone is still a company that has to make money to exist, and they will predominantly make money with the Google version because that is the Android most consumers expect. And if you’re tied into Google services, starting with Gmail, already anyway, just not having those on your Android phone will mean… very little in the long run Given comparatively the “almost 0” marketshare of fairphone in the first place, I can appreciate they want to sell a version of the phone that would have an out of the box “oh, this is just like my previous phone” experience rather than a (admittedly small) learning curve of “why is this different / why does this app not work or is not even available / why do I have to install X before I can do Y?”) close, but not the same approach. And actually IMO making consumers pay MORE for the Google version may hurt fairphone as a whole. e/OS users make a conscious decision, Google users will quickly move to devices that cost the same or are even slightly cheaper and offer better on paper performance because the good ethics of a company alone don’t guide a majority’s purchasing decision or there wouldn’t be a single Tesla on the road
reading this thread now i feel kind of sad my purchase will count towards the google-percentage instead of /e/os, when i just took the cheaper one and will install a custom rom immediately
launch last year, I learned that the share of Fairphones with /e/OS pre-installed that Fairphone was selling through their own shop then (so this should be Fairphone 
numbers) was somewhere between 10 and 20 %. Which I find quite significant given way back FP Open (self-installable degoogled operating system option for the Fairphone 
) was only ever estimated at 5% operating system share, and also considering Murena sells Fairphones with /e/OS, too.
Given comparatively the “almost 0” marketshare of fairphone in the first place, I can appreciate they want to sell a version of the phone that would have an out of the box “oh, this is just like my previous phone” experience rather than a (admittedly small) learning curve of “why is this different / why does this app not work or is not even available / why do I have to install X before I can do Y?”) close, but not the same approach. And actually IMO making consumers pay MORE for the Google version may hurt fairphone as a whole. e/OS users make a conscious decision, Google users will quickly move to devices that cost the same or are even slightly cheaper and offer better on paper performance because the good ethics of a company alone don’t guide a majority’s purchasing decision or there wouldn’t be a single Tesla on the road 