Fairphone is now officially available in the United States

(fairphone.com)

136 points | by Vinnl 2 hours ago

12 comments

  • ThinkingGuy 45 minutes ago
    The Fairphone (Gen. 6+) comes with upgraded internal hardware that doesn’t compromise on our industry-leading repairability standards. The ‘plus’ isn't about adding features for a longer spec sheet; it's about intentional improvements that keep your device capable for longer.

    AI-like typing detected.

    • nemomarx 22 minutes ago
      It really irks me that it still can't get the contrastive clauses right. "it's not about adding (more features), it's about (more features, but with a different emphasis)" is so empty of meaning. how do people copy edit this and not notice?
      • reaperducer 4 minutes ago
        how do people copy edit this and not notice?

        If they wanted to pay trained copy editors, they wouldn't use A.I.

      • lotsofpulp 11 minutes ago
        >how do people copy edit this and not notice?

        I would assume they don’t, and they assume many people aren’t reading it either. Which includes me, even before LLMs came out. I would always skip the marketing and jump to tech specs and pictures/video.

    • guywithahat 11 minutes ago
      I wonder at what point we're just going to see people writing like AI because they read it so much? That said I'm fine with companies saving money on copywriters
  • mrbluecoat 1 hour ago
    "[GrapheneOS] lost most interest in that hardware due to the poor way privacy, security, updates and marketing based on these things has been handled."

    https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/28825-is-there-any-chance-o...

    • NoboruWataya 1 hour ago
      I'm sure their concerns are valid but just because GrapheneOS don't consider the Fairphone to meet their standards for security doesn't mean it is not worth considering for other people who may have different priorities. Fairphones have certain advantages over Pixels such as better repairability and more ethically sourced labour/components. IMO it's good to see the Fairphone do well (and I hope GrapheneOS's partnership with Motorola also goes well).
      • stymaar 56 minutes ago
        Unfortunately it looks like it's not just a issue of missing hardware security features:

        > Their partnership with Murena along with promoting it themselves with misleading marketing means no possibility of working with us.

        I want to like GrapheneOS, but the pettiness of its leadership is a real problem for the long term prospect of the project.

        • hokumguru 50 minutes ago
          Is it pettiness or just sticking to their morals? Murena, as they mentioned, forwards data to OpenAI which is against pretty much everything Graphene stands for.
          • Contortion 9 minutes ago
            I think it's absolutely pettiness at this point, on both sides. I've lost track of the number of times I've seen a post about /e/OS on Mastodon with someone in the replies ranting about how everyone should use Graphene instead. It reminds me of the old joke about vegans.

            GrapheneOS and /e/OS' goals are different - the former is about security tightening and the latter is about deGoogling. They just had a public falling out and refuse to let it go.

          • oever 10 minutes ago
            I was not aware of Murena forwarding data to OpenAI. I'm sympathetic to Murena and their partnership with e/OS/. I looked up what it is about. /e/OS 3 uses OpenAI for Voice to Text. This is the statement where they explain this:

            > To implement this approach, we chose to use the OpenAI gpt-4 transcribe API that has been designed for this purpose, is cost-effective and efficient.

            https://community.e.foundation/t/clarification-about-voice-t...

            On my /e/OS phone, I've installed Whisper+ voice input and disabled 'Murena Voice to Text'. I never use this features.

          • krunck 19 minutes ago
            > Murena, as they mentioned, forwards data to OpenAI which is against pretty much everything Graphene stands for.

            How? In what way? Source?

        • Telaneo 46 minutes ago
          That does not seem like pettiness to me. That seems like a very good reason to not work with someone.
    • gruez 1 hour ago
      Here's a post with more specific allegations:

      https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/24134-devices-lacking-stand...

    • dnautics 1 hour ago
      i dont get it, they are comparing eOS to graphene, not talking about the hardware.

      this would be like grapheneOS not using pixel because the stock android that ships with it does not respect privacy.

      am i missing something?

  • threemux 1 hour ago
    Looks great! For other T-Mobile users, it actually supports the full range of frequency bands. Quite a few devices claim T-Mobile support but are then missing band 12 or 71 on LTE or n71 on 5G, all of which are critical for coverage outside of cities.
  • commoner 1 hour ago
    Exciting to see this soon after someone got the Fairphone 6 camera working on postmarketOS:

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49338285

    The 6+ is a different model, but the announcement says the camera module is the same.

  • VyseofArcadia 59 minutes ago
    Fairphone products have been available in the US officially for ages. This is just the ability to purchase direct from Fairphone.

    I bought a Fairphone 4 from Murena years ago (and am still using it), and I bought a pair of Fairbuds XL just in April from the same.

