Unsatisfied with FP3

Greetings,

After having my old phone for more than 6 years, I decided to buy a new one. I got the FP3 because of the ethical reasons. I knew that on a performance level it won’t compare with other phones, and that wasn’t a problem, but basic functionalities are not working correctly:

  1. Android Auto only works around 5% of the time (Android Auto Does Not Work)
  2. People can barely hear me when having a video call on WhatsApp or Messenger ([TEST] Low volume & echo with hands free & WhatsApp - #16 by Antoine)
  3. Fingerprint sensor doesn’t work around 40% of the time
  4. Sometimes it takes the phone couple of minutes before it can connect to my WiFi after turning it on
  5. Support is more less non-existence. They don’t answer at all. And when they do, they give generic answers

Sorry I needed to write this.

8 Likes

When was the last update and have you thought of sending back to Fairphone to see what they think.

Have you tried a) a safe mode start, b) dismantling and reassembling
or c) a factory reset ???

Thank you @anon9989719 for your reply.

Yeah I have tried all what you’ve mentioned.
I have the latest updates. I can share the version with you.

I bought the phone from a reseller and the time for a return has already passed.

About Android Auto, the problem can also be your car. Maybe a firmware update from your car builder could solve it.

These issues are not to do with the vendor. No matter where you buy the phone Fairphone give a 2 year warranty even if the vendor doesn’t, go straight to them.

support\at/ fairphone d.o.t com

I had the car updated couple of weeks ago. My older phone works perfectly (Galaxy S6).

Oh that is good to hear. Thanks! Much appreciated.

1 Like

I can confirm issue 2 through 5 (my car does not have Android auto)

You are not alone

Thanks for sharing @gyldenro
It’s such a sad situation.

Did you update Android Auto on the Fairphone yesterday?

Your older phone worked perfectly but my FP3 also works perfectly with my car when using Android Auto (Subaru Impreza).

The versions of Android and Android Auto could matter. Is your S6 with the same versions of this software as your FP3 ?

Even if the guaranty was over you would have the right to ask the support for help but then it could have a cost…

Can confirm with most of these issues.

I am very much not happy with the overall performance. Reception is bad, wifi takes forever to connect, I am hard to hear for others. And on top of all that my bottom module is broken which makes it a very frustrating process to charge the phone. (And of course they’ve been out of stock for a while now.)

I actually started to use my old, worn down Samsung-with-broken-screen more and more, since that one somehow still works better.

Sad, because I really love the whole Fairphone concept.

Latest update for Android Auto is from July the 8th.
I just checked on my S6 and last update there is August the 6th.

At the moment they are different versions.
On FairPhone it says “Last Updated Jul 8, 2021”.
On S6 it says “Last Updated Aug 6, 2021”.

Yes! That is exactly what makes it sad.

How do you asses the bottom module is broken, it could just be either debris in the port or plug or loose module, have you tried taking it apart and reassembling it.
The phone is still under warranty unless you’ve been for a swim with it etc.

The date you get the updates doesn’t tell you how uptodate the update is.
Fairphone’s came out on 28th May as a June 5th update before many others.

Software Version: 3.A.0107.20210513
Security Patch Level: 5th of June, 2021

but there are 3 newer Security patches awaiting :frowning:

I am unsure to understand. Your FP3 uses Android 10 and you are saying your Samsung Galaxy S6 too. I didn’t know Samsung upgraded its phones on a so long period…

1 Like

Hello Onez,

I definitely know what you mean. Don’t get me wrong ,the phone is fast enough for a daily drive and works over all as it should, but the little things make it annoying.

For your troubles with Android Auto, my suggestion is simple. For me it was the cable. I bought a high quality and short USB3 type A to USB C and I get phone disconnects all the time. No issues with the FP one. I cannot imagine what the deal is with the cables, but any should work to be honest.

My top annoying things to add to the list:

  1. Fingerprint sensor for sure! You need to unlock the phone so often during the day, and when your nor able to is just annoying. Especially if you have not a bad PW like “1234”.

I miss face unlock from android 9 which disappeared with the update to android 10.

  1. Camera is important! The need to download and try various apks to find one that is actually useful is just bad!

  2. More and better Bluetooth codecs. I have good headphones and pay for lossless TIDL. Cannot imagine how much better the sound would be.

  3. Hardware upgrades that improve the device. If not the idea of changing parts is obsolete. (New camera modules).

Hopefully the cable swap works for you.

1 Like

Hi Milchmann,

Thanks for the info.

I actually did try at least 4 different (expensive) cables. Unfortunately that didn’t solve the problem.

When I open Play Store and go to Android Auto, it is updated on both phones.
On FairPhone Android Auto version is 6.6.612534
On S6 Android Auto version is 6.7.612934

No idea why it’s newer on the S6.

FP3

S6