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Cellphones Hardware

The Fairphone 3+ Is a Repairable Dream That Takes Beautiful Photos (gizmodo.com) 73

Posted by BeauHD from the do-it-yourself dept.
The Fairphone 3+ is a $550 phone with modular parts that can easily be swapped out by users themselves. "In many ways, a Fairphone is the antithesis of the iPhone," writes Catie Keck via Gizmodo. "It doesn't benefit most retailers to allow you to easily repair your own stuff, meaning that a lot of gizmos these days -- particularly higher-end electronics -- are packed with proprietary parts and sometimes even software locks to dissuade consumers from attempting to perform repairs themselves." While it is a "repairable dream" and features two big camera upgrades over the Fairphone 3 (which does support the new upgraded camera modules), it's, sadly, only available overseas. Keck writes: Fairphone 3+ has 64GB of memory but can be upgraded to 400GB with a MicroSD card. It has a Qualcomm 632 processor, a 5.65-inch display, Bluetooth 5, a 3000mAh battery that supports Qualcomm QuickCharge, and six total modules to swap out for easy repair. A thing I didn't expect to love as much as I did was fingerprint ID on the backside of the phone -- particularly as Face ID on my iPhone 11 has become a massive pain in the butt in these mask-on times. At present, Fairphone doesn't support 4G connectivity in the U.S., my biggest gripe with the phone second only to the fact that the phones only ship within Europe. [...] Fairphone runs on Android -- the Fairphone 3+ comes with Android 10 pre-installed and ready to go.

As for its camera, I was happy enough with the photograph with the newer lens. Photo nerds may be more sensitive to the trade-offs when compared with, say, the iPhone 11 Pro, but for the average person, I think Fairphone's cameras would work beautifully. I especially loved the portrait mode on the front camera, which worked in even exceptionally low-light environments for me. Software likely isn't the primary reason that anyone is looking at getting a Fairphone device, but shipping pre-installed with a lot of familiar apps means making the switch will likely be relatively painless, though so far my iPhone is a bit snappier overall in terms of performance. Again, the tradeoff is a commitment to repairability that you simply won't get with an Apple device unless the company radically overhauls its entire business model or unless it's forced, neither of which seems remotely likely for the foreseeable future.
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The Fairphone 3+ Is a Repairable Dream That Takes Beautiful Photos More

The Fairphone 3+ Is a Repairable Dream That Takes Beautiful Photos

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  • hahaha this is what we've come to (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bistromath007 ( 1253428 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @09:47PM (#60533880)

    americans aren't allowed to have good phones

    • Can you imagine the amount of money thrown at carriers, politicians etc, to KEEP OUT more phones from coming into the USA? Here, we get Apple, Samsung, maybe a few LG, Sony phones and unless you know where to get them, when people go to a carrier store, they are first shown the Apple/Samsung stuff and pretty much nothing else.

  • Are phones really that unreliable? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @09:50PM (#60533882) Homepage

    I still have my old Droid Incredible around for shits and giggles. It's horribly outdated and I'm sure the battery (being easily replaceable didn't save the phone from obsolescence) no longer holds much of a charge, but it still boots up. In fact, every smartphone I've owned has been replaced as an upgrade for something better, not because it broke.

    I'm going to just assume that the idea behind the serviceability isn't because this phone has the reliability of a Yugo, but so the phone can have individual components upgraded, rather than replacing the whole thing outright. The catch with that though should be obvious to anyone who has done the DIY PC building thing for long enough: eventually you end up with a really crusty old keyboard, mouse, and an ATX case containing none of the original components you started out with. A new CPU requires a new motherboard, a new motherboard requires new RAM, and so on.

    The author compares it to the iPhone, but the reality is that the iPhone is for a totally different market segment, in just the same way as a Tesla is probably not the kind of car you'd want if you enjoy getting covered in engine grease while tweaking things under the hood. Some people just aren't into that.

    • Some people just aren't into that.

      And this is for people that are.
      I have a couple old phones, but have broken the screen and thrown out far more.

      • I hope those people don't all write things like:

        I hadn’t anticipated that repairing it was going to be a whole thing.

        Assuming this article was written by an adult for an adult audience, why that sentence? What does that even mean? What I take from it is she expected the repair person would hand back the phone with the camera halfway repaired and say "Have a nice day lady", but I'm not sure why anyone would expect that to happen. Or course a repair shop would perform a whole repair! Otherwise they'd have a lot of unhappy customers and would go out of business.

