8 ms·

I owned a fairphone 3. It was expensive but very easy to take apart and promised years of updates. Then it broke, after about 18 months. Fine, I thought, I'm gl

I owned a fairphone 3. It was expensive but very easy to take apart and promised years of updates. Then it broke, after about 18 months. Fine, I thought, I'm glad I got a repairable phone. I'll just fix it, it'll be easy. I determined the problem was with the main logic board and found that a) a new one would cost much more than an entirely new, and more capable phone and b) it was out of stock. I just bought a new phone. I didn't feel good about my fairphone experience.

kwiens 3y ago
Main board failures are hard, they'll kill just about any phone and it's pretty challenging to make the service part economically viable. For what it's worth, I don't know of any systemic problems / higher than usual error rates with the Fairphone 3 main board. You got unlucky. Consider giving them another shot sometime!
- dymk 3y ago
  What’s the point of a repairable phone if parts are out of stock?
  - josefx 3y ago
    One of dozens of parts is out of stock and as the other comment points out itself it is also the part that makes the least sense to replace.
    - whatevaa 3y ago
      I was looking into Fairphone seriously recently and got repulsed by this parts out of stock thing. It's not just one occurrence, peolle are complaining about different parts out of stock for prolonged period or times (or still not available to this day). What's the point of repairability if parts cannot be acquired? Not much of used market, either. And their support tells you to pretty much f-off without are purchase receipt, even if you want to buy the part. It's garbage.
      - throwaway290 3y ago
        The only way this model would work is if specs are completely open, there is optional certification/audit for parts and third parties are encouraged to freely compete selling the parts.
        DeathArrow 3y ago
        Like in a PC?
        throwaway290 3y ago
        More or less, yep.
  - smoldesu 3y ago
    Having access to donor parts from cheap used models?
    - whatevaa 3y ago
      Unless they are not popular that much, then not much access either.
      - Retr0id 3y ago
        As much as apple (seemingly) tries to actively make repairs harder, they're some of the easiest devices to source replacement parts for, due to their popularity.
  - crabbone 3y ago
    It's just the kind of part that doesn't merit repairs... it's unfortunate, but with any equipment there will be such parts.
system2 3y ago
This is why people buy iPhone. Unless you drop it from a speeding car, it won't cause any issues for 4-5 years at least.
- bunabhucan 3y ago
  Typing this on a galaxy s20 ...that fell off the roof of my car at about 40mph.
- kayyyy 3y ago
  no phone manufacturer is infallible. my iPhone 4 battery went up in smoke after owning it for 1.5 years. my iPhone 6 plus developed touch disease after 2 years, the replacement developed touch disease after a week, and the second replacement began exhibiting mild symptoms after a couple months, the nand failed after another 2 years. (applecare replacements mind you.) plus I wasn't a huge fan of apple trying to sweep the issue under the rug until it gained nationwide attention.
  - ace2358 3y ago
    Crazy, my day 1 iPhone 6 Plus is still working today with a smashed screen just fine! (Not primary phone anymore, still use for music)
  - tdba 3y ago
    I dropped my iphone 14 in the ocean. It was in there 2 days until it washed up onshore. A fisherman picked it up and it was still on and it had service. It was in lost mode so he was able to call my emergency contact and I got it back. Aside from minor scratches on the screen it has no damage and works perfectly. That experience taught me that Apple takes reliability extremely seriously, even if they dont care about repairability. I dont know if they could have made a phone this bulletproof while also making it repairable. I do believe it is a good thing for people to be able to repair stuff they own, but there is a tradeoff.
    - aqfamnzc 3y ago
      Wow, did you drop it nearby, as in, on the beach? I always imagined that a denser object like that would stay put and even perhaps nudged outward by the ocean motion.
codetrotter 3y ago
Sorry to hear that :( However, I do want to point out that when such unfortunate things happen, perhaps the remaining parts that still works could be helpful to other fairphone users?
- Vinnl 3y ago
  I'm typing this from my Fairphone 4, which I started using Sunday after almost reaching the six-year mark of my FP2. One reason that obedience managed to last as long is that a friend stopped using his FP2, and I could use his old phone for spare parts.
jaeckel 3y ago
Sorry to hear that! I have a pretty low sample size of ~8 friends on FP3 and I can't remember hearing of a single hardware failure. Some batteries got replaced and some are even still going strong on their first battery. I've updated mine from 3 to 3+ and I'm on my second battery since this summer, I.e. the main board is ~4years old. A friend had some minor issues in the beginning with some internal connector but I can't remember him mentioning it again. Another friend got rid of her FP2 this spring in favor of a FP4, but only because some apps she uses got really unusable. Otherwise she would've stayed. IMO it's a fairly good platform and I'm looking forward to how it evolves in the future. Hopefully they will introduce a smaller phone at one point.
- vinc 3y ago
