I voted satisfied. In general Iām very happy with it and I can see myself keeping it for a long time.
I only have three areas where Iām disappointed:
The camera is bad but passable. Itās possible to get good photos but not of anything thatās moving or in low light.
The device is too big. I understand their reasons, and accept that it is the standard these days, but whenever I pick up my work-issued iPhone, it feels so much more manageable. Some people have said they have gotten used to this, as have I, but I am not going to move away from my opinion that smaller is better.
Stock Android 11 doesnāt feel modern. I am hoping Android 12 improves this. There are other software problems, but honestly I have never had an Android (including the big players) where there arenāt some software problems.
But overall I have a reliable phone and I would not change it.
Unfortunately that isnāt going to solve 99% of the problems I have with the size, such as the weight distribution, the physical width of the device in hand, or the discomfort in my trouser pockets. But I accept it would allow me to use the device one-handed, which I canāt currently without accidental touches.
To be fair I do use the official case which adds some bulk.
I voted very unsatisfied. Iāve been using FP4 since April 2022. I would return it if I could, or give it to some friend, but of course, people would laugh when they saw this brick. There are multiple reasons, starting from non-existent software support (whereās the Android 12-13? and Iām still on Sept 2022 security update), the potato camera, random reboots (seems to be related to roaming and SIM/operator combo), no headphone jack, weight, shape, lack of accessories, eSIM, operator support (I donāt have VoLTE or 5G working despite my operator supporting it), overall cheep feeling of the device, despite the price. The list goes on. Just to be clear, Iām on stock firmware, not rooted and with a locked bootloader.
Hi Jorge although you are clearly grossly disappointed I am curious about the content
Brick you donāt mean software type and unusable but in terms of size and weight general disappointment which weighs heavy on you.
With this heavy burden you encounter
I imagine you knew the price was related to the Fair Trade aspect and consequently it would be a state of the art phone and that you may have serious misgiving when using it with anything other than moderate expectations. Weight This info was available before purchase so that surely was expected, or had you not checks the specs.
Same with headphone jack, clearly noted in the sales specs
e-SIM I would have thought if someone wanted to use an e-SIM they would check compatibility before purchasing a phone
Functionality with certain carriers seems to be an issue and again that can be discovered on purchase and the phone returned if it doesnāt work well or well enough in your area.
OS security etc. clearly slow to be pushed but doesnāt brick the phone
And Iām sure the list does go on, but clearly your experience is just that, yours.
My daughter seems happy with hers, I have 2 FP3s. And although akin to you in that I would not recommend a Fairphone to anyone other that a Fair Trade Freak I wouldnāt give it a bad review as that just seems a waste of more resources.
On the matter of wasted resources, putting in a draw is a great example of waste.
You could advertise it here and get some funds for a new phone. You may even get enough to cover a new one.
Giving it to a friend I agree, would be embarrassing, I wouldnāt do that even with one of my seemingly perfect FP3s but Iām sure I could find someone that would appreciate your FP4
Please, stop with this one liner that makes no sense in the context discussed. This starts to become embarrassing, so many people have issues with this phone. You cannot tell everyone that your daughter is happy with the phone and others should be as well. What @Jorge lists are issues everyone can reproduce. Granted, some of them were known in advance such as the headphone jack.
But updates delayed for such a long period may not brick your phone, but for sure are a huge security issue. An example:
These issues need to be addressed. For some this phone may not be worth more than a brick indeed due to FP failing to fix them. Itās been a year. Surely we can expect improvements, even the small issues like the jumping arrows hasnāt been fixed. Instead, they add another notification bar issue by not testing their landscape change which now cuts of icons.
FP needs to hear this feedback and should not be sugarcoated or downplayed. Otherwise they will never improve their products. This feedback is intended to make these devices more usable during our day to day tasks. We know itās not an iPhone. But we did pay good money for it, it should also be fair for the end user.
Sure it must be embarrasing for some, it is for me and I donāt even have one. Just reading it is not pleasant, but as I said not everyone will have the same experience. Maybe Iāll ask my daughter to post a comment, but you may know how it is ~ those with no problems donāt often visit the forum, if ever.
As for āgoodā money, thereās no such thing in my opinion but where it is used does show something about the user.
