Fairphone 5 review

18 September 2023


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  • P
  • Pedro
  • 8Iq
  • 20 Sep 2023

This device has a lot of compromises for me to ignore the lack of headphone jack.

    Can anyone here explain why LDS antennas (like the image at the top of this article) have these strange designs/formats?

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • mv8
      • 19 Sep 2023

      what a terrible phone for the price.... too expensive

        • M
        • MK13
        • mUS
        • 19 Sep 2023

        "long software support"???
        it's the longest across all the phones - both android and iphone - 10 years of os updates!!! .... suckers

          • 2
          • 240z
          • vaS
          • 19 Sep 2023

          providing alternatives is pretty much useless, as fairphone doesn't really intend to compete with the other offerings but rather spread awareness to the industry (which clearly didn't get through the heads of Tech sites including GSMA).

          also, while its in the same high price point as other phones, fairphone doesn't really care about that. they know their target market and their goal is to make that market huge, which i believe is growing albeit slowly (based on their sales).

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • kDk
            • 19 Sep 2023

            Anonymous, 19 Sep 2023This has no headphone jack and while some of these things a... moreHonestly, a headphone jack, 120hz display, and a less curved display would make it up to me. I don't care as much about the bezels as much as I care about the fact that there are literally no corners on this display. I much prefer corners like the Galaxy A52 if they absolutely had to include a rounded display.

              • p
              • phonewithspyware
              • puj
              • 19 Sep 2023

              Phone with spywareOS 13, 14

                • G
                • George USA 299
                • Iby
                • 19 Sep 2023

                I think this phone can compete agaist Kunfabo phone of Guinea or Mara of Rwanda, especially if it obtains FM chip

                  Fa14bi, 19 Sep 2023The phone ain't for gaming yes but it also won't ... moreI just noticed i messed up Fairphone with nothing phone once, my bad.

                    Werve, 19 Sep 2023Many consider the only positive side of this phone as care ... moreOneplus and xiaomi allow warranty on rooted phones, they sometimes even send phones to custom kernel rom devs. This also seems to be the case for pixels.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • m62
                      • 19 Sep 2023

                      Anonymous, 19 Sep 2023People keep yelling in comments that they want exchangable ... moreThis has no headphone jack and while some of these things are nice upsides, it won't make up for the overall lackluster package.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • m62
                        • 19 Sep 2023

                        Anonymous, 19 Sep 2023Like they mention throughout the review, it´s not aiming to... moreNobody expected powerful specs, but the package as a whole is just not that great. Would you want to use a phone that already isn't very good for 10 years? I wouldn't. That's my point.

                          • W
                          • Werve
                          • BQa
                          • 19 Sep 2023

                          Many consider the only positive side of this phone as care for the environment and human rights, repairability, support of updates for 10 years, replaceable battery and modular construction.

                          They are certainly interesting points that can represent a market and reason for sale on their own. Surely given the price for technical characteristics, these ideals have a cost.

                          But there is another point, I think unique AFAIK, of this phone and this brand that the others do not have.
                          The freedom of customization, rooting, changing operating system, modding.

                          As described on the support pages of their site, to claim warranty just reinstall the original ROM.
                          The brand also supports, helps and encourages modding (e.g. with partners with eOS as happened with previous models).

                          What other brand offers the warranty and is compliant with the software modification of its products?
                          We know that samsung has the knox chip that as soon as you try to modify something outside the edges set up for normal use of the user, it marks itself forever and can limit the use of samsung apps that check its status. In addition, the warranty is lost.

                          But even if there were no hardware consequences for the change, as is the case with other brands, there are closed source binaries or bootloaders locked by the factory without the possibility of opening them except waiting for a vulnerability (which also means that the phone is no longer secure).

                          This phone with 10 years of updates indicate that the proprietary binaries will be updated so there will be no such problems of alternative OS versions that are not compatible or fully functional because for the X function there are no binaries. (I think for example to the VoLTE function or simply to the drivers for WiFi and fingerprint reader)
                          The brand's willingness to be open to alternative OS should solve these problems.

