Should i buy the FairPhone?

[dainis]

No matter how fair the production of the FP2 may be, it is really not fair to new potential buyers to pretend things are fine and that they will get a working phone delivered. michel_iwaniec Can we please have more openness about the touch screen bug?

oh, goodness. do i buy this phone? it’s not available right now, and i need a phone. i am weary of all the blood on my hands (and on the hands of “regular” society). i’ll even be launching an ethical buying club in 2017. my personality and lifestyle have a high ethical focus.

but do i buy this phone, cuz i really need a good, solid, working phone. i also like taking pictures and find it next to impossible to walk around with multiple devices.

i mean: do i buy this phone?

— i do see that the issue michel_iwaniec was having appears to have been resolved positively

[it-was-me]

I would say yes! I have got my Fairphone two months ago and I am really happy. I would wait the few weeks. It is really great

[freibadschwimmer]

I’m using the Fairphone since end of last December as a workphone, without any problems. But as with any device from any vendor, you may have some faulty devices as well. What I have heard and read, most people who had issues got their phone fixed or replaced under warranty without problems, except that for some time the support needed long to reply due to a backlog.

But basically your question has been discussed in several threads, just search or browse for it. For example here:

How reliable is your Fairphone?

Hi all, I am looking into buying a Fairphone soon and was wondering about the reliability. I have read lots of stories online about lack of reliability through, for example, no service on the phone, internet is poor etc. so I just wondered how many of you have had trouble free experiences and how many not? Thanks

[mpadourek]

Have my FP2 now exactly for 2 months, 2 weeks and 4 days. The only issues I have had so far where with the proximity sensor, but there is a tool from Faiprhone to re-calibrate that and since then everything has been working flawlessly for me. It feels good owning the product so I can just recommend it

[Arvil]

Take it - the staff said they are going to put back the downloads in a few days because they are preparing a “surprise” (somehow I don’t like the look of it given I already have a FP2) - if you want a solid phone and are ready to cope with little issues that come from FP being a small company driven by ethical issues first. That is, if you don’t mind the sensor proximity bug (and are ready to solve it yourself), if you are OK with not having custom ROMs for now and not being on Android M or L (at least for a while).

That said on the software side Fairphone has an advantage : it’s very reactive with security patches and continues to patch even the first FP until now.

[paulakreuzer]

1. @Douwe said a few weeks

2. you can’t download a phone!

[Arvil]

2. you can’t download a phone!

Hahaha I guess it’s time for me to get back to bed >_>

(but if I could, I would)

[jaymanu]

well, be aware of the grunt bias, I mean that by looking at forums and FB pages you can have the feeling that the phone is awful. Because unhappy people tend to write more about their issues than satisfied one. But I’m very happy with mine.

Of course it is not perfect. But when I have issues, i feel supported by the community, if I had another brand I would be more lonely. This community is for me a very strong positive point.

[vthejay]

buy it without even having second thoughts. Thats my verdict- a Fairphone owner for 10 months now…

[BeLi]

Buy it. I have mine now since February and no problems so far. If you look at a forum, you will of course get a wrong perception. When everything is just fine and running, you don’t have to start a topic in a support forum

[anon9505190]

I cannot see any preference in your post due to other specials of FP2: Open Android Software, modular hardware design or longvity . I cannot realize that you insist in opening the device in both ways: HW + SW. If you only ask for the fairness that FP promotes there are maybe other smartphones that are also called partly fair. If you ask yourself just only about a fair product I cannot recommend to buy it because this kind of fairness is maybe not enough reason to buy a device like doing donations. Much of it can be done by your own donations to the societies behind FP. If you especially expect a reliable working device I cannot recommend you to buy FP2. And especially I cannot recommend to buy it if you expect a normal working support after problems happen to it.

[danielsjohan]

@anon9505190, do you know other partly fair phones around that provide as much information as Fairphone? Personally, I don’t. So @dainis, I would absolutely advise to buy one if you want to live by your principles. I got mine for the same reasons, although the modular design to prevent e-waste was also important for me. Donating money can have a similar effect “on the field”, but being able to show your FP2 to friends and start talking about the problems with conflict minerals, is very important awareness-raising.

