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Fairphone CEO says it’s a ‘myth’ that sustainable tech has to cost more and be of lower quality: ‘Neither is needed’ (www.techradar.com)

submitted 1 day ago by Sunshine@piefed.social to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk

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[-] ShotDonkey@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

Bought a fp 5 lately. It's a quality nightmare. Has a bug regarding 'fluid in usb port' error message. Consequence: phone does not charge. Phone is brand new. Google the bug. Turns out a hundreds of other users reported the bug already 9 months back via fp user forum. Nothing has happened. They just let it rot.

Sent it to repair. Got it back with the same bug again. Have had all fp models in the past. Was okay happy, but my fp journey ends here. I think the company has serious problems.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 8 points 12 hours ago

Fairphones are almost certainly less profitable than their Apple/Pixel competitors.

But a big chunk of that cost is coming from advertising. Another big chunk is stock buybacks. There's so much fat to cut before you actually get to hardware/software quality.

[-] e8d79@discuss.tchncs.de 31 points 19 hours ago

Fairphones have a worse record than any other phone I ever owned in regards to sustainability for me. The phones become unusable as soon as the new model releases due to their non existing software quality, and it seems that they just stop bothering with tests for their previous models. I bought the Fairphone 4 for myself and the Fairphone 5 for my mother and both had software issues without end. In both cases the ability to make and receive phone calls broke after an android update. Imagine not being able to call emergency services because of a software update. Imagine dying because the developers at Fairphone didn't bother to test their shit. That is not even mentioning that security updates were also always months late. I truly wanted to like them but I couldn't be bothered with these broken phones anymore and bought a refurbished Pixel, for not even half the price of a Fairphone, and flashed it with GrapheneOS instead.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 6 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Imagine dying

I gotta say, you had me until you cranked it to 11.

Not being able to call with a phone after an OS update is definitely a deal breaker. But "if I don't have my phone on me, I'll die" is the kind of hyperbole that has me doubt your entire testimonial.

[-] e8d79@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Imagine dying wasn't hyperbole it is a real concern of mine. I commute with a bicycle to work and also cycle a lot in my free time. I wouldn't be the first cyclist injured or even killed in a hit an run accident, so a phone that is unable to make a emergency call when I need it is not something I am willing to risk.

[-] DupaCycki@lemmy.world 4 points 12 hours ago

It was referring to not being able to call emergency services, which may realistically lead to your death. It's a fairly unlikely scenario, but not a completely crazy one. It's just a highlight in a sea of issues. Or at least that's how it looks to me, as I've never used a Fairphone. Some people say they work flawlessly.

[-] pugnaciousfarter@literature.cafe 18 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Also the best path for sustainability is to NOT BUY A NEW PHONE EVERY 2-3 YEARS.

Don't buy fairphone. Try to run your current phone for 7 more years.

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 6 points 14 hours ago

I use my phones until they start crashing due to battery issues.

Tends to be about 6 years for that to happen, at least with the mid range phones I tend to buy.

My Nexus 4 did not survive an intense summer of Pokemon Go, and my Huawei Honor whatever number it was eventually would die just from opening the camera. I'd get the batteries replaced, but by the time they die I'm feeling the age of them even more than in my knees.

[-] jnod4@lemmy.ca 3 points 13 hours ago

I think you can change some batteries. Managed to change a pixel's battery by myself using a hair drier.

[-] pugnaciousfarter@literature.cafe 1 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

I wonder if there is a boutique battery maker seller.

I think he'd do good business with people like us.

[-] ganryuu@lemmy.ca 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Only if you still get security updates for those 7 years, which is I think the case with the Pixels, and some Samsung flagships, but is very far from being the norm. You don't want a non-updated phone.

Edit: of course that also works if you can switch to an alternate rom that does receive the updates.

[-] pugnaciousfarter@literature.cafe 1 points 7 hours ago

If you don't click on any weird links, you can still go without updates right?

[-] e8d79@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 15 hours ago

I agree and that was the reason I initially chose a Fairphone but the promised 7 years of security updates also turned out to be a half-truth, after three years I only got quarterly security updates. I tolerated four years of buggy software the update that broke the phone part of my smartphone was just the last nail in the coffin.

[-] pugnaciousfarter@literature.cafe 1 points 13 hours ago

I've also heard (too lazy to look up a source) but they don't make their phone entirely "fairly" either, because apparently like with chocolates it is just very difficult to do without having exploitation be a part of your logistics chain and still make a feasible product.

Citation needed^

And to be fair, at least they are trying.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago

Try to run your current phone for 7 more years.

Isn't the entire appeal of Fairphone that its modular and easy to repair?

