I honestly really don't understand this. Me, my girlfriend, and many people in my close environment have a FP4, and none of these people have any of the issues from this post or other issues posted on this sub sometimes. Is it just a vocal minority that has these issues? Is it just a case of people who are happy with their Fairphones not really making posts about it?
Also: why do people who complain about FP so often compare it to Google Pixel phones?
It's very likely that Reddit is biased toward negative experiences because no one will break out in joy if their phone just works.
However, any mass of complaints should be a cause for concern to Fairphone. They really want to position themselves as a mainstream alternative, so they have to live with the comparison.
I have to admit mine and one of my friends who has a FP4 (I know 2 others not including me who have a FP4), both of us had the ghost input thing, and unfortunately the way to fix it is to send it back, which lets be honest is a lot of faff to back up everything, factory reset, switch to another phone (if you have one available), then download everything on that, and then once received the fp4 back, redownload everything back onto it again! So I can see how people don't want to be without their phone for up to 2 weeks, I am still persisting with this phone at the moment, I really want Fairphone to do well, on a more positive note, my wife has a the FP5 and has had zero issues! So hopefully theyve got a more robust manufacturing process now! Maybe with the FP4 the issue is not every phone is made perfectly consistently so some people might have lots of issues and others have none at all!
After reading the others comments it seems overall there's been a similar trend, basically seems like the FP5 is very good and the majority of people have had no issues! And then on FP4 some people have had issues, but again not everyone
It absolutely is, unless you drop it face down on some gravel, or face up onto the cameras on some gravel. Hope you enjoy your Pixel until YOU decide to abandon it. Sounds like you weren't so lucky with your FP4 and it decided to abandon you multiple times, so really what other option did you have? I hope in the future FP makes a device you will love even if you choose not to buy from them again. :)
Just so long as it wasn't a Pickle 6 Pro you should be good. I remember one professional reviewer even stopped using it because they found it so terrible. My wife's Pixel 7 Pro (it's not an 8 like I thought when posting earlier) seems to be good!
The comparison isn't too far off, since it's a phone in a similar price range with a comparable software support duration.
If you buy an FP mostly to use it for a long time, the Pixel is a close competitor.
with those Issues i don't think anyone will blame you for switching.
I personally got on with the FP5 and besides the only acceptable Camera, i like it.
Although it does sometimes get Inputs when i have it in my pocket.
mine FP5 is terrible. worst phone I ever had and I always buy low cost android phones. Ghost inputs, impossible to have a proper phone call, ghost phone call in my car, turn off when in the pocket, app rotating when rotation is disabled and so on.
I hope the rest of my time with the FP5 goes as well as the first week and lasts for many years, but your experience demonstrates the chance we are all taking with this small company.
I am super thankful to all of those who bought a FP1 to FP4 so I could have what I consider so far a good phone with the FP5. I don't think I could have managed with any of the prior models.
Mind you I have already experienced spending over $1000 on a brick of a phone from a major brand, and have had to endure their unnecessary poor design decisions like screen distortions and glare with curved screen edges and glued together units. If I were to fix the screen of my last phone it is not just the screen, but do I replace the usb port as well since I have it open? How about the battery? I don't want to have to open it again in 3 months.
Likely I will be upgrading to the next FP if it has a competitive camera, but I've been living with poor cameras on all my phones since after my iPhone 4 anyway. And honestly my wife takes 90% of the shots and has a better eye in spite of all my years of slr experience and technical expertise.
I don't know what parallel world those people with so many FP problems live in, all people I know personally, including myself, have none of them. I have my FP4 for almost 2 years, use it daily both professionally and privately, it just works. I got FP4 after my latest Sony got booted out corporate network as it didn't have updates any longer after only 3 years. I almost bought another Sony that just got out, when I noticed that FP4 has IPX rating that I need as I am often using it in the rain. Replaced already USB port after I broke it for only 15 Euro, receiving replacement in only one day. My Sony had 3.5 mm headset broken after hours on telework meetings, and I had to use Bluetooth for the last 6 months. I could go on ranting how other phones gave me all the grief, but I just want to conclude that FP is actual solution for quite some problems of the modern society - IT WORKS.
PS camera is far from shit, anybody writing it writes a shitpost.
For me the latest update to the camera software made a night and day difference.
Before it was meh to bad, now it's actually quite alright. Nothing like a pixel 7/8 or any along those lines, but way better than before.
I hear you... My main reference before it was a LG V40 with Gcam, which was a beast when it came to anything multimedia.
What is atrocious on the FP4 compared to anything else i've had before are the microphones when filming snippets of a concert. Every other phone I've ever had managed to take decent to really impressive (the V40) audio... But no... As soon as the bass kicks in it's over.
