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.
In the leader board you can find the Pixel 3 on the 106th place and the Fairphone 4 on the 92nd. But looking at the scores, the Pixel 3 scores higher. So I was wrong about that and the confusion is coming from that leader board, which doesnāt include all scores and sorts them wrong.
I gave up and am now returning the phone for a full refund, since I fortunately didnāt buy it directly from FP. Iām crediting this forum with helping me with the decision.
As for me, Iāve given up on Fairphone, which is a pity as I really like the ethical stance behind the company. However
Communications by the company are less than stellar
Support is OK, I did finally get a response, but that is an indicator of the company and not the people that staff the support. And even if you submit a bug, it appears that nothing is really done to provide a fix.
A community forum that is hosted on Fairphone, but where the company is absent is honesty, something I have never experienced before.
Combine 1 through 3, and you should have alarms going off.
Software, Security, and Updates
Not pushing progressive updates in 2022 just is not acceptable.
Not being open about the progress of updates to the os is concerning, android 12 not available yet, really?
5 gazillion certification tests excuse for the delay is thin, it doesnāt work that way. Sounds good on a test/QA engineerās resume, but reality is a little different, it is called automation and submitting test results.
Sustainability
Yes, it was the reason I choose this phone, but they are no longer the only ones in the game.
I just canāt recommend the phone, it promises far more than it delivers.
I went to nothing, still sustainable, but they donāt use it as shield.
As an aside, I find it comical that members on this forum remark about their childās phone and not their own daily driver.
Thanks for a good chuckle. Iāve always wondered why some people on here are so against any and all forms of critique of Fairphone, no matter how justified said critique might be. Instead of expecting something from a company you gave your money to youāre supposed to go contact their support to get answers to things that other companies would post on their Twitter. Seriously, when is Android 12 coming and how come we donāt know that yet?
I agree near 100 percent with you. Itās certainly a strange and bizarre experience that this forum is hosted officially by Fairphone, yet they are completely absent on the platform with no indication that they are going to change that.
Personally, I expected basic communication from a company that made almost 4 million euros in profits last year.
Despite the difficult market situation, Fairphone was able to achieve a record profit last year: A net profit of 3.9 million euros was generated on sales of just under 37 million euros, mainly due to the higher sales price of the Fairphone 4 and the expanded accessories portfolio.
