[Closed] Fairphone 4 feedback

I'm keen on a Fairphone for the sustainability of it. Wish they'd do a smaller screen / compact version, though.

GF was looking into one recently. A lot of folks in her group are woke to the consumerism/plastic/sustainability.

She knows five or six people with A Fairphone.

None of them were particularly blown away, especially for the money. Camera stopped working on several of them. The others had battery issues and other problems.

Each bought the phone for its modular approach. Turns out a new camera is really expensive and many of the parts are not available.

I don't find 'normal' phones particularly difficult or expensive to repair. And if you can't do it yourself plenty of phone repair shops exist that will do it for not much money.

I respect their ethical approach to sourcing materials and what they are trying to achieve etc..., but as a consumer it's not difficult to run any phone for a long period of time and be conscientious about it's end of life/recycling.

They're also heavy and chunky, and an IP54 rating isn't great - it's only splash protection. drop it in water or it gets wet in your pocket/pack whilst riding and it's potentially curtains for it.

I've got one, it's been fine so far however I've not an intensive user or much of a photographer but the camera seems decent and performance seems good. Turned up early December and already had one scheduled update so that gives me some comfort on the support.

the grauniad did a proper review which is even handed and did the pixel and iphone too

one job to do is find an aftermarket silicone cover and screen protector, I'm not spending crazy money for the official one (yes I know that this is a contradiction of sustainability principles...)

I'm definitely interested from the sustainability perspective. Parts prices here
https://shop.fairphone.com/en/spare-parts
Don't seem to be too bad.