Leaving a movement

Now I’m kind of curious how you ended up with a core module that was broken in such a way that it isn’t covered by warranty. Is there an interesting story there?

Also, I’m sure there will be interest in at least the bottom module and the screen module, if those still work. You can put the phone for sale as a parts donor in #market:offered.

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Old phone? Seriously? :smirk:
It’s still getting security-updates every month! (That’s the most important point for me.)

As @Johannes said it would be interesting what is broken exactly and how that happened. Maybe at least parts of it can be re-used :wink:

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Staying in a movement.

I’ve had my Fair share of issues with Fairphone.
First delivery was delayed.
Then bright spots on screen.
Speaker for phone calls not working.
Random reboots.
I sent in the phone and the speaker problem was fixed, not the screen and the random reboots.
The random reboots got worse, at least one per day.
I sent in the phone and got a new one. Then I had more random reboots problems, sent this one in and got a third phone. At this point I’m not sure if Fairphone is sustainable. It is my third handset in less than a year. Before Fairphone 2 I had an iPhone 4S that lasted more than 4 years and is now my backup phone for when I have to send the FP2 back.

Now my phone is working great and I hope it will continue to do so. I believe in the ideas behind Fairphone and I will continue to be a part of the movement. I think it is important that Fairphone exist in this world. I think it is important that someone is pushing for fair electronics. I hope the movement keeps growing and, that the quality control at Fairphone gets better. If not it will be a loosing battle. If I hadn’t been such a soft idealist and a hard headed stubborn I would have left the movement long time ago.

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2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Android 6.0 Marshmallow / 7 Nougat for FP2?

I also noticed, that different FP2s works absolutely different, even with same Software-Version.
Maybe the FP2 Engineers can tell us something about different FP2 Revisions and the HW-Difference between them?

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Well, after 36 months I am still using my FP1… And my husband has it for 42 months. And we use them a lot! We had to change the batteries after 2 years and buy new USB cable cause we had problems with the USB-socket too. My husband changed the camera 6 months ago too, very easy to repair it ourself. I think it is unfair to say the FP1 is not sustainable or worthy the price. I had Samsung Galaxy before and die after 18 months, and it was expensive than FP1. What is your FAIR option then?

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A open letter to Fairphone,
Dear Fairphone Team. Since this Journey started im a proud owner of Fairphones and still believe in what your goals are.
The work you have done is inspiring. Fair Gold, Tantalum and Cobalt. Fair produced electronics. I now have to tell you my story with a aim at hope, not complain.
I was enthusiastic when i received my FP1, but soon had to regret that it was not able to hit my needs of a phone. I sold it. Years later than, I run the new founding of FP2 and tested the FP2 with the same emotions i did when unwrapping the first. What happened was a nightmare.
The phone software that got shipped was pre-alpha, with bugs like not responding Touch, Calls i wasn’t able to make nor receive, because of a proximity sensor that wasn’t working right and bad Batterie life.
But i stayed patient and try to help with replaying and bug-testing. I thought soon, soon, soon it would be fixed so i and told my Friends. Today i had to realize that i was hoping throughout a whole year that at least the main functions of a phone will be working soon.
But its not the case. I still have a device that doesn’t fulfill the one most valuable condition i expect from a phone. - A relaxed chat with my pa.
And to me the hardest part on the whole thing is, that i wold never recommend any friend to buy this phone anymore. Don’t understand me wrong, the last i wan’t is to discourage the Team or harm Fairphone. Software is the blocking feature of everything today and that i was able to learn only because of this deep look insight. So it comes that it has a bright side for my life as well.
Fairphone takes that huge burden to lower ethical threads and rise ecological thoughts though out the whole World, and i thank Fairphone for this.
Now please, before you go on to a new device called FP3, take a deep breath and think first who will use your device and provide a useful entity for it. Recall who is your customer and your community, think about what Information you are providing to journals or press before informing your base and what they think if the hope of a modular replacement gets undermined. Even if Fairphone don’t like to be seen so, in the end you are selling a commercial electronic thing that aims to solve one problem: communication.

To me this Project has lost his roots, and i have to stop here investing time. That makes me sad.

Sincerely, Novski

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I own a FP2, changed a split case, changed a broken touchscreen, suffered bright spots on 2 displays (without changing them), had ghost touches during charging, never found a combination of cables that made the FP charge with any powerbank (which charged about 10 different devices without a flaw), the microphone now suddenly broke. I am not going to buy a new one, it does not feel sustainable to change parts of a phone in that frequency. I went back to an old, used Android and will be sticking to it until it dies. Good luck Fairphone, maybe I will be back for round 3.

P.S. if you need a used and broken FP2 around Hamburg let me know.

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Maybe it’s a warranty case? If not, please offer your FP2 at the forum market: #market:offered .

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Sorry to be leaving you, but my FP1 died and I cannot get a new FP2 until at least September. I tried for 6 months to keep the FP1 going with a very weak charging connection. I notice this module is replaceable on FP2 which is good (but not for me).

I got a WSKEN magnetic connector which was recommended on this forum, so thanks for that. It eaked out another 6 months of charging sporadically enough to survive. Otherwise the phone still works fine and meets my limited needs.

So I bought a Moto G5 for one third of the price of FP2. I know it is not up to the ethical and sustainable standard I would like, but I need a phone. I am going to give the difference between the prices of the 2 phone to charity. I will look for a good home for the money, a group that work on supply chain issues and modern slavery.
Goodbye and good luck.

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Well. FP2 is a device which has a lot of bugs. Thats true. And it will never work as smooth like Samsung Galaxy or iPhone. Because Fairphone is a small company. Because they doesn’t have the same service capacity as Samsung or Apple.

