I’ve had an fp5 for a few months now, but had this sitting in my drafts. I forgot to post it.
I’ve recently had my fp4’s usb-c port die for 2nd time, for the same reason as the first time: tonnectors, as they’re inserted and removed, sometimes push against the back of the smartphone. This causes the USB-C port’s 4 solder points decouple from their respective holes.
It should be screwed in at four points.
Well you know that reporting it here to other users will not change anything?
As the modules are not glued there always were and still are prone to mechanical “manipulation” because of using the phone while charging. A reason why I use a magnetic cable…
I’ve heard these can cause shorting or be a fire hazard.
Has your experience been fine with them?
Well I guess each cable can cause such?
Here are several people using e.g. Netdot Gen10 cable since years , never heard about severe issues
Former FP employees are producing such as well
I’ve seen multiple examples of them being dangerous; some anecdotal:
They’re also not USB-C specification-compliant, and are incapable of USB4 data transferral speeds:
This doesn’t fundamentally need to be true. That is a design decision. The issue is solely due to the aforexplained lack of fastening, which is quite easily fixable.
I use them with every possible device in my household since many years, never had a problem.
But thanks to @rokejulianlockhart for the heads-up.
As a principle, I try not to leave devices connected for data or charging while unattended, and not only the magnetically connected ones.
I am using Netdot Gen10 cable. 2 years I think and I am very satisfied.
@AnotherElk, that is a good rule, especially if you live within a nation which doesn’t use an earth/ground pin in its residential outlet design.
Well the design for the FP4 will not change, however either way tell Fairphone we user cant do anything.
That’s evident.
I’m not going to inform @Fairphone, because they can’t modify the design retroactively. I’ll inform them if the fp5’s design remains problematic during my usage of it, however.
Thanks.
I do agree there is something wrong in the design of the fp4 regarding the usb-c port.
The first issue I got with my first usb-c was that the port was loose and don’t attach anymore some cable.
Changing the usb-c seems to fix the problem, but three day ago I began to have another issue, usb-c do attach well but if you don’t put manual pressure on the port it didn’t charge anymore.
I try to fix this, but it seems that the phone usb c part is now broken according to photos from ifixit:
Not sure if there is something i can do now. I will probably ask the warranty but for now, i purchase an external charger to cope with this situation.
There is a quaint old technology, now almost forgotten except by some senile old graybeards, which was called “screwing”. 
Connections fixed with screws were quite solid, and yet surprisingly easy to undo when needed…
My point is that glue and flimsy plastic clips aren’t the only options for holding something together. But I admit they are the cheapest solutions, more than enough for short-lived, disposable products (which the FP4 claimed not to be).
Just saying. 
Oh … So Fairphone could finally build their phones with screws instead of glue from now on, and topics such as this could continue to not be about anything glue-related at all.
Progress. Thank you.
@KurtF, that’s my criticism of the current implementation - solely one screw isn’t adequate. It should be four - no more, no less.
Sorry but this is a fallacy of composition… Some parts of the FP4 use screws indeed, but the topic here (check the title) was just about the USB port, which IMHO should had been fixed by screws too, since it’s a small piece which suffers a lot of strain.
I know, and I share it. This is definitely a piece which should had been fixed very, very solidly, because it is under a lot of mechanical stress.
Especially when you use the very rigid Fairphone “Long life” cable.
I used them in work environment (with many microUSB and USB-C and lightning) and at home (same). Never had any issue whatsoever with them (except you can lose them if you remove them). I use TOPK, some Chinese brand. Since it is magnetic and I have a metal part on my bed (to ensure kids don’t fall off), I am able to attach/detach it from bed.
@JeroenH, per https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/s/WfggDvYqAY, the moderators at r/UsbCHardware explicitly advise against magnetic chargers due to their non-compliance with the USB specification.
You will always find pros and cons for everything. What background do these moderators have and whats the issue when being non-compliant with which USB specifications?
@yvmuell, being non-compliant with the protocol generally isn’t problematic for USB4 and above becuse it’s well-designed. However, being non-compliant with the physical specification at wattages that USB4 and TB4 define can be, due to arcing, and motherboard controller damage rendering all ports inoperative.
The safety concerns for DC, when it is pushed to its physical limits, can be worrisomely similar to AC in practice. This is especially true for consumer electronics, which are infinitely more fragile than the human body. I rather doubt that anyone here wants to resolder and retrace a USB controller on their MB and its associated PCB contacts all the way to ports merely because their cable failed dramatically.
The reason why magnetic cables are unique in this regard is their necessity to transmit power via magnetically bound metallic contacts. This is an analogue process, which means that even slight contact disconnect can do some rather wild things to the voltage consistency if the internal cable controller doesn’t immediately prevent it, and can thus cause the aforementioned arcing and power surges.
This is briefly explained within the linked post.
