Fairphone has never previously provided full security patches for anywhere close to their promised support. The Fairphone 4 doesn't currently receive proper security support but rather receives the Android Security Bulletin patches consistently 1-2 months late and many of the recommended patches (Pixel Update Bulletin) years late.

Fairphone 4 does not include a secure element and does not provide many of the expected hardware security features. It also has a broken/incomplete implementation of verified boot and attestation.

Are these issues fixed with recent Fairphones?

[–] undu@discuss.tchncs.de 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

EU law makes it a requirement to provide updates since a company stops selling the device. So they better fix it or they will be sued.

https://energy-efficient-products.ec.europa.eu/product-list/smartphones-and-tablets_en

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

There can be updates pushed out while not addressing this issue.

[–] Luffy879@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Who the actual fuck even uses the Stock OS with the phone?

Just use Calyx man.

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Calyx literally has the same issue. Consistently late to apply patches.

[–] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 13 points 1 month ago (3 children)

3.5mm jack?

[–] andrewth09@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago

No.

https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/9836188988049-Audio-Jack-3-5mm

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago

3.5mm jack?

Really, no jack at all.

If a StarTAC 7800 can fit a headphone jack, then so can this. I'll take a 2.5mm

[–] Skunk@jlai.lu 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I want to buy a fairphone but 6,31", I need a phone not a brick 🙁

[–] BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 month ago (3 children)

There was once a time when I swore I would not buy any phone larger than 5", that was when I had a 4.7" and couldn't find it comfortable to reach the notifications one handed on anything larger. I'm now using a 6" and swearing I will stop here. At this point I'm really tempted to just keep buying new-old-stock pixel 5's for the rest of time because I've moved the goalposts too many times now.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 month ago

as horrifying as it is to say: there's a reason folding phones sell

[–] velanox@feddit.org 1 points 1 month ago

I had a 6.3" phone and thought I wanted something smaller, got a 6.1" Pixel 6a and found it to be too small for my liking, now I'm using a 6.8" Pixel 8 Pro and honestly, I think I could have managed another 0.2" for a nice round number of 7", but there are no phones like this :D

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 0 points 1 month ago

IPhone 13 mini should still get updates for a few years, but then you're on iOS and it's not like Apple has an upgrade path for small phone fans these days either. It's sad, but apparently people prefer bigger phones.

[–] cloudless@piefed.social 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's a good size. That's what she said.

[–] Skunk@jlai.lu 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Mommy said my 5.4 is the best size ☺️

(For the non /s people out there, I’m really taking about screen size, less than 6 is perfect but almost impossible to find today)

[–] rImITywR@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Don't forget that phones don't have bezels anymore. A phone from a couple years ago with a 5.something inch screen and half an inch of bezel on either side is the same size as a 6.something today.

[–] basxto@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 3 weeks ago

Don’t forget that phones don’t have bezels anymore

Fairphone still has them

[–] ohellidk@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago

Seems like it's missing some 5G bands (such as n25) needed for T-Mobile, which is kind of a bummer to me. Not too sure how necessary that is, though.

[–] philthi@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

I'm saying this a lot, but going to repeat myself here:

Fuck these guys... Seriously. I bought a phone off of them hyped at the idea of the ethics. It didn't work on arrival. Over 3 months later and not one single reply to my helpdesk request (other than the Automated acknowledgement of receipt).

Unbelievably bad user experience, I went from hyped at the concept of reducing my production of electronic waste to beyond disappointed at a brutally bad user experience.

Then to make matters worse, it is difficult to source spare parts for the fairphone 4 (according yo a friend of mine who owns one that he bought a while ago)... Like is that not the entire point of the phone, reduced consumption of new phones by supporting repairs. If you're going to stop producing the spares at least release the patents then.. if you really believe in the promoted ideals that you spout... Which they clearly do not.

It turns out that it's just another money hungry company hell bent on burning the planet down to see a line go up, as far as I'm concerned. All gaff to sell shite phones at higher prices.

Do not buy.

[–] foliumcreations@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Do you have any source for spare part no longer being produced for FP 4? I can't find any information about it and they are still available on their webpage to buy.

What was it that didn't work on arrival ? Didn't it power on? Are you within EU? If so, why didn't you contact your countrys consumer advocacy agency, instead of waiting 3 months. We have 2 years consumer law within all of EU they would have taken your claim to the company for you.

Was the problem eventually resolved?

[–] smokeymcpott@feddit.org 11 points 1 month ago

I own a fairphone 4 and I wanted to buy a new battery a month ago. They werent in stock but now they are again, so I guess you are wrong about the parts not being produced anymore (at least the batteries).