  I had to replace the USB module on my FP3 because it couldn't charge my battery anymore. At first I tried to replace the battery but that didn't work, and I was afraid that the issue would be from the motherboard, but no I just needed to change that module. Great experience!
CarVac 3y ago
This is why I like the Framework way: keep the chassis the same so you can just buy a shiny new motherboard with the latest processor if your old motherboard dies. It's probably not as suitable for phones what with changes to antenna requirements and such though.
- 0x6c6f6c 3y ago
  To be fair, you are describing a 1:1 comparison of how Fairphone does it here. The issue of economical viability for PC motherboards is easier than smartphone mainboards, but the premise is basically the same- the core component of the device dies and needs to be replaced. There are more modular standards for PC to make the hit here less hard (memory, being the big one) but it's all the same. Fairphone has not done as good of a job as Framework has in making it viable for customers to replace their mainboards, and I will say I think Framework is the odd one here in really stepping up in that market.
fumeux_fume 3y ago
With the incentives our economy is aligned to for things like phones, repairability will be a hard sell on a dollar to dollar basis with replacement. It's more about values than strict consumer cost.
josefx 3y ago
> a new one would cost much more than an entirely new, and more capable phone That is the case in general with fairphone, if you just want a cheap phone you can buy an iPhone.
- Maxion 3y ago
  > if you just want a cheap phone you can buy an iPhone. Out of context, this sounds so wrong.
aurareturn 3y ago
Fairphone is a for profit company. What is there to prevent the company from choosing not to use the highest quality parts so that you will need to buy more parts to repair it later on?
john61 3y ago
Did you look for a broken (for example glass) used one?
hyperthesis 3y ago
I had a similar experience with replaceable batteries (1) expensive on the one hand, but at the same time (2) unavailable. I think batteries are the main consumable of a phone. It seems to me there should be an after-market of smaller batteries, and a set of universal power adapters (like you get with power supplies), and shims to fit it securely within the phone. But I haven't seen this, so either people prefer to upgrade (demand) or manufacturers successfully made it too hard (supply).
lock-the-spock 3y ago
Given Fairphone is a rather small company they sometimes have such problems of economy of scale - no manufacturer will prioritise you if you make small orders. That said, one reason for the Fairphone price is the "fair to the people labouring for the parts of the phone" part. I'm unhappy with the camera quality, but honestly knowing that the premium I pay means fairer working conditions is for me an important element. I prefer to pay the small social enterprise establishing a new kind of supply chain and developing a modular phone, rather than the Samsung CEOs and stockholders.
mcv 3y ago
Although I really appreciate Fairphone, I've got to admit my experience is similar. I had a Fairphone 2 until the screen went haywire. Not broken, but showed random noise. Replacing it was expensive. Meanwhile, I've replaced several broken iPhone screens. Even if iPhone's are harder to repair, they're still not all that hard to repair. It just takes time and patience. And instructions from ifixit of course.
keraf 3y ago
I bought a FP3+, still using it after 3 years, but would not go Fairphone again. Despite supporting what the company stands for, I feel they didn't deliver on their promises. I was hoping for more upgrades to be available over time, but that was never the case. Instead, two new models appeared with a year interval and the 4 didn't even get any upgrades. Worse even, the 3.5mm jack was removed, following the trend of getting customers to buy headphones with a limited life time due to their battery. The promise of being the responsible choice for the planet is fading away. I also faced issues when it came to repairing my device. After only 3 months the USB-C port died, impossible to charge it and once out of battery, I couldn't get my data from it. I contacted the support and they offered me two solutions: I send in the phone, it will get fixed but wiped clean or I order the part online and they reimburse me (they couldn't just send it from the repair center...). I chose the latter as I didn't want to loose my data and felt it was the more ecologically responsible choice, especially since the phone is so repairable. Well, the part was not available on their store, checked every retailer in Europe and third party parts don't exist. I was stuck with a brick for 4 months. The irony is that if I had an iPhone or Galaxy, I could get it fixed the same day at the phone repair shop around the corner... I appreciate all the efforts Fairphone put in setting up more responsible supply chains. But in my opinion they still failed on their sustainability promise. The devices aren't well supported, it's difficult to repair them and they quickly fall behind due to the lack of upgrades (that also goes with the main board not being replaceable). New devices follow the disastrous trends of other brands with a new model each year and removing the headphone jack. Sure, they are a business and need to make money, but not by going against their own values.
shalmanese 3y ago
How much would it have cost back then to buy a broken, used FP3 with a cracked screen as a donor phone?
shinryuu 3y ago
Since the availability is in Europe at the time, you could have contacted their support. EU has a two year guarantee for failures like these.