        The whole th

    • she runs a whole youtube channel repairing and/or data recovery on ipads and iphones. her company is called ipad rehab.

      the comparison to Tesla is apt. Tesla actively discourages people from working on their cars, to a degree no other car maker has ever attempted.. so its kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. In theory a bunch of people are not interested, but Tesla goes out of their way to prevent diy repair. Apple is taking that same stance.

    • Solution to crustiness: replace the case as well from time to time. Also possible on this phone as far as I can see, in case you get a nasty dent in it or it cracks after a fall. I think the bigger problem is that space inside these devices is at a premium, and components in a modern phone are folded over, around and through one another. Having upgradable components means that you are locked into a certain form factor for them. Making the phone user-serviceable places further limitations on the physical

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by MeNeXT ( 200840 )

      I still have my old Droid Incredible around for shits and giggles. It's horribly outdated and I'm sure the battery (being easily replaceable didn't save the phone from obsolescence) no longer holds much of a charge, but it still boots up. In fact, every smartphone I've owned has been replaced as an upgrade for something better, not because it broke.

      I'm going to just assume that the idea behind the serviceability isn't because this phone has the reliability of a Yugo, but so the phone can have individual components upgraded, rather than replacing the whole thing outright. The catch with that though should be obvious to anyone who has done the DIY PC building thing for long enough: eventually you end up with a really crusty old keyboard, mouse, and an ATX case containing none of the original components you started out with. A new CPU requires a new motherboard, a new motherboard requires new RAM, and so on.

      The author compares it to the iPhone, but the reality is that the iPhone is for a totally different market segment, in just the same way as a Tesla is probably not the kind of car you'd want if you enjoy getting covered in engine grease while tweaking things under the hood. Some people just aren't into that.

      That is the simple way of looking at it when you have no other options. The other is that a phone can be handed down when it's easy to repair. It can also be repurposed as a security camera or a weather station or whatever someone can think of. The waste that we create is based on our choices and what is available. If we would be allowed to own an iPhone instead or renting it (don't get your "whity tighties" in a bunch, if you owned the iPhone you wouldn't need to jailbreak it to modify the software or inst

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Part of the problem is software support, older machines won't run current (secure) versions, and part of it is that computers are really really cheap and while you could use an old PC as a home server a Raspberry Pi is lower power and really well supported.

        My friend was completely happy with his Galaxy S III but the newest version of Lineage available won't run some apps so he had to upgrade.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      If you just want to have a reasonable phone with non-Google/Apple OS then an older Android device that supports LineageOS and has a replaceable battery is probably the best bet.

      • And this phone will get great lineageos support like the 2 did. And it has good enough specs to have great longevity. And a removable battery. And an SD card slot AND 2 SIMs.

        Really it hits most every nerd spot except GPIO. And it's not available in the US. I am in the US. I want :-/.

    • No, people holding the phones over hard surfaces, or bodies of water are unreliable.

  • ... to basically set expectations very low vis a vis the experience of actually using this phone.

    I like the idea of repairabilty in theory; but, in practice, I’ve taken a smartphone in for repair exactly once over the past ten years. The user experience matters more to me, from a practical point of view.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MeNeXT ( 200840 )

      ... to basically set expectations very low vis a vis the experience of actually using this phone.

      I like the idea of repairabilty in theory; but, in practice, I’ve taken a smartphone in for repair exactly once over the past ten years. The user experience matters more to me, from a practical point of view.

      The only reason why this is so is because someones right to earn a profit is more important than another's right to own.

  • let's get memory and storage straight (Score:4, Interesting)

    by SethJohnson ( 112166 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @11:34PM (#60534124) Homepage Journal

    Fairphone 3+ has 64GB of memory but can be upgraded to 400GB with a MicroSD card.

    If the source article confuses storage and memory, is it really worthy of being posted let alone quoted on Slashdot? I propose no.

    • There you go with your nerdy facts again.
      Slashdot isn't the place for that.

    • You're right, because the source article made a mistake in one sentence we should not run a story here that is of direct interest to the readership. Slashdot is a place of incredibly high editorial standards and we should not accept.... sorry I couldn't bring myself to finish that sentence, I am already laughing uncontrollably.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Most articles about phones seem to make this mistake. It's the new "calling your computer a hard drive".

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gweihir ( 88907 )

        What, it is not? It is pretty hard to drive my computer around being a big heavy box, so it is definitely a "hard drive"!

        (Sorry, just had an incredibly stupid long online meeting. It messes with my head...)

    • Fairphone 3+ has 64GB of memory but can be upgraded to 400GB with a MicroSD card.

