Back to the originating question:
I had since last x-mas my FP2 with LOS. This was rather slow, but still working. I didn’t buy another FP because of the size, I liked the small size of FP2.
But a friend offered me his old unused FP3 and since that I use it with /e/.
I guess my usage is similar to Paul_Rafferty1’s, but with /e/ I’m happy, it is much faster than FP2 with LOS18. /e/2.1 for FP3 actually is still based on Android 13.
I can strongly advice to use a custom rom in case of problems with FPOS. You only have to choose.
Upcoming /e/2.2 I didn’t use now, so I cannot prove, if it stays like this.
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I’ve used a FP3 for several years now, after having abandoned Apple because I could not have my iPhone SE serviced by Apple any more as I had replaced its battery myself.
I really like FairPhone’s modularity and fair trade policy.
And I’m still happy with the functioning of my FP3 (under Android 13), using it for browsing the Internet (including YouTube movies), navigation, following my cycling routes with Cyclemeter and Strava (I have an extra battery for long rides), using WhatsApp, Signal, Uber, internet banking, touchless paying, even taking photo’s during vacations (and posting them on PolarSteps).
It’s quite rugged, having survived several falls from my hands to a hard stony sidewalk, with a FairPhone protective case, but without screen protector. It’s a bit too large for my taste, but I don’t think I will have much more trouble with a model that would be 2.3% higher and 6.6% wider (I always use it with two hands), except that it’ll make my left pocket even more bulging than now; the weight is no issue for me. I really like its modular design and the possibility to do repairs (and changing the battery) myself.
If some software would become too sluggish for my taste I would first try an alternative OS before buying a new FairPhone.
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Well, Android isa trademark so if you want to call it tbat and run it on your device you must agree to Google’s terms. LOS does officially not include OpenGapps last time I checked. So it is very close to AOSP + LOS patches.
Without Android no open source version is wrong. It is exactly the other way around. Android depends on all kind of FOSS projects, including AOSP. No AOSP, no Android. Whereas AOSP exists without Android. Because you can use AOSP eithout OpenGapps perfectly fine. Which is what /e/ does, and a myriad of other projects e.g. LOS with microG or
It does not get more simple than mathematical equations:
Android = AOSP + Google proprietary software
Android - Google proprietary software = AOSP
Android - AOSP = Google proprietary software
That people misname it is for sake of simplicity or laziness.
What is true though: most people expect AOSP with Google proprietary software ie. Android. And then if they use microG or /e/ or HarmonyOS or Amazon or Samsung’s AOSP based variants or whatever else which isn’t officially Android, expectations are not met because it isn’t 100% Android.
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I fully agree: FP4+5 are, like many other phones today, to big.
And the hole in the screen is very anoying.
In terms of hole in screen. Its better than having it hidden behind the device’s screen. The difference is the quality of the picture quality. This is coming from a guy who used to be a Samsung Galaxy 20 FE daily driver a few years ago. I still may have this device and it can only capture about 1080p quality at best. Even if its a 4k camera. The screen sorta makes it pixelated at higher resolutions. Even though its nice not to see a big dot while watching content and all that. Its a great VR device for that reason alone. Then Samsung dropped SD Card support in future generations of that device. The more reason to have a Fairphone with multi-year support and updates. I’m at least keeping it for watching movies and tv for my phone VR device. PS. I recommend iplay VR Pro app for watching the content in VR. There is a free version of that app as well with ads witch can be annoying.
That being said, AOSP is funded by Google. We only have AOSP because Google allows us to.
The development is controlled by Google.
They often even release the major AOSP upgrade after Pixels get it with Android.
Saying that Android is AOSP + Google is a bit optimistic. It’s more like AOSP is Android with Google removed.
That’s to be expected, since AOSP is a fork of Google’s Android.
The big development driver is Google, they are the ones who create, update and modify Android, after which the new source code is made available to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). Which explains why AOSP gets the new features after stock Android already had them…
You’re right, AOSP indeed is Android with the Googly bits removed. By design.
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The FP3 is as big as I want my phone to be, so it’s a no from me for the FP5 as well. Not only that, the FP3 is the last model which provides dual physical SIM slots (my minimum requirement). When the time comes to replace my FP3, I’ll probably get a cheap Moto that has SIM1+SIM2+SD+Headphone socket. Nobody seems to do a notification LED so that will be sorely missed so I’ll second your sad face.
I stuck to Android 11 because of the fingerprint sensor trust issue and don’t suffer the performance issues you reported with A13. There is a bit of lag compared to A9, but not enough to make me hate the device. Have you considered re-installing Android 11?
In one way I’m disappointed that (like you found) there is no suitable current Fairphone, on the other hand I have major trust issues with Fairphone (the company), so perhaps it’s for the best (for me).
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One of the big problems with going back to A11 is security…
For the dual SIM part, you can have 2 phone providers/numbers… You “just” need to convert one of your SIMs to an eSim… If one of your providers supports eSim !
You can put one physical SIM in the FP5 and one eSim. It’s written in the FP5 specs.
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Which will get progressively more and more easy: Everybody will eventually start offering eSIMs, if only for cost/profit reasons (they’re so much cheaper).
At some point physical SIMs will go the way of the Dodo, as soon as old phones not supporting them become rare enough. 