17 ms·

The Fairphone (Gen. 6)

158 points by DavideNL 1y ago

raffael_de 1y ago
If they'd just provide a physical switch (not software-based but actually cutting off the respective chips and antennae from electricity) to go full offline (no GPS, no Wifi, no mobile connection, ...) they'd effortlessly at least double their market potential.
- lynx97 1y ago
  Genuinely interested, why is that? IOW, why do I want a (mobile) phone without connectivity?
  - _Algernon_ 1y ago
    Not a phone without connectivity. A phone with truly optional connectivity.
    - lynx97 1y ago
      OK, but why?
      - ChrisRR 1y ago
        Drug dealers wanting to go off the grid?
      - _Algernon_ 1y ago
        There are legitimate situations where you may want to have a phone easily accessible, but not zapping your location to a base station every millisecond. For example protests.
        lynx97 1y ago
        If you are worried about getting noticed at a protest, stay at home. If you plan on doing things at that protest which might make it necessary to track you, please stay at home.
        _Algernon_ 1y ago
        Do you think similarly about encrypted communication or locks in bathroom doors? At least in the US geofencing warrants are a thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geofence_warrant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geofence_warrant It is prudent to protect oneself against that.
        jeroenhd 1y ago
        While there are plenty of valid reasons not to tell the government where you are 24/7 (including reasons like "I don't feel like it"), I agree that protests shouldn't be a reason. Functioning democracies don't arrest people for peaceful protests, and the governments that do won't be fooled by just not bringing your phone with you in the age of surveillance planes regularly sweeping areas to track movements, facial recognition, and simply finding you because they've arrested other protestors you know already. For protests, the physical switch is an attempt to find a technical solution to a societal problem, which rarely works out. You may as well keep your (Android) phone in your pocket (but turned off, though that won't help with iOS' Find My network).
        spankibalt 1y ago
        > "Functioning democracies don't arrest people for peaceful protests [...]" That might be true on planet Ogo, but not on planet Earth. > "For protests, the physical switch is an attempt to find a technical solution to a societal problem, which rarely works out." Another utterly absurd statement. Killswitches are, amongst other places and situations, useful on the battlefield (and therefore urban "battlefield", e. g. protests). And turning a practical solution to tactical and operational problems into a discussion about the inapplicability of such solutions to cure the "ills of society" at large is just... bizarre.
        1y ago
      - jeroenhd 1y ago
        Same reason I encrypt my messages and web traffic: my ISP/carrier and government don't need to know everything I do, even if they're not malicious and even if I'm not a criminal. Governments and carriers retaining months of location history data is a risk. If the Russians invade and get a hold of that data, a lot of people suddenly become at risk, for no good reason other than it being around "just in case". We've seen it happen here in the Netherlands when the nazis came in and happily browsed through the city archives, which contained a details count of how many people of what religion lived in each neighbourhood. I have nothing to fear from the current government, but with the rise in ultraconservative, anti-intellectual, extreme right wing politicians across the globe, a lot of people may not want to be recorded having been to things that are perfectly safe today. All of that said, as long as you don't have an iPhone, you can just turn your phone off. It'll power down the CPU. If you don't believe the manufacturer, then you'll have to measure the voltage on the PCB traces yourself, but so should you when you buy phones with a physical off switch.
- DocTomoe 1y ago
  I made the switch to iPhone because they had a physical mute slider. A physical 'airplane mode' would be even better. Now Apple has removed that ... and I am not happy. Yes, the functionality is theoretically available by configuring the 'smart button'. But I don't physically see the state of the device without picking it up.
- twiss 1y ago
  I'd be happiest if they'd provide a physical switch for the microphone and cameras. That way, you could have a private conversation and be sure you're not being recorded. Turning off connectivity doesn't help as much to guarantee your privacy as the phone could theoretically be recording and then upload the recording later, when you turn it back on (if it was thoroughly compromised, which admittedly seems unlikely, but nevertheless it would be nice to have some guarantee that it's impossible).
  - mkayokay 1y ago
    The easiest solution to such strict privacy needs is to not carry the phones. But then again you also need to worry about other means of espionage.
    - twiss 1y ago
      I don't think it's easy to not carry a phone, nowadays. Let's say I'm meeting up with someone: I'll need to use navigation, potentially message them if I'm running late, and so on. Then once I'm there, what do I do with the phone? Ask to put it in a separate room and hope that the microphone isn't powerful enough to pick up our conversation? I could turn it off entirely, but what if someone needs to call me for an emergency? For me, as a user, the easiest solution would be to have a killswitch. I understand that building it would be more work, of course :)
      - mkayokay 1y ago
        > Ask to put it in a separate room... Yes, that's what I had to do for meetings that the organizer thought were important enough. Also, in very sensitive areas special rooms with anti-eavesdropping gear are common [1]. > I could turn it off entirely, but what if someone needs to call me for an emergency? But you would also not be reachable if the killswitch is active ;) Don't get me wrong, I think a killswitch can make a lot of sense for highly sensitive areas (R&D, politics, military, ...), but I don't think Fairphone 6 are the devices that target this demographic and thus should not include one. Furthermore, current "offline" measure seem to mitigate the problem okay enough to not need such a killswitch - else we would already have phones with such features. And lastly, killswitches can only mitigate parts of the features modern spyware [2] implements and does not protect from simple human-based errors like the United States government group chat leaks [3]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_compartmented_information_facility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_compartmented_inform... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(spyware) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(spyware) [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group_chat_leaks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group...