But: Most bugs could be solved somehow. 2x i exchanged the broken cases, 2x i exchanged my displays with white spots. To use the FP2 with Powerbank its necessary to setup the USB-Option: Charging only, not Always ask. The powerbank should deliver more then 1 A. (2.1A) is fine.

Well, it has been a while. Remember the plans we all had?

My display is shattered, and while I continue to use the phone for other purposes, QR codes for public transport tickets don’t work any longer. FP officially announced there will be no further support for the development of Android 4.4, so there is no point in pretending my phone is lasting longer than the immediate future, i.e.: until the end of July. This is it.

I had it in my hands at the end of January 2014. I planned for 4.5 to 5 years - I got 3.5, roughly. I had it repaired, twice, and both times on warranty. Overall, I still can defend my decision to buy it, and I still support the idea. But I guess for me, the journey will come to an end, soon.

I wanted to thank you guys, especially the community moderators, for investing so much time. I found help on this forum with quite some issues, and I hope to have helped some people as well from time to time. Since the FP2 was introduced, I reclused myself a bit from the forum, since I couln’t follow any longer - now, it’s really goodbye. As soon as I have decided how to go forward, I will quite surely leave the FP1 forum behind.

[Edit: still trying to repair my FP1. If that fails, well - an FP2 is currently no sensible option, sadly.]

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After I read what happened to the FP1, I am afraid, that the same will also happen to the FP2.
The company seems not to have an open ear for the community, not as open, as it should be.
I like my FP2 and it works like a charm, but I will sell it anyway and leave the so called “movement”.
I had different expectations. I wanted an open device, which I don’t have to flash with a
custom rom, or just try different systems. But that was too much pain. Critique was
whitewashed or called offtopic most times. I am tired of that.
But I wish you guys and the FP company good luck for the future!

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12 posts were split to a new topic: The situation between Fairphone devs and the porters of SailfishOS (FP2)

There are actually no really open devices in the phone world, because there is no open hardware available - and I don’t recall Fairphone promising an open device. Their initial goal was to work towards fairness, and later they extended this to sustainability. The chances for the FP2 to be around longer than the FP1 are not that bad. The SoC is widely used - and so far, the various ROMs are making good progress,

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As this in a way is a thread about customer satisfaction/customer treatment, I would like to add my experience with regard to a broken cover.
Perfect: Support answered super fast (same day) giving clear instructions.
Perfect: After sending in my picture, I was asked to select an available cover from the store (same day as well).
Not so perfect: The colour I chose (coral red) was not available (although it could be selected in the shop).
Frustrating: When pointing to the availability in the shop I received the following answer:
“You are right in a sense that we do have coral red slim covers offered in the webshop but our stock is diminishing and therefore we are not offering them under warranty.”

But … "We are very sorry for the situation we are in now.
I assure you that we do not wish to treat you like a second class customer."

Not sure what situation they are in, as he did not elaborate on that point.
In my opinion a likely conclusion is a possible shortage of money.
But why not be open and raise some money. I for sure would have supported fairphone, because I still believe in the cause.
Clearly there - at least for me - is a lack in communication and openness.

Sooo sad.

Yes, the various ROMs are making a good progress, especially LineageOS. Since more than
half a year I owned a FP2, I was talking about this. 2 people porting a ROM is not enough.
FP should support them. Developing FPOS is a waste of time. LineageOS is the better
system, and you cannot negate that. Why not making it the official OS. They should talk
to the people behind LineageOS, and I don’t think, they would decline.
But I sold my device and don’t have to worry about this any more.

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Interesting point.
See comment above (10th of August 2016):

For me this was and is an important feature of my FP1, but I seem to be a minority. Have been fortunate so far - no technical problems at all but can’t understand why we can’t get Software updates any more (at least that).

I need also to say “goodbye” to the Fairphone-community. I had FP2 for 14 Month with SailfishOS.
@mal did a gr8 job - i’m really very thankful for his engagement in Porting SailfishOS to the Fairphone 2. It was one of the best SailfishOS Ports, which i have seen and used. Atm. i don’t have my FP2 anymore, and i doubt i will buy it again for a couple of reasons:
1.) High price for 2017. In Summer 2016 this price for this Hardware was high - but it was understandable. In 2017 same price for the same HW is way to much for me. I understand, Fairphone is a small company and earn only 9 $ per device, BUT: Mobile Phone Market is a “Bloodbath” And Fairphone decided to swim in this bloodbath like a small fish. Thats very brave, but if they want to survive they need react. They need attract customers on another line. Be creative…
2.) One of this “Attractions” could be official SailfishOS Support, which was semi-promised at the beginning, but was fallen later without an official comment. Only one small tweet from a Fairphone employee, that they will not deliver SailfishOS Support.

For now i will stay with my Jolla Devices: Jolla 1, Jolla C and Jolla Tablet. And waiting for official Sony Xperia X Release.

By the way, i bought new Sony Xperia X F5121 for about 200,- EUR, which is 38% of the price of the FP2.
And i got the device 3 days after payment, not 3 month after payment. This is also an very important argument.

Fairphone is a great movement, and i was really, really ready to support it. But i want to see, that i get something back for my support as a customer. And this was not the case, unfortunately.

Maybe i will come back, when there is Fairphone 3 and official SailfishOS Support.

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Hart to compare prices, though you are right that the FP2 has fallen behind regarding specs and prices. I hope you do not get disappointed with the Xperia X support from Jolla. Honestly, I will only believe this, when I see it.

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