Still blackscreens and microphone issues after repair

I am a very unsatisfied FP2 owner and user. After my phone gave me a lot of problems when it arrived, I’ve sent it back. I got the phone back one week later, was amazed at the speed, only to realise that ir hadn’t been fixed! Apparently it was a mistake from DHL and the phone only made it to Belgium, and was sent back without even having been at FairPhone’s repair facility. I have always had good exchanges with FairPhone staff, which have been helpful and professional, even if lacking a smile on their faces.

I’ve contacted Fairphone and had it sent back again end of April. This time, the phone came back repaired, or so I was told, mid-May. However, I’ve received no repair report, even if I’ve sent FairPhone a detailed description of the numerous issues that I had been encontering and asked for a report on what they’d done to it. So, what has been done to my phone? I don’t know…

Now my FP2 is constanly turning a black screen, whenever I make a call, I need to put it on loudspeaker or else the person on the other end doesn’t understand anything (faulty micro, on a phone with less than 6 months and having already been sent back???), and I still have the issue of having to turn off the screen immediately, or else the call goes on mute and the other person doesn’t hear anything, finally hanging up. What a crappy, crappy experience, I’ve spent more than for a Samsung or an iPhone, only to find myself with a Fair yet unworking phone…

Below is my first report, from the 14 February

Dear FP customer service,I’ve let the 14 days return period expire, as I want to keep my FP2 and don’t want to ask for a refund or return my phone.However, the phone hasn’t been working properly since the beginning. The following issues have been arising since I received it:

  • The screen sometimes goes all dark and everything disappears, while in the middle of a call, or when ringing someone. I can still talk or the phone is still ringing, yet there is no visibility in the screen.
  • Often the touch pad doesn’t work properly. I try to make a phone call, I can access the person’s name and phone number, but then it doesn’t call them, regardless of me trying in several ways.
  • Sometimes when in a call, I try to disconnect and it doesn’t allow me, staying in the call for a while until I’m finally able to disconnect it or the other person does so…
  • I’ve only changed the SIM cards twice, and on the second time one of the three secondary SIM slot contacts bent upwards. I put it back in with the SIM card, and it worked again, yet this has never happened to me, with dozens of phones that I’ve had before.
  • The phone takes a very long time to charge, up to four hours.
  • I’ve had some issue synchronising names. Some contact cards have disappeared from my gmail account and phone, even though I use them regularly.
  • Often when in a call the phone goes on mute or hangs up. I guess that this happens from me touching
    the display and clicking on one of the options, yet if it is so, it is done inadvertently and there should be an easy option to lock the screen while on call, to prevent this from happening. It happens even when I’m relatively mindful of that possibility.
  • I’m more and more concerned with Google’s invasion of privacy and information control. While I understand that Apple or Blackberry where non-options, what safeguards have you established and other options have you researched?While some of these issues are relatively negligible, others are highly annoying and I have to
    report them, as I want them fixed. I’m willing to spend more and compromise on size and style to get a phone that is more fair and equitable. However, I cannot accept having a phone that doesn’t work properly.Do you plan on doing a firmware update anytime soon to fix some of these, or are some of them hardware issues that can only be fixed by sending the FP2 under warranty for repair?
    Many thanks and keep up the good work.
    Best wishes,
    Manuel Trindade Marques

I moved your post as you are clearly talking about the FP2 and not FP1.

I don’t know anything about repair reports, but maybe we can help you with your issues.

To understand you correctly, how do I read the following sentence:

Is the “whenever I make a call” just about the loudspeaker issue or also about the black screen?

I’m asking because a blackscreen while doing something else is a very different issue then the screen not reactivating during phone calls.

In the second case removing the screen and cleaning the inside of the proximity sensor glass usually solves the issue. In the first case please take a look at this troubleshooting guide.

Thanks, Paul, the speaker issue (as it only works with the loudspeaker) is every single call, the black screen is random. Thanks again, best wishes

Fairphone is truly making an effort to compensate users for a not so good start off. They have sent me a new cover and bottom module, free of charge. The phone is now working much better, even if the sound level is a bit low. I am happy that you are compensating users for some mishaps and wish you all the best. The work that you are doing is truly important and I am happy that you are taking good care of your customers, thank you!

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Glad it worked out. Btw, the "you"s you are talking about are not reading many posts here on this community forum.