- mkayokay 1y ago
  I've never heard this request from anyone before, so I guess that implementing such a switch wouldn't "effortlessly at least double their market potential". What a lot of people talk about is a headphone jack. But even that niche has been filled by USB-C adapters for people that really want them and not only talk nostalgic about it.
  - onli 1y ago
    It hasn't been filled by those adapters. Usb-C adapters suck as you have to carry them with you, they can be lost, quality is often bad and they block the one charging port of the device. The demand for a headphone jack is fueled by functionality and sustainability concerns, not nostalgia - can't, too recent a change and current devices do have the port.
    - brookst 1y ago
      Plenty of phones with headphone jacks had terrible DACs. If you care about audio quality, external is the way to go. It’s also more sustainable as you can spend $100 once for fantastic quality and keep it forever rather than insisting that each phone have an audiophile quality DAC that will eventually be disposed of. The one upside is convenience of not having a separate dongle, which is pretty well offset by the significant increase in phone size needed to accommodate the jack.
      - onli 1y ago
        Given the current phone sizes compared to the phones from before, that all had the headphone jack, the idea that you would need even bigger phones as otherwise it just would not fit is ridiculous. For the external DAC, you have to balance the "you could buy that once" against all the consumers that are pushed by the omission of the headphone jack to buy throwaway head- and earphones with glued in batteries. There is no chance in hell that the waste produced of both paths is in favour of the jackless phones.
        brookst 1y ago
- IlikeKitties 1y ago
  > they'd effortlessly at least double their market potential. I doubt they'd even get the RND cost for that change back, this is a feature no one cares about except a very very small minority within a small minority. I'm a hardcare FOSS only user and only use grapheneos/fedora linux on my devices for privacy and security reasons and even I am not remotely concerned about hardware switches when i can just powerdown the wifi/Gps/wwan connection.
  - fergie 1y ago
    I'm not sure if thats true. I would love the ability to be able to save battery by turning off my mobile. At the moment iPhones seem to drain power even when they are "off" which makes me suspect that they aren't, in fact, actually fully powered off. There have been a few occasions when I have been without a charger for one reason or another, and would like to be able to fully power off my phone in order to save battery.
- ChrisRR 1y ago
  > they'd effortlessly at least double their market potential I think you overestimate the appeal of such a feature
  - mavhc 1y ago
    Or you overestimate the appeal of the device as it is, how many do they sell?
    - jstummbillig 1y ago
      Enough to keep going for 6 generations and 16 years. I fail to see any connection to this particular feature request though.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- GuB-42 1y ago
  This would appeal the privacy/security crowd, but it is not really Fairphone's market. There are better options if that's what you are looking for, such as the Librem phones. They probably don't want to position themselves against security-focused phones as they would likely be compared unfavorably with them. That is unless they also do whatever it takes to enter that market, for example by supporting a security-focused OS like GrapheneOS. They could have kept the headphone jack though, but I guess they wanted to sell their earbuds (with replaceable batteries! which is at least a good point).
- gessha 1y ago
  Unless you assume the market for smartphone hardware with physical switches is the same as the one for sustainable smartphones, I don’t think they’re going to gain much from adding the switches. The only phones with switches that I know are the PinePhones and the librem phone that has a very questionable customer service. [1]. Adding them to the phone design will mean expensive constraints, making the overall cost even more in which case you’re either shedding money to increase market share or you’re narrowing your target market to the librem-phone size. At that point, what’s the meaning of this exercise? [1] https://consumerrights.wiki/Purism https://consumerrights.wiki/Purism
pickledoyster 1y ago
available with /e/OS too https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-system https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-s... As I near the eol of my daily driver, I'm considering a Fairphone, but what it's missing is a folding card holder, like the Satechi wallet stand for iPhone. Putting the phone in horizontal mode on a table and using a bt keyboard is how I do a lot of my writing
- poisonborz 1y ago
  eOS uses microG. I'd wish Fairphone offered partnership with GrapheneOS, especially now that Google broke their workflow. Sandboxed Play Services is pretty much a must for a lot of people.
  - daveoc64 1y ago
    >I'd wish Fairphone offered partnership with GrapheneOS The makers of GrapheneOS have indicated that Fairphone doesn't meet their security requirements: https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/114737139118874189 https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/114737139118874189 I think there are some fundamental flaws with how Fairphone operates, plus they don't seem to release security updates promptly.
    - untitled2 1y ago
      So Fairphone is NOT secure?
      - throwaway74354 1y ago
        Security is a policy-driven spectrum of considerations and solutions. GrapheneOS targets very specific threat models, which is not possible with Fairphone hardware/BSP. Whether it makes it not secure for your own use cases, it's up to you to decide. Case in point: re-lockable bootloader requirement. Not everyone is a target for an evil maid types of physical attacks or possible state actor pressure. But when you actually need it, it's not negotiable.
      - 1y ago
deleted 1y ago
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PoignardAzur 1y ago
It's not clear to me how many of the components are swappable in this version. That was a big selling point of the Fairphone to begin with.
