- cross-posted to:
- fairphone@hardware.watch
- cross-posted to:
- fairphone@hardware.watch
Despite all the other compromises with the FF6, I still was ready to buy it until I noticed the USB-C 2.0. Which means no Android Desktop and significantly slower data transfer than the USB-C 3.0 in FF5. The linked Discussion thread from the Fairphone forum has some interesting additional points.
Is this a dealbreaker for you? (It is for me, I’m ordering a different phone today…)
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I understand it’s not great as it doesn’t future proof the phone but how often are you transfering lots of data or actually going to use android desktop which is completely unproven? If you do transfer lots of data over a cable (I guess backing up videos?) then I’m sure this will hurt but if you do it like once a month then it’s not much of a ball ache. Also, the phone does support microSDXC so you just need to use a different method to do the same thing. Android desktop would be cool but it will take a while before it’s actually robust. Even if it was, you would have to think how you integrate it into your life and if you would genuinely do that.
I currently have an S20 FE and looking to replace it and I hardly ever transfer over usb or use Dex. I personally don’t believe these are deal breakers. For me, a deal breaker is a phone that you can’t easily replace a battery without cutting through adhesive
I use the USB port for charging, and charging only. It really doesn’t bother me at all.
That’s super fair! I totally see that Fairphone is more of a brand for people who are a bit more minimalist with their phone, hope that maybe one day there will be a Fairphone for power users with specs closer to what Google Pixel offers (a girl can dream haha)
Same, I wish they did a pro model with a proper flagship processor. I’d happily pay much more for that option though they probably don’t have the resources to do 2 phones at the same time. The one in the FP6 seems decent but I’m concerned if it can actually last 8+ years with how bloated apps seem to keep getting. I’m not a power user but my current phone (S20 FE) is inconsistent with loading things and is supposedly on par with FP6’s processor. Hopefully more reviews come out that give more insight into this
Same here, if I want to use a large display for any task or a movie I fire up my laptop.
Hard pass. What a pointless downgrade in functionality. I’m due for a new phone, and this had tweaked my interest, but lacking desktop mode and fast USB is crazy in 2025.
So do you not care about easily replaceable batteries? If these features are more important than that then unfortunately fairphone doesn’t work for you
Fp5 managed to have both, they arent mutually exclusive features.
And battery replacement is a once every 2-5 years event, if I had to pay a professional (or ifixit) every few years thats fine with me. I replaced the battery in my Samsung s10 with a ifixit kit, its really not that hard. Its not on-the-go swappable, but battery banks exist for that.
Sure, it doesn’t happen super often but I wouldn’t say it’s ‘not that hard’. For most phones you need a heat gun + suction cup and you do have to be quite careful. Jerryrigerything does takedowns for a living but will still occasionally shatter a glass back. Not saying it’s impossible but most people will never even consider it cause you gotta buy the tools and be very careful. Paying someone to do it is fine but if it’s super easy to do then anyone can actually do it.
Not saying fairphone is for everyone but I do think the tech comunity underestimates how nice it is to be able to easily change a battery yourself.
But the more important question is, why can’t we have both replaceable batteries and proper usbc/desktop mode? The FP5 fit them both in, and then for 6 they just downgraded it for no real reason.
If they come out with a fp7 that fixes this, I’ll reconsider then, but right now, I’d rather get another glued together Samsung and actually have fast USB storage access.
They mentioned they did it to save cost. It seems to have worked cause the phone is cheaper at launch than the fairphone 5 was which surprised me. Not aware of many follow-up phones that where cheaper than the previous model.
You do you but for me dead easy battery replacement is far more important than a desktop mode that I personally never found that useful on my S20 FE. Since FP6 has an SD card slot you can always transfer lots of files quickly that way even if it’s a bit more cumbersom requiring a microSDxc card reader
I dont buy the cost excuse at all. A few traces and some more smd components do not add up to a significant cost saving.
SD cards are slow compared to modern smart phone storage, so thats really not really a solution either.
I don’t know much about designing a phone motherboard but it’s my understanding that it’s not price of the materials for the traces themselves that adds cost but actually integrating it with the design as a whole. Smartphone PCBs are crazy complex so if not including 3.0 speeds meant the board was easier to design for them and thus cheaper then that’s fine for me. Ultimately they have made the phone cheaper at launch than last gen so they have managed to do that somehow.
I’m a photographer and I don’t find SD card slow for photos and video storage/transfer at all. Obviously they aren’t great for running applications off of but they work very well for transfering files.
Obviously, I can’t seem to convince you that the other benefits fairphone bring outway the fact that they don’t offer usb 3.0 speeds. It is a bummer and weird they had it on the last gen but I would give it up in a heart beat to be able to replace the battery, screen, usb-c port, etc. of my own device on my own with very little hassle. We can agree to disagree on this one
Yes, I was particularly wanting that, as this would be a phone to have for years to come. This is a real bummer.
It’s such a weird choice considering that they want the FF6 to be “The Fairphone” that you’ll keep for like a decade, but then cutting one of the biggest new things that Android 16 offers :/ There was speculation that they’d sell a replaceable USB-C 3.1 port, but people on the forum say that just changing the port won’t help if the Motherboard doesn’t support it. Really sucks.
Samsung has had Dex for years now and it hasn’t changed how people use their phone (for vast majority anyway). Maybe having it built into android will increase adoption but given that Dex is still not that practical or robust, it will be a while until Google’s implementation will be robust. Obviously, it’s a shame the feature won’t be available on fair phone but the phone isn’t that fast or have lots of ram anyway so I doubt desktop mode would truelly be that useful. It’s a shame but, for me, it would not impact my buying decision
it’s such a weird decision considering poth ff4 and ff5 have USB-C 3.0
It is a downgrade for sure but if it’s not something you use then what does it matter. Fairphone is a tiny company and they felt this was a good place to cut on costs
absolute dealbreaker. they hosted an AMA on Reddit about 4 days ago. One user brought this matter up but it was left unanswered.
Really cool software! But my use case is that the Offices at my Job have Dell Docking stations everywhere and I really like just plugging my phone into those and using it as a small Desktop PC. I’m not really allowed to install software like this to my Work Notebook as a workaround ;_;
@python rien que pour ça je ne pense pas que je pourrais le prendre #fairphone6 … Le transfert de données me semble indissociable. Et m’est très utile actuellement avec mon #Fairphone #fairphone3.
Alors même que les options d’attaches – en plus de la fonction “écran essentiel”– pour tenir le téléphone me semblait bien pour moi et soutenir la marque.
