Some Fairphone 6 ideas

@Lidwien, what you propose is not a solution, as https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/motlhn/magnetic_usbc_cables_are_not_recommended/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 explains. Have you technical insight which could reliably contradict this? Regardless, it would actually be a downgrade in functionality for me, because I want the cable to remain connected no matter what, not the opposite. The body of the smartphone is not so weak as to be unable to provide this.

Specifically, I am a soldier, and consequently keep my smartphone connected to a battery (and/or sometimes a computer) very frequently as part of my kit. However, because I cannot secure its connection to those devices due to the cable being able to be (accidentally or deliberately) forcibly removed, those forceful removals which are a natural consequence of it being constantly connected frequently significantly damage the port.

1 Like

Came here to suggest this.

Now, I have an external wireless charger receiver that I replace twice a year because it’s bent cable wears down because I have to remove it (the receiver) all the time when there is no wireless charger nearby.

Just sell us an official, optional back cover that includes it, keeping the phones USB-C contact free, and I would even recommend the phone to my friends and colleagues who swear to the iPhone.

1 Like

Hi Roke.

I guess that Yv will say:
“You are contacting other users here in the forum. I as a user have no influence, so please send an email to the FP-support if you want to contact Fairphone.”

:slight_smile:

Regards,
Michael

4 Likes

I wish the notification LED would have a comeback. I love it on my FP3.
Or how do you handle notifs without activating your screen 10 times a day? :sweat_smile:

1 Like

As mentioned several times, the modern LED is the AoD :wink: .
Starting with the FP5 it’s standard for Fairphone.

3 Likes

but i read its not ideal cause it drains the battery pretty fast ^^v

1 Like

Maybe a small glitch, will improve probably. It works pretty well on other phones with OLED screen.

4 Likes

It’s mostly a battery issue. It not the OLED screen. It sorted out after a few days of charging after the most recent update. But it cut the life of the battery by 6 hours. I discussed this with the farephone battery life topic on here. The more you know.

No way! Ultrarepairable, endomodular stylus pen from Supernote!

Gonna add this to the list of Right2Repair-oriented consumer computing device brands. :grin:

After seeing the tear down on the jerry rig everything YouTube channel, I’d say it’s almost perfect, but I would like to see the back panel made into more rugged screw in panel with seals to give an IP 6 rating.
The plastic back while cool to be able to access the phone internals. Pretty sure everyone can use a screwdriver. Having the back unclip is not rugged enough for what I need working in an industry where I might get dust and splashes pretty regularly. So it limits the phone to city slickers and office workers.

I was just looking at a You tube video about the Shiftphone. Their battery fit the 2018 Shift 6m, 2019 Shift 5me, 2020 Shift 6 mq and the new Shiftphone 8. It is interesting how one company can find reasons that they need new batteries for every model and another can can design different models that use the same battery. Which one is more sustainable? An explaination for the same size was that as battery technology improves the energy density increase. More energy can be stored in the same volume.

3 Likes

What I would like to see from the next iteration is:

  • decent size. 6 inch screen with 18:9 is more than enough. Phablets can not be safely used with one hand. It can be easily dropped, therefore, is not sustainable at all.

  • unibody design. The back panel should also cover the sides of the phone. Like Lumia phones used to be. This increases durability and removes the need for additional covers.

  • less rounded corners to increase screen area usability.

  • upgradeable components, including display, battery and SoC.

  • single camera setup. No need to waste space in the device with a camera that serves one single shooting mode. A bigger battery is more preferable.

3 Likes

I am mostly happy with my fp5, but things that i would hope:

  • wireless charging. I think it is BIGGEST oversight. You are starting to see wireless charging tables at restaurants, cars etc. It might not be most efficient way to charge, but I feel like not having this turns off people that would otherwise buy the phone. Having at least very slow wireless charging would be huge improvement compared to not having it at all. It is becoming a necessity in my opinion and for phone you might be able to use 10 years, you really want to think ahead.
  • Larger battery capacity (obviously)
  • More scratch resistant screen. Already got few pretty deep scratches on fp5
  • More efficient SoC. Not only battery, but currently I feel like phones have gotten to point where I don’t need extra performance, I would like to have better efficiency
  • underscreen fingerprintscanner. With official case i feel like having it on power button is awkward. One of the few features i miss from my previous 1+6T phone… I can certainly live with current one, and it might be enough to change official case to have “bigger” hole for the scanner.
  • offer battery charging station. I would like to buy replacement battery that i could charge with out the phone, so if my phone battery is empty and i have to leave i can just pick other battery from charger and place it to my phone and put empty one to charger. I could get second phone, but that seems bit of a waste. Would really prefer that over buying usb powerbank an carry that with me. It would also be unique thing fp allows as most manufacturers have gone with non replaceable batteries.
  • Thinner. current fp5 is bit thick compared to my older phones, so even small adjustment to this would be appriciated. Not an issue to me, but this phone feels like 2x thicker than 1+6T i previously had. That one was supper thin though, and not really repairable but this would be something I would focus after adding wireless charging and getting more scratch resistant screen.

other than these I really like my fp5. Minimum sound level could be lower, but that is probably software thing rather than something that requires hardware change.