- hashworks 1y ago
  The website speaks of 12 modules, haven't investigated which.
  - lower 1y ago
    The shop has the 12 available replacement parts: https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/category/spare-parts-4?category=4&filters=147 https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/category/spare-parts-4?categ...
- whilenot-dev 1y ago
  The technical descriptions are clearly lacking, up to the point where this product page almost makes me angry... the dimensions seem to be "156.5mm x 73.3mm" with "9,6 mm" thickness, but just right below in the isometric view it says 162mm x 75.5mm x 10.5mmm. I would be really interested in this product as replacement for the iPhone SE, but how can they screw up something so simple?
  - t0bia_s 1y ago
    Anything above 72mm is too big to use it comfortable by one hand or put it in pocket. I wish there is compact android phone with open bootloadet option.
    - berkes 1y ago
      Too big for you, or too big for almost everyone? If the latter, do you have a source or some research to point to? If the former, why did you choose to present a personal preference as a common truth?
      - 1y ago
Jhsto 1y ago
Fairphone also sent some Linux patches: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-pm/20250625-sm7635-fp6-initial-v1-0-d9cd322eac1b@fairphone.com/ https://lore.kernel.org/linux-pm/20250625-sm7635-fp6-initial...
- przmk 1y ago
  One core member (@z3entu) of postmarketOS works at Fairphone.
tonur249 1y ago
The tech specs for the Fairphone 6 say the following: USB-C 2.0 (OTG capable) can be used to connect USB Sticks/SD-Cards/Audio Amplifier/Network-adapters directly I was really looking forward to use this with a pair of display glasses, like the XREAL One Pro, but this seems like the Fairphone 6 might not support display output? That's sad. Especially since the Fairphone 5 had this in their tech specs: USB-C 3.0 (OTG capable) can be used to connect USB Sticks/SD-Cards/display (also Android™ desktop mode)/Camera/Audio Amplifier/Network-adapters directly But maybe it was not used enough?
- mhitza 1y ago
  > But maybe it was not used enough? Likely not used enough, yet. It would be premature to drop support this quick, as Google seems to just now move Android in the direction (DEX by Samsung is the same thing, but it's Samsung specific). At the same time, only last year I saw a device in which I'd "dock" my phone (the Nexdock looked reasonably priced) and having both a phone and the steam deck with desktop mode would make such a device more useful. I know you're talking strictly from the perspective of display glasses, but convergence is the main category under which I'd classify this feature.
  - tonur249 1y ago
    I agree, display with desktop mode on mobile devices could be useful. I'd really like the idea of using a phone as an everything device at some point, but there are a lot of things that are not lining up, with missing compatibility with external displays being a huge blocker.
- adrian_b 1y ago
  Really sad. Based on what I had read yesterday, when I still hoped that it will have the same USB 3.0/DisplayPort like Fairphone 5, I was considering very seriously to upgrade my rather old ASUS smartphone to a Fairphone 6. However, if it lacks USB 3.0/DisplayPort, which can be acceptable for a $200 smartphone, but never for a $600 smartphone, then Fairphone 6 is completely disqualified from my point of view. Unfortunately, only some Chinese smartphones, e.g. from Motorola, offer USB 3.0/DisplayPort in smartphones with decent price/performance ratios and up-to-date Qualcomm SoCs, starting as low as $400.
roflcopter69 1y ago
Is it just me or does the discourse about a product like the Fairphone often feel kind of "culture war"-y? So many times I read comments where people are very upset and offended how a Fairphone costs way too much compared to other smartphones or how it supposedly is completely unusable because one feature does not work the way they expect. It's just strange. If you don't like it, don't buy it, no need to engage. But so many people seem to feel obliged to present their strong dislike for the Fairphone as if it's sole existence attacks them personally.
- fossgeller 1y ago
  I noticed the same general reactions for Framework laptops. Some folks are acting like these smaller companies are trying to force their products on the consumers, but their advertising is completely fine. However I also find some of the supporters of consumer friendliness unbearable (e.g. Framework or Thinkpad fans). I get that tribalism is present in many layers of our society and culture (politics, sports, music), but I always found it weirder when people do it for products. The only goal of a company is to maximize their profits, why someone becomes a die hard supporter of them is beyond me. To summarize, I just wish people would put less emphasis on consumer practices. Buy a product you like and is beneficial for you, but don’t judge others for their choices.
  - neogodless 1y ago
    > The only goal of a company is to maximize their profits Overall this is effectively true, but it is not a law of the universe or anything. Why can't a collection of people have ideals, want to support and realize those ideals through action, and also find a way to financially support themselves and even profit by pursuing those ideals? The hypothesis you've put forth is that the group that founded Framework were sitting around thinking about the best way they could invest money to make money, and the best option they could come up with was to make modular laptops. What has their return on investment been thus far, and does it clearly and readily beat all other options they had for investing?
  - brookst 1y ago
    Plenty of companies choose different balances between profits and social impact. Compare Unilever and Nestle and tell me all companies are equally profit-focused. Look at Patagonia. I agree with a live and let live view of purchasing decisions, and I agree that tribalism about companies is weird, but at the end of the day it’s far too reductive to say all companies prioritize profits equally.
lotussleeping 1y ago
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phoronixrly 1y ago
The main camera still sucks, and they seem to keep with the misleading messaging. It's not a 50mp camera if the sensor is 50mp but each pixel in the final photos is averaged from 4 pixels of the sensor... Yes, the closed-source camera app that does not work on Lineage OS and other alternative firmwares has a 50MP switch, however the quality of the 50MP photo is as poor if not worse than the processed 13MP photo...
- sva_ 1y ago
  This practice of pixel binning is pretty much the industry standard though. Pretty much all recent phones do it
