Thank you, Bert. I also place it on soft surfaces most of the time, but sometimes I forget. I wonder if the problem does not exist with a different casing…
I have this problem too. I think it is quite a flaw in the Fairphone design. The vibration is too strong and I have not been able to make it softer. I think that vibration noise is louder than notification sounds, 
If anyone has a way to make vibration softer, please post it here!!
This is not a picture of the Fairphone, but all vibration motors look kinda alike:
The part in the front is the thing that moves. If you take some silicone mass or similar and close the half-circle with it the vibration should get quieter, but also weaker.
Another option would be to cut a whole in the cover where the vibration motor is so it can’t hit against the cover.
Both options could possible cause the insides of the phone to gather dirt faster and therefore void warranty.
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Thank you @paulakreuzer, it looked like a great idea at first (thanks to the “openness” and modularity of fairphone) but getting my warranty void is not something i would like to happen…I’ll stick with my vibration deactivated…
Thank you anyway!
I found out that the vibration strength is not the same for all bottom modules: Different bottom module, different vibration strength. So you can exchange your bottom module with another Fairphoner to adjust the vibration strength.
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Flip case … although in this case it only serves as a variation of @BertG’s proposal.
Edit: LineageOS 14.1 should have a setting for this, but LineageOS 14.1 on the Fairphone 2 (like on several other devices it seems) does not implement this (you can find it with the Settings search, but the control just doesn’t pop up … created a topic for this).
I would not dare to manipulate the motor or the weight.
Searching for such motors right now, I was really surprised by the amount of different models there are.
Well, the ones used in Fairphone 2 (just judging by the pictures) can rotate at about 10,000 rpm. In my opinion attaching something to the motor/weight, that stays fixed at such a rotation, is a real challenge.
(Step 10, right picture, the little white cubic part with 2 “feet” i.e. contacts facing up)
Motors resembling this one I found (all with a minimum order of 1,000 pieces):
12,000 +/- 3,000 rpm
This one could explain, why the same model might sound different in the FP2, as there are some motors vibrating at 9,000 rpm while others do so at 15,000 rpm (66.7% more).
8,000 - 16,000 rpm
22,000 rpm
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Thank you very much for your ideas. Thanks to all. If some fairphoner wants to change the module, please let me know 
For the meantime: When will https://forum.fairphone.com/t/missing-vibrator-intensity-setting-in-lineageos/38633 be solved?
Do you happen to live near one of the #fairphoneangels or one of the ‘heavens’?
There are some groups meeting regularely (e.g. in Austria and Germany: Wien, Hamburg, Freiburg, Stuttgart, Aachen, Düsseldorf, München), where you might get a chance to at least check if swapping the module does the trick for you.
I created the topic just after posting here.
While this community is indeed great, I still wouldn’t expect miracles late on a sunday 
.
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I also find this very annoying, and it’s one of the cons of the smartphone. It would be nice to be able to replace the module or modify the configuration. To me, it’s not only since the new case, but since the beginning compared to other smartphones way more discreet.
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I agree. But if it was an issue of technical feasibility and not warranty, there would also be the opposite approach: put a dremel or a drill to the weight and take off some material on the other side. At least that won’t create issues with sugru, silicon or whatever flying off the rotor.
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I have already thought along the same line.
You just would have to be a real precision engineer to not damage the axle or it’s bearing in the process of reshaping the weight.
And maybe taking off some weight would result in a higher rotation speed. Should be interesting to test the outcome.
Maybe someone with the necessary skills can give it a try.
There should be some broken bottom modules out there with a still working vibration motor.
Now that I think of it:
@Douwe
Do you see any chance, that broken bottom modules could be used for tinkering i.e. “recycling” vibration motors?
Judging from the pictures of the IFIXIT teardown, this motor should be not too difficult to change.
Distribution through the heavens???
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This reminded me: I do have a spare new bottom module lying around here from an earlier unsuccessful attempt at repair (turned out, it was not the bottom module’s fault). And I tend to think that the vibration motor on my phone is not quite strong enough. Sure, if on a table it rattles somewhat, but when the phone is in my front pocket I still miss messages because I fail to notice the vibration.
So just out of curiosity I swapped the bottom modules out right now to check, but I think vibration is equally strong on both bottom modules I have - at least I didn’t notice much of a difference. Now if my bottom modules vibrate less than yours and there was a way to actually establish that, I wouldn’t mind trying to swap. But how to know if it is worth trying ?
If you happen to have two equally strong modules, maybe just give it a try and exchange one of them with Max_Triff?
Worst case, you end up with the ‘same’ setup and nothing has changed besides the expenses for shipping.
Yes, it is really just a question of shipping costs, depending on the distance. If it’s not too expensive, why not?
It is very easy to remove and re-insert the vibration motor in the bottom module by pushing it in/out. It is not glued, soldered or screwed to the bottom module.
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You do need to open the bottom module, though. There are multiple metal and plastic tabs that hold the cover and base of the module together. I haven’t actually tried, so it may be quite simple in reality, but to me it looked like it would be a rather delicate operation to unclip all tabs without bending or damaging them.
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Hi there,
I noticed, that in TWRP Recovery is a possibility to change the intensity of the vibration in the options.
So there should be a way to reduce it in the OS itself right?
Cheers
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