kwiens 3y ago

Main board failures are hard, they'll kill just about any phone and it's pretty challenging to make the service part economically viable. For what it's worth, I don't know of any systemic problems / higher than usual error rates with the Fairphone 3 main board. You got unlucky. Consider giving them another shot sometime!

dymk 3y ago
What’s the point of a repairable phone if parts are out of stock?
- josefx 3y ago
  One of dozens of parts is out of stock and as the other comment points out itself it is also the part that makes the least sense to replace.
  - whatevaa 3y ago
    I was looking into Fairphone seriously recently and got repulsed by this parts out of stock thing. It's not just one occurrence, peolle are complaining about different parts out of stock for prolonged period or times (or still not available to this day). What's the point of repairability if parts cannot be acquired? Not much of used market, either. And their support tells you to pretty much f-off without are purchase receipt, even if you want to buy the part. It's garbage.
    - throwaway290 3y ago
      The only way this model would work is if specs are completely open, there is optional certification/audit for parts and third parties are encouraged to freely compete selling the parts.
      - DeathArrow 3y ago
        Like in a PC?
        throwaway290 3y ago
        More or less, yep.
- smoldesu 3y ago
  Having access to donor parts from cheap used models?
  - whatevaa 3y ago
    Unless they are not popular that much, then not much access either.
    - Retr0id 3y ago
      As much as apple (seemingly) tries to actively make repairs harder, they're some of the easiest devices to source replacement parts for, due to their popularity.
- crabbone 3y ago
  It's just the kind of part that doesn't merit repairs... it's unfortunate, but with any equipment there will be such parts.

system2 3y ago

This is why people buy iPhone. Unless you drop it from a speeding car, it won't cause any issues for 4-5 years at least.

bunabhucan 3y ago
Typing this on a galaxy s20 ...that fell off the roof of my car at about 40mph.
kayyyy 3y ago
no phone manufacturer is infallible. my iPhone 4 battery went up in smoke after owning it for 1.5 years. my iPhone 6 plus developed touch disease after 2 years, the replacement developed touch disease after a week, and the second replacement began exhibiting mild symptoms after a couple months, the nand failed after another 2 years. (applecare replacements mind you.) plus I wasn't a huge fan of apple trying to sweep the issue under the rug until it gained nationwide attention.
- ace2358 3y ago
  Crazy, my day 1 iPhone 6 Plus is still working today with a smashed screen just fine! (Not primary phone anymore, still use for music)
- tdba 3y ago
  I dropped my iphone 14 in the ocean. It was in there 2 days until it washed up onshore. A fisherman picked it up and it was still on and it had service. It was in lost mode so he was able to call my emergency contact and I got it back. Aside from minor scratches on the screen it has no damage and works perfectly. That experience taught me that Apple takes reliability extremely seriously, even if they dont care about repairability. I dont know if they could have made a phone this bulletproof while also making it repairable. I do believe it is a good thing for people to be able to repair stuff they own, but there is a tradeoff.
  - aqfamnzc 3y ago
    Wow, did you drop it nearby, as in, on the beach? I always imagined that a denser object like that would stay put and even perhaps nudged outward by the ocean motion.

codetrotter 3y ago

Sorry to hear that :( However, I do want to point out that when such unfortunate things happen, perhaps the remaining parts that still works could be helpful to other fairphone users?

Vinnl 3y ago
I'm typing this from my Fairphone 4, which I started using Sunday after almost reaching the six-year mark of my FP2. One reason that obedience managed to last as long is that a friend stopped using his FP2, and I could use his old phone for spare parts.

jaeckel 3y ago

Sorry to hear that! I have a pretty low sample size of ~8 friends on FP3 and I can't remember hearing of a single hardware failure. Some batteries got replaced and some are even still going strong on their first battery. I've updated mine from 3 to 3+ and I'm on my second battery since this summer, I.e. the main board is ~4years old. A friend had some minor issues in the beginning with some internal connector but I can't remember him mentioning it again. Another friend got rid of her FP2 this spring in favor of a FP4, but only because some apps she uses got really unusable. Otherwise she would've stayed. IMO it's a fairly good platform and I'm looking forward to how it evolves in the future. Hopefully they will introduce a smaller phone at one point.

vinc 3y ago
I had to replace the USB module on my FP3 because it couldn't charge my battery anymore. At first I tried to replace the battery but that didn't work, and I was afraid that the issue would be from the motherboard, but no I just needed to change that module. Great experience!