- filcuk 1y ago
  It is 50mp camera still, otherwise you would not be able to increase quality by averaging those pixels. I dont think anyone need 15000px noisy poor quality image over standard high res with good quality
  - phoronixrly 1y ago
    Maybe it wasn't clear in my original comment. It sucks picture-quality-wise, and ON TOP of that, they use misleading messaging with their 50MP mode... Colour is washed out, focus is all over the place... I see no reason to buy a 6 before my 5 dies, which is funny because I can swap its components out indefinitely I guess...
- Vinnl 1y ago
  FWIW, that closed-source camera app is also available on /e/OS, who they partner with.
  - phoronixrly 1y ago
    Well the picture quality comparison from e/os speaks for itself https://gitlab.e.foundation/-/project/177/uploads/5584822b240cbe51205e215ca943a0f0/image.png https://gitlab.e.foundation/-/project/177/uploads/5584822b24... Source https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/backlog/-/issues/8193 https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/backlog/-/issues/8193
alpine_accentor 1y ago
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neilsimp1 1y ago
This is better than most phones on the market, but I can't help but be turned off when I scroll down and start seeing the Google Play logo and mentions about AI and Google Gemini. Kind of defeats the purpose, no?
- skonteam 1y ago
  There's an /e/os version : https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-system https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-s...
  - neilsimp1 1y ago
    Thank you, I did miss this.
aiiizzz 1y ago
Carousel breaks vertical scroll on mobile
hackrmn 1y ago
To be fair (pun intended), I am still on Fairphone 4, and I've gotta say it has lasted me very well, and the battery is still in good condition so the selling point of being able to swap the battery (something I actually _have_ practically missed in the phones I have owned before the Fairphone) hasn't really even come up yet. Ironically, I have been mildly itching to replace the 4 with the 6, just because. But I am not going to -- not until current phone becomes unusable.
- tempfile 1y ago
  Still rocking a 3 here (albeit only 5 years old). Going quite strong after a couple of replacements and upgrades.
- verbify 1y ago
  Isn't that one of the selling points of the Fairphone - the durability?
- ntnsndr 1y ago
  Same story here. 4 is running strong, with ongoing updates from e/OS.
- lawn 1y ago
  I've got a Fairphone 4 since 4 years and I've bought two replacement batteries so far (one has gone bad and I like to have an extra to swap with if needed). It still works very well with CalyxOS so the rational thing to do is to keep using it.
- vinc 1y ago
  I got a FP3 in 2020, replaced the battery and the bottom module in 2022 because I couldn't charge it anymore, and I've been really happy with it ever since. I'm not planning on buying a new phone until this one die. My only issue with my FP3 is that I have to tighten all the screws from time to time otherwise whenever the screen displays too many green pixels the touchscreen will start to trigger at random.
Artoooooor 1y ago
Where is the headphone jack?
- brookst 1y ago
  And the parallel port?
  - timbit42 1y ago
    ...and the front panel toggle switches?
    - indrora 1y ago
      ... And the interface for my IBM 729?
goda90 1y ago
Reminder that the most sustainable choice in phones is to keep using your current phone as long as possible.
- lowwave 1y ago
  Or install custom ROM to get life back into old devices.
- Maken 1y ago
  But mine just got soaked.
- mnmalst 1y ago
  Absolutely! I can't bring myself to buy a new phone when my current one still works perfectly. Still using my Pixel 4a!
HunOL 1y ago
Disappointed. No USB 3 and no AV1 hardware decoding in phone supposed to last for years?
NoSalt 1y ago
Although it does have a μSD card slot, it does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sadly, my search for a new phone, since Samsung now has neither, will continue.
- ebiederm 1y ago
  The Motorola Moto G series has both. I just bought their 2025 model for that reason.
- rpaddock 1y ago
  The obscure Brax3 has a jack, which is why I ordered one and am awaiting its arrival.
EmilioPeJu 1y ago
The moment they release the schematics (a.k.a information on how to repair and recycle), I'm buying one or two
- Vinnl 1y ago
  They released them for the previous model [1] [2], so presumably will come for the 6 as well. [0] https://www.fairphone.com/en/2024/01/24/have-you-seen-the-schematics-for-the-fairphone-5/ https://www.fairphone.com/en/2024/01/24/have-you-seen-the-sc... [1] https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Fairphone5_Information-on-how-to-repair-and-recycle-SCH-09-02-2024.pdf https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Fairpho...
- fsflover 1y ago
  Perhaps you may be interested in Librem 5, for which the schematics is available.
lawn 1y ago
I'm not a fan of the new battery and back panel. I've got a Fairphone 4 and the most useful thing about it is the replaceable battery. I can't count the number of times an extra battery in my backpack has saved me. Sure, maybe it's not that big of a deal to bring a screwdriver with me as well. But I just know I'm going to lose those tiny screws and changing the battery at the back of a taxi goes out the window.
- mrweasel 1y ago
  That screw in the battery is strange. Old Nokia phones had no issues with batteries falling out.
  - lawn 1y ago
    The only time the battery has disconnected on the FP4 for me was when I dropped it from a fairly high distance. Popped it back in and booted and went on my way.
AdmiralAsshat 1y ago
I wish like 75% of the overview page weren't dedicated to the camera. Yes, I get it, camera is important to the average smartphone user these days, but, come on. I'm not potentially buying a Fairphone for the camera.
Jotalea 1y ago
To be fair (pun intended), the Fair Phone 6 is a very good option for a midrange phone in 2025, the Snapdragon 7s gen 3 is more than enough for running any app the general user might use. That is without considering the ease to fix.
lousken 1y ago
8 GBs of RAM, what is the point of this? if you can't upgrade the ram this device lifespan will be limited put at least 12 GBs or just don't even bother, EU already has rules for software updates and repairability, so there're not that many selling points left
hsyehbeidhh 1y ago
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hsyehbeidhh 1y ago
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tutamollo 1y ago
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158 points by DavideNL 1y ago

