American FP user here. I’ve been using the FP3 (with /e/) on the west coast for a couple years without issues. In fact, it’s been a great phone. I really love what Fairphone is all about and love supporting their mission, so I had a French friend send me the new FP4.
Unfortunately, the experience has been disappointing so far. The stock OS is way less “clean” than its predecessor and is stuck with all the invasive Google bloatware (apparently FP does not include Fairphone Open for Fairphone 4 atm). Also, there’s no /e/ option yet, though it sounds like there will be soon.
On top of that, I just discovered that my carrier doesn’t support wifi calling on the FP4 (although it did on the FP3). Unfortunately, I live in a place with little cell service, so having no wifi calling makes the phone next to useless. Does anyone know if other American carriers support wi-fi calling on the FP4? Is there anyway to find out?
There is/was also no Fairphone Open for FP3. So I’m not clear why you expected it for the FP4…
Yes, if ungoogled OS is important for you (what I can actually understand very much) you might have waited for the Murena FP4 which is now announced for January 2022.
So probably /e/OS will also be available for your existing FP4 at roughly about the same time.
Maybe so. I’m no FP expert. But the FP3 I acquired (albeit from a third party) had a significantly different initial OS than FP4’s. Having a google account was optional, for example, and you could remove the various initial apps. That is not the case here.
As to your second point, I could also just wait until /e/ releases a stand alone OS build for the FP4, which I think should occur around the same time they release their FP4.
In any event, my main concern is finding a way to set up WiFi calling. Are there any carriers in Europe that support that feature on an FP4?
Isn’t it putting the phone into flight mode and then switching on wifi? Turning off mobile data doesn’t mean that voice services are turned off, too, My wife’s unfair phone shows a wifi symbol with an earphone on it in the status bar if it’s connected to wifi calling (thus wifi turned on, idle but ready to call) but I cannot guarantee that this is the case for the FP4, too.
The mobile data option does not apply to phone calls. But next week I will be at a place with bad cellular coverage and then I can tell you if WiFi calling does work with FP4 on Telekom Germany.
Update: I was able to install a third-party app which allows you to make and receive wi-fi calls from a secondary number. It seems no American mobile company supports wi-fi calling on any FP (not exactly a surprise, given that Fairphones are not technically approved with the regulatory agencies here). Until /e/ comes out, I’m using the phone as a backup “house phone,” but it is working very well in that role. Thanks for the replies, folks!
My understanding of WiFi Calling (or sometimes VoWiFi) must be supported by the phone and by the carrier. I only have a FP2, so can’t speak to capabilities of the FP3 or FP4.
However, according to Wikipedia’s Generic Network Access article [1], T-Mobile US supports WiFi calling. You’ll probably need to ask your carrier if they support WiFi calling or not, and whether that support is device-specific (I’m not clear on that whether carrier support would entail every device that offers WiFi Calling, or just specific devices approved by the carrier).
Yes, that is true. No all provider support Wifi-Call. For example German Klarmobil in the D2-Network don’t have Wifi-Call-Support, Klarmobil in the D1-Network supports Wifi-Call.
Hi there,
I own a FP4 for some weeks now with the latest ROM update… I can’t get WiFi Calling working and I’m really disappointed about that.
On my old Xiaomi Mi A1 running LOS 18.1 WiFi Calling worked like a charm. Using the same SIM (Telekom Germany) in my FP4 there’s only VoLTE available. I think that there’s something wrong with the integration in FP’s ROM, as there’s no choice whether to prefer WiFi or cellular network (as in LOS).
Anyone successfully used WiFi Calling here?
Regards, M.
So under settings, network, mobile network ,network settings is no option at all to enable WiFi Calling or you found that but are missing this setting?
