I used to have a Fairphone 3. From the very beginning I was struggling with the fact that as a girl, it did not fit completely in any pockets of my cloths. Beyond being unpractical, I almost got it stolen once because of that, but reacted fast enough to get it back from the stealer. I stopped carrying it in my pocket from that moment on, even though it was very unpractical to have it all the time in my bag. But there was one exception : I also bike in town and use my phone as a GPS. Then I cannot keep it in my bag, and I cannot put it on my bike since it’s town bikes… So I was keeping it in the pocket of my coat. And I got it stolen while biking… It ended up being the phone that lasted the shortest among all the phones that I have ever had ;(.
When thinking about buying a new phone, I was still struggling with this size question. I understand that because of repairability it’s complicated if not impossible to make small and powerful Fairphones. I however found a solution to my issue : phone necklaces are really simple and practical solutions to the smartphone size issue. I bought an other phone with a phone necklace nicely added to it, and I validate this solution.
So my suggestion is for Fairphone to develop a necklace case, or suggest a universal necklace case that works well with all Fairphones. I would love to have a Fairphone again that would not be stolen or fall off right away…
Please react if it would be useful for you!
Any other solutions are welcome .
Example of a nice necklace:
Do you have access to a 3D printer? There are some 3D printer design files for Fairphone cases and it would be trivial to add a hole for a shoestring or something like that.
If you do know someone with a 3D printer, and can’t find anyone who can add a hole to the file, let me know and I can mod the file for you.
Also, are you going for an FP3 or FP4 as your replacement phone?
I think my FP3 is much too large. And the FP4 is even larger. Since I plan to replace the FP3 with a future FP5 when it nears the end of its lifetime, I fear that the phone will not even fit my male pant pockets if the trend continues.
Please offer a smaller “female” Fairphone model. I already use a “female” smartwatch because the “male” models are too large for my taste. And no, I’m not a small person. About average size for a genetic male.
And Fairphone B.V., while your at it, please add the message light back. To any size phone!
Once upon a time, smartphone had a hole to attach a lace in… I miss this tiny feature since my old Sony Xperia Pro (the 2011 one) and even older Nokia N95…
Laptops and various computer equipment have the Kensington lock hole, which I never used… Smartphones lost their lace hole so many years ago for no apparent reason…
Hopefully you know this is a use forum so asking here is more a voicing you dissatisfaction to other users. Many people use the forum for that purpose, maybe expecting some sympathy.
Alas whereas I would be happy with a smaller phone, that has never been the offer and I see no reason why Fairphone would consider such.
If the issue is you pockets then surely a modification to your pockets would suit you, a simple and quick solution.
Do you mean this one >?
Those phones were lighter. The FP design uses all the space it can due to modularity even by removing the 3.5mm jack, so unlikely to add some for a lace, and given the weight would ‘need’ to be quite substantial.
Given many people use case then that feature can be moved to the case, and as mentioned custom case can be made. It may be possible to drill a couple of holes in the actual phone case and add a metal ring etc.
What did you use the lace for, a temporary security so you didn’t drop the phone or to hang it on the wall etc.
The lace came from a legacy digital camera. I used it to grab the phone in my pocket, attach it to my wrist, then use it. Many time it prevented the phone(s) to get on the ground, get wet, etc.
That’s just a 1-2mm double-hole in a corner, much smaller than the headphone jack, and could be part of the aluminium body, which could stand any phone weight. Openning the FP4, it’s clear that there is enough space there to fit it
In fact, the Xperia had a really nice sliding keyboard, a jack, an HDMI port, an LED, AND that attachement… all in a much smaller form factor (and not counting both cameras, the USB port and electronics that could be the same size then as now…)
Well I have an FP3 and you may be correct. A small couple of holes to seal in small ring and a way you go ~ oops! may screw the 5 year warranty.