I can't extend my OnePlus for another 7 years because the charging port is flaky and the battery is burning out. The ringer switch is busted, so I can't take my phone off silent. The camera's focus is always a bit off. I can't disassemble and fix the parts that are broken while keeping the bits that still work without getting a fucking engineering degree.

[-] pugnaciousfarter@literature.cafe 1 points 7 hours ago

I won't argue against necessity. If you can you should try, but you can only do what you can do.

[-] cenzorrll@lemmy.ca 3 points 17 hours ago

I'd love to, but manufacturers are complete shit at supporting phones. Most don't get security updates after 3 years.

[-] Cyber@feddit.uk 3 points 17 hours ago

This is probably the main point - not buying a new phone when the manufacturers release a new model.

I would add though that Fairphone are also improving the entire industry by not using cheap labour, paying fair wages and not using conflict materials, so there is more to this than just eWaste

But, I agree don't scrap existing phones just to buy another - even if it is Fairphone

[-] Culf@feddit.dk 12 points 18 hours ago

For me Fairphone has been good. I bought my fp3 on release in 2019 for about 400 euro and it is still going strong today, 6 years later (I am in fact using it right now)

Not to say that there haven't been software problems at all but it has not been that bad and was fixed over time.

[-] Stzyxh@feddit.org 4 points 15 hours ago

Also had no big problems with my FP4

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[-] jnod4@lemmy.ca 2 points 13 hours ago

Skill issue

[-] kadu@scribe.disroot.org 16 points 19 hours ago

Except Fairphones are usually overpriced for the quality...

[-] BandanaBug@piefed.social 61 points 1 day ago

Then why are fairphones so expensive for their specs?

[-] Sunshine@piefed.social 63 points 1 day ago

Because they cannot bulk buy parts and hire engineers like how the larger manufacturers can.

[-] PostaL@lemmy.world 35 points 22 hours ago

So then... sustainable phones cost more?

[-] Dojan@pawb.social 14 points 18 hours ago

I think the idea is that you can make them but the large manufacturers actively choose not to, because being anti-consumer, anti-sustainability, and anti-repair is not a problem in their business model, it's a core strategy of it.

[-] fuck_u_spez_in_particular@lemmy.world 23 points 22 hours ago

It's a matter of scale...

[-] ArtificialLink@lemy.lol 1 points 6 hours ago

The why doesn't someone at scale make sustainable phones?

[-] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 19 points 22 hours ago

Well not if larger manufacturers made them I guess? Fairphone just doesn't get the same prices even from the same vendors, if there's any that overlap between say them and Samsung.

[-] DreasNil@feddit.nu 10 points 21 hours ago

Fairphone 6 is great by the way! Coming from a long time iPhone user.

[-] DamienGramatacus@lemmy.world 4 points 18 hours ago

Came from Pixel 6 and picked up a fairphone 6 last week. The camera is sadly not as good but everything else is great (so far).

[-] ordnance_qf_17_pounder@reddthat.com 94 points 1 day ago

Where's that headphone jack boyo?

[-] fading_person@lemmy.zip 16 points 20 hours ago

Every time someone mentions the headphone jack, comes a legion of people defending the corporations. People will really accept anything they do and bully the ones who don't want to submit. That's impressive! And we're in a place with higher-than-average corporation haters.

It's even more impressive when we think about how Bluetooth earphone users don't gain anything by removing the jack, neither lose anything by keeping it. It literally doesn't affect them, but heavily affects anyone who uses wired phones or other stuff. People simply use their energy against others, in favor of corporations for absolutely no benefits for them, but simply for fucking the other people. I can't understand this behavior.

[-] rumba@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 hours ago

The GD phone is modular and repairable. How TF did they manage not to make the jack at least an option?

[-] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 6 points 18 hours ago

People will really accept anything they do and bully the ones who don’t want to submit. That’s impressive! And we’re in a place with higher-than-average corporation haters.

I don't see it that way at all. Would I personally like to see the headphone jack return? Sure. But there are about 5,002 more important issues when it comes to tech corporations (Ie. privacy, repairability, software support, obsolescence, etc... just to name a few). People aren't defending corporations as much as they are "picking their battles".

Your headphone jack battle is inconsequential and frankly kind of stupid in the larger scheme of the war right now. Would it be great to get to a point where all the battles are won and all we have to worry about is a damn headphone jack? Absolutely. But we're not there.

[-] mrdown@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago

The more you ignore the smallest bad changes , the more they will be confident to ruin all the bigger issues you mentionned

[-] fading_person@lemmy.zip 7 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

So, are people picking their battles by practically bullying others into thinking they're wrong and outdated? They could simply ignore people talking about phone jacks, but they don't. They're not picking battles. They're actively fighting, and on the corps' side.