If they'd just provide a physical switch (not software-based but actually cutting off the respective chips and antennae from electricity) to go full offline (no GPS, no Wifi, no mobile connection, ...) they'd effortlessly at least double their market potential.

lynx97 1y ago
Genuinely interested, why is that? IOW, why do I want a (mobile) phone without connectivity?
- _Algernon_ 1y ago
  Not a phone without connectivity. A phone with truly optional connectivity.
  - lynx97 1y ago
    OK, but why?
    - ChrisRR 1y ago
      Drug dealers wanting to go off the grid?
    - _Algernon_ 1y ago
      There are legitimate situations where you may want to have a phone easily accessible, but not zapping your location to a base station every millisecond. For example protests.
      - lynx97 1y ago
        If you are worried about getting noticed at a protest, stay at home. If you plan on doing things at that protest which might make it necessary to track you, please stay at home.
        _Algernon_ 1y ago
        Do you think similarly about encrypted communication or locks in bathroom doors? At least in the US geofencing warrants are a thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geofence_warrant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geofence_warrant It is prudent to protect oneself against that.
        jeroenhd 1y ago
        While there are plenty of valid reasons not to tell the government where you are 24/7 (including reasons like "I don't feel like it"), I agree that protests shouldn't be a reason. Functioning democracies don't arrest people for peaceful protests, and the governments that do won't be fooled by just not bringing your phone with you in the age of surveillance planes regularly sweeping areas to track movements, facial recognition, and simply finding you because they've arrested other protestors you know already. For protests, the physical switch is an attempt to find a technical solution to a societal problem, which rarely works out. You may as well keep your (Android) phone in your pocket (but turned off, though that won't help with iOS' Find My network).
        spankibalt 1y ago
        > "Functioning democracies don't arrest people for peaceful protests [...]" That might be true on planet Ogo, but not on planet Earth. > "For protests, the physical switch is an attempt to find a technical solution to a societal problem, which rarely works out." Another utterly absurd statement. Killswitches are, amongst other places and situations, useful on the battlefield (and therefore urban "battlefield", e. g. protests). And turning a practical solution to tactical and operational problems into a discussion about the inapplicability of such solutions to cure the "ills of society" at large is just... bizarre.
        1y ago
    - jeroenhd 1y ago
      Same reason I encrypt my messages and web traffic: my ISP/carrier and government don't need to know everything I do, even if they're not malicious and even if I'm not a criminal. Governments and carriers retaining months of location history data is a risk. If the Russians invade and get a hold of that data, a lot of people suddenly become at risk, for no good reason other than it being around "just in case". We've seen it happen here in the Netherlands when the nazis came in and happily browsed through the city archives, which contained a details count of how many people of what religion lived in each neighbourhood. I have nothing to fear from the current government, but with the rise in ultraconservative, anti-intellectual, extreme right wing politicians across the globe, a lot of people may not want to be recorded having been to things that are perfectly safe today. All of that said, as long as you don't have an iPhone, you can just turn your phone off. It'll power down the CPU. If you don't believe the manufacturer, then you'll have to measure the voltage on the PCB traces yourself, but so should you when you buy phones with a physical off switch.
DocTomoe 1y ago
I made the switch to iPhone because they had a physical mute slider. A physical 'airplane mode' would be even better. Now Apple has removed that ... and I am not happy. Yes, the functionality is theoretically available by configuring the 'smart button'. But I don't physically see the state of the device without picking it up.
twiss 1y ago
I'd be happiest if they'd provide a physical switch for the microphone and cameras. That way, you could have a private conversation and be sure you're not being recorded. Turning off connectivity doesn't help as much to guarantee your privacy as the phone could theoretically be recording and then upload the recording later, when you turn it back on (if it was thoroughly compromised, which admittedly seems unlikely, but nevertheless it would be nice to have some guarantee that it's impossible).
- mkayokay 1y ago
  The easiest solution to such strict privacy needs is to not carry the phones. But then again you also need to worry about other means of espionage.
  - twiss 1y ago
    I don't think it's easy to not carry a phone, nowadays. Let's say I'm meeting up with someone: I'll need to use navigation, potentially message them if I'm running late, and so on. Then once I'm there, what do I do with the phone? Ask to put it in a separate room and hope that the microphone isn't powerful enough to pick up our conversation? I could turn it off entirely, but what if someone needs to call me for an emergency? For me, as a user, the easiest solution would be to have a killswitch. I understand that building it would be more work, of course :)
    - mkayokay 1y ago
      > Ask to put it in a separate room... Yes, that's what I had to do for meetings that the organizer thought were important enough. Also, in very sensitive areas special rooms with anti-eavesdropping gear are common [1]. > I could turn it off entirely, but what if someone needs to call me for an emergency? But you would also not be reachable if the killswitch is active ;) Don't get me wrong, I think a killswitch can make a lot of sense for highly sensitive areas (R&D, politics, military, ...), but I don't think Fairphone 6 are the devices that target this demographic and thus should not include one. Furthermore, current "offline" measure seem to mitigate the problem okay enough to not need such a killswitch - else we would already have phones with such features. And lastly, killswitches can only mitigate parts of the features modern spyware [2] implements and does not protect from simple human-based errors like the United States government group chat leaks [3]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_compartmented_information_facility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_compartmented_inform... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(spyware) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(spyware) [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group_chat_leaks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group...
mkayokay 1y ago
I've never heard this request from anyone before, so I guess that implementing such a switch wouldn't "effortlessly at least double their market potential". What a lot of people talk about is a headphone jack. But even that niche has been filled by USB-C adapters for people that really want them and not only talk nostalgic about it.
- onli 1y ago
  It hasn't been filled by those adapters. Usb-C adapters suck as you have to carry them with you, they can be lost, quality is often bad and they block the one charging port of the device. The demand for a headphone jack is fueled by functionality and sustainability concerns, not nostalgia - can't, too recent a change and current devices do have the port.
  - brookst 1y ago
    Plenty of phones with headphone jacks had terrible DACs. If you care about audio quality, external is the way to go. It’s also more sustainable as you can spend $100 once for fantastic quality and keep it forever rather than insisting that each phone have an audiophile quality DAC that will eventually be disposed of. The one upside is convenience of not having a separate dongle, which is pretty well offset by the significant increase in phone size needed to accommodate the jack.
    - onli 1y ago
      Given the current phone sizes compared to the phones from before, that all had the headphone jack, the idea that you would need even bigger phones as otherwise it just would not fit is ridiculous. For the external DAC, you have to balance the "you could buy that once" against all the consumers that are pushed by the omission of the headphone jack to buy throwaway head- and earphones with glued in batteries. There is no chance in hell that the waste produced of both paths is in favour of the jackless phones.
      - brookst 1y ago
IlikeKitties 1y ago
> they'd effortlessly at least double their market potential. I doubt they'd even get the RND cost for that change back, this is a feature no one cares about except a very very small minority within a small minority. I'm a hardcare FOSS only user and only use grapheneos/fedora linux on my devices for privacy and security reasons and even I am not remotely concerned about hardware switches when i can just powerdown the wifi/Gps/wwan connection.
- fergie 1y ago
  I'm not sure if thats true. I would love the ability to be able to save battery by turning off my mobile. At the moment iPhones seem to drain power even when they are "off" which makes me suspect that they aren't, in fact, actually fully powered off. There have been a few occasions when I have been without a charger for one reason or another, and would like to be able to fully power off my phone in order to save battery.
ChrisRR 1y ago
> they'd effortlessly at least double their market potential I think you overestimate the appeal of such a feature
- mavhc 1y ago
  Or you overestimate the appeal of the device as it is, how many do they sell?
  - jstummbillig 1y ago
    Enough to keep going for 6 generations and 16 years. I fail to see any connection to this particular feature request though.
deleted 1y ago
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GuB-42 1y ago
This would appeal the privacy/security crowd, but it is not really Fairphone's market. There are better options if that's what you are looking for, such as the Librem phones. They probably don't want to position themselves against security-focused phones as they would likely be compared unfavorably with them. That is unless they also do whatever it takes to enter that market, for example by supporting a security-focused OS like GrapheneOS. They could have kept the headphone jack though, but I guess they wanted to sell their earbuds (with replaceable batteries! which is at least a good point).
gessha 1y ago
Unless you assume the market for smartphone hardware with physical switches is the same as the one for sustainable smartphones, I don’t think they’re going to gain much from adding the switches. The only phones with switches that I know are the PinePhones and the librem phone that has a very questionable customer service. [1]. Adding them to the phone design will mean expensive constraints, making the overall cost even more in which case you’re either shedding money to increase market share or you’re narrowing your target market to the librem-phone size. At that point, what’s the meaning of this exercise? [1] https://consumerrights.wiki/Purism https://consumerrights.wiki/Purism

