The Titan M is great, but basically all Android phones have a trusted execution environment, Fairphone as well, including the FP4 and FP5 (maybe the older models as well). FP uses the ARM TrustZone.
I havenât heard of any other parties that build and sell such a chip though, so I doubt weâll see something like this on a Fairphone in the near future. Still I wish for next Fairphones to be designed with the best possible security features, because so far security doesnât seem to have been a priority.
Can you be more specific about what you actually want? Because âmore securityâ can be anything. As far as that article explains, Titan M indeed is using ARM TrustZone, with the ability to do Tensor operations. So that means it will utilize the TEE for local AI processing. Fairphone isnât doing the heavy AI processing that Google Pixels do. So unless you want that AI magic, there would be no need to develop a Fairphone TEE. ARM TrustZone is already really good.
IMHO the only thing FP should improve are more regular updates and something like FIPS 140.
Iâm not sure what this has to do with AI⌠Iâm talking about security features like the Titan M chip.
What I would like, is to either have GrapheneOS on a Fairphone, or at least for FPâs security to approach the level of a Pixel device. According to the GrapheneOS developers the current Fairphones donât qualify because of late and incomplete security patches (Fairphone seems to be working to improve this already), and hardware limitations like not having a secure element. Grapheneâs objections to the Fairphone 4 are listed here: 8y security updates on FairPhone 5, will the devs consider porting GrapheneOS? - GrapheneOS Discussion Forum
I donât know what other missing security features they refer to, but they keep a list of their requirements.
The AI thing is mentioned in the article you shared, the Tensor offloading is what makes the Titan M special. Or did I read that wrong?
Not sure what Graphene means. The bootloader is locked and prevents any tempering with the ROM. And ARM TrustZone is good enough, since its an industry standard TEE. They do have a point about the security updates though.
I would love to see a better camera. This phone is a really good one for me but I have some issues when traveling. When I switched from Samsung s22 ultra I just noticed a bit drop in the quality of the camera. Donât get me wrong Fairphone 5 camera is good but it should be treated as a core update in Fairphone 6. I even donât mind paying more and have 2 options as Faiphone 6 and a Fairphone 6 (pro/ultra etc)
Would it not be possible to have batteries and other parts that are usable across different models? Look at the auto industry The battery from a 2001 Dodge fits a 2011 and a 2021 model it also fits other makes of cars. Would this not be more, sustainable, enviromental friendly, and cut down on the Green washing?
It is possible, as the German Company Shiftphones showsâŚI dont think if not done it has anything to do with greenwashing though. More enviromental friendly, why? The Battery still need to be produced. The real plus I see is, that you can have long term contracts for higher amounts which means you might find better contract partner. If an older model will run longer therfore, I dont think so, the batteries so far havent been the bottleneck.
Also I think each battery for each new FP was improved so the current is more sustainable than the FP3 one.
I was just noticing how nearly identical in size, weight, specs, component performance, and battery life the Reno 10X Zoom I use as my point-and-shoot and the Realme X2 Pro that Iâve been daily driving since 2021 are to the Fairphone 5.
Itâs almost like this $550 pair of phones are the non-endomodular cousins of the Fairphone 5!
Besides infinitely better repairability-modularity-sustainability, the only major noticeable differences seem to be how the Fairphone 5 features essentially Stock Android with 8 years of support as well as edging out the Reno/Realme when taking photo stills and capturing video (color production, per-pixel clarity, and autofocus performance). Meanwhile the Reno/Realme brothers sport slightly longer battery life, telephoto + pop-up selfie cameras, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Definitely compels me to use these for another 3 years before seeing what Fairphone has in-store for the â6+â or â7â
Please let me know if I should share this elsewhere if not appropriately on-topic here
I was looking at a couple of websites that have Fairphone parts. I looks like the battery for the Fairphone 3 is not available any more; but they are for the FP 4. Does that mean that the useful life of a device is determined by the availability of one part? Would it not for more sustainability and less landfill friendly if component dimensions had a norm?
Example: There was a time that you could buy a battery for almost any type of camera in just about any store in any country, they were either button batteries or the A series batteries. Some genius in Marketing decided that every model from every manufacture had to have an exclusive style of packaging for their energy source. Excellent for the companies bottom line, what about the consumers or the environment?
I got interested in the FP on a visit to Germany a couple years ago. I watched a couple TV reports about them on ZDF. For me the selling features were how they claimed they treated their worker in China, fair wages, their claims of âethicallyâ sourced material and their claims of sustainability.
Maybe it lies in the interpretation of the word sustainable. ârelating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damagedâ âCapable of being sustained or maintained.â
When I look at the website from Fairphone at spare parts for Fairphone 3/3+ then I see the battery is on offer.
So why do you think one canât buy a battery for the Fairphone 3/3+?
Fairphone refuse to ship outside of the EU exception being UK. I have asked. Vireo.de which will ship, have the notice on their cart âDas Produkt âFairphone 3 und 3+ Original Akku Ersatzbatterieâ ist nicht mehr verfĂźgbarâ
which translate to âno longer availableâ, not to, " out of stock". This maybe temporary.
So back to the topic, Why not standardize parts (modules) over different models instead of have different parts for each model?
Iâm confident that this was more a side-effect of devices being more energy-hungry than in the past, they should get smaller or at least not bigger and the battery should last for as long as possible. As a result, engineers started designing all of their components in a way that they fit together perfectly well. That doesnât exclude batteries of course. And while 6 AAA NiMH cells wouldnât be much bigger than a FP5 battery, no one would accept the battery life that youâd have with them.
Having interchangable parts between FP generations would be cool but would contradict the idea of a smartphone as we know it. Although these phones can be modular (obviously) they are still so much integrated that you donât have any space to lose.
Thatâs btw. a huge difference to cars (you brought that comparison earlier) where thereâs plenty of space and the battery is far less a part that youâd consider crucial. The comparison would be fair if those cars were electric vehicles where the battery again needs to be more optimized for the particular vehicle to allow for long distances etc.
in comparison to a FP5, which i currently use, i have only a few wishes:
fingerprint sensor in the lower area of the screen
nfc sensor on top of the case, near the cameras
possibility to exchange the positions of the softbuttons for âbackâ and âApp-Listâ (so for me it is better one-hand-useable with the right hand)
I know, I worked in electronic engineering both in Canada and Germany. Fortunately not in the consumer branch; but in industrial where you had to design equipment that to be reliable and maintainable for years.
Fairphone never has sold the Fairphone 3/3+ outside of the EU exception being UK. So you canât blame them for not selling spare parts outside of the EU exception being UK.
I constantly break my fp4âs USB-C port, and my brotherâs very new fp5âs is not faring significantly better. Consequently, I propose a damn simple, industry-standard, and incredibly effective solution.
However, this locking method is fundamentally incompatible with almost all mobile devices, because it would necessitate some serious thickness. Consequently, see undermentioned.
Please add the small screw threads on the bottom of the fp6 and your subsequent cases in order to allow me to finally use the locking ability of the cables I own. I hope that your desire to have me purchase replacement ports wonât overcome your evident desire to find methods of reducing part failure rates for the sake of our planet.
Just the broken record: with you you adress other user and I as user have no influence, so send an email to support if you want to address to Fairphone.