Also, there's always a bigger battle. If we think like this, no one will ever do anything. Corporations don't go all in. They take things away from us one small step at a time, and people allow it, because they're always small things, but just like boiling frogs, we will end up into a cyberpunk era.

[-] mrdown@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago

It's been long time that i didn't use wired one but i have a problem of removing stuffs just because the majority of people no longer use it. Wired one still have 34% marketshare which is still a lot of people

[-] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 44 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Are we not well past a point where the Fairphone 6's DAC for the 3.5 mm jack would be better for audio quality than Bluetooth 5.4 with aptX Adaptive/LDAC? When headphone jacks were being removed from phones around the mid-2010s, it was ridiculous, greedy, and premature. Now, though? I find wireless earbuds vastly nicer and more convenient for phones, and I would only go with wired, say, on a vacation where I can use a cheap $20 junk drawer pair and not mourn them if they get lost somewhere – at which point I can just use a dongle for a weekend or whatever.

I still always want a microSD card slot, but I'd prefer that my phone not have a headphone jack at this point. I think the people who still mourn the loss of the 3.5 mm jack are a vastly smaller minority than they think they are. Which is fine; you're still welcome as a consumer to buy or not buy a phone based off that. But I also think that nagging Fairphone over the removal of the 3.5 mm jack with the Fairphone 4 in 2021 is "old man yelling at clouds" territory.

[-] timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 hours ago

Idgaf about audio quality. I don't have to charge wired headphones and the port is designed to spin unlike a dumbass dongle plugged into a USB c port. Let alone the environmental considerations.

[-] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Idgaf about audio quality.

Valid. Back in the mid-2010s, it was a prominent (and very strong) argument against removing the jack.

I don't have to charge wired headphones

Also valid, although even budget wireless earbuds advertise 24+ hours of battery life. Mine advertise 30, and after over a year of usage, I'd say they get me through an entire day of uninterrupted moderate usage (no going back in the case) no problem. The case usually has a few full earbud charges and charges them very quickly, and at least my case charges via USB-C or wirelessly and doesn't take long.

It's less of an interruption and more of a fixed, very small factor in a nightly or binightly routine. Realistically, the lifespan of a baked-in lithium-ion battery is a headache, but to me, the battery life never has been. It can't beat no charging, but having to recharge the earbuds is something I'm barely even cognizant of.

and the port is designed to spin unlike a dumbass dongle plugged into a USB c port.

I'm trying to remember the last time I had to readjust the rotation of a headphone cable on the bottom of the phone (top of the phone definitely sometimes, though). If you really need to, the tip of the cable can still be rotated inside the dongle. I can't imagine this being an actual problem unless your use case is as a fidget toy.

Let alone the environmental considerations.

Shipping an audio jack that 95%+ of users will not ever touch with every phone sounds at least as environmentally unfriendly as the rare purchase of a 3.5 mm-to-USB-C dongle. The environmental consideration of the baked-in lithium-ion battery is definitely worse, but you also don't have to use that or the dongle; good wired earbuds/headphones with a USB-C cable exist.

It's again totally your choice to factor the jack into what phone you buy, but the jack is and will remain dead in the mainstream – now finally with decent reason – and no amount of being a vocal minority to Fairphone about how it's too hard to spin your headphone cable is likely to change that.

[-] fuck_u_spez_in_particular@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

I'm very likely the minority, but the reason I still have a phone with jack is that my custom mold in-ear, well... is wired (I'm a musician).

I don't want to use a different headphone for hearing music, as this is a really good monitor (actually I think it has cost me 10x as much as the used phone I'm driving it with (LG V30)). An external DAC is annoying, as this for one drains the battery pretty heavily and - fewer adapters less worries...

There's other reasons why you don't want to use bluetooth, namely latency, although probably less important, for applications where this is really relevant, you would use a dedicated audio interface anyways... Or well, just the fact that I know of a few people already that they lost their bud(s), quite a bit more difficult if everything is wired together.

[-] kadu@scribe.disroot.org 5 points 19 hours ago

Now, though? I find wireless earbuds vastly nicer and more convenient for phones

Love the fact their tiny, non-replaceable lithium batteries means they're quite literally disposable products you'll have to keep buying and throwing away.

[-] Pazintach@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 1 day ago

For me, I already have very good headphones from years ago, and they are all working. I don't want to buy additional Bluetooth headphones just for a Smartphone. Why do I have to buy additional gears just to be able to use my perfectly functional old ones? Or do I have to accept that Smartphones nowadays are just not for music?

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this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2025

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