                            Performance is disappointing(as expected)
                            Battery life(for 90hz display)isnt that great either
                            Display is not that bright
                            Speaker(loudness)is bad
                            cameras not great either.

                            Good thing this phones costs that much, just for the support. It makes it very easy for most people to easily skip it.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • bJv
                              • 19 Sep 2023

                              Since this is Fairphone 5, you should have talked about how the previous Fairphones perform now. Are they actually durable, do they get updates and work without bugs, etc.

                                • L
                                • Leo
                                • M@a
                                • 19 Sep 2023

                                DroidBoye, 19 Sep 2023They should've atleast aimed for an 8+gen1 which would... moreExactly! I 100% agree.

                                Even though power users are clearly not in the target audience and a replaceable battery is clearly a good thing, any user is compromised by using a sub optimal chipset that does not promise any improvements in the up to 10 years people should use this. Battery life, day to day, but also long term (2+ years) is going to be trash. At best, adequate for a subset of users.

                                Should a fairphone 4 user upgrade? NO! That's the idea. Consuming less tech and using phones for as long as possible.

                                Somebody mentioned that a possible target audience might be grandparents. Well all of mine are more than happy with a Samsung A series phone at a fraction of the price, and they manage to use it for 6 years, not too far from a fairphone's (planned) lifespan.

                                Would I recommend this for all the benefits of many years of android upgrades, ease of repair and the fairness factor?
                                Sadly, no. The iPhone offers similarly long software upgrades, the reparability is getting better. After a couple of years a battery swap costs about 30$ in a shop. A new fairphone battery costs the same, has to be shipped and the user has to do the repair.

                                What is left is the fairness factor. For some people definitely worth it. A conversation starter, a statement and an exclusive way to communicate one's attitude of life.

                                I think it's quite obvious that that sort of user is a minority, especially in the gsmarena community. But nevertheless the amount of people that fall into the category of environmental and fairness appreciators should not be underestimated. Fairphone has found a niche. Let's see if that niche can sustain itself.

                                  Anonymous, 19 Sep 2023People keep yelling in comments that they want exchangable ... moreI guess people hate it because it's unsafe.

                                    Anonymous, 19 Sep 2023Repairability and sustainability isn't worth much when... moreThe phone ain't for gaming yes but it also won't be laggy in 10 years, what flagships now have is just overkill if you don't do damage, and that by a lot.

                                    Even our old Snap 430 Moto G5 still is perfectly fine for web browsing and texting. It was actually still faster than the Exynos Galaxy A53 because raw power isn't everything.

                                    For everyday tasks, the phone doesn't need and won't ever need all that much power. All that is important is that it doesn't run out of Ram.

                                    Do you think an Intel I9 9900k will struggle in chrome and Microsoft word + Exel in 5 Years?

                                    Neither does a phone suddenly become slower unless someone forcefully makes it slow.

                                    And the Moto one Zoom with around 800nit display also was never even outside in the field directly in the sun on the hottest day of the year not readable. Some phones will maybe reach 5000 someday

                                    Does that mean that phones with only 1/5 of that suddenly become less readable at bright light? Nope


                                    Well the Nothing phone ever give you flagship gaming experience and speeds? Defenitly not


                                    will it ever be too slow for your daily tasks you need a phone for?

                                    Why would it?

                                      George USA 299, 19 Sep 2023Not worth it, I would rather purchase a Kunfabo mobile phon... moreNo one cares Georgie boy

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • mip
                                        • 19 Sep 2023

                                        People keep yelling in comments that they want exchangable batteries, SD slots, headphone jacks, repairability, long updates. Now we got this phone: it offers all that, even 10(!!!) TEN years of updates and exchangable parts....and somehow people now start yelling about better specs.
                                        I get it, people like to moan and yell...but common people, Google, Apple and Samsung wont give you what you want, if you support fairphone, they make more money and will eventually be able to spec up the game at some point. Right now they are struggling with low sells and therefore bad deals with manufactuerers. If you want change, do change.

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