As for the problems: yes, there is a chance your phone has problems. Like any phone, but maybe also because of the revolutionary modular design. And since Fairphone is only a very small company, their helpdesk is not so big and getting feedback can take a while. But honestly, for every problem I had with my FP2, I found a solution here on the forum.

[anon9505190]

, do you know other partly fair phones around that provide as much information as Fairphone? Personally, I don’t

I don’t know how much information you need. But there is a german company called SHIFT phones who provides information about fair ressources and workers labour condition.
To be honest I don’t talk to friends about the problems with conflict material although many may be still interested in that. I guess I should convince them by the attributes of the device directly. If this is not possible I wouldnot recommend to buy it.
That is why I would like to ask @dainis if he was interested in opening the device not only when repair is needed.

[anon9505190]

Other phones that are fairly fair? (e.g. Shiftphone)

The context of the original topic of my answer is simple enough: I wouldnot have had mentioned this specific company if I wouldnot have been explicetly asked personally for one. The person who asked me about one was not the topic author who I addressed my advice to. My advice for buying decision makers would be never to focus only on the "fair thingy" issue of FP or any other phone company. Making decisions about a hardware device should rather depend on hard facts in his hand after…

[a4z]

I have my fp2 now nearly a half year and I am pretty satisfied, everything is working so far and no problems.
I understand that by reading here someone can become frightened.
I never read anything here before I ordered the phone, and I think therefore I bought one, with reading here I would have possible became also afraid and would have bought an other one.
When I got it and start reading some threads here I became nervous.
As said, so far so good, have my as workphone, 2 sims, work/private, I am happy.
But I understand that people who buy such a device and than have problems can make a lot of noise here.

Unsure about the selling numbers and problem %, but if 60000 phones are sold, and 1% have problems, this are 600. If half of those visit this place to write about frustrations, this 300 are more to hear here than the 59400 who have no problems and not come here to report that everything works.

But of course, you have to decide, the phone comes via post, it is not that simple replaceable like a phone from the shop next door, you have to be aware of that and possible have a plan B for the worst case scenario.
If you do not want that, than go for a phone in the next door shop, but even this can be a frustrating experience, but of course, you will not read about that stories here.

[Stefan]

Unsure about the selling numbers and problem %, but if 60000 phones are sold, and 1% have problems, this are 600. If half of those visit this place to write about frustrations, this 300 are more to hear here than the 59400 who have no problems and not come here to report that everything works.

There is some interesting information in this thread:

Smartphone failure rates

Hi all! Out of curiosity (@DoraXP made me think of it in this post) I researched a bit on the matter of smartphone failures and warranty and discovered this article from 2010 (I did not read all of it). It states: So, assuming that the FP1/FP1U has similar drop-out-rates as the iPhone 4, about 1,260 (out of 60,000) of the phones sold in 2014 would be erratic in the first year of their usage. The spectrum goes up to 6,7%: For Fairphone this would be over 4,020 (out of 60,000). …

Unfortunately Fairphone has not published any data about the failure rates of FP1 or FP2.

[gsvelto]

Go for it.

I’ve had one since April and it’s the best phone I’ve ever had. It’s sturdy and can take a lot of abuse without breaking (those among us with small kids can understand how important this might be). It gets very timely security updates which is the first time I see in an Android phone. Battery life is also quite decent even when using two SIMs with it.

It only had a teething problem in the very first few days I owned it: sometimes the backlight of the screen wouldn’t turn on leaving it responsive but essentially black (I could barely see the UI with enough light shining over it). Taking out the screen and putting it in place again fixed the issue and I’ve never experienced it anymore so I chalk it up to poor contacts during the original assembly.

[Roboe]

It gets very timely security updates which is the first time I see in an Android phone.

I’m confident to say that it’s the first non-Nexus phone to receive monthly security updates. Plus they are deployed to both operating systems, FP OS (GMS) and FP Open OS.

[dainis]

i’m kind of bummed. i am going on a trip and i need a new phone. the fairphone is not available, so i just ordered a shiftphone.

it looks like i will join the fairphone family in the next “go-around” of phones…

[anon9505190]

Although I made my guessing you could take shiftphone as a substitute I think you followed not only advices given here that say you should only rely on the fair called argument. As I mentioned earlier you maybe decided on other objectives than the modularity or the open software. And you maybe didnot want to open the device for further development. That is a good reasonable decision not driven by emotions but more on your own needs. Good choice.