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Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

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Re: Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

#481

I never broke a phone, not even scratched the screen but I feel force to buy a new one every 3 years because they become obsolete (I guess apps require more and more memory to the point I cannot have two open at the same time, which kills my ability to pay online). I bought a Framework laptop for the same reason and I successfully managed to upgrade it, not repair it! Is there a phone that allows me to upgrade over t…

I am only buying second hand galaxy s7 (2106) and they work fine. If needed battery replacement is rather easy to do if you follow a tutorial. I use it watch youtube videos, browse the web (probably not the fastest but fast enough), use Google Maps, take pictures, listen to music. Basic phone usage you know.

I also have some s7 but the version of android won't support the latest banking apps so it's becoming rapidly obsolete. What are you doing about app support on the android on s7?

Re: Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

#482
post #475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem is really that the SoCs aren't maintained for long Why is this not a problem with laptops?

Because laptops don't use SoCs... A SoC (system on chip) is a whole lot more than just an application processor.

I don't think it's the actual reason. My Librem 5 phone will have lifetime updates just like a laptop, thanks to free drivers. Proprietary software is the reason for the planned obsolescence.

Re: Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

#483
post #475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because laptops don't use SoCs... A SoC (system on chip) is a whole lot more than just an application processor.

I don't think it's the actual reason. My Librem 5 phone will have lifetime updates just like a laptop, thanks to free drivers. Proprietary software is the reason for the planned obsolescence.

I hope it does!

Re: Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

#484
post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not FUD, but simple facts. The project accepted that behavior for years - for me that's something I want to know before using software. Similar as to why one picks FreshRSS and not tt-rss.

Facts can also be FUD. The problem is gone, so why keep bringing it up?

Presumably because I asked so he answered.

The parent comment brought up the dev originally, but seems it's no longer an issue. Different commenter than the person you're replying to though.

Re: Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

#485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My gf has a fairphone 5 and I guess you will be disappointed. The pictures are really not stunning. She had a huawei p20 pro (from 2018) and it definitely took better pictures.

But is it the hardware though? All the new flagship phones are using software/AI to enhance the photos well above the hardware raw, so I imagine that you might be able to fix this with a better camera app.

I don't know, might be. Didn't really bother to figure it out yet, since it's not so important for her.

There are a few other things (I'd call bugs), that are more annoying to her. And I also don't really no what to think about it. Maybe it's because of the uncommon processor.

For example, it starts to vibrate (like it's being unlocked) repeatedly sometimes when it downloads updates from Playstore and it doesn't stop until it's finished and there's nothing you can do about it.

And Firefox crashes when you want to switch a video to fullscreen.

But she's fine with it, because she knows it's the fairest phone she could buy and it hopefully lasts long and maybe updates will solve the bugs above soon.

And I guess that's the attitude you must have to buy a fairphone, and then it'll be fine. I hope it shines when we smth is broken the first time :)

Re: Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

#486
post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried the camera? How did you find it? I honestly don't care much about processor speed, if it can run a browser, messaging and banking apps I'm fine. But I need to be able to take family pictures which are good enough quality for occasional full page prints. I've always been disappointed with these kind of niche devices in the past, where the cameras were barely of the level of 2 year old sub-$200 phones, e…

I'm running the FP5 at the moment and compared to my OnePlus 7T the camera quality is not on par, especially the whitebalance has some issues

How does it feel performance wise to the 7T?

Re: Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

#487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine it's one device but when you pull it out of your pocket, you pull it in half and only slide out a touchscreen leaving the battery and other guts in your pocket. With some magnetic clips, it could be seamless to slide it back into your pocket to become the larger single brick again which it stays as you take it all out at night to plug in and charge.

Phones are thin and light enough already, I don’t think that’s really necessary

The thinness is not the feature, the modularity is. The thin touch screen can connect to your laptop as well as your phone. But it will also look very elegant. And i am hoping such a tech would apply to monitors and desktop peripherals as well. You wouldn't have to worry about the looks of your phone, dropping it and a lot of other annoyances. In the distant future maybe this handheld screen can expand and shrink on demand as well.

Re: Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

#488
post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also don't understand their comment. I've been buying either a flagship Android or iPhone every upgrade and don't remember not getting at least 5 years out of a phone. Even at 5 years I only ever felt like I was upgrading because it was 'time', not out of a direct need. I can only imagine a person getting 3 years out of a phone if they are buying junk.

They talk about online games. Mobile gaming has become night and day in the last 4-5 years, so if you're trying to play the newest ones you may not even meet minimum specs. I feel it's a temporary problem like PC's, where eventually they will plateau on performance and a 10YO potato will (eventually) be able to play 99% of "high end" games in some capacity, similar to how a Steam Deck can play most games (even most A…

I'm not sure if you've built a PC recently but 2016 is about when Ryzen was truly the better choice and gave Intel a swift kick in the butt. CPUs since then have gotten very nice gains YOY.

Granted, GPUs are the usual bottlenecks for gaming yes.

Re: Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

#489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am only buying second hand galaxy s7 (2106) and they work fine. If needed battery replacement is rather easy to do if you follow a tutorial. I use it watch youtube videos, browse the web (probably not the fastest but fast enough), use Google Maps, take pictures, listen to music. Basic phone usage you know.

I also have some s7 but the version of android won't support the latest banking apps so it's becoming rapidly obsolete. What are you doing about app support on the android on s7?

I haven´t had any problems with any app, even my banking app

Re: Fairphone 5: Keeping it 10/10?

#490
post #428
post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I feel force to buy a new one every 3 years because they become obsolete Nowadays that's plainly not true anymore because chips hardly get faster year-to-year, but also my 2012 phone lasted 5 years before software support started to get mediocre for Android 4.4 (the hardware was still fast enough and the battery you could still replace in 20 seconds). I've only ever bought new phones for software support reasons (s…

my asus zenfone 6 was a really great phone, but all updates stopped after just 2 years. It still has plenty of power, but due to not getting security updates since 2021 i feel i have to upgrade. getting the fairphone soon. it's really crazy how wasteful we're being with electronics in general. my old work laptop became unusable with windows 10, just extremely sluggish for even simple tasks. putting linux on it, its w…

>it's really crazy how wasteful we're being with electronics in general.

Indeed. from non-replaceable batteries, to weak headphone and charging port connections, to breaking cables, to mobile phone OSes. Most of consumer-oriented hardware manufacture seems to rely on obsolescent-by-design to get consumers to spend on the same type of device, in short cycles.

Probably similar to the big pharma that may appreciate the economic benefits of a chronic diseases.

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