Jorge can complain if he feels so but some of his complaints were known before buying the phone. In that, I follow Amoun. And in the same way somebody can be disappointed, somebody else can be satisfied.
My experience with Fairphone is that monthly security updates slow down when we get closer to an upgrade release. I think people in charge of the security updates go and help for the Android upgrade.
Since the hardware receives no update quite fast, I donāt think a stupid Fairphone is a good investment in terms of security. Which also is known since the FP1.
Weird, I didnāt read the whole thread, however I must say, reading of all the issues, I donāt have ONE of those mentioned by different people.
I can complain about the weight, or the fingerprint sensor position (I really find it difficult both to use it and to avoid it!), but for the rest, my FP4 is perfect.
Iām a heavy user, but also always carefully monitoring how apps behave (or better, misbehave, Iām a software engineer, you knowā¦)
Quite generic advice, but I suggest to those who have issues to also try to monitor apps in the same way.
Ah, yes, weāre holding it wrong. It must be my banking app (Rabobank, Dutch) that prevents VoLTE from being enabled for one of the SIMs, bad camera and microphone quality, slow software updates and reboots when I enable data on my eSIM (KPN, also Dutch) when roaming in some countries. You nailed it, mate. Youāre a software developer, you know better.
For everybody else saying some thing were obvious before buying, like the lack of a headphone jack or size and weight. Yes, however a crappy camera and microphone is not something I could have possibly imagined on a 2021 phone, as I used much cheaper phones where both worked much better. In fact this is the first phone since the early 00s that people complain about not hearing me. And the camera is embarrassing. I donāt expect much from a phone in terms of IQ or dynamic range, but this is barely serviceable.
Taking the camera and mic issues separately you may find some help by searching for similar topics and if you canāt resolve either with user help then maybe contact support officially.
I have a hard time recommending it as an upgrade for people who are looking for a new phone.
So overall feeling definitely neutral.
I will stick with my fp4 after having had several issues with not being able to repair flagship models from major brands (and I tried, even forking out as much as a new phoneās worth for a new Huawei screen, being left with no usable speaker in the end). I need to be able/be allowed to repair what I own, which fp does a great job of. And I will take a lot of compromise to give me that.
However my partner wants to upgrade from her S7 after all these years and I am currently telling her to go with a 2 year old flagship model from Google or Samsung. She will get several years of good use out of it and will get nearly state of the art camera and phone performance, she knows eventually she will have to carry a battery pack to keep her phone running, but she is fine with thatā¦
Will I get a new fp when this one finally gives up, with proper maintenance and targeted repairs?
Not sure at this stage, letās see what the right to repair movement achieves in that time with other brandsā¦
I think a FP is hardly ever an upgrade (unless my old phone is really old or a FP) as its always only middle class. The main purporse of a FP is different and not to be up to date technical or software wise. When you buy a FP thinking it will be competing with other phones launched the same time or for the really big ones launched the past years, one will always be disappointed one way or the other.
Let me quote whatās in the marketing copy for FP4 now:
The Fairphone 4 dual cameras are the real deal. A pair of premium lenses for all the details or the bigger picture.
Add a light sensor for blazing fast autofocus and top it off with optical image stabilization for uncompromising image quality. And that counts for the buttery smooth 4K video as well, of course.
and:
The 48MP quality main lens and carefully dialed in image processing make for an intuitive, effortless camera experience. The Fairphone 4 lets you focus on what matters most: Image quality in every frame and setting. Capture true to life colors, in great detail, every time.
but wait, thereās more:
The advanced image stabilization and highly dialed-in image processing give you the freedom to explore and never worry about missing that clip, no matter the scene.
This is how itās advertised. This is in the marketing. And, mildly speaking, none of this is true. Weāre not expecting flagship specs, weāre expecting what is promised. You canāt just cop out and say this is FP and you should know the experience is going to be poor when this is how itās sold.
Where do you see that? Iām seeing for FP4 DXOMARK Camera: 69 (Photo: 60, Video: 76) and Pixel 3: DXOMARK Camera: 102 (Photo: 103, Video: 98). I wouldnāt call that close. And Pixel 3 is 3 years older than FP4. Pixel 6a which is significantly cheaper than FP4 has roughly twice as high scores.
