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Fairphone 6 is switching to a new design that's even more sustainable

androidcentral.com

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Re: Fairphone 6 is switching to a new design that's even more sustainable

#11

Post by bombela »

strangecasts wrote: post #2

Was lucky enough to get my Fairphone 4 on sale, but I'd happily pay full price now - even though the Fairphones are pricey for the specs, unless you absolutely need 24 cores etc. I'd say they are worth it, knowing the company is at least trying to improve the parts supply chain, and knowing you stand a chance of fixing the devices yourself (luckily I've only had to replace the USB-C port, which was trivial) About the…

The removal of the phone jack is so obviously planned obsolescence, it is ironic that this project for sustainability follows the trend.

Wired headphones still have better sound quality. Don't need charging. Don't break with software update. But because of that it means less consumption.

Think about how insane it is that companies can remove the phone jack and glue in the battery with the very obvious goal of planned obsolescence. And this is legal.

Re: Fairphone 6 is switching to a new design that's even more sustainable

#12

Post by KingOfCoders »

bombela wrote: post #11
strangecasts wrote: post #2

Was lucky enough to get my Fairphone 4 on sale, but I'd happily pay full price now - even though the Fairphones are pricey for the specs, unless you absolutely need 24 cores etc. I'd say they are worth it, knowing the company is at least trying to improve the parts supply chain, and knowing you stand a chance of fixing the devices yourself (luckily I've only had to replace the USB-C port, which was trivial) About the…

The removal of the phone jack is so obviously planned obsolescence, it is ironic that this project for sustainability follows the trend. Wired headphones still have better sound quality. Don't need charging. Don't break with software update. But because of that it means less consumption. Think about how insane it is that companies can remove the phone jack and glue in the battery with the very obvious goal of planned…

After years of a Fairbuds XL (never again!) and Bose QC for my Zoom sessions, I've ordered a Sony MDR-7506 because it does not need to be charged, and bluetooth doesn't need to be reconnected etc. Hurray for headphone jacks.

Re: Fairphone 6 is switching to a new design that's even more sustainable

#13

Post by ppseafield »

msgodel wrote: post #8

They should switch to an SOC with mainline Linux support so you don't have to throw it out in three years.

Which SoC should they switch to? Google's Pixel phones for Android 16's release just updated[0] their kernels to 6.1, which means the bleeding edge kernel version for Android phones is a release from December 2022. What Qualcomm SoCs are supported by this kernel, and how fast are they?

[0] https://www.androidauthority.com/pixel-linux-6-1-android-15-...

Re: Fairphone 6 is switching to a new design that's even more sustainable

#14

Post by jack_pp »

bombela wrote: post #11
strangecasts wrote: post #2

Was lucky enough to get my Fairphone 4 on sale, but I'd happily pay full price now - even though the Fairphones are pricey for the specs, unless you absolutely need 24 cores etc. I'd say they are worth it, knowing the company is at least trying to improve the parts supply chain, and knowing you stand a chance of fixing the devices yourself (luckily I've only had to replace the USB-C port, which was trivial) About the…

The removal of the phone jack is so obviously planned obsolescence, it is ironic that this project for sustainability follows the trend. Wired headphones still have better sound quality. Don't need charging. Don't break with software update. But because of that it means less consumption. Think about how insane it is that companies can remove the phone jack and glue in the battery with the very obvious goal of planned…

I don't think it's about planned obsolescence. It's about cutting costs and having one less hole water can get in.

Also wired headphones are a very niche market. If you care so much there are wireless DACs that can feed your wired headphones better than any phone in history.

Re: Fairphone 6 is switching to a new design that's even more sustainable

#15

Post by aidenn0 »

godelski wrote: post #7

They mention the Pixel and I just got to say, I wish someone would bring back the fingerprint reader on the back of the phone. That was seriously the best solution. Fastest way to unlock your phone, because no matter how slow the fingerprint reader is you activate it while pulling it out of your pocket. I honestly don't get why people like Face ID more (what I currently use). Someone, please bring this back

It's not exactly a flagship phone, but the Unihertz Jelly Max has a fingerprint reader on the back.

Re: Fairphone 6 is switching to a new design that's even more sustainable

#18

Post by andrewmcwatters »

godelski wrote: post #7

They mention the Pixel and I just got to say, I wish someone would bring back the fingerprint reader on the back of the phone. That was seriously the best solution. Fastest way to unlock your phone, because no matter how slow the fingerprint reader is you activate it while pulling it out of your pocket. I honestly don't get why people like Face ID more (what I currently use). Someone, please bring this back

I hate Face ID so much. I hate being asked for my PIN for every single little thing I do. I already unlocked my phone, please stop asking me. If I grabbed it, YES, I WANT TO DO THE THING!

-Exhausted Apple user also wanting easier authentication

Re: Fairphone 6 is switching to a new design that's even more sustainable

#19

Post by winternewt »

jack_pp wrote: post #14
bombela wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The removal of the phone jack is so obviously planned obsolescence, it is ironic that this project for sustainability follows the trend. Wired headphones still have better sound quality. Don't need charging. Don't break with software update. But because of that it means less consumption. Think about how insane it is that companies can remove the phone jack and glue in the battery with the very obvious goal of planned…

I don't think it's about planned obsolescence. It's about cutting costs and having one less hole water can get in. Also wired headphones are a very niche market. If you care so much there are wireless DACs that can feed your wired headphones better than any phone in history.

How do they avoid lossy compression?

Re: Fairphone 6 is switching to a new design that's even more sustainable

#20

Post by msgodel »

ppseafield wrote: post #13
msgodel wrote: post #8

They should switch to an SOC with mainline Linux support so you don't have to throw it out in three years.

Which SoC should they switch to? Google's Pixel phones for Android 16's release just updated[0] their kernels to 6.1, which means the bleeding edge kernel version for Android phones is a release from December 2022. What Qualcomm SoCs are supported by this kernel, and how fast are they? [0] https://www.androidauthority.com/pixel-linux-6-1-android-15-...

If the drivers were upstreamed it would be supported by the latest kernel.org kernel even before release.

AFAIK outside the Pinephone and Liberem 5 no hardware manufacturers explicitly target this and only 10 year+ old Qualcomm (other vendors such as Freescale tend to behave much better) SOCs have open source graphics drivers because the SOC vendors themselves often refuse to support their own hardware.

Google is able to do this because they build their own SOCs (probably because they got tired of being jerked around by Qualcomm) but still don't merge their stuff upstream (or at least they don't last I checked.)

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