Hello!
I’ve had my Fairphone for one year now and this is my take.
I went from a six year old iPhone XR to a brand new FP5.
I LOVE when people ask about the phone and I can share the message of sustainability!
The mining industry was the main reason I wanted to change brand when it was time for a new phone. Very happy I found Fairphone, leading the way!
However, battery life is not great.
And the phone heats up while charging. Feels uncomfortable in my hand to use it while charging. Definitely not keeping it next to my bed…
Phone heats up while using it…
And while sharing network…
Heats up all the time actually… Not great… work around?
Photo app is ok but would want more settings in video. Like in PRO.
Auto mode always overexposed, both pic and vid.
Really struggle with the fact that videos are saved but some can’t be replayed. Shows as a black square in pic app, can’t play or restore them. Lose maybe one in ten videos… Anyone with the same problem? (I have storage!) This in itself can on its own be cause for me to change phone. Many memories lost the past year.
Have I lost pictures alos? Don’t trust my phone… not great…
And something silly maybe… my snap videos don’t flow when seen by iOS users… but that I guess is an Android thing. Really annoying though.
Other than that… it’s pricy but for a good cause. And I like it!
(so please help me save my videos!)
My FP5 doesn’t heat up at all and battery life is fine (two days on average), but usually I don’t use many apps. Maybe some apps are putting a heavy load on your phone? And have you tried Eco Charge to see if the battery still heats up during charging? It’s in Settings > Battery & Charging > Charging mode.
For more manual control when recording video you could try the app Open Camera.
I don’t know what could cause the lost videos, it hasn’t happened to me.
I also have mine almost a year now. Repairability and privacy are the main drives for me for buying this phone. I have flashed it with /e/OS. It’s a shame that FairphoneOS isn’t privacy-oriented.
Battery is an issue, I agree. And I am quite diligent when it comes to which apps stay open during the day. On a regular day I manage to make it through with one charge. If I need to use navigation, though, I need to carry around a power bank with me.
Camera is a no-go for me. Faces are regularly distorted (especially when they’re on the edge of the frame) and sometimes the screen blacks out when I change the settings. I’ve used both the native app and Open Camera. The later has other issues, mainly that it is somehow slow. Overall I wouldn’t count very much on the camera.
The GPS is another issue I’m having. It’s not very accurate and the camera often complaints that it’s not calibrated.
One thing that gave me a big pain was that the phone stopped charging at some point, complaining about debris and/or liquid in the charging port (which was not the case). I had to ship it for service. This left me almost 2 months with my old replacement phone.
On the bright side:
the phone can be easily flashed – far from any other experience I had with other models, meaning that
you can opt for a more privacy-respecting OS
it has a very active community
(I agree that) you can advocate for sustainability when talking about this device
So far, everything is fine. I have no heating problem, what settings do you have for the battery? I limit it to 80% and slow charging, it still covers two workdays for me (basically, it’s just Teams and Outlook).
The camera is much better than my previous phone (Redmi 8), but I’m not really the kind of user that takes serious pictures on the phone (if you ask me, all phone cameras not worth worring about, anyway).
The worst thing is the friend of mine that keeps telling me that I could buy a refurbished iPhone 13 for much less, which is a good example of missing the point
Hi! Thank you for your comment
I’m not very tech, clearly need to read up on this. Flashed it with /e/OS - I have no idea what this means. Where do I go to learn?
To change, do I reboot and set up?
Same here, need to charge at least once a day.
Also had issues when trying open camera.
Agree on all the positives!
Thanks for your comment!
Different settings depending on the day. Trying to use eco and protect as much as possible. If I know I will most likely run out of battery I’ll change to 100.
Two days! Good for you need to charge once a day at least.
True about the camera in a way. I do love the pics that I take. But more serious photography with a real camera
Sorry about your friend. It pains the wallet but 100% worth the cause long term!
EDITION : HOTSPOT
My hotspot started malfunctioning just after posting summary. It has been working fine, although draining battery of course, until recently. Computer shows connected, hotspot shows 1 device connected but internet is down. Need to restart phone and computer, frequently. Or sometimes it just doesn’t connect and I need to restart everything. Or, while using internet computer shows zero bars although phone is just next to it, mid use. Or hotspots turns off mid use. Or connection requires password, mid use! several times…
hmm… am I being hacked?
need to charge once a day at least.