Longevity of a Fairphone?

Discuss The Products
1

I am considering purchasing a Fairphone and I’d like to understand its likely longevity. Ideally, I’ll like to upgrade components as needed to step from one Fairphone version to a later version, but I get the impression that parts are Fairphone version specific.

For instance, is a Fairphone limited to its original processor model, which can only take me as far as a particular Android version?

Maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way, but scanning the Fairphone website didn’t provide any answers about the intended longevity of a Fairphone.

2

You can easily repair your Fairphone. With the current model, you get 5 years of support and repair parts.
Fairphones concept is more about the repairability and fairness in terms of the process chain.

You cannot upgrade the processer or other internal parts over time to stay “up to date”. But I also wouldn’t know another manufacturer that could/would do that.

but I get the impression that parts are Fairphone version specific.

That’s correct.

More detailed answers you can e.g. find in other threads: Core module parts: what can be changed?

The longevity is mostly achieved by being able to repair it on your own and making customers aware of not buying a new smartphone every year.

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3

Many users here are still using their FP1 (spareparts are from the second hand marked now, though).
FP2 is already running for more than 6 years (spareparts are still available in the FP shop).

So, you can expect to be able to use your FP quite a long time in comparsion to products from most other companies (especially in case you need spare parts and repairs).

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4

You shouldn’t expect to generally be able to upgrade but FP3 users were able to get a better camera module and upgrade their FP3 to FP3+ that way so a limited upgrade was possible in that instance.

5

Not quite: The FP3+ has an improved core/main module.

So there are

  • The FP3
  • The FP3 with upgraded cameras (1 or 2)
  • The FP3+
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6

I was in the same frame of mind as you @underlap
The main selling points to me were simplicity of self-repair, 5 year extended warranty, availability of parts from FP for 5 years and 5 years of software updates (occasional OS, regular security). I take that to mean that FP are big on longevity.

I don’t need an all-singing, all-dancing phone with the ultimate in camera technology. I do need something that gives me phone function with decent internet connectivity. Being 5G capable was the final tick on the sheet.

7

Thanks for clarification, what’s the practical difference between the latter two?

8

A small improvement in the audio chip of 2db, hardly noticiable :slight_smile: and a bit more recycled plastic

FP3+

External speaker loudness: 96db @ 10cm
https://shop.fairphone.com/en/fairphone-3-plus

FP3

External speaker loudness: 94db @ 10cm
https://shop.fairphone.com/en/fairphone-3-refurbished

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9

See also … https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360047776791-FAQ-Fairphone-3-FP3-

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10

Yes. The SoC is not modular and cannot be upgraded.

Best wishes,
Thomas

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11

I went for a FP 4 in the end. Working out well so far. Let’s see how many years it can last.

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