pickledoyster 1y ago

available with /e/OS too https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-system https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-s... As I near the eol of my daily driver, I'm considering a Fairphone, but what it's missing is a folding card holder, like the Satechi wallet stand for iPhone. Putting the phone in horizontal mode on a table and using a bt keyboard is how I do a lot of my writing

poisonborz 1y ago
eOS uses microG. I'd wish Fairphone offered partnership with GrapheneOS, especially now that Google broke their workflow. Sandboxed Play Services is pretty much a must for a lot of people.
- daveoc64 1y ago
  >I'd wish Fairphone offered partnership with GrapheneOS The makers of GrapheneOS have indicated that Fairphone doesn't meet their security requirements: https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/114737139118874189 https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/114737139118874189 I think there are some fundamental flaws with how Fairphone operates, plus they don't seem to release security updates promptly.
  - untitled2 1y ago
    So Fairphone is NOT secure?
    - throwaway74354 1y ago
      Security is a policy-driven spectrum of considerations and solutions. GrapheneOS targets very specific threat models, which is not possible with Fairphone hardware/BSP. Whether it makes it not secure for your own use cases, it's up to you to decide. Case in point: re-lockable bootloader requirement. Not everyone is a target for an evil maid types of physical attacks or possible state actor pressure. But when you actually need it, it's not negotiable.
    - 1y ago

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PoignardAzur 1y ago

It's not clear to me how many of the components are swappable in this version. That was a big selling point of the Fairphone to begin with.

