[SOLD] [US] FP4, 256GB, Grey, LineageOS

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What product(s) are you offering?

I am selling a Fairphone 4, 256 GB, in Grey,

I travel frequently between the US and Europe. I am currently in the US, and will be for the next two weeks. I will then likely be in Europe for the rest of June. So I’m currently offering this with US shipping; later in June I will either take down or change the listing.

I used the device as my primary phone from purchasing it new on 2022-07-06 until 2023-06. There is some wear on the corners and the back plastic cover (see photos), but the screen is in perfect condition, and all clasps on the back cover are intact. The sale includes only the phone itself (including the battery and back cover). It does not include the original box or any other material.

I purchased the phone directly from Fairphone (not through a reseller or forwarder), and registered for the 5-year warranty, which expires 2027-09-28. I will provide documentation to the buyer to allow continuation of the warranty as much as possible, but note that getting service in the US may be challenging unless you are able to ship to EU addresses easily.

The phone is currently running LineageOS 20 (Android 13), updated to TQ2A.230305.008.C1. LineageOS generally seems to be recommended over stock for US use, as VoLTE support is better. If you would like me to reset to the stock OS, update LineageOS, or install another OS, I should be able to do so within reason. I will not accept returns if you brick the device while changing OS because of the known design flaws with secure boot on the FP4 (see here), but will, of course, refund you if I do while changing the OS for you.

I am not aware of any hardware or software problems with this particular device beyond the known problems affecting most devices. However, please be aware of the complexities surrounding FP4 use in the US. In my experience using LineageOS, most calls in the US on Google Fi (T-Mobile) work, but the “activate and deactivate speakerphone every reboot to make the microphone work in calls” bug occasionally shows up, and in one case (to a technology-enthusiast dental office seemingly using an unusual office phone setup), calls to a specific US number did not work at all; this may, however, have been caused by a particular combination of Google/VoIP/Wifi-Calling services.

At what price are you willing to sell or give it/them (for free/fixed/negotiable)?

I’m willing to sell for $450 in the US, not including shipping.

Shipping in the US would be no more than $10.20 (eg, USPS small flat rate box), but I would be willing to charge my actual shipping cost (eg, if I find that shipping non-flat-rate is significantly cheaper, I can refund the difference).

From where would you be shipping (country or city)?

The phone would ship from San Diego, CA, USA.

Photo(s) of the product(s) (if it is a phone, please include a photo of the phone switched on displaying the current date):

If you would like any further photographs, please let me know.

Other, remarks:

In the interest of honesty: I am selling this phone because I need a phone where I can be confident that calls will reliably work internationally, and the FP4 has been disappointing in that regard. I know that there is a demand for the FP4 in the US, where it is not normally available, and so am offering this here. I’m also offering this on the forum first in hopes that users here will have a better understanding of the FP4 and its limitations, especially in the US. If you want a phone with repairable parts and fair trade materials and production, then this may be a good purchase, but if you are expecting a perfectly reliable phone with no need for workarounds or reading advice on this forum, you will be disappointed.

[anon9989719]

Best remove the IMEI number ?? and the image containing them. They can be used to track the phone

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@PowerPuff

How much are you selling your phone for? I’m considering buying it. I’d need to know if there are glitches that could interfere with it working in areas where I’ll use it. Have you had any issues or malfunctions?

To be honest, as I note above, I’m selling this because:

• I need a very reliable phone, and this just hasn’t been that. People have complained, and I am not in a position to ignore the complaints.
• I need better battery life, and the ability to change the SIM without turning off the phone and removing a brittle and breakable part.
• I also need a camera that is more reliable; I had expected the mediocre camera would not be as much of a problem for me as it turned out to be, particularly because the extremely poor focus, lag, and shutter speed selection tend to make quick photos I take for reference turn out unreadable or unusable.
• I bought the FP4 after really enjoying my Framework laptop; I didn’t spend enough time looking at this forum to realize just how different the two companies and communities are. Fairphone as a company is simply not helpful and supportive in the way that Framework is, and this forum is not the supportive community and resource that the Framework forum is. While the above problems were frustrating, the confidence I gained that they would not be fixed by Framework, and the unhelpfulness of this forum, with its giant threads, defence of Fairphone, and continual responses of “contact support” when, in almost every case, the person saying that must know that contacting support will have no real chance of helping, given past experience, was what caused me to finally be fed up with the phone.

I’ve used the phone primarily with Google Fi, in Southern California. In the locations where I’ve used it, it appears to always be a T-mobile MVNO. I’ve been using a physical Google Fi SIM. I’ve also occasionally used it roaming with an Irish Vodafone SIM, which also connects to T-mobile. Once I installed LineageOS, it has worked reasonably in comparison to how well it works in Europe. In terms of problems:

• On some occasions, I’ve had the known glitch where, on initially booting the phone, the speakerphone needs to be turned on and off before the microphone works during calls. I’ve also had this in Europe.
• Before installing LineageOS, I had the frequent problem, also in Albuquerque, NM, where VoLTE meant that I could hear the other side of a call, but the other side could not hear me. I do not appear to have had this with LineageOS, however.
• I was not able to call my dentist. The call simply wouldn’t go through, and calls from them didn’t seem to connect, though texts did. I didn’t have this problem with anyone else. He tends to be a bit technology-obsessed, and his office appears to have an unusual phone setup, possibly an unusual VoIP system (eg, they were sending texts on their office phone).
• People on the other side complain about sound quality on Signal and WhatsApp, but this is also the case in Europe. It is usable, however; it does not have the earlier problem where calls were almost inaudible.
• It has, of course, the usual LineageOS caveats: an unlocked bootloader, with the ensuing warnings, and SafetyNet failure unless you install the universal safteynet fix (this does work on the phone in my experience) or ih8sn.