[+] philthi@lemmy.world -6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This all assumed I have more spare time than I do. I am in the EU. This problematic phone should not be a problem that I have to invest time into resolving when it did not work from the very first use. This should be the simplest of support cases; return the phone for replacement or reimbursement.

The problem has not been resolved and the phone sits unused in its packaging in my desk drawer.

I have instead learnt to repair my current phone (which was itself a very rewarding and remarkably simple process, which is my new plan for reducing my electronic waste) and am still awaiting a response from fairphone after multiple follow up emails informing them of my disappointment and not one reply from a human.

[–] foliumcreations@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You still haven't explained what the issue was, then you mention not having time, but you bought a ≈500 EUR device that acordingn to you didn't work, and the solution in your opinion is replacement or reimbursement. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, you either did not have an issue that would warrant a replacement or hardware repair, or you are mad you weren't offered the solution you wanted and now spam the same message when ever Fairphone is mentioned. Cause your story doesn't add up. No time to raise a case with consumer advocacy agency, 500EURs worth of phone thrown in a drawer. New phone; suddenly time to invest. Avoided answered what the issue was. Copy pasted same comment at least 4 other times. Fairphones customer service might be the worst, I don't know. But I do question the validity of your claims.

[–] philthi@lemmy.world -4 points 1 month ago

If I had had any response at all, I wouldn't be saying anything at all here. The reality is that I have had no response - not an unsatisfactory suggestion, not a tech support suggestion, not a "this is your fault", not one single word has reached me from them. I'm not telling you what the fault is, because it's irrelevant... 3 months waiting for any response at all (after several more follow up emails from me requesting a response) is diabolically bad customer support.

Regarding your CSI style breakdown of my inner reasonings, like whatever makes you happy.

Regarding copying and pasting my response, yeah I did that because I was quoting someone who turns out to be have been wrong 🤷‍♂️

[–] benneti@feddit.org 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I would also be curios where you are located. I am in EU and had a software problem (caused by self) and support was very helpful and they even repared my phone free of charge despite me telling them that I was at fault myself. Now I wonder whether one of us was lucky / unlucky or it depends on the region...

Sending it in and back took a bit longer that it could but still was within a reasonable time frame.

[–] philthi@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

As mentioned above, I live in the EU.

[–] homo_particeps@fosstodon.org 5 points 1 month ago

@philthi
Thats bullshit.
You can still get replacement parts for fp4.
The ux is the same as with other plain android phones.
The customer service is not a joyful experience, but it answers within 3 Months. Everything other would be illegal.

Most importantly they are not just another money hungry company! They are very transparent about what they do and its easy to see that there are easier ways to make money.
You are helping all the really irresponsible corps by equating them.
@SrMono

[–] Pistcow@lemm.ee 6 points 1 month ago

With an oled screen? Nice, Samsung has been getting shittuer with each update.

[–] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 month ago

I'm tempted, but then remember there are enough ewaste phones to last a lifetime, and they're basically free.

[–] Senseless@feddit.org 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If I hadn't bought a Pixel 7 Pro last year for GrapheneOS I'd consider it. But let's see how the development of GOS continues with Android 16 since Google fucked shit up again.

[–] SrMono@feddit.org 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I’m running GrapheneOS on a Pixel 7a.

It is a shame, that fairphone and other manufacturers don’t match the minimum security requirements for GrapheneOS.

[–] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 7 points 1 month ago

It's a shame that GrapheneOS won't support phones without a TPM like it's Windows 11

[–] gon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 month ago

This is actually cool. I might buy this...

[–] doleo@lemmy.one 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Shame about the headphone jack. Could the switch be repurposed for something a bit more useful, or do you think it's locked to a single function?

[–] KryptonNerd@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 month ago

Apparently it can be remapped

[–] Shayeta@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No 3.5mm, no buy from me. I was hoping they would finally get the hint there is a lot of people for whom this is a dealbreaker.

[–] krydret_ismaskine@feddit.dk 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I had the same opinion and refused to even consider phones without it, but I've had to resign myself to the fact that it's a losing battle.

My current Motorola One Vision has a 3.5mm jack, but I bought a USB-C to 3.5mm DAC/headphone amplifier a while back to use with my PC, and of course it works great for the phone. It's really just a barely noticeable ~5cm extension to the headphone cable.

My main concern was perhaps wearing out the USB-C port, but so far no issues. And of course it's easy to repair or replace on the Fairphone.

There's also the factor that the 3.5mm jack on phones often doesn't have enough power to drive anything other than earbuds and very efficient headphones, but the Meizu HiFi Pro dongle has enough oomph for full-size cans.

Ideally I would have liked a 3.5mm jack, but the fair supply chain, repairability and 8 years of software support outweigh it.

[–] Missy@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago

Custom Rom support like the ShiftPhone?