this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2023
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If I’m going to go through the hassle of abandoning all the bells, whistles, and conveniences of major smart phone makers, I would hope to get a little more than just 5 years on my OS. The entire impetus for my getting one of these is the ability to replace failing parts and upgrade it as I go. What’s the point if it’s just going to stop being updated?
I have an iPhone currently going on year 4. Replaced the battery once for $100. Got it for $700. I just don’t see why I should make the swap now. OS/security isn’t enough of a difference, price isn’t enough of a difference. Cameras on iPhone are better.
All that fairphone offers me that I really want is better control and privacy, which is important to me, but I was expecting a little more on other fronts. 
5 years of OS updates is more than you get from any other Android manufacturer. For everyone else in the space, you are lucky to get 3.
8 years of security not OS support.
I don't want a phone like most phones for $800USD. Especially one that's slower, has a worse camera, etc. It needs either more impressive features or to be $200 cheaper. Otherwise why bother? Ultimately this boils down to price and features if they want to actually break into the market. The repair-ability alone isn't enough.
Fair wages for the people making the phone is also a selling point of this phone. It's not just about repairability.
That said I'm also not writing this from a Fairphone, because the price is too high for me.
The high price actually cancels the point of the repairability. I can get a similar phone for easily €400-500 less. If I budget that extra price for repairs, I can get the battery and screen replaced quite a few times.
I say that as an FP4 owner, who did the same calculation mistake there.
How fast do you need your phone to be for sending messages, streaming video, or browsing the web? Every phone made in the last decade can do these things.
According to Fairphone "We plan at least 5 Android OS version updates after Android 13".
Let's see. There is still no Android 13 on the FP4.
Samsung offers 4 years of os updates for many phones and watches. And news reported that pixel 8 will have better.
If I recall correctly, Xiaomi recently declared the same for some of their phones.
4 years including security updates though right? If that's the flcase then fairphone's doing 8 years.
No really. Samsung offers 4 years of os updates and 5 years of security updates. Samsung releases os updates really fast, so 5 years basically means 5 os versions.
Fairhone declares 5 os versions and 8 years of software support. Fairphone users here mentioned that fairphone is very slow with updates, so it could happen that 5 os versions really will take 8 years. If Fairphone will keep same cadence as Samsung, its 5 os versions can be coverted into 5 years.
But we have a bit of apples vs oranges here.
I personally find samsung's policy good enough for majority of users. I expect that I will upgrade my phone every 3 - 5 years for different unpredictable today reasons anyway.
There's a clear trajectory where this is heading. From 2027 the EU will enforce replaceable batteries and it looks like some other markets might follow. Software support duration is increasing a lot as well.
I wouldn't be surprised if you'd get most of the Fairphone's benefits on a regular Samsung in a few years.
Yes, very realistic scenario. TBF, I cannot remember if I ever upgraded a phone due to the battery issuses.
So, for me personally, replaceable battery is not a significant benefit.
Happens if you run a phone for long enough ^^