hashworks 1y ago
The website speaks of 12 modules, haven't investigated which.
- lower 1y ago
  The shop has the 12 available replacement parts: https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/category/spare-parts-4?category=4&filters=147 https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/category/spare-parts-4?categ...
whilenot-dev 1y ago
The technical descriptions are clearly lacking, up to the point where this product page almost makes me angry... the dimensions seem to be "156.5mm x 73.3mm" with "9,6 mm" thickness, but just right below in the isometric view it says 162mm x 75.5mm x 10.5mmm. I would be really interested in this product as replacement for the iPhone SE, but how can they screw up something so simple?
- t0bia_s 1y ago
  Anything above 72mm is too big to use it comfortable by one hand or put it in pocket. I wish there is compact android phone with open bootloadet option.
  - berkes 1y ago
    Too big for you, or too big for almost everyone? If the latter, do you have a source or some research to point to? If the former, why did you choose to present a personal preference as a common truth?
    - 1y ago

Jhsto 1y ago

Fairphone also sent some Linux patches: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-pm/20250625-sm7635-fp6-initial-v1-0-d9cd322eac1b@fairphone.com/ https://lore.kernel.org/linux-pm/20250625-sm7635-fp6-initial...

przmk 1y ago
One core member (@z3entu) of postmarketOS works at Fairphone.

tonur249 1y ago

The tech specs for the Fairphone 6 say the following: USB-C 2.0 (OTG capable) can be used to connect USB Sticks/SD-Cards/Audio Amplifier/Network-adapters directly I was really looking forward to use this with a pair of display glasses, like the XREAL One Pro, but this seems like the Fairphone 6 might not support display output? That's sad. Especially since the Fairphone 5 had this in their tech specs: USB-C 3.0 (OTG capable) can be used to connect USB Sticks/SD-Cards/display (also Android™ desktop mode)/Camera/Audio Amplifier/Network-adapters directly But maybe it was not used enough?

mhitza 1y ago
> But maybe it was not used enough? Likely not used enough, yet. It would be premature to drop support this quick, as Google seems to just now move Android in the direction (DEX by Samsung is the same thing, but it's Samsung specific). At the same time, only last year I saw a device in which I'd "dock" my phone (the Nexdock looked reasonably priced) and having both a phone and the steam deck with desktop mode would make such a device more useful. I know you're talking strictly from the perspective of display glasses, but convergence is the main category under which I'd classify this feature.
- tonur249 1y ago
  I agree, display with desktop mode on mobile devices could be useful. I'd really like the idea of using a phone as an everything device at some point, but there are a lot of things that are not lining up, with missing compatibility with external displays being a huge blocker.
adrian_b 1y ago
Really sad. Based on what I had read yesterday, when I still hoped that it will have the same USB 3.0/DisplayPort like Fairphone 5, I was considering very seriously to upgrade my rather old ASUS smartphone to a Fairphone 6. However, if it lacks USB 3.0/DisplayPort, which can be acceptable for a $200 smartphone, but never for a $600 smartphone, then Fairphone 6 is completely disqualified from my point of view. Unfortunately, only some Chinese smartphones, e.g. from Motorola, offer USB 3.0/DisplayPort in smartphones with decent price/performance ratios and up-to-date Qualcomm SoCs, starting as low as $400.

roflcopter69 1y ago

Is it just me or does the discourse about a product like the Fairphone often feel kind of "culture war"-y? So many times I read comments where people are very upset and offended how a Fairphone costs way too much compared to other smartphones or how it supposedly is completely unusable because one feature does not work the way they expect. It's just strange. If you don't like it, don't buy it, no need to engage. But so many people seem to feel obliged to present their strong dislike for the Fairphone as if it's sole existence attacks them personally.

fossgeller 1y ago
I noticed the same general reactions for Framework laptops. Some folks are acting like these smaller companies are trying to force their products on the consumers, but their advertising is completely fine. However I also find some of the supporters of consumer friendliness unbearable (e.g. Framework or Thinkpad fans). I get that tribalism is present in many layers of our society and culture (politics, sports, music), but I always found it weirder when people do it for products. The only goal of a company is to maximize their profits, why someone becomes a die hard supporter of them is beyond me. To summarize, I just wish people would put less emphasis on consumer practices. Buy a product you like and is beneficial for you, but don’t judge others for their choices.
- neogodless 1y ago
  > The only goal of a company is to maximize their profits Overall this is effectively true, but it is not a law of the universe or anything. Why can't a collection of people have ideals, want to support and realize those ideals through action, and also find a way to financially support themselves and even profit by pursuing those ideals? The hypothesis you've put forth is that the group that founded Framework were sitting around thinking about the best way they could invest money to make money, and the best option they could come up with was to make modular laptops. What has their return on investment been thus far, and does it clearly and readily beat all other options they had for investing?
- brookst 1y ago
  Plenty of companies choose different balances between profits and social impact. Compare Unilever and Nestle and tell me all companies are equally profit-focused. Look at Patagonia. I agree with a live and let live view of purchasing decisions, and I agree that tribalism about companies is weird, but at the end of the day it’s far too reductive to say all companies prioritize profits equally.

lotussleeping 1y ago

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phoronixrly 1y ago

The main camera still sucks, and they seem to keep with the misleading messaging. It's not a 50mp camera if the sensor is 50mp but each pixel in the final photos is averaged from 4 pixels of the sensor... Yes, the closed-source camera app that does not work on Lineage OS and other alternative firmwares has a 50MP switch, however the quality of the 50MP photo is as poor if not worse than the processed 13MP photo...

