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Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

arstechnica.com

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Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#21

Post by TheMode »

mrpopo wrote: post #16
TheMode wrote: post #14

Is the hardware really the bottleneck to sustainable device? The software seems more much important but nobody is tackling it. Having a phone with a new battery doesn't matter if I can't run the same apps as others.

They also provide 5-year software support. https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/997918043739... > For Fairphone 4, we guarantee software support until the end of 2026, this includes an upgrade to Android 12 and, later on, Android 13.

That's not solving anything at all, what we need is hardware that doesn't need to have its software updated constantly. If you cannot have that, I wouldn't consider it ""sustainable"". There is nothing sustainable about depending on some company on the other side on the world to do the right thing continuously.

Now sure, you could answer that they are doing it better than others and you may be perfectly right, but is it really the way we want to solve it? Gossiping on every company on how often they update their software?

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#22

Post by ben-schaaf »

TheMode wrote: post #14

Is the hardware really the bottleneck to sustainable device? The software seems more much important but nobody is tackling it. Having a phone with a new battery doesn't matter if I can't run the same apps as others.

Fairphone is also tackling this. They guarantee 5 years but have been providing updates well past that. The Fairphone 2 from 2015 got upgrades to Android 6, 7, 9 and 10 with the latest security update in March this year. You can see their release notes here: https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019515018

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#23

Post by zabzonk »

joecool1029 wrote: post #19
zabzonk wrote: post #6

see also nokia g22: https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-g-22/specs?sku=101...

This device has no US carrier band support, it's neat device I guess but terrible suggestion given the submission is about FP4 going to US.

sorry, i didn't realise the usa don't do g3 and g4

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#24

Post by TheMode »

ben-schaaf wrote: post #22
TheMode wrote: post #14

Is the hardware really the bottleneck to sustainable device? The software seems more much important but nobody is tackling it. Having a phone with a new battery doesn't matter if I can't run the same apps as others.

Fairphone is also tackling this. They guarantee 5 years but have been providing updates well past that. The Fairphone 2 from 2015 got upgrades to Android 6, 7, 9 and 10 with the latest security update in March this year. You can see their release notes here: https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019515018

I would rather call it a workaround. They are doing the exact same thing everyone do, but for longer.

Which I guess is better, but they are not tackling the root of the problem.

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#25

Post by manmal »

mhitza wrote: post #7
zabzonk wrote: post #6

see also nokia g22: https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-g-22/specs?sku=101...

> Built with recycled materials. Engineered to last longer. > OS upgrades: 2 years of OS upgrades > Security updates: 3 years of monthly security updates (From the global launch date of the device) And I didn't see any iFixit rating. Aside from using recycled materials, don't see much in common on the surface.

People should focus more on waste avoidance and reuse instead of buying a new gadget allegedly made from recycled materials that only lasts 3 years. I say allegedly because making durable, nicely colored materials from waste is so hard that we don’t know what tricks were used or shortcuts were taken to make this happen.

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#26

Post by notRobot »

TheMode wrote: post #21
mrpopo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also provide 5-year software support. https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/997918043739... > For Fairphone 4, we guarantee software support until the end of 2026, this includes an upgrade to Android 12 and, later on, Android 13.

That's not solving anything at all, what we need is hardware that doesn't need to have its software updated constantly. If you cannot have that, I wouldn't consider it ""sustainable"". There is nothing sustainable about depending on some company on the other side on the world to do the right thing continuously. Now sure, you could answer that they are doing it better than others and you may be perfectly right, but is…

You don't have to update it if you don't want to?

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#27

Post by TheMode »

notRobot wrote: post #26
TheMode wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not solving anything at all, what we need is hardware that doesn't need to have its software updated constantly. If you cannot have that, I wouldn't consider it ""sustainable"". There is nothing sustainable about depending on some company on the other side on the world to do the right thing continuously. Now sure, you could answer that they are doing it better than others and you may be perfectly right, but is…

You don't have to update it if you don't want to?

I will likely have some software compatibility/security issue by using a 10y old phone. Theoretically I do not have to, but software is designed with constant internal requirement changes.

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#28

Post by nologic01 »

Got a fairphone 4 for somenody I care about and will likely get one for myself when my current unrepairable, glued-battery piece of e-waste becomes unusable.

I wish they would come preinstalled with something like kde plasma mobile though. I will never warm to android, no matter how "degoogled" it might become. There is something about its architecture that seems freakish. Like the entire digital universe that was created in the last decades.

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#29

Post by lawn »

I've been using my Fairphone 4 for around a year or so and it's been great.

An easily removable battery is a godsend and the phone is surprisingly durable as I've been dropping it a lot (me clumsy).

I haven't encountered any issue and the one complaint I have is the lack of 3.5 jack. It was quite hard to find a USB converter that worked and having to use an adapter is really annoying.

Still if this one breaks I can repair it and I would even buy a new one if I had to.

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#30

Post by ben-schaaf »

TheMode wrote: post #24
ben-schaaf wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fairphone is also tackling this. They guarantee 5 years but have been providing updates well past that. The Fairphone 2 from 2015 got upgrades to Android 6, 7, 9 and 10 with the latest security update in March this year. You can see their release notes here: https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019515018

I would rather call it a workaround. They are doing the exact same thing everyone do, but for longer. Which I guess is better, but they are not tackling the root of the problem.

Besides not making smartphones what do you think the actual root problem is and how would you tackle it?
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