  • jarbus 45 minutes ago
    Praying that fairphone somehow makes a foldable one day. My next phone will probably be a fold 8 because I really want a nice reading experience on the go, but I love the philosophy and love my framework laptop.
  • Runways 1 hour ago
    USB 2.0 port is the only thing preventing me from purchasing one. A wild choice since I believe previous versions did not have this limitation.
    • fnord123 1 hour ago
      You need to transfer more than 480Mbps over a hard line to and from your phone? Seems like a niche requirement that even iPhone 17 doesn't bother with. Or is it psychological 'nunber must go up and usb number went from 2 to 3 many years ago so now 2 bad'
      • NewJazz 50 minutes ago
        Even my lgv20 could do an external display.
      • stonogo 55 minutes ago
        Previous versions of the Fairphone did have USB3, and also Displayport Alt Mode, so you could plug the phone into a display and use Android Desktop. There's more to a given version of USB than line rate.
    • zyberzero 1 hour ago
      How often do you connect stuff to your phone, and for what purposes? I genuinely wonder!

      I can't remember the last time I connected my phone to my computer for other purposes than charging the phone, but that's me and we all use our stuff different ways

      • microtonal 5 minutes ago
        When we are travelling, we often hook up our phones to a hotel/apartment TV with a DP-Alt to HDMI adapter to use our own streaming services/apps. A phone without DP-Alt would be a no-go.
      • Runways 1 hour ago
        You can install Linux on this device. If it had proper dock support, this would be 'the' phone I've been looking for. There is a not insignificant number of users in the forum that are skipping this phone for that reason. It would have been my first.

        https://forum.fairphone.com/t/fp6-discussion-about-usb-2-and...

        • zyberzero 52 minutes ago
          Ah, that makes sense, thanks! I tried that way back when Windows phone was a thing (using my phone as a desktop), I even had a small dock for my Lumia 925. It worked well enough for presentations and RDPing into my workstation.
      • Telaneo 43 minutes ago
        Syncing music is my main use case where USB 2 is annoying. Beyond that, pulling photos of the phone, but I rarely do that to an extent that USB 2 speeds become a problem.
  • dmix 26 minutes ago
    That website took a very very long time to load.
  • amazingamazing 1 hour ago
    $650 for anyone who does not want to click. Hard sell compared to the iPhone 17e but more choice is good.
    • Noaidi 58 minutes ago
      I would buy this phone in a second over a 17e. Replaceable parts? Expandable storage? Any companies that says they care about the environment and does not have these things are just liars.
      • hedora 45 minutes ago
        I’d pay twice what they are asking for one with a reasonably sized screen.

        I’m holding on to my iphone mini, but apparently people buy the razr and just leave it closed 100% of the time.

        That’s $700, and not having the dumb hinge mechanism and internal facing display would be a selling point for many.

      • guywithahat 6 minutes ago
        I mean replacing a battery is something you do, at most, once every 5-7 years. If removing the battery requires a heat gun then it's not the worst thing imo.
  • the_gamedev 57 minutes ago
    Wondering if fairphone will ever be officially available in india. I would like a no bloatware and repairable device.
  • AdmiralAsshat 1 hour ago
    No Verizon support. :(
    • Alcor 1 hour ago
      How is that still a thing? I can’t think of a phone here in Europe that you can’t just put a SIM card from any carrier in and it will work.
      • davey48016 1 hour ago
        From Fairphone's US order page

        > Critical Notice: The device does not support LTE Band 13 (Verizon's primary coverage frequency).

        Presumably that frequency isn't used in Europe? It also says that it's "not certified for use on the Verizon Wireless network." I don't know if that means Verizon might block it (which sounds like a very US thing) or it's related to not supporting the frequency that Verizon uses for LTE.

      • Onawa 57 minutes ago
        Because the United States sucks in regards to mobile phone compatibility and spectrum allocation. https://share.gemini.google/u6E8mAiITMcJ
    • wilsonnb3 45 minutes ago
      Interesting, the tech specs page said Verizon was supported but the carrier coverage page says it isn’t
    • Noaidi 57 minutes ago
      Yeah, that’s a bummer. But I’m seriously thinking about switching to AT&T over this, but I would need to know if the frequencies are covered as good on AT&T.

      I can’t believe how few choices we have in cell phones in the United States. Where is all the innovation I keep hearing everyone talk about?

      • mxuribe 19 minutes ago
        > I can’t believe how few choices we have in cell phones in the United States. Where is all the innovation I keep hearing everyone talk about?

        The beginning of your sentence - "I can’t believe how few choices we have..." - can be applied equally sadly to other areas here in the U.S....such as but not limited to lack of choice of residential ISPs, or lack of choice (or generally mis-incentivized) healthcare providers, or lack of choice of mobile service providers, or, etc., or etc. And, of course, your last part of your comment asking where the innovation is? Well, innovation often is pocketed in those who control the capital, and only released little by little at the whims of releasing more capital. Sorry, i have to step away, cuz felt sad instantly just citing my own comments here. :-(

      • delfinom 53 minutes ago
        Innovation in the US is mainly how many more creative ways they can suck money out of consumers.