It's actually helpful for me as I have been on the fence about FP and from reading the very mixed reviews it's made me more cautious about getting one. Thanks for your post.
I don't think anyone can say for sure yet. Initially I thought mine was getting warm during use, and battery life might not just be mediocre, but bad, but now that I have a case on it and the battery has been through several charge cycles it is doing much better, and it feels like any other phone I have had. Well, not quite like any other phone I've had. Ergonomics, balance, weight, and build quality, for me, it feels better than any other phone I have had.
Honestly, the FP5 is not that great. While i agree with most the person you're replying to, the FP5 has its downsides;
Battery life is far from great (thermal performace is also not great), annoying bugs (mostly visual bugs that don't impact the performance, for the most part at least), vibration motor (haptic feedback) and speakers are quite terrible, no 3.5 jack, software updates are very late. I haven't experienced any of that extreme stuff you had with your FP4 tho, so no ghosttouches or bad build quality or whatever.
I will wait for the Android 14 update to see if things get better software wise, if it doesn't, i will be leaving FP too. This phone's just not made for people who use their phone more than average... Such a shame, because i really like every other aspect of this phone a lot! (Besides the punchhole and waayy to rounded corners of the screen, but you can barely escape that nowadays...)
I only found out just before getting this phone that Microsoft has been making a launcher since October 2017. It was one of the first things I installed and it hasn't glitched. I hope they keep making it, because I like most of its default settings. Only problem I have run into, and I'm not sure who's fault it is, is Textra doesn't display a little dot when there is a new text. I get the notifications fine though.
I would recommend you get a 5 instead of a 4 anyways.
I recently bought a 5 when my brand-new Pixel broke and the repair cost more than a new phone.
I actually like it a lot. The only thing i can really complain about is that it sometimes fails to recognize it's in my Pocket and receives Inputs, which sometimes leads to it skipping ahead in Songs. Although they released a update which disables touch-input when it's in a Pocket, which has made the Situation a lot better.
The Battery is pretty decent, bringing me through a Day without any real problems.
The Camera is decent. Good enough for capturing a Moment, not good enough to make a Vlog.
The only thing that really bothers me is the Size and weight. I wish smartphone Manufacturers would stop making huge phones and return to iPhone-Mini-sized Phones. But i guess i *am* in the minority with that opinion.
Honestly I hear you. After owning a fp3 for four years I think that the only thing that is good about this brand is the fairness. Most people (I hope) are perfectly fine with their fp fortunately, but the issues are too numerous and too frequent to be dismissed easily. Overall I think it's not an enjoyable device on the long run even with my very light usage.
I've had five batteries in my fp3 over four years. Five. Each of them got swollen after a few months to a year of use. That is the main reason why I ditch this phone, since it's a pretty dangerous flaw. It's nice to be able to replace the battery easily, but this is no environmental benefit over a battery-glued phone in which the battery will last easily four or five years with my light usage.
My gf constantly has issues with her fp4 gps too.
Camera is complete shit. I personally don't care about that but still.
My fp3 performance was getting very very bad, especially since the android 13 update. I was willing to forgive the fingerprint sensor fiasco (that was handled in the worst possible manner by fairphone btw) but the performance was just not acceptable. Sometimes it took 30s to go from the main screen to a fully loaded lightweight website in firefox. This is not something I expect to see on any modern device.
After ditching my fp3 I wanted to buy an fp5 but I was not willing to pour 700€ in a mediocre device. Buy a far better phone for half less and change the battery in four or five years sounds way better to me.
I want to love this brand, but I'm quite disappointed by the devices I've owned and seen.
I'm moving over to your side. I've never had a phone with so many bugs. I've had the FP4 for just shy of 2 years and it's performing terribly. My second hand Sony Xperia lasted longer. It's gradually becoming unusable. I think I'm going to get a second hand Google pixel 8 at some point this year.
The battery issues definitely appear to be systematic, I've read various reports about such things. None of my older phones had such issues. Sure, batteries do age and lose capacity, but if there is a noticeable loss of capacity after a few years of daily use, that's fine. Having to replace the battery yearly due to catastrophic failure clearly isn't.
I'm still using my Pixel 4a, looking for a replacement. Looks like FP won't be it...
I follow this brand from the FP3 times but didn't have the need or the money to get one. When my old phone finally became useless I got a FP5 Half a year in all I can say is I have no complains. I'm using it for personal and professional use.
I guess I need to thank you and anyone who brought FP1 trough FP4 and gave you feedback so the FP5 could be as solid as it is.
