I had my FP2 in January 2016. I was eager to finally have a phone from a company which had the declared god of producing phones socially and environmentally ethical. Back then it seemed that the FP2 would last at least 5 years and probably 7 years - this was a giant plus for me as I always hate the hassle about changing my phone, my computer or other personal electronics. For me electronics isn’t a hobby. They are just tools in my every day life and I do not want to spend time keeping track on them, updating, installing critical software and I therefore prefer to change them as little as possible.
Now 4 years have past and my FP2 really needs a replacement. It speed drains the power, it is so slow that I get angry while waiting for it to load apps and so on. It cannot even update the software any more as it seems to have some bug.
I have had massive problems with my FP2. Probably all of the FP2’s child diseases that FP2 had to offer and honestly I haven’t enjoyed having a Fairphone a lot.
Nonetheless I have a hope that Fairphone have learned a lot from the launch of FP3 and have improved with FP3.
I would like to hear you guys who’ve had both a FP2 and a FP3: Do you think that there have been substantial improvements when it comes to the phone’s quality in this regard?
And 2 other questions:
1: I hate to flash brands and I always buy clothes and different things that I need only if no brand is visible. Of course with phones this is impossible. But on no other phone have I seen a slogan like with FP3 as it says Change is in your hands on the back cover. Can it really be true that there is no option of another cover without the slogan? I would hate flashing this and I would feed stupid sitting with my phone in public. I know that I would constantly be aware of always having my had to cover this text when I have my phone in public.
2: Right now my phone is full of messages, texts, pictures, videos, apps and browsing history. Is there an easy way to transfer this to the new phone so I will not loose all of this? I never format my PC because I hate loosing all this stuff.
Og, by the way, it appears that FP3 is larger than FP2? Is this correct or have I simply misunderstood something? I already find my current FP2 to be GIANT
you are right, the FP3 is a little longer than the FP2 but it’s the same width. For me this is not a problem because for some reason, I find it easier to hold the FP3. Might have to do the the shape or the material, don’t know.
As you might have figured, I have both FP2 and FP3. I probably didn’t have as much trouble as you with the older model. Didn’t feel it was too slow loading apps for example. I had maybe one reboot per month on average (varying between maybe once a week and no reboot for three months).
When I compare both models, the FP3 feels a lot more robust. No reboot at all in 2.5 months. And the battery life is amazing. Using the same apps as before (or probably even more) it now lasts 3 days when the FP2 had to be recharged after 1.
About your two questions:
The “change is in your hands” is printed on the battery. It is somewhat visible because the back cover is translucent. Not sure if people in public will be able to read it. What is clearly visible is the “Fairphone” because that’s printed directly on the back cover.
When I switched from FP2 to FP3 I only copied chat history from whatsapp and threema to the new phone (following their instructions). Other than that I mainly use services where all it takes is downloading the apps again an log into my existing accounts.
But Fairphone has some instructions to migrate all your data: https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033075811-Transfer-your-personal-data-to-your-new-Fairphone-3
As I said, I never used that procedure because I felt it was a good opportunity starting fresh (I did copy pictures I took with the camera to my PC, though).
Well, it is actually written on top of the battery, not the case, but the case is semi-transparent. But why would you feel stupid about “flashing” it? The whole point of it is to spread the message, to make people ask the question!
What got you into buying a fairphone in the first place if you don’t mind me asking?
I don’t understand what the word “god” means in that sentence, must be typo, anyway.
What I’m trying to understand is why do people buy fairphones, what do they feel, are they idealists or realists? What they think would happen? Is it just to feel good about oneself acting like goody two-shoes?
Me personally I don’t give a rats arse about fairphone as a brand, I only care about the intent, the idea, and ours are aligned.
All products in the world should be made ethically. Ethics are not an identity for me, it’s just simple behavior. If I have a conversation about ethics I will lay out my points, but I prefer to show off brands as little as possible - wether it be my Hugo Boss poloes, my Fairphone, my beloved Ecco Shoes or my watch - I hate visible brands and slogans publicly displayed. Would be horrible to have a slogan constantly attached to my phone and this is a serious reason why I consider not to buy it. It would annoy me every day.
But if it’s printed on the battery, then could I just lay a piece of paper on the battery as I put on the back cover? I’ll have an ugly square instead then, but no slogan visible for anyone to see.
Anyways: I am more interested in hearing about your experiences with FP3 vs. FP2. How much have Fairphone improved? Any bugs yet compared to the massive amount of bugs that FP2 saw?
@Ingo Thanks for your systematic answer. You say that battery life is amazing. How often do you charge it? Right now my FP2 drains to 0% within hours but in the beginning four years ago I also remember it as great. I get random reboots at the moment. Sometimes 5-8 times each day, other times there can be weeks in between.
I’ve had both models early from the start and my regardless beloved FP2 also tested my patience a lot! Thankfully there was the warranty, that I used extensively! I’ve had at least: 4 too fragile transparent cracking covers (including 2 rubber issues on the old models), 2 faulty tactile screens, 1 dusty camera, 2 dead microphone issues, and 2 core modules issues for draining the battery… All of them covered by the guarantee, up to the end. Now it still works fine except for a persistant but less important battery drain, and slower phone, but I’ve given it to my father and he likes it, being his first smartphone so having a way less intense use than me.
Concerning your issues, and owning the FP3 since last September, I can assure you they have learned from their mistakes with FP2:
The battery now really lasts long enough (a good full day in intense use, a day and a half in normal use I’d say, more than 2 days if you don’t use it that much), and you can use a Quickcharge 3 compatible charger to fully load it in 30mn, or still use a normal USB-C charger.
