Hello, dear Fairphone Community,
My iPhone broke last week and I am wondering if I should get a Fairphone? What is your opinion?
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Welcome to the Fairphone community.
I f you are willing and able to switch from iOS to Android, why not? But we donât know how many probably expensive apps you need to buy again after the switch. Whether you use iOS exclusive hardware, apps or services. Or how important it is to import chat histories from different apps and so on.
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Yes. Do it
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Can you tell me why, please?
Well, why do you think? 
You ask here in the Fairphone forum. What else should we (usually) say?
If you have the need, the specs cover your wishes and you agree with the philosophy, then go ahead and buy oneâŚ
No Risk no Fun
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Hi, welcome!
I canât talk about reasons for you to consider getting a Fairphone because I donât know whatâs important to you but hereâs why I bought mine:
- Repairability: Modular phones are the most repairable, and FP even sells replacement parts for reasonable prices.
- Sustainability: I like my big purchases to be about more than just money.
- Open Ecosystem: I moved from an Android device without an (easily) unlockable bootloader, but this applies doubly for Apple products: Closed ecosystems are anti-consumer.
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How old was your iPhone, what do you do with your mobile phone? Have you invested a lot into iOS apps?
Generally, an iPhone works much smoother than a Fairphone. Also, Apple supports its devices with software updates way longer than any Android OEM. Much more choice of accessories and repair options as well.
Best wishes,
Thomas
Nope, my company IPhone 7 (nearly as old as my FP2) is no longer supported, but the FP2 is
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The iPhone 7 is still supported. Mine is on the latest iOS 15.3.1, updated yesterday. Even the iPhone 6s released (and delivered) 2015 is on the latest iOS.
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Strange mine refuses to update to any 15 iOS
I use a second-hand iPhone 7 currently (after the 3GS and the 5S): arguments include the long software support, hardware sufficient for simple games (ie not HD shooters), battery okayish at 76% after daily use. the screen is small, but I like the one-hand use in public transport and the âpocketabilityâ a lot. regarding newer iphones: if you like to play, take great pictures in difficult conditions. i guess security is as good as it gets, as the processors are designed inhouse and still supported. over the years though, less and less real innovation, so second-hand is always an option if you want to be sustainable.
I bought an FP4 for my parents: large screen, very long battery life, 5 year warranty and android updates, so a long life time is guaranteed here too (but Qualcomm hardware support only for ~2 years). plus an exchangeable battery and good camera hardware. the downsides I still see are: a) camera software is so so, and could do much better given the hardware. b) Android = Google, but many forum members degoogle and the forum is very supportive when it comes to questions. c) Iâm unsure about using online banking/e-commerce if hardware drivers are outdated after 2 years.
So if you are not into the very latest camera tech and have no issues with Android, the FP4 appears to be a good deal for several years to come. and there is the added benefit of having a good conscience of buying the best practice phone when it comes to social and environmental factors. finally, the phone looks really good (green) and feels like high-quality; it is large though.
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Hi and welcome to the forum
If you want a half decent phone that puts Fairtrade for the mineral miners and factory workers then there is little choice.
- If itâs about whatâs best for your finances then probably not.
- If you want a high spec phone then no.
- If you want supper camera apps ~ no again.
And as Incanus has stated you may have reservations about some of your apps.
Maybe you can find a shop that sells them to have a look, or maybe someone local to show you the phone. Look at the #fairphoneangel list to see if there is someone near you.
Maybe you could list the specs etc, that are a minimum requirement and then check the specs and make more individual queries here?
I have an FP3 which suits me fine, the FP4 has better specs and is a little larger.
Scroll down to specs:
Where to buy
When coming from an iPhone 7 youâll do fine with a Fairphone 4. It takes better pictures than an iPhone 8. The screen is great, the performance is great. The software isnât that bad, but there are some issues that need to be resolved. For example pictures in low light could be better by todays standards. The noise cancellation could use some work with video calls and audio recordings arenât great at the moment.
So my advice would be, try it out. Thatâs the best way. But do note that in about 2 months or so some software issues I just mentioned will be improved.
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Thanks you for looking into the Fairphone 
It makes me happy when people think about sustainability and fair trade.
We live in a world where nets are installed below the windows in phone factories to catch people who try to commit suicide by jumping. Examples of companies which make phones in these conditions are Huawei, Xiaomi and of course Apple.
Two large smartphone companies which stand out for being better here are Samsung and Sony. Both manufacture their phones exclusively in high-wage countries with much stronger workersâ rights. Fairphone phones are also made in a high-wage country with strong workersâ rights.
Sorry, ehrt74, but are you doing any research, before posting?
Fairphones are not made in a high-wage country, but in China. Of course under different conditions, than for the average worker, but still in China. Sony 2019 moved the production of their phones from Beijing to Thailand, because of lower costs. Samsung moved production from China to India, Indonesia or Vietnam. Do you consider that âhigh-wage countriesâ?
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A bit dated, but still valuable insights: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/reports/greener-electronics-2017/, incl Fairphone just abead of Apple and â Samsung lagging on renewable energyâ.
according to this link Sonyâs Flagship Phone is Made in Japan. sony phones are made in Japan. As for making phones in India (where most Samsung phones appear to be made) yes, i do consider this to be a step up from supporting a dictatorship.
the fairphone being made in China seems to be a real problem. i really thought they import the components and then screw the phones together in the Netherlands 
maybe a gigaset would be a better idea to support fair workerâs rights?
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thatâs a strange report i know that Google has been carbon neutral across all operations since 2007, though it used to do this by purchasing carbon offsets. Since 2017 its total energy consumption has been free of carbon.
This is also of course useful for Apple: it uses Googleâs cloud for its cloud services.
The majority of Sonys smartphones is not made in Japan. And in your first posting, you were talking about âhigh wage countriesâ, nothing about dictatorship.
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Well what do you think are the important things here.
Yes, it is important that people who work in factories get a living wage.
It is also important that people who work in factories are free to choose the work they do, rather than being forced to continue working for fear of repercussions against their family, for example.
Might i suggest that , rather than playing a game of âi caught you in a mistake, gotcha! iâm better than you!â it might be more useful for others if we instead talked about what the manufacturing conditions are like in the factories used by the various phone producers?