      If the source article confuses storage and memory, is it really worthy of being posted let alone quoted on Slashdot? I propose no.

      True; I don't believe that this phone has anywhere near 64 GB of main storage.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by phsdv ( 596873 )
      Nothing wrong with this sentence. The build-in storage of 64GB is made of FLASH MEMORY.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Is it really too much to ask that you read a little before posting a put down of a product that really does deserve a mention here? The only thing not worth posting here is your post.

      https://shop.fairphone.com/en/... [fairphone.com] - 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, expandable with a micro SD card. And lets be blunt. It's all memory of one kind or another, even the registers.

  • Anyone wonder what happened to earlier models? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by magzteel ( 5013587 ) on Wednesday September 23, 2020 @12:11AM (#60534202)

    Why a new model? Their whole premise seems to be that the phone is upgradable and repairable. Anyone wonder what happened to the previous models? Can you get spare parts? Can you upgrade it to newer specs?

    No, not really. There are limited spare parts for your fairphone 2. Here's everything you can get, and even some of these are unavailable. https://shop.fairphone.com/en/... [fairphone.com]

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by kdayn ( 874107 )
      Clicked through the spare parts and the higher quality camera and the top module was not available, all parts for this phone are critical and the availability of all of them are critical for it's idea.
      This is exactly what i wanted to check before buying this phone, how long do I have the parts avalable?
      They should give some guarantee on the part availability in the first place.

      • Jaguars have the same problem. That's why you buy two, and call one of them "donor".

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gweihir ( 88907 )

        Given that the 3+ just has become available, that is not surprising. Give it a bit of time. One part of sustainable production is not to overproduce and that some times creates wait times.

    • That's a bit sad, but probably has something to do with them being a relatively small player. Stocking parts is expensive, and no parts supplier is going to keep a production line alive for replacement parts of an obscure phone. Fairphone did offer an apology and explanation [fairphone.com]. That letter also gives some insight in their vision on device lifespan: "Most people replace their phones every two years; our goal is for your Fairphone to last between three and five years."

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tippen ( 704534 )

        "Most people replace their phones every two years; our goal is for your Fairphone to last between three and five years."

        So for about as long as I keep my iPhones these days. Currently planning to upgrade my four year-old iPhone 7 to a 12 once they come out.

        • "Most people replace their phones every two years; our goal is for your Fairphone to last between three and five years."

          So for about as long as I keep my iPhones these days. Currently planning to upgrade my four year-old iPhone 7 to a 12 once they come out.

          I upgraded my 6 to an 11 last year. The 6 was still working fine, but I got a great Christmas time "buy one/get one" deal on 128GB iPhone 11's, and a rebate for changing carriers. Final cost was $300 each. If it wasn't that cheap I'd probably still be on my iPhone 6 - but the 11 is a lot nicer.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tippen ( 704534 )
            Nice. Normally I would have upgraded last year, but given how long I expect my next one to last, I wanted to hold out for the 5G models.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by thsths ( 31372 )

        That is nice, but my phones already last three to five years. I have a Pixel 1 that is getting a bit slow, but still working fine.

    • Re:Anyone wonder what happened to earlier models? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Misagon ( 1135 ) on Wednesday September 23, 2020 @05:49AM (#60534910)

      The previous model was Fairphone 3, and that can be upgraded with the cameras in the Fairphone 3+.

      Spare parts for the Fairphone 2 are still available at the page you linked to.

      • The previous model was Fairphone 3, and that can be upgraded with the cameras in the Fairphone 3+.

        Spare parts for the Fairphone 2 are still available at the page you linked to.

        You didn't actually look to see which parts are available.

        According to https://www.fairphone.com/en/2... [fairphone.com] the last fairphone 2 was sold early 2019. They said the goal is to make it last 3-5 years, but some parts have been unavailable for months.

        I'm not sure why 3-5 years lifespan is such a big deal. I had an iPhone 6 for five years, and there is no problem getting parts from many suppliers. But at a certain point it's just as cheap to buy the entire phone on the used market.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MeNeXT ( 200840 )

      I like how people compare the resources of Apple and Google with the resources of a startup. Unlike Apple and Google products you can design your own replacement parts. It took Linux how many years to push Microsoft to give it room in the server room? Even if it's only one part it's considerably better than what is offered by Apple or Google.. I remember my first iPhone (3GS) and the closed ecosystem where dues to some glitch I had to wait a week for it to become useful because I needed iTunes to reinsta

  • only available overseas (Score:4, Insightful)

    by war4peace ( 1628283 ) on Wednesday September 23, 2020 @01:18AM (#60534368)

    You know, "overseas" is a subjective term which depends on where one is located and the word interpretation.
    From where I'm standing, the US is "overseas", so the Fairphone 3+ is available "right here".