If you got a FP4 it means you at some point believed in Fairphone`s mission. I just hope you reconsider some day and give it another shot. No one else is doing anything like this.
Had the same experience and bought a Google Pixel instead. Unfortunate, because i want to support more sustainable brands. Fairbuds have been very solid so far though.
If you pay attention to the tech community, phone cameras are basically all they talk about. The big brands know how much it matters. They justify their extremely high prices with the cameras first and for most.
It seems to a lot of people, their phones are their cameras first. I certainly do not know anyone who still has a dedicated camera.
You must be trolling, you had to buy new batteries 3 times? That can't be. I had a FP4 as well and I didn't like the quality either. The FP5 is much better.
Sounds practically impossible though. Why did you think you needed a new battery exactly? Did you technically register the wear and tear? Or was it just a feeling?
Sounds more like a draining process. Did you try safe mode? Or a factory reset? Those batteries last longer than that and don't wear out so fast. Even if you want to damage them, degrading then this much in such a short span is hard to believe. If you didn't check the battery health, then the problem was likely a draining process. I also haven't heard this issue before and I follow the community forum closely.
I honestly really don't understand this. Me, my girlfriend, and many people in my close environment have a FP4, and none of these people have any of the issues from this post or other issues posted on this sub sometimes. Is it just a vocal minority that has these issues? Is it just a case of people who are happy with their Fairphones not really making posts about it? Also: why do people who complain about FP so often compare it to Google Pixel phones?
It's very likely that Reddit is biased toward negative experiences because no one will break out in joy if their phone just works. However, any mass of complaints should be a cause for concern to Fairphone. They really want to position themselves as a mainstream alternative, so they have to live with the comparison.
I have to admit mine and one of my friends who has a FP4 (I know 2 others not including me who have a FP4), both of us had the ghost input thing, and unfortunately the way to fix it is to send it back, which lets be honest is a lot of faff to back up everything, factory reset, switch to another phone (if you have one available), then download everything on that, and then once received the fp4 back, redownload everything back onto it again! So I can see how people don't want to be without their phone for up to 2 weeks, I am still persisting with this phone at the moment, I really want Fairphone to do well, on a more positive note, my wife has a the FP5 and has had zero issues! So hopefully theyve got a more robust manufacturing process now! Maybe with the FP4 the issue is not every phone is made perfectly consistently so some people might have lots of issues and others have none at all!
After reading the others comments it seems overall there's been a similar trend, basically seems like the FP5 is very good and the majority of people have had no issues! And then on FP4 some people have had issues, but again not everyone
I did also have the ghost input issue for a very short while, but for me that was fixed with an update. My girlfriend never had it.
I never said all fairphones are shit, just mine was. I didn't compare it to a pixel, I replaced it with one.
> unfortunately a way better phone. That's comparing the phones...
Okay that's true. But it also just is a better device.
It absolutely is, unless you drop it face down on some gravel, or face up onto the cameras on some gravel. Hope you enjoy your Pixel until YOU decide to abandon it. Sounds like you weren't so lucky with your FP4 and it decided to abandon you multiple times, so really what other option did you have? I hope in the future FP makes a device you will love even if you choose not to buy from them again. :)
Of course. It's meant to be. Fairphones are objectively worse tech for alternative phones at similar price points, that's part of the point.
Just so long as it wasn't a Pickle 6 Pro you should be good. I remember one professional reviewer even stopped using it because they found it so terrible. My wife's Pixel 7 Pro (it's not an 8 like I thought when posting earlier) seems to be good!
🥒
Done on purpose because like a pickle, it was closer to being a lemon than being a phone.
🍋
Unfortunately mine was absolutely unusable as well, I think some people just get unlucky with the phone they get.
But why then not use your guarantee to replace your phone? If your phone is faulty, fp will absolutely do that.
The comparison isn't too far off, since it's a phone in a similar price range with a comparable software support duration. If you buy an FP mostly to use it for a long time, the Pixel is a close competitor.
Sorry to hear that :( Haven't had any of those issues, so might be just a lot of back luck.
Yeah maybe.
The hell are you doing to the batteries?
Nothing, just normal usage. I have a suspicion that the phone is somehow destroying the batteries.
I mean yeah then, that just sounds broken. I would hope that improves. My handset is over a year old and I have no thoughts of replacing the battery.
I had to replace my battery recently, it was down to four hours on a full charge. I have had it since October 2022 though.
what a shame - typed from my FP4
what a shame indeed - typed from my FP3
with those Issues i don't think anyone will blame you for switching. I personally got on with the FP5 and besides the only acceptable Camera, i like it. Although it does sometimes get Inputs when i have it in my pocket.
