I’m new in the forum, but I’ve been following the community for a while. I’ve always been impressed how supportive everyone is to find solutions to individuals problems, or offering new ways to improve future fairphones, and alternative OSs.
I’ve had my Fairphone 3 since July 2020 and I installed /e/OS on it, as I’m really not a big fan of any company basing its revenue on using and selling the data of its users.
Today, I wanted to share with you a bet I’ve made with my girlfriend which is most likely impossible for me to win:
If my Fairphone outlives her next two phones, I win.
If I get a new phone before she gets her third new phone, she wins.
Loser has to take the winner to a restaurant of its choice. Which we both know will be a two or three Michelin stars restaurant.
We do this as an incentive for her to renew her phone less - lately she changed her phone every year - and for me to see if I can follow the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
I know it’s probably impossible, software and hardware may fail me before… But I’ll do my best and keep updating this thread with news on how is the experience with the phone, which troubles I encounter and ask for advice on how to fix things without changing.
Don’t hesitate to tell me if you guys are interesting in this!
You think Fairphone do this via the deafult OS.
It isn’t necessary to have a google account to use the phone and the phone can be degoogled.
I have decided to keep the default Android degoogled rather that install an alternative Android.
As fas as supporting companies that thrive on data I agree but acknowledge that is that way things are progressing. It’s not a bad thing I just want to reduce the trade on my part and to that extent I consider social medai an imensly greater ‘threat’ and hence have no, Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. etc.
But in order to help a daughter of mine with her FP3+ I instALLED WhatsApp and so down the slipper slope I went .
This sounds like a fun bet, wish you all the best and that you win of course!
Just a quick question that came right to my head when reading your post:
Have you defined what a “new phone” is? So let’s say your core module breaks down and you get a donor device that you would want to take the core module from.
Would that count as a new phone and thus make you loose the bet?
Just me searching for edge cases, sorry
Oh, I didn’t mean to say it’s a bad thing to use Android with Google Services, I can clearly see all the advantages that the company brought and still brings. It gives some of the best services on Earth that allowed everyone to use the internet to get knowledge, get connected and speak with anyone on the globe.
It’s just that I believe that now there can be another way of doing this. I try to support any initiative that goes that way. Installing /e/ OS was what I believed to be a step in that direction. But I don’t mean ot say “it’s THE choice to make”, I know there are many ways to do things.
Saying that, I also still have WhatsApp on my phone, as it’s the only medium some of the people around me accept and I can’t convince everyone to use Signal.
All the best to you and your daughter, I think it’s amazing she’s rocking a Fairphone 3+!
Thank you, it really should be a fun bet! We’re both sore losers, so either way I’m sure we’re going to face absurd situations
We talked about it and agreed on the fact I can repair any module, even the core one. It’s all about keeping the Fairphone 3. The only case where we would consider that I lost would be if I get another Fairphone 3 and throw away the current one as is.
I agree with amoun. As long as it stays a repair, no matter how heavy it is, I’m good!
Actually I’m finding it hard to decide who I should wish to win the bet! I mean if your girlfriend keeps her phones longer from now on, that might actually be the best effect of the bet
Maybe you could even the field a bit by swapping phones every six months and get a better idea of what traumas each has to cope with.
Oh! that daughter gave up due to some map navigation issues, she wasn’t that relaxed, so now I have two FP3+s
However another daughter has now bought the FP4 so there a bit of an awareness that effort can be made to Fair trade in the phone market.
There are lots of winners just buying the phone, so you have already won in many people’s eyes. ( To the miners and factory workers you’ll always be a winner)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience! It’s amazing to see how aware can the new generation be with environmental and social issues, even if there’s always the trend pressure. It really gives hope to think about this!
I agree, considering the effort Fairphone makes with their phone, I have no regret choosing it in 2020.
Regarding the swapping phone suggestion, considering how much she enjoys social media and taking pictures with her phone, I think she would throw away my phone in half a day
Not to mention, she really enjoys a certain brand of phones that rhymes with maple
On the surface, that bet sounds fun, but is could also be very dangerous. Can you imagine your girlfried putting up with a phone that slows down on each upgrade. Within two years, she might end up looking at her phone and hating you for it and add that on to the list that she doesn’t like about you. Heavens forbid she considers recycling you along with her phone - Arrrgh!
Seriously though, if you are allowed to buy new modules then perhaps it would be a fairer bet if she be allowed to upgrade to a second hand phone of her choice before hate for the device she owns really kicks in. It’s still recycling isn’t it? Not on the same scale I admit. If she goes 2 years before upgrading, that’s still an improvement. Depends on how much you want to win, and what you are prepared to lose
My samsung galaxy A16 has lasted me without major issues for the last 6 years, I bought a fairphone 4 because the screen was beginning to jitter randomly / it was getting slow / the battery was beginning to fail.
If fairphone is true to their promises of selling durable phone, I expect this one to last me for at least 12 years in order to match my last phone (331/6 = 55,17 EUR/Year → 649 EUR /55,17 = 11.76 years). Hopefully, we will both win our bet.
I don’t think it’ll go that bad though, at some point if she really wants to change, she will. We took into account that she would change more by allowing her to change phone 2 times during the bet. Not to mention, she’s allowed to repair her phones too.
But you’re right, the only thing supposed to be recycled are the phones
12 years sounds like such an amazing achievement! In order to get that far, I imagine you’ll have to plan on changing some key component that are likely to fail after 6~7 years before Fairphone stops selling the parts, like the usb-c and the battery.
Frankly, I find this to be possible for you since you already managed to keep 6 years a phone that was clearly designed to be used 3 years.
Omg, I thought I was the only one actually counting the cost efficiency of products like this, I’m glad to see I’m not
I really hope we’ll both manage to keep them at least 10 years!
Don’t hesitate to share when you reach landmarks, I’d love to know how you feel about your phone with time!