sva_ 1y ago
This practice of pixel binning is pretty much the industry standard though. Pretty much all recent phones do it
filcuk 1y ago
It is 50mp camera still, otherwise you would not be able to increase quality by averaging those pixels. I dont think anyone need 15000px noisy poor quality image over standard high res with good quality
- phoronixrly 1y ago
  Maybe it wasn't clear in my original comment. It sucks picture-quality-wise, and ON TOP of that, they use misleading messaging with their 50MP mode... Colour is washed out, focus is all over the place... I see no reason to buy a 6 before my 5 dies, which is funny because I can swap its components out indefinitely I guess...
Vinnl 1y ago
FWIW, that closed-source camera app is also available on /e/OS, who they partner with.
- phoronixrly 1y ago
  Well the picture quality comparison from e/os speaks for itself https://gitlab.e.foundation/-/project/177/uploads/5584822b240cbe51205e215ca943a0f0/image.png https://gitlab.e.foundation/-/project/177/uploads/5584822b24... Source https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/backlog/-/issues/8193 https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/backlog/-/issues/8193

alpine_accentor 1y ago

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neilsimp1 1y ago

This is better than most phones on the market, but I can't help but be turned off when I scroll down and start seeing the Google Play logo and mentions about AI and Google Gemini. Kind of defeats the purpose, no?

skonteam 1y ago
There's an /e/os version : https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-system https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-s...
- neilsimp1 1y ago
  Thank you, I did miss this.

aiiizzz 1y ago

Carousel breaks vertical scroll on mobile

hackrmn 1y ago

To be fair (pun intended), I am still on Fairphone 4, and I've gotta say it has lasted me very well, and the battery is still in good condition so the selling point of being able to swap the battery (something I actually _have_ practically missed in the phones I have owned before the Fairphone) hasn't really even come up yet. Ironically, I have been mildly itching to replace the 4 with the 6, just because. But I am not going to -- not until current phone becomes unusable.

tempfile 1y ago
Still rocking a 3 here (albeit only 5 years old). Going quite strong after a couple of replacements and upgrades.
verbify 1y ago
Isn't that one of the selling points of the Fairphone - the durability?
ntnsndr 1y ago
Same story here. 4 is running strong, with ongoing updates from e/OS.
lawn 1y ago
I've got a Fairphone 4 since 4 years and I've bought two replacement batteries so far (one has gone bad and I like to have an extra to swap with if needed). It still works very well with CalyxOS so the rational thing to do is to keep using it.
vinc 1y ago
I got a FP3 in 2020, replaced the battery and the bottom module in 2022 because I couldn't charge it anymore, and I've been really happy with it ever since. I'm not planning on buying a new phone until this one die. My only issue with my FP3 is that I have to tighten all the screws from time to time otherwise whenever the screen displays too many green pixels the touchscreen will start to trigger at random.

Artoooooor 1y ago

Where is the headphone jack?

brookst 1y ago
And the parallel port?
- timbit42 1y ago
  ...and the front panel toggle switches?
  - indrora 1y ago
    ... And the interface for my IBM 729?

goda90 1y ago

Reminder that the most sustainable choice in phones is to keep using your current phone as long as possible.

lowwave 1y ago
Or install custom ROM to get life back into old devices.
Maken 1y ago
But mine just got soaked.
mnmalst 1y ago
Absolutely! I can't bring myself to buy a new phone when my current one still works perfectly. Still using my Pixel 4a!

HunOL 1y ago

Disappointed. No USB 3 and no AV1 hardware decoding in phone supposed to last for years?

NoSalt 1y ago

Although it does have a μSD card slot, it does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sadly, my search for a new phone, since Samsung now has neither, will continue.

ebiederm 1y ago
The Motorola Moto G series has both. I just bought their 2025 model for that reason.
rpaddock 1y ago
The obscure Brax3 has a jack, which is why I ordered one and am awaiting its arrival.

EmilioPeJu 1y ago

The moment they release the schematics (a.k.a information on how to repair and recycle), I'm buying one or two

Vinnl 1y ago
They released them for the previous model [1] [2], so presumably will come for the 6 as well. [0] https://www.fairphone.com/en/2024/01/24/have-you-seen-the-schematics-for-the-fairphone-5/ https://www.fairphone.com/en/2024/01/24/have-you-seen-the-sc... [1] https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Fairphone5_Information-on-how-to-repair-and-recycle-SCH-09-02-2024.pdf https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Fairpho...
fsflover 1y ago
Perhaps you may be interested in Librem 5, for which the schematics is available.

lawn 1y ago

I'm not a fan of the new battery and back panel. I've got a Fairphone 4 and the most useful thing about it is the replaceable battery. I can't count the number of times an extra battery in my backpack has saved me. Sure, maybe it's not that big of a deal to bring a screwdriver with me as well. But I just know I'm going to lose those tiny screws and changing the battery at the back of a taxi goes out the window.

mrweasel 1y ago
That screw in the battery is strange. Old Nokia phones had no issues with batteries falling out.
- lawn 1y ago
  The only time the battery has disconnected on the FP4 for me was when I dropped it from a fairly high distance. Popped it back in and booted and went on my way.

AdmiralAsshat 1y ago

I wish like 75% of the overview page weren't dedicated to the camera. Yes, I get it, camera is important to the average smartphone user these days, but, come on. I'm not potentially buying a Fairphone for the camera.

Jotalea 1y ago

To be fair (pun intended), the Fair Phone 6 is a very good option for a midrange phone in 2025, the Snapdragon 7s gen 3 is more than enough for running any app the general user might use. That is without considering the ease to fix.

lousken 1y ago

8 GBs of RAM, what is the point of this? if you can't upgrade the ram this device lifespan will be limited put at least 12 GBs or just don't even bother, EU already has rules for software updates and repairability, so there're not that many selling points left

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