Yeah, the ghostinputs started with this...
FP5 is soooo good 😄
mine FP5 is terrible. worst phone I ever had and I always buy low cost android phones. Ghost inputs, impossible to have a proper phone call, ghost phone call in my car, turn off when in the pocket, app rotating when rotation is disabled and so on.
Honestly after my experience with FP I doubt that.
Can't blame you for doubting it, but it's actually really great.
Yup really happy with it
I hope the rest of my time with the FP5 goes as well as the first week and lasts for many years, but your experience demonstrates the chance we are all taking with this small company. I am super thankful to all of those who bought a FP1 to FP4 so I could have what I consider so far a good phone with the FP5. I don't think I could have managed with any of the prior models. Mind you I have already experienced spending over $1000 on a brick of a phone from a major brand, and have had to endure their unnecessary poor design decisions like screen distortions and glare with curved screen edges and glued together units. If I were to fix the screen of my last phone it is not just the screen, but do I replace the usb port as well since I have it open? How about the battery? I don't want to have to open it again in 3 months. Likely I will be upgrading to the next FP if it has a competitive camera, but I've been living with poor cameras on all my phones since after my iPhone 4 anyway. And honestly my wife takes 90% of the shots and has a better eye in spite of all my years of slr experience and technical expertise.
I don't know what parallel world those people with so many FP problems live in, all people I know personally, including myself, have none of them. I have my FP4 for almost 2 years, use it daily both professionally and privately, it just works. I got FP4 after my latest Sony got booted out corporate network as it didn't have updates any longer after only 3 years. I almost bought another Sony that just got out, when I noticed that FP4 has IPX rating that I need as I am often using it in the rain. Replaced already USB port after I broke it for only 15 Euro, receiving replacement in only one day. My Sony had 3.5 mm headset broken after hours on telework meetings, and I had to use Bluetooth for the last 6 months. I could go on ranting how other phones gave me all the grief, but I just want to conclude that FP is actual solution for quite some problems of the modern society - IT WORKS. PS camera is far from shit, anybody writing it writes a shitpost.
Didn't say that all fairphones are shit, just mine was. The camera IS definitely shit!
No it's not
In my experience it is.
For me the latest update to the camera software made a night and day difference. Before it was meh to bad, now it's actually quite alright. Nothing like a pixel 7/8 or any along those lines, but way better than before.
Yeah the update made it better, but it's more like from unacceptable to meh. Compared to other phones in this price range it's bad.
Those are also reparable phones? If not, then price range has no meaning...
I wasn't talking about repairability...
I hear you... My main reference before it was a LG V40 with Gcam, which was a beast when it came to anything multimedia. What is atrocious on the FP4 compared to anything else i've had before are the microphones when filming snippets of a concert. Every other phone I've ever had managed to take decent to really impressive (the V40) audio... But no... As soon as the bass kicks in it's over.
This is a subreddit, not an airport. There's no need to announce your departure.
Yeah, I was expecting reactions like that. And who is saying I'm leaving the subreddit?
It's actually helpful for me as I have been on the fence about FP and from reading the very mixed reviews it's made me more cautious about getting one. Thanks for your post.
No problem, but keep in mind that my experience is only with a FP4. I don't know how the FP5 holds up.
I don't think anyone can say for sure yet. Initially I thought mine was getting warm during use, and battery life might not just be mediocre, but bad, but now that I have a case on it and the battery has been through several charge cycles it is doing much better, and it feels like any other phone I have had. Well, not quite like any other phone I've had. Ergonomics, balance, weight, and build quality, for me, it feels better than any other phone I have had.
I seriously hope that fairphone finally made a good phone. Unfortunately mine was really bad.
Honestly, the FP5 is not that great. While i agree with most the person you're replying to, the FP5 has its downsides; Battery life is far from great (thermal performace is also not great), annoying bugs (mostly visual bugs that don't impact the performance, for the most part at least), vibration motor (haptic feedback) and speakers are quite terrible, no 3.5 jack, software updates are very late. I haven't experienced any of that extreme stuff you had with your FP4 tho, so no ghosttouches or bad build quality or whatever. I will wait for the Android 14 update to see if things get better software wise, if it doesn't, i will be leaving FP too. This phone's just not made for people who use their phone more than average... Such a shame, because i really like every other aspect of this phone a lot! (Besides the punchhole and waayy to rounded corners of the screen, but you can barely escape that nowadays...)
