Software quality is terrible and every OS version upgrade brings a new grab bag of worse bugs.
- A11 had some annoyances like quick toggles turning black or non-working screen after importing settings from an OLED phone with always-on-display
- A12 had bugs that broke important functionalty: Screen can only go to 30% maximum brightness if it’s slightly warm outside, Hotspot and Tethering don’t work, GPS sometimes doesn’t work when Android Auto is used, Screen sometimes goes black for a few seconds if you receive a notification and a few other issues
- A13 straight-up bricks the phone on a failed update and freezes/reboots if you dare to use 5G
These bugs usually don’t get fixed until the next OS upgrade happens where Google rewrote that part of the software.
The hardware has a few hardware errors, like the touch not working correctly (ghost touches/unresponsive) or the speakers rattling like a snaredrum. Shouldn’t be much of an issue, the phone is modular so it shouldn’t be hard to fix the flaw and offer the fixed version of that component in their shop (or if they really had integrity, replace these parts on warranty). Instead, they keep selling the broken parts! And their warranty is not worth much at all either.
Support is basically inexistent. Of all the times I wrote them to report bugs, not a single time did they have any response other than “our experts will look into it”. Even if I give them a working bugfix, they just ignore it and don’t fix the bugs.
This is the first time ever that I wouldn’t be sad if my phone dies a tragic death.
I sometimes have the same feelings. I try to keep in mind that they are a really small enterprise with big goals. But at the same time I had periods where the phone frustrated me so much (FP3)
Since ecology takes a big place in my decision making these days I will not change phone before this one dies, but sometimes I feel like I have sacrificed a lot - Will probably go with a refurbished phone next time
However I still really like fairphone and their projects and objectives 🙂
Unfortunately I’m beginning to feel that their business model and ability to support the device is compromised by the “value stacking” of trying to create an ethical phone that’s also repairable. It’s expensive (because of the ethics) so we have high expectations, those expectations are compromised by features inherent in the repairability, and they’re not able to devote the staff necessary to support the device. A focus just on repairability with off-the-shelf components would have resulted in a more reliable product that can be supported better, better parts availability, a cheaper device, and a fair part of the positive impact.
Interesting idea. I don’t know. I suppose they know their market and that one of those two niches will not sell well enough to be a reliable market now? Or maybe they are well known for both and dropping one will be seen as bad for buyers.