I’ve been on the verge of pre-ordering a FP2, but before taking the plunge I’m missing some info that was promised a while ago.
There was supposed to be a detailed blog post about the software options available: Will there be a version without google aps? Which OSs can I install and expect the major functions to work (bluetooth, GPS, camera, Wifi, modems etc.)? Sailfish? Which flavors of Android?
The specifications page lists the SAR as TBD in September 2015. Now would be a good time to announce that spec’.
I have not seen any hard data on battery life.
Surely all of this must be information available to the creators by now if shipment is to commence within less than two months?? Note, I may have missed some of these - if any of these details have been published, I’d be curious to hear about it. I would have thought that these informations would be provided before the end of the pre-order period, to avoid people having to buy a pig in a poke.
i suspect it will be until well after the devices are available until we can really judge about alternative operating systems. Since the pre-order goal is met, is suggest you wait until the first devices really running a Sailfish or Ubuntu have been in some users hands to just how well that goes, if alternative OSes are really important for you.
On SAR you are right.
About hard data on battey: That is not easy to come by. Ut certainly need software to be finished. Most manufacturers only make pretty rough claims like “1 day” or “more then 2 days”. I guess it will be along the lines of the FP1, but nobody knows. It depends so much on our usage, on network conditions etc. that you will have to wait for the first reviews for any realstic predictions on battery lifetime.
I certainly understand your desire to learn this specifics, but i really suggest you wait until the phone is regulary available and first user and magazin reviews are tickling in. The FP2 will be in continous production for a long time, there is no need to rush.
I guess you’re right, I should be more patient. It just feels like it has been months that we have been promised more info about the software “in the next few weeks” (which has become “the next few days” lately). I understand that an exhaustive listing might never exist. But having more precise info on what will be supported out of the box and what will not should be available by now.
Maybe I’m wrong about the timescales and confused about the process and logistics of building and internationally shipping a complex device like this. “Expected delivery” of units 1 to 15.000 is in November, stated under the link “pre-order delivery schedule” on the pre-order page. In this context I must assume that does not mean “expected delivery of raw materials to the Chinese factory” but “expected delivery of FP2 to my door”. Shipment from the Netherlands would thus need to be all done and wrapped up within seven weeks from now at the very latest. Allowing some time for QC, packaging and logistics, you would think that most of the units have are already been manufactured today if this timeline is supposed to be realistic. Surely specs like software options out of the box, SAR and battery life must have been locked down for a while by now. How can there be any uncertainty about any technical specification at this point in time?
And if there is not, what is preventing us from having access to that information?
If I’m passionate about this, that’s because I would really like a worthwhile and fair alternative to standard electronics to exist, and I would like to support such a cause by pre-ordering. But this is different from a product launch from any other brand. Here, we pay today and get the phone in two months. Which implies that we need to have the info necessary to make that purchase decision today, not in two months. I can get info about the actual battery life of the latest iGadget or Galaxy Something basically within 48h of it going on sale, that is, as soon as I’m in a position to make a purchase decision. My point is that the lack of info is hurting the pre-orders.
Ok, my apologies - I must have been blind. I just now discovered the week-old blog post about open-sourcing the FP2 environment . While this does not answer all questions, it certainly fulfills the earlier promise to outline the way software on the FP2 will be handled.
Kudos for the commitment to publish the sources that can be published legally, and providing the blobs for the rest of the functions!
I’m glad you found that blog post! I have just created a support article on the SAR, which explains why we haven’t published the SAR yet - we said we would do this before the end of September. I’ll copy past the text underneath:
"Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) refers to the rate at which the human body absorbs radio frequency (RF) energy when using mobile phones or other devices.
We know there are people in our community who are interested in the SAR (specific absorption rate) rating of the Fairphone 2. That current status is that we’re having the device tested and undergoing last revisions. We have completed most of the SAR testing and need a bit more time to perform the final measurements.
This means we need a few more weeks before there is a SAR rating on the final phone."
So, a little more patience is required. But this is definitely not something we are worried about, we are confident the rating is going to be fine. It is just that you obviously can’t officially publish things without testing being really final.
Thanks for the info on the SAR. Could you post a link to the article? I find the Fairphone site really confusing. I didn’t find anything on the Blog, nor under “Resources”, nor did a search on the site for “SAR” or entire sentences from the quote in your message reveal the article you are talking about.
Ok, found it! (went to the “Support” section on the main site and entered SAR as a search keyword there)
For anyone else interested, the quote in @Michiel_S 's post was actually all there is in the support article.
@Michiel_S When you say that you “are confident that the rating is going to be fine”, what do you mean by that? The rating will be within legal limits, I’m sure, anything else would be catastrophic. But many consider the legal limits to be too lenient. Or do you mean you will achieve SAR levels equal to or less than those of the FP1?
Well, what I meant is indeed that we will be fine from a legal point of view. For the rest it is too early to make any statements. Yes, the levels for FP1 were really good, but obviously FP2 is a complete new and different phone so any comparison wouldn’t make sense at all. In a couple of weeks we’ll know more!
If you are looking for the SAR of the FP2: Here you are!
SAR of FP2 = 0.288 W/kg (kick’s in as place 20 in this list [of phones released within the last 3 years])
SAR of FP1 = 0.318 W/kg (listed as place 34 in this list [of phones released within the last 3 years])
Good work, FP! Only hope that stability of connection is not worse than of FP1…
Cheers, Robert
. While this does not answer all questions, it certainly fulfills the earlier promise to outline the way software on the FP2 will be handled.