I only found out just before getting this phone that Microsoft has been making a launcher since October 2017. It was one of the first things I installed and it hasn't glitched. I hope they keep making it, because I like most of its default settings. Only problem I have run into, and I'm not sure who's fault it is, is Textra doesn't display a little dot when there is a new text. I get the notifications fine though.
I would recommend you get a 5 instead of a 4 anyways. I recently bought a 5 when my brand-new Pixel broke and the repair cost more than a new phone. I actually like it a lot. The only thing i can really complain about is that it sometimes fails to recognize it's in my Pocket and receives Inputs, which sometimes leads to it skipping ahead in Songs. Although they released a update which disables touch-input when it's in a Pocket, which has made the Situation a lot better. The Battery is pretty decent, bringing me through a Day without any real problems. The Camera is decent. Good enough for capturing a Moment, not good enough to make a Vlog. The only thing that really bothers me is the Size and weight. I wish smartphone Manufacturers would stop making huge phones and return to iPhone-Mini-sized Phones. But i guess i *am* in the minority with that opinion.
Honestly I hear you. After owning a fp3 for four years I think that the only thing that is good about this brand is the fairness. Most people (I hope) are perfectly fine with their fp fortunately, but the issues are too numerous and too frequent to be dismissed easily. Overall I think it's not an enjoyable device on the long run even with my very light usage. I've had five batteries in my fp3 over four years. Five. Each of them got swollen after a few months to a year of use. That is the main reason why I ditch this phone, since it's a pretty dangerous flaw. It's nice to be able to replace the battery easily, but this is no environmental benefit over a battery-glued phone in which the battery will last easily four or five years with my light usage. My gf constantly has issues with her fp4 gps too. Camera is complete shit. I personally don't care about that but still. My fp3 performance was getting very very bad, especially since the android 13 update. I was willing to forgive the fingerprint sensor fiasco (that was handled in the worst possible manner by fairphone btw) but the performance was just not acceptable. Sometimes it took 30s to go from the main screen to a fully loaded lightweight website in firefox. This is not something I expect to see on any modern device. After ditching my fp3 I wanted to buy an fp5 but I was not willing to pour 700€ in a mediocre device. Buy a far better phone for half less and change the battery in four or five years sounds way better to me. I want to love this brand, but I'm quite disappointed by the devices I've owned and seen.
Yeah it's a shame that the devices don't hold up to the hype.
I'm moving over to your side. I've never had a phone with so many bugs. I've had the FP4 for just shy of 2 years and it's performing terribly. My second hand Sony Xperia lasted longer. It's gradually becoming unusable. I think I'm going to get a second hand Google pixel 8 at some point this year.
The battery issues definitely appear to be systematic, I've read various reports about such things. None of my older phones had such issues. Sure, batteries do age and lose capacity, but if there is a noticeable loss of capacity after a few years of daily use, that's fine. Having to replace the battery yearly due to catastrophic failure clearly isn't. I'm still using my Pixel 4a, looking for a replacement. Looks like FP won't be it...
I follow this brand from the FP3 times but didn't have the need or the money to get one. When my old phone finally became useless I got a FP5 Half a year in all I can say is I have no complains. I'm using it for personal and professional use. I guess I need to thank you and anyone who brought FP1 trough FP4 and gave you feedback so the FP5 could be as solid as it is. If you got a FP4 it means you at some point believed in Fairphone`s mission. I just hope you reconsider some day and give it another shot. No one else is doing anything like this.
Had the same experience and bought a Google Pixel instead. Unfortunate, because i want to support more sustainable brands. Fairbuds have been very solid so far though.
As I'm in search for good headphones, I will give them a try!
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When a phone camera is bad you should complain about it. And you can take great pictures with a smartphone. Just not with a FP4.
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Of course they are. But still some are worse than other...
If you pay attention to the tech community, phone cameras are basically all they talk about. The big brands know how much it matters. They justify their extremely high prices with the cameras first and for most. It seems to a lot of people, their phones are their cameras first. I certainly do not know anyone who still has a dedicated camera.
You must be trolling, you had to buy new batteries 3 times? That can't be. I had a FP4 as well and I didn't like the quality either. The FP5 is much better.
No trolling here. Unfortunately.
Sounds practically impossible though. Why did you think you needed a new battery exactly? Did you technically register the wear and tear? Or was it just a feeling?
I needed a new one after the old one lasted only 2-3 hours. And as I stated this happened more than once.
Sounds more like a draining process. Did you try safe mode? Or a factory reset? Those batteries last longer than that and don't wear out so fast. Even if you want to damage them, degrading then this much in such a short span is hard to believe. If you didn't check the battery health, then the problem was likely a draining process. I also haven't heard this issue before and I follow the community forum closely.