Fairphone 3 EOL
(www.fairphone.com)
Buy EuropeanIt seems that Fairphone will finally end the Fairphone 3 (and 3+) support in August after 7 years.
I am still using my FP3+ daily - the only thing that has gone wrong with it was that I wore out the USB connector with cheap charging cables... so a new bottom connector (and a spare battery, just in case) and I'm all good again...
... which means, I might not be buying another phone for another couple of years yet, let's see if it'll make 10 years with LineageOS, etc!
I'm sure there's other phones still chugging along...
While the Fairphone 3’s official journey comes to a close this year, we strongly encourage all Fairphone 3 owners to explore alternative operating systems. Much like we saw with the Fairphone 2, the open-source community provides incredible ways to keep your phone secure and functional for years to come. Switching to an alternative OS allows you to receive security patches and feature updates long after the official life cycle. Community-driven projects such as LineageOS (currently running Android 15),/e/OS (who will continue to support the Fairphone 3 for at least two years more), and postmarketOS are some projects you can look into. We will also be publishing all the development work we have done on Android 14, hoping this work will serve open source communities. By transitioning to an alternative OS, you’re helping us prove that hardware can, and should, last. That’s what Fairphone has all been about. That’s why we’re the one that lasts.
So the biggest risk is the software not being supported anymore and having to really on community maintainers.
Moving to community maintained OS/ROM is a good idea anyway due to Google closing down Android ecosystem.
Continuing to use an Android OS that has Play Store and Play Protect will probably mean loosing the ability to run a number of (OSS) apps distributed outside the play store.
cf https://keepandroidopen.org/fr/
The possibility to easily change the USB port definitely weight in the balance in favor of a fairphone when I picked a new phone.
Now two other members of my family have a fairphone 5 as well.
It was the replacable battery that originally convinced me to buy... I'd been using old Nokia's previously and that "5 seconds to full charge" appeal of a 2nd battery was the tipping point for me.
What are You people doing with your phones? I don't have the most recent phone and some active apps on and don't run out until I am going to bed.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for repairability but don't really see the need for swappable. Unless privacy reasons of course.
Repairability.
That's not what I understand under repairable. A non swappable battery can be changed by opening the phone in a reasonably manner. If that is not possible then I don't call it reparable.
Taking the back of and putting in a new battery on the fly is something else to me.
No, a non-swappable battery is most often soldered and glued, and the case is also not easily openable. Popping off the cover and swap the battery with another is a demonstration of repairability.
Looks like they are en par with Apple, if you ignore the occasional critical bug fix for way out of date iOS versions. https://iosref.com/ios
But unlike Apple you can still change individual parts like the USB connector and install custom open-source OS like Lineage and essentially have full support again.
How can you wear a connector with cheap cables? Never thought there’s any difference. I thought the cheap cable can damage your phone via other means, like something to do with the current / voltage / amperage.
Yeah, just as @JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl mentioned, the cables seemed good origianally because they were such a tight fit, but over time they just wore away the connector.
But, it could have been a "certified" cable and I might have dropped the phone straight on the connector - the point is really, that I can just replace a small component not an entire phone, which is what we (consumers) really need / want. 🎉
Yeah, I think the USB c port just wears out in general over time. Maybe its worse if you use different cables, like alternating the use, dunno.
Our laptops at work have that issue too, since we plug and and unplug them multiple times between docking stations and meeting rooms, the USB c ports wear out pretty quickly. Then for some reason you can not connect to mic and video in the meeting room, but the big screen connects fine. Totally bizarre, you connect it via USB a and it all works.
