My Fairphone 3 suddenly slowed down about two weeks ago to the point of being unusable. it still works, but very, very slowly. After trying various suggested remedies, like checking the sim, booting in safe mode etc, I tried a factory reset. I finally got it to do it - quite a feat given how slowly it was working, and it is now functioning but still very slowly. i have so far only loaded three apps back on it. It is so slow that if I get a phone call, the call has usually rung off before the phone opens the call to answer back.
I opened a support ticket with Fairphone shortly after it happened. I went through various hoops and various options, and was told eventually that it would have to be escalated (to whom? I don’t know).
That was a week ago; I have heard nothing from Fairphone since, despite reminding them. I tried tweeting them today to see if that might result in kickstarting something, but so far no reaction. If it goes on much longer, I will have to get a new phone, and it won’t be a Fairphone.
If anyone has any hints as to a) solving the problem with the phone or b) getting the attention of Fairphone support, I would be very grateful.
An Android factory reset mainly deletes user data as well as Apps installed by the user and their data. The OS is left as it is, so if something on the OS side causes an issue, a factory reset most likely wouldn’t solve this. The OS can be reinstalled to check …
Furthermore … if you happen to have fairphoneangels in your vicinity (see angelsmap) with Fairphone 3/3+ expertise, you could ask them whether it would be possible for them to perhaps take a look in person.
Forum consensus is that if you want to proceed quickly with them, you would have to call them.
Does your phone also lag while in safe mode? If it does I think that rules out most app conflicts. The fact your phone is working but lagging could sadly point to faulty hardware (mainboard internals, radio, SD card, cameras).
It could be the SD card though. A lot in this forum have reported problems when SD is set to internal storage mode, but SD should be external by default so unless you set it to internal? I’d check anyway though.
I agree with AnotherElk (forum concensus) you should phone Fairphone for support. Their email service has not recovered from Covid .
Best of luck. I hope you are under warranty and you get this resolved.
The cameras can be ruled out by removing them from the phone as it should still boot and other features work
The simple and top option, i.e. if the user does nothing but select what is offered, which is often seen as the default then the SD card is formatted as internal, which does precipitate problems frequently.