I’ve been a long-time Samsung user and I’m considering getting the FP6, though this topic could also apply to older models.
After reading through many forum posts, I’m starting to feel a bit hesitant about getting the FP6. It seems there are quite a few significant issues that users can run into. This hesitation isn’t helped by the fact that support response times appear to be slow, to say the least.
Are there users who are completely happy with all aspects of their phone, considering the price, performance, and the unique position of this product in the global phone market?
You could make a survey, in the forum you mostly see the loud minority. (Especially those who write posts).
I know around 6 people who have a FP6 and all are happy with it.
I didn’t saw that post, thanks. I couldn’t find an easy way to insert a poll so I didn’t do that.
I don’t game on my phone. I use it for webbrowsing/reddit/music and the usual day to day apps like navigation, banking etc.
The appeal for me is the long support window, perhaps a switch to e os, and the possibility to repair or replace parts more easily. With my Samsung phones (since the Galaxy S1), I never had any issues regarding hardware and/or software.
I’ve been using the Fairphone for a while now and honestly it all depends on your expectations. If you’re going from Samsung, the performance and polish will feel like a step back. But if you care about repairability, durability and the whole ethical point of view, it’s kind of a trade-off you’re willing to make.
Many users are happy every day, they just don’t write about it.
Hi, I’ve had my FP6 since the start of July and I couldn’t have been happier with it. I do experience some minor issues:
the screen is sometimes unresponsive after an unlock (1-2 times a day)
occasionally something prevents the phone from going into deep sleep - I restart the phone, when I feel the battery drains too fast and it’s back to normal
I guess I’ve been pretty lucky with the issues I’m experiencing, as some have it way worse (plenty of that in the forum). I also move to Fairphone after almost 10 years of using Xiaomi phones (often replaced with custom ROMs), so the experience of a clean Android install where I don’t have to worry about bank apps not working is very refreshing for me.
I’ve also had good experiences with support when reporting issues, but that also doesn’t seem to be the norm for most people.
Overall, I recommend the phone based on my experience, but I’m just one case and you should average out everything you’re reading and hearing.
I used a FP2 for about eight years, even quite some time after support had ended, until the battery died and spares weren’t available anymore. The switch to FP5 lasted a few months only, then my Fairphone era ended.
Why?
My phone is a tool frequently used in everyday life. Banking, wallets, e-documents, e-administration, all of them need biometric identification so this function (and the phone by itself of course) needs to be as robust and reliable as possible.
Sometimes the sun is not shining at the filling station and I have to pay with wet and not perfectly clean fingers. A phone with fingerprint sensor in the powerbutton and reduced environmental protection will fail sooner or later when I stow it in my jacket and leave it there for quite a while under these conditions. Moisture creeps in damaging electronic components inevitably. And that’s not abstract theory but proven and logical consequence.
In addition this particular component ist not self repairable and service at Fairphone’s lasts weeks, at least in the last couple of months. (Not to talk about quite some notorious software issues users have to struggle with reportedly.)
I really love the idea of long lasting, repairable designs but we should not lose sight of obvious caveats.
To me fingerprint sensor in the display and IP67 rating at least is mandatory nowadays. This does not absolutely guarantee flawless operation at any given time but chances are quite a lot higher. I dislike having to accept sealed housings and highly reduced repairability but it seems to be inevitable reality.
The Fairphone 6 has an IP55 rating, which should be more than enough to survive the conditions you’re describing. The Fairphone 5 offers the same level of protection.
Here is the Wikipedia description of what the second “5” means in the rating:
Maybe that’s the mistake we both made — forums are naturally full of people posting about problems and frustrations. If you judged by the iPhone forum, you’d think that the iPhone is completely unusable.
It’s obviously not. Less than 7 means that certain kinds of sprays do not kill the device immediately. It tells us nothing about the later outcome. As I said, moisture of any kind - water or vapour - has the ability to creep into a housing being not really TIGHT. This process simply needs enough time to harm.
To me a phone ist either rated 7+ or not. Lower ratings are for statistics only.
What do you think are the moisture sensitive sensor spots on the Fairphone PCBs for, voiding any warranty when reacting positively?
It’s not about ratings it’s about relevant qualities. If somebody asks she or he should consider the individual importance.
My wife used her FP2 almost as long as I did and hardly ever had any issues. But she left it at home most of the time and occasionally carried it around in her handbag. Such conditions are not challenging at all. I had to repair mine regularly digging sometimes quite a bit deeper into it’s bowels than intended by Fairphone. It mostly was about cleaning contacts from dust or oxidation. I knew the FP2’s capabilities and it’s limitations. At that time it’s been all I needed …
Not past a year yet.