CarVac 3y ago

This is why I like the Framework way: keep the chassis the same so you can just buy a shiny new motherboard with the latest processor if your old motherboard dies. It's probably not as suitable for phones what with changes to antenna requirements and such though.

0x6c6f6c 3y ago
To be fair, you are describing a 1:1 comparison of how Fairphone does it here. The issue of economical viability for PC motherboards is easier than smartphone mainboards, but the premise is basically the same- the core component of the device dies and needs to be replaced. There are more modular standards for PC to make the hit here less hard (memory, being the big one) but it's all the same. Fairphone has not done as good of a job as Framework has in making it viable for customers to replace their mainboards, and I will say I think Framework is the odd one here in really stepping up in that market.

fumeux_fume 3y ago

With the incentives our economy is aligned to for things like phones, repairability will be a hard sell on a dollar to dollar basis with replacement. It's more about values than strict consumer cost.

josefx 3y ago

> a new one would cost much more than an entirely new, and more capable phone That is the case in general with fairphone, if you just want a cheap phone you can buy an iPhone.

Maxion 3y ago
> if you just want a cheap phone you can buy an iPhone. Out of context, this sounds so wrong.

aurareturn 3y ago

Fairphone is a for profit company. What is there to prevent the company from choosing not to use the highest quality parts so that you will need to buy more parts to repair it later on?

john61 3y ago

Did you look for a broken (for example glass) used one?

hyperthesis 3y ago

I had a similar experience with replaceable batteries (1) expensive on the one hand, but at the same time (2) unavailable. I think batteries are the main consumable of a phone. It seems to me there should be an after-market of smaller batteries, and a set of universal power adapters (like you get with power supplies), and shims to fit it securely within the phone. But I haven't seen this, so either people prefer to upgrade (demand) or manufacturers successfully made it too hard (supply).

lock-the-spock 3y ago

Given Fairphone is a rather small company they sometimes have such problems of economy of scale - no manufacturer will prioritise you if you make small orders. That said, one reason for the Fairphone price is the "fair to the people labouring for the parts of the phone" part. I'm unhappy with the camera quality, but honestly knowing that the premium I pay means fairer working conditions is for me an important element. I prefer to pay the small social enterprise establishing a new kind of supply chain and developing a modular phone, rather than the Samsung CEOs and stockholders.

mcv 3y ago

Although I really appreciate Fairphone, I've got to admit my experience is similar. I had a Fairphone 2 until the screen went haywire. Not broken, but showed random noise. Replacing it was expensive. Meanwhile, I've replaced several broken iPhone screens. Even if iPhone's are harder to repair, they're still not all that hard to repair. It just takes time and patience. And instructions from ifixit of course.

keraf 3y ago

I bought a FP3+, still using it after 3 years, but would not go Fairphone again. Despite supporting what the company stands for, I feel they didn't deliver on their promises. I was hoping for more upgrades to be available over time, but that was never the case. Instead, two new models appeared with a year interval and the 4 didn't even get any upgrades. Worse even, the 3.5mm jack was removed, following the trend of getting customers to buy headphones with a limited life time due to their battery. The promise of being the responsible choice for the planet is fading away. I also faced issues when it came to repairing my device. After only 3 months the USB-C port died, impossible to charge it and once out of battery, I couldn't get my data from it. I contacted the support and they offered me two solutions: I send in the phone, it will get fixed but wiped clean or I order the part online and they reimburse me (they couldn't just send it from the repair center...). I chose the latter as I didn't want to loose my data and felt it was the more ecologically responsible choice, especially since the phone is so repairable. Well, the part was not available on their store, checked every retailer in Europe and third party parts don't exist. I was stuck with a brick for 4 months. The irony is that if I had an iPhone or Galaxy, I could get it fixed the same day at the phone repair shop around the corner... I appreciate all the efforts Fairphone put in setting up more responsible supply chains. But in my opinion they still failed on their sustainability promise. The devices aren't well supported, it's difficult to repair them and they quickly fall behind due to the lack of upgrades (that also goes with the main board not being replaceable). New devices follow the disastrous trends of other brands with a new model each year and removing the headphone jack. Sure, they are a business and need to make money, but not by going against their own values.

shalmanese 3y ago

How much would it have cost back then to buy a broken, used FP3 with a cracked screen as a donor phone?

shinryuu 3y ago

Since the availability is in Europe at the time, you could have contacted their support. EU has a two year guarantee for failures like these.