5 Likes

So all they have to do to please everyone is produce a phone:

-with a more powerful processor
-with an extra processor for security
-with more memory
-with more storage
-with a better battery
-with dual screen
-foldable
-5.5" in size
-6" of screen (might be difficult given it’s bigger than the phone)
-with a better main camera
-with a LIDAR
-with a real optical zoom
-with a jack plug
-and 2 USB-C plugs
-and an option for magnetic attachment
-modular
-with wireless charging
-with a fingerprint sensor
-capable of docking to convert the system to a desktop
-less expensive or similarly priced as the same specs from Samsung

Did I miss anything??

11 Likes

As I understand the Fair Phone is a unique type of phone that is made of replaceable modules.

One of the biggest problems facing the expansion of the Fair Phone is the inability to break into the US market. There is no way to guarantee that an alternative version of the phone that works with the US cellular network will generate enough sales to break even on development.

That is why I would suggest converting the cellular communication components into a replaceable module. That way the components that need to be different will reach enough sales to make the investment worth it.

Even if not enough sales are made on the Fair Phone 6 in the US are made to justify the investment, the same module can be used in future iterations of the Fair Phone which basically guarantees a return on investment.

This change also enabled someone to change out the communication systems when moving between countries that have different communication standards, and it creates another part of the phone that can be easily replaced.

The Fairphone 4 is already sold in America by Murena with a degoogled os.
At the moment Murena doesn’t know when they will be able to sell the Fairphone 5.

2 Likes

I would like to have a barometer and a Tele lens.

Barometer is pretty niche for the average user but yeah telephone especially a variable zoom one would be very very nice.

1 Like

I can’t help but feel like this thread isnt a FP6 wishlist anymore, and more like a dream super phone wish list.
Honestly, I just want the little software gremlins ironed out. Otherwise, the FP5 is the most “its fineeeeeeee” phone ever.

I still have my hopes up for upgradable internal parts. But I realise how hard that would be, so I wont stick to that point too hard.

There is the obvious stuff. Bigger battery, fasterer morer efficienter processor yada yada. Camera I’m honestly fine with, though I wish it had 4k60 video WITH stabilisation. For that once a year moment I take videos. And I frankly dont care for wireless charging.

I kinda want them to do front facing stereo speakers. Because I am stubborn and I miss my old HTC’s speakers. Sustainability be damned, if they release a phone with dual front facing speakers, I drop everything and buy it right then and there. Current speakers are, again, fiiiineeeeeeeeeee, I just miss the sides being equal. I have a thing against a boosted ear piece and a bottom “subwoofer”.

I guess Wifi 7 would be neato, but 6E is -repeat after me, class- fineeeeeeeee.

Support for UHS II Micro SD cards? In case someone wants 500MB/s micro SD read speeds?

A partnership with DBrand would be cool. Considering the back panel is replacable, it sounds so convenient for those robots to start selling custom textured backplates. I recognise, that them being a north american company, and fairphone being european, this will likely never happen either. But a man can hope.

10 Likes

I see the Fairphone as a proof that it is possible to build a modular phone that has a long life and is reasonably fair to the environment and workers which a lot of people can afford and use.
To keep size and cost reasonable down a lot of compromises have to be made.
So I see a Fairphone as an average midrage with no special “normal” phone features.

I would really like to see the modularity used to let users swap between different modules. I would like to replace the depth camera with a 5x zoom camera. But I don’t think there are sold enough Fairphones to break even. I had a LG phone many years ago that had different attachment modules, but nobody bought them.

To me the greatest success of FF would be to be made irrelevant because all the big ones offers sustainable phones. Then I would just get the phone with a 3x or 5x zoom.

Btw. the camera is just fine. Nobody but youtube reviewers pixel peep at images taken by phones. If you want significant better image quality, get a real camera. They are soo much better than any phone camera. But first learn to take pictures (e.g. framing, timing, exposure). That would improve your images much more than getting a camera that takes images with high technical quality.

5 Likes