    • Yeah, well, Catie Keck was writing for Gizmodo, in English, so clearly her target audience is American. Else she would surely have parsed her message through Google translate to some foreign language, if foreigners, i.e. people overseas, would have been her target audience. I wonder why you didn't get this simple fact.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by mccalli ( 323026 )
        Hi. Englishman here....

      • One should not have to go ahead and research the author's nationality and target audience when reading an article.
        As for the language it's written in, last time I checked there were a lot of countries using English as official language. Here's a helpful list:

        https://projects.ncsu.edu/grad... [ncsu.edu]

        One's audience could be anyone, as long as it's published on the Internet, especially when one's talking about a product that's not locally made. making the assumption only fellow Americans would read it is bad journalis

        • No, no, no! Don't confuse me with facts. It's a well-known fact that all who speak and write English are in the United States. The 5 eyes countries need extensive translations, hence their name, lots of eyes required to look stuff up. I'm sure it's true, an American told me so. On the internet. Now that should be more than enough to win anybody over, shouldn't it?

          :^)

  • So either this phone takes 336GB SD cards, or Keck is a bit kak at his job.

  • Looking at the specs, the only thing that's kind of meh is the Qualcomm 632 SoC. It should be embarrassing to use this in 2020, in 550 dollar phone. But on the other side, the cheap phones I had with A53 cores only, could last a super long time on a single charge. Maybe up to two days.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by thsths ( 31372 )

      Absolutely. And given that one of the main reasons to upgrade is "slowness", using an ageing mid rang chip is not a good choice.

  • Android (Score:2)

    by tsa ( 15680 )

    Pity they run Android. If they had an alternative OS that wasn’t made to learn everything about you I would have considered them.

    • They also support /e/, and you even can buy the Fairphone with /e/ preinstalled on it:
      https://esolutions.shop/shop/e... [esolutions.shop]
      That's definitely what I intend to buy...

    • Android is tracking as much about you as the vendor wants. LineageOS is Android. There is a preinstalled /e/ OS with Fairphone (an Android as well), Does anybody have any experience with it?

    • That is SO true! I used to have an old, not very good tablet that I didn't care about. I ran Cyanogen Mod on it, and was a very happy camper. It was Android without the privacy rape. It didn't last, of course.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Herve5 ( 879674 )

        Miles, I can say I used a 'degoogled' Fairphone 1 model for years, then a Fairphone 2 (model 1 still working, given to son, now really fossil).
        The Fairphone 2 too came with a version without Google apps (so-called 'OpenOS' from Fairphone), which I obviously chose.
        The fact Fairphone decided not to supply degoogled OSes for the Fairphone 3, now delegating this to /e/ was actually a significant concern for me.
        But as the topic is very active both in Fairphone's and /e/ forums, it convincingly results that all '

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ksevio ( 865461 )

      What would it run besides Android? iOS? Windows Phone OS? Firefox OS? Android is really the only reasonable OS available these days and since it's open-source it can be delivered with or without whatever integrations are desired

  • It's too bad that the Fairphone's performance and specs are about that of a phone costing half the price. At least make the phone compelling in its own right for the price it sells at. It's certainly not justified by being "ethical" because Fairphone's suppliers are basically the same suppliers that many other phone manufacturers use.

  • Needs: Metal case. Screws. Variant Outdoor cases, perhaps with waterproofing.
    Working feasibke non-beta free open-source operating system (Sailfish in finished, Open Source Android, finished Ubuntu Touch or something like that).

    I like the idea of the fairphone, but it's still a little to flaky IMHO.

    I myself am looking into purchasing the Volla [volla.online] when it comes out (announced for November).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Why a metal case? I prefer plastic.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ksevio ( 865461 )

      Metal case isn't great for antennas. Really would reduce the options such as NFC if it had a metal case.

      Looks like you can get it with a different android OS without Google software.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nnull ( 1148259 )
      Still better than the garbage purism is coming out with.
  • I prefer having a phone that doesn't break at all, over one that is easily repairable.
  • Such a shame this isn't available here I'd love to own one and not have to worry about completely upgrading so regularly. Imagine the good this does for the environment and the money you save while also having the latest features or for that matter just the latest features you want and will use. This is how all phones should be anything else is anti consumer and anti environment.

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