i used this phone for a year. the phone is a bit bulky and heavy, but not much more than a flagship phone with a case on it. i never needed a case because of the metal build, and the back is this rubber/plastic material that’s really nice. no stupid glass that will crack if u drop it.

the back comes off nice and easy and everything is removable with a screwdriver. the battery doesnt require a screwdriver to remove if i recall correctly. the replacement parts are available on fairphone’s website. the bootloader is unlockable so you can change the OS if you wanted to aswell. the stock OS isn’t so comfortable so i do recommend trying out alternatives, i had good experiences with /e/ and CalyxOS.

the fairphone marketing is a bit gross in my opinion. removing the headphone jack right as they release their own wireless accessories. having the hardware inside the phone for a second SIM, but making it inaccessible to end-users. promising 5 years of warranty and software support despite using old hardware that will not have 5 years of firmware updates, let alone security updates down the line. they base this on their long-term updates to fp2 and fp3 which also lack these critical components.

the phone’s specs are nothing special. which is fine when you consider that the premium you’re paying is for your own ethics; NOT the quality of the phone. but remember, fairphone are no stranger to misleading marketing and greenwashing. if you care about security updates, this isn’t a 5 year phone as they’re promising it to be.

i ended up installing grapheneOS on a used pixel, that’s my phone now. it’s a much, much better experience and i get to know that it will hold this quality of life for a long time to come. i do miss the removable battery, though.

please correct me if im wrong on anything.

Has anyone tried using it? What was your experience?

The phone is such a good idea, I really hope it is compatible with carriers here in Canada.

Honestly, just last night I was trying to replace the battery in an old Samsung phone, an A5. (For my son to play with, for making lego stop motions, videos etc.) So I bought a battery and repair kit. How hard could it be?

I’m sure it was designed to never be repaired or opened. Replacing the battery required me to totally dismantle my phone, then hopefully reassemble correctly. However the whole thing was so filled with glue and this proved to be impossible.

It was a really nice little phone. So ticked off with how stupid and disposable the design ended up being.

Interesting - they sell not only repairable phones but OEM phones with the /e/ os (degoogled Android).

I was considering this some time back, but the fact that this sustainable phone doesn’t have a 3.5mm jack irks me.

I understand that it’s the trend nowadays but it’s still an extra dongle people will loose and need to buy again and again.