It’s the module concept that takes up space and that justifies a larger screen ~ seems like a large phone, but it’s not the ‘workings’ of the phone that use the space. Maybe a smaller battery and a smaller screen but I don’t think that’s viable with a single offering and Fairphone are struggling with support for the modules in the FP3 and the FP4…
Don’t expect any significant change in future models.
I’m hoping my FP3 last for ten years and I’ll see what’s on offer. Once my warranty has expired I’ll consider drilling holes etc.
Hopefully FP, will at some point understand that due to a very very large amount of people that do similar requests here on this forum, FP will eventually understand that your remarks about this being a user forum, which are not read and or understood by (new) users who read this forum, or not so useful, and learn from the users suggestions, remarks and improvements.
Simply sending away people/new users, that take the effort to suggest improvements does not make (business) sense to me, at all.
So my suggestion to OP would be, buy a phone that fits your hands and meets your requirements. And when that’s not a FP it’s OK.
Not sure what you are getting at here, but I think it’s very important that @amoun clarifies for new users that this is only a user forum so people don’t get their hopes up that messages posted here will necessarily be read by a Fairphone employee.
If you want someone at the company to read what you have to say, the only way to make sure is to #contactsupport
As I said in a previous comment : Sony tried to sell smaller smartphones but stopped because it didn’t work. Why would Fairphone succeed with less means and a niche market ?
This is a user forum as mentioned by others so there is no reason your wish arrives to Fairphone ears if you don’t contact the support.
Technically this may be correct. However, from the viewpoint of an innovative tech company, user feedback is as valuable as gold, and is often sought through expensive tests, surveys, focus groups etc. All such feedback allows for finding bugs, areas for improvement, feature ideas, insights into everyday usage etc… Any outside feedback is valuable as it proves interest and relevance, and is therefore always demanded by investors and other stakeholders as a measure to ensure success and avoid risks. Having an active user forum is a good source of such feedback. It will not fully replace other actions, especially if statistical or quantitative evidence is needed, but the qualitative value of such a forum is something which a newly founded startup (without a user base yet) could only dream of.
Therefore, I believe (and hope) that the FP team visits the forum regularly, and certainly does a full text search on specific topics when developing new products. They won’t often respond to issues brought up here, for reasons of capacity and because there is a dedicated customer service which can be contacted. And I can understand that they’re not inclined to discuss every technical and design question of future products here in public. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t read the forum.
I can be pretty sure they don’t read the forum. I spend hours a day looking at some of the posts, so I can’t see Fairphone spending even that amount of time.
If they look for ten minutes I’d be surprised. There’s a lot of waffle and whinging - a lot of posts go of topic ~ they would have to sieve through so much garbage it would be painful.
So whereas they don’t ‘read’ the forum, sure a glance hear and there when users direct them. Really ~ I hope they have more important things to do.
Still this is another example of Off Topic
Complex Size issues I’m not sure what the ‘Complex’ bit refers to and as for the ‘size’ I’m pretty sure Fairphone have thought about that pre-production. Hence the response here that Fairphone are unlikely to take notice of or read this topic seems totally appropriate.
I understand some may be disappointed thinking Fairphone read the forum, but I think it is clear ‘some text somewhere’ that this is a user forum and contact ‘should’ be made to Fairphone if they are to be aware of a customer problem, which I imagine includes, insights.
However I have waited months for responses over accessory issues, so hoping they will look at the size issue with any furore is, to say the least, extremely unlikely.
And because of this* I keep on ending up concluding that FP wants to fail.
That’s a sad conclusion, but FP is in their right to ignore people who care about the products they’re trying to sell. I doubt it being a wise and successful strategy in the long run but hey… I tried my best, and others too. For now I will redirect my time, energy, money somewhere else probably.
/* this refers to
“Not sure what you are getting at here, but I think it’s very important that @amoun clarifies for new users that this is only a user forum so people don’t get their hopes up that messages posted here will necessarily be read by a Fairphone employee.”
(sorry about the layout, this tool seems not to support standard keyboards)
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