this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2023
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the main complaint from me is still the headphone jack. they faced insane backlash when they released the FP4. i thought this company cares about the user as well as the environment. but it seems they didn't realize that people want actual features (like wireless charging, the headphone jack, or a usable battery size).
don't get me wrong, i own a Fairphone 4 and love using it. but making these mistakes 2 times in a row now is just pathetic.
Not including wireless charging IS caring about the environment. Wireless charging is extremely wasteful and inefficient.
It's inefficient for energy, but it's efficient at saving charging cords. My girlfriend goes through one lightning cord a year.
A phone only needs like 5 watt hours a day max, which is a cost of 365 * $0.08 * 0.005 = $0.15 a year at local prices
I feel like having to replace charging cords is an Apple issue specifically.
I'm horrified by the amount of time my wife had to replace her Mac charger because the cord was breaking.
I don't think I ever had to replace the cord on any of my laptop, replacing the charger because the cord is breaking has never been a consideration before.
I've found that breaking cables is a personal issue. I still have an old usb Xbox 360 controller for pc gaming from when I owned an xbox. My partner has destroyed cables for laptops, hairdryers, headphones in less than 12 months.
Some cables are objectively worse than others (macbook chargers I'm looking at you) but a modicum of care generally is enough to make sure they last without too much hassle.
I work retail, people come in with broken Apple cables more than almost any other cable.
Surprisingly these people are also often very picky with getting the Apple-Branded cables as well, even USB C
Literally any cable other than Apples will not break like that.
I've had the same 100w tb3 cable for 4 years. It charges all of my devices and gets a ton of use.
Wireless charging is still a little gimmicky imo. It has only come in useful when my friend's iPhone needed to mooch some charge off of my phone.
The headphone jacks are pointless to include bc they're so horribly underpowered. USBc headphones or a dongle is 10x better.
Bought a pixel 6 after breaking my oneplus 6t.
I absolutley love wireless charging. Its so good i wouldnt want another phone without it. No abuse on the usbc port which is something i definately damaged on previous phones. Just me being clumsy and knocking it off the table with the cord plugged in still.
My experience anyway. Love it
I have only had one charging cable "break" (the cable sheath separated from the plug sheath, it was still usable and had no exposed wires since they all had their own additional sheath) since I stopped using Apple/Samsung phones as my daily driver.
I think the issue is crappy cables that are then super expensive so that they can continue milking you for every penny you are worth.
How does the wireless charger connect to power again?
You don't need to replug it daily. Usually the cord doesn't break, actually, it's the connector at the end of the cord
Then don't use it. people who want to switch expect basic features like this for double the price.
"we want to reduce e-waste by forcing everyone to throw out their wired headphones and buy a new set of wireless ones every couple of years when the battery goes dead"
The hypocrisy enrages me here
I've been using the same pair of Sony XB50AP wired headphones for over 7 years now. It works fine (although not great) even after going through couple washing machine cycles. Meanwhile my wireless WH1000XM3 broke after 2 years of use.
Also I own an Android with no headphone jack, so I have to use a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle. And I can feel it's slowly destroying the type C port's connectors on my phone everytime I plug the dongle in, making the headphone connection sometimes not even recognizeable on my phone.
The WH-1000XM3 have repairable batteries. You can buy them online, and pop them in after undoing two screws
Thanks for the headsup but mine broke because of something wrong inside the device, probably something wrong with the pcb (might be water corrosion or something). Plus the headband on WH1000XM3 is just so easy to broke. I've replace both side of the headband just because it's designed very poorly.
There are wireless earbuds with repairable batteries. Just not Fairbuds, which have soldered batteries (LOL!)
Ftfy
Which you have to carry around separately, which comes at a convenience cost and so you're more likely to just go for wireless ones (I know I have after the headphone jack wore out in my phone)
And also not charge at the same time unless you get a well shielded dac dongle with a usb female which also allows charging and supports thunderbolt, which is another piece of future e-waste that you'll have to carry around in addition to your phone and 3.5mm only dongle, as the unconnected wire will get caught on your hand if you try to use your phone
Your idea of a fix makes as much sense as apple calling selling you 90% of a new device fixing your device - let's not allow degenerate business practices just because a brand like to think of themselves as green and ethical, it's anti-consumer and anti-environment, no ifs, no buts.
My nice head phones came with a case, I usually keep them in that case. The dongle fits inside with them.
Unfortunately my previous phone's headphone jack was underpowered and didn't work well with my headphones so I used to dongle despite having a jack.
This is the unfortunate reality with most phones that do include the headphone jack (RIP LG)
The problem is there is no competition here. I’d love to see several repairable smartphones with slightly different features that create some competition. For example something with a max 5.5” screen and only a single camera.
Yes, absolutely. fairphone themselves say they want to create competition by making the fairphones. sadly, no one has really fully committed to this.
Actually, there is at least one other company specializing in sustainable / repairable electronics - besides Fairphone - I'm aware of.
Check out Shiftphone: Their new Shiftphone 8 (still under development / construction) will be a pretty solid deal with a reasonable price-performance ratio - already pre ordered mine and very excited for final delivery in March.
... Their previous models as well as spare parts, etc. are also still available through their shop.
I can't speak to your other requirements but the Nokia brand has a couple of repairable phones as a result of an ifixit partnership.
As Linux Phones they're a bit more niche but the Librem 5 and the Pine Phone/Pro are very repairability focussed
Usable battery size? The FP5 has a 4200mah battery which is about 500mah less than the s23 plus which is pretty reasonable and I've found it very usable for day to day use. Wireless charing is a pointless gimmick personally and I don't see the utility of it. Lack of a headphone jack is a pain though.
Wireless charging is a good alternative to have when your usb-c port breaks.
Of course, with Fairphone is is less of an issue since replacing those is like 15€.
I thought the same of wireless charging before I tried it. I now have a charger on my desk that I sit my phone on whenever I'm there. Charging isn't something I ever even think about now. It just is charged.
I've just never had that be a problem for me. I've had wireless charging phones before and I never really felt having a wireless charger any more convenient than just plugging my phone in. Really the only time I used wireless charging was on an old phone when the micro-b port failed but with the advent of type c being and the ease of swapping a charging port on the FP5 it just seems to be adding needless expense to the device to have a less efficient method of charging the device.
My guess for the real reason is that they buy off-the-shelf components from suppliers and don't have enough money to design and order a custom motherboard with a headphone jack.
they designed the whole thing themselves. that's why the schematics are publicly available. they definetely made a choice to fuck over users.
Jep their decision that I shouldn't waste energy is the reason i don't want one(wireless charging)
plus it's easy as heck to add during development, i simply don't get why they didn't include it.