It doesn’t reboot very often at all (does it from time to time like with any other quality smartphone brand), the camera is of good quality and the screen is bigger and much tightlier attached (now with normal Phillips screws, and they give you a small screwdriver),
the bottom module is now split in two, on one side the speaker, on the other the USB-C slot being more solid and further away from the mic to avoid the too easily “dead mic problem” of the FP2.
Concerning your other concerns, transferring your data (apps, pictures and even some settings) should not be a problem with the Google account transfer tool. And you’ll soon be able to buy a fully opaque black or green back cover for your FP3, that they prepare to produce shortly.
That’s what I was curious about, it means this is a quirk, a personal preference. I too don’t wear t-shirts with huge D&G and GUCCI on them because they send no message or message of consumerism and misrepresent my personality. But this is not a slogan but rather a meme, this is exactly what I stand for, the change begins with you, no one can claim copyright on these words.
Battery wise fp3 lasts a full day as every phone should by default, however it also almost doesn’t lose charge on standby which I think is due to a newer low voltage processor and the polished stock-android performance.
I like to think that fairphone developers actually pull their weight and work on optimisation, but of course I can’t know for sure.
No: I just want to buy an ethically produced product because for me it is the simple and logical thing to do. Producing and consuming ethically is critical to me, buy I deeply hate every thing about visible brands, slogans and anything that is not simplicity in aesthetics. It distracts me and after all it is also critical to me that the devices and tools I use every day does not distract and annoy me aesthetically. It’s the same reason I would hate to own a pink couch with unicorns painted on it, nonetheless how comfortable it would be using the couch. And even though I support every idea of Fairphone I am honestly tired of staring an ideological discussion and explaining my personal views every time someone asks which brand of phone I coincidentally have in my pocket.
But you and I can discuss all this in personal messages if this is a topic of importance to you.
For now I want to stay on topic and hear about other users’ experiences with the FP2 vs. the FP3. The long lasting battery so far seems to personally be the biggest plus from what I can gather from reading you guys’ answers and YouTube reviews on the FP3.
I seriously consider if I should spend my heard earned money on another Fairphone and stay with it for the next 4-5 years in the light of all the struggle I’ve had with FP2.
You can probably black out the battery text with an ink marker, or maybe put a bit of tape over it. Of course there’s still the branding on the front of the phone and putting tape over that would be a bit unsightly.
Anyway, here’s the counternarrative: my FP2 runs great and I love using it. I had the random reboot problem at some point, but it was resolved by a reflash of the operating system; as for the battery, yours is probably well worn after four years of use. One of the limitations of current battery technology, sadly. A new battery is €10 at the moment and I’d wager it would drastically improve your battery life. Heck, buy two and carry around a spare battery to amaze your friends - that’s what I do.
Using an FP2 in 2020 does mean you have to be a bit deliberate about how you use your phone - you can’t install all of the apps because it’ll run slow. From experience I can tell you that it is not at all difficult to set up your FP2 to perform the usual functions while running snappy and ending the day with well over half the battery left.
I actually have a spare battery for my FP2 already. Some time ago (maybe a year or so) I had some very extreme speedy power drains with my FP2 extremely overheating and loosing power faster than it could charge. It went from 100 to 0 in minutes. So thought it was time for another battery and I bought one - and it didn’t work. So I tried my best to delete stuff, delete apps and when I took out the battery and let it rest for hours it finally worked.
Now it speed drains again, but not as rapidly - now it “only” goes from 100 to 0 in hours. And this time I cannot find a solution. As I tried to replace the battery earlier I have spare one. I have of course tried to change it this time as well and it doesn’t seem to work. My FP2 looses it’s power within hours now. Since it’s corona time and I am almost home constantly this is manageble at the moment. But as soon as I start to have a life outside my flat this will drive me mad if I don’t get another phone before that point
No. One reason why I bought a Fairphone was because of it’s promise to last for 5 years. For me I would rather buy a new phone than do a factory reset because I can’t stand the hassle of starting all over with all my data, contacts, settings and so forth. After all these problems ahould after 4 years be a sigh of it being worn out.
Fair enough - I understand if it’s more trouble than it’s worth. I just know that for me, the issue popped up after a system update and was resolved by a reflash… but yeah, no one enjoys restoring all their data and settings.
So finally you gave me a real reason and I thank you because this is an interesting piece of information. I hope you know you don’t have to react, and you can start with me right here.
But here’s a fact, you are a part of a single ecosystem, there are maybe 100 thousand ethical phones in circulation and billions of others, what do you think is the point of this niche enterprise other than to feel good about oneself, it just doesn’t work right?
Sorry, but in my opinion that’s a gross statement.
I guess, it rather reflects your own opinion.
To me, the aesthetic argument is perfectly fine in itself.
And there have been lots of discussions about design in this forum. Too big, wrong colour …
But only in this case, the design argument seems insufficient. There has to be another, real reason. Why?
The will to support the Fairphone cause does not mean, that you have to like the design or the showing of the motto.
Would you want a tee made from organic cotton, regarding the standards of the FairWear foundation to have such a claim on the back? Or would you rather buy one without motto for fashion reasons (personal taste)?
You are right of course, that the Fairphone concept needs that kind of word of mouth.
Still, it’s “just a phone” and I am really fine with everyone wanting just that and not lliking every design-feature chosen by Fairphone.
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