Ideas/Suggestions

Hi, I am very interested in Fairphone to get one when my current phone should either die, or battery starts to empty very quickly.

I love that Fairphone makes huge efforts to get everything as Fairtrade.

But I do have some “wishes” that would make this product even greater (at least for me).

Since I have watched the documentary Plastic Planet, I always try to avoid plastic as much as possible but that is very difficult. And when it comes to electronics it is nearly impossible. At least I was able to buy Keyboard and mouse made of bamboo.

So my first suggestion would be, to replace plastic as much as possible with bamboo wood (liquid wood would be maybe easier to produces cases etc.).

Or metal like tin, just not Aluminium. I wouldn’t mind the much heavier weight, it might make it feel even more valuable.

My second suggestion would be, to be able to get higher capacity batteries with 4000 mah or even more.
And of course as soon as solid state batteries are a reality, you should also switch and provide them.

And Fairphone could also sell battery charger, or maybe make use of the wireless charging technology to charge the second battery.

It would be also great if you could ship worldwide, since I am currently residing in asia. That would be great.

And my last point, since what is going on with the chinese government and them arresting foreigners for political reasons, I would move out of china to Vietnam or any other SEA country. And with the CCP commiting genocides and it’s war mongering lately, it does not really reflect Fairphones value. If you wouldn’t work together with North Koreans government, then why with the chinese government? They are the worst.

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First of all, I’m no FP employee, and if I understood correctly (I’m quite new here myself), they’re not active in this forum, though they read it. So it’s just some personal thoughts.

I don’t know… The FP3 already is quite bulky and heavy compared to most other Smartphones about. Adding thicker material (would be required for wood to avoid it’s breaking) or heavier metal would probably reduce the number of users willing to wear that brick in their purse (forget about the pockets in any trouser except maybe some cargo pants). Also, metal is very complicated to handle, as it’s blocking or at least intefering with all the required antennas (phone, WLAN, BT, NFC). To a lesser extent, probably wood as well, due to the water it contains. Glass might be an alternative (after all, it’s been used with some old iPhones and Nexus 4), but it’s also quite heavy and breaks easily.
So I think sticking to recycled plastic or PLA (made from corn starch) are better solutions.

Why? More weight, higher use of rare materials, and the battery already lasts suprisingly long for a modern Smartphone. If anybody really needs more, one can buy additional batteries.

I doubt that’ll happen before FP7. Or iPhone 30.

I have to admit I really don’t get wireless charging. It stops charging as soon as I use the phone, and it wastes a lot of energy. (Admittedly, more regarding the efficency factor, as the absolute power usage of a phone isn’t that high compared to e.g. a refrigerator.)
As with the need for a 2nd or bigger battery, I’m also not sure if the demand would justify the efford - not just in manpower, but also energy to create the product and prototypes.
If possible, maybe a back cover with integrated Qi might be nice for those who like it, though. Like it’s been with the LG G4.

From what I gathered, they’re already trying to do that, but it’s not that easy to find alternatives. A small company like them can’t just build their own factory from scratch.

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Actually plastic is pretty efficent material considering carbon footprint and durability. Its hard but flexible (doesn’t crack too easily) It doesn’t react with for example water and it scratches instead of cracking. there is a reason why so many things are made of plastic. (including plastic made of plants and recycled plastic. ) plastic itself is not too big problem. Bigger problem is that plastic is so cheap that its often used in stuff that people use only once and because its so superior considering its non-biodegrading nature. Phones have much bigger problems in recycling than plastic. And considering battery Fairphone 3 already has almost 12Wh battery which for most of the users is big enough higher voltage also reduces the wear and tear that battery is going to go trough so it should last longer than battery with higher milliamperes and lower voltage.

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ok seems like you don’t have to listen me cobsidering the electrical things but still the point is fp3 life is really good after over year of use and has decent buffer for battery degradion so I think that I may have to change this battery only once during this phones 5 years of support.

Opinions which are the results of just thinking about it. You guys have zero experience and/or expertise.

We all have opinions about stuff we have no idea how it works in real life and therefore have zero value in real life.

And how about you guys use that thing we call google, search some documentaries about plastic, watch them, and THEN talk about how awesome plastic is? By addressing those issues mentioned in these documentaries if you disagree with it… instead of let’s just think about it and then bring our best arguments?

I hate plastic and I don’t want it!! There is a reason more and more people try to live a Zero waste life and a plastic free life. Don’t know if it can be already called a movement but it is happening.

And if Fairphone really wants to change the world, they have to compete with all the big tech companies. You can’t always stay behind 2 years. Most people chose the latest tech over outdated but fairtrade tech. And as long as they continue to do that, all other companies won’t even consider doing fairtrade like Fairphone.

So the entire purpose of starting Fairphone would be a farce. They have to become a major player, otherwise they remain a niche tech companie and all the awards such as Fairtrade gold don’t mean shit.

And right now Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G with its 5000 mah battery is way more appealing to me than this Fairphone 3+

And reading comments about software problems I even didn’t mention before. It has to be solid software.

As much as I would love to get a Fairphone for all what it does so much better, I still find it hard to buy an outdated phone when I can get one which has way better specs.

It is just not enough to change the industry.
Otherwise it would have already happend.

I wrote those suggestions so they hopefully see it and might somehow implement it.

And not to discuss opinions with zero effort to do any research (documentaries), getting replies with: But it is nice because I think so are not helpful, and I have no motivation to educate you guys, so please go watch those docs by yourself so I don’t have to inform you where you then anyway would dismiss everything I would say.

This topic was closed at the request of @Transit-Future who started the discussion.