I just want them to make a true flagship phone. I personally wouldn't mind paying extra for a more ethical phone, if it had all the bells and whistles and wasn't half obsolete straight out of the box.
this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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I love the idea but the price is too high for the chip given that this is designed to be a lengevity phone. A chip like the 7s Gen 3 would make the phone sluggish after a couple of years with how unoptimised todays apps are.
The Gorilla Glass 7i and IP55 water resistance are also concerning given that budget Samsung, Xiaomi, etc phones beat this.
However having components of the phone being easily replacable is a great thing.
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I would totally buy one of these if they were sold in the US. Sadly, last time I checked the newest phone wasn't sold here. So I doubt this one will be.
If they are all about swappable parts, and being able to upgrade your phone how you want ... Shouldn't this just be a module upgrade... Of the main part? Maybe I don't understand it ... At the very least the old parts should work with the new system right? Unless something major has changed.
Exactly. Framework does it correctly; fairphone does not.
So with framework you can keep the cpu and camera and swap out the Mobo for a better one?
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Not putting in a 3.5mm jack says enough. They sell Bluetooth earbuds I wouldn't call that "fair". It leads to more landfill. Phones with 3.5mm jacks also have BT, and don't start about USBC singles, that's more to buy and more landfill when they inevitable break.
I hear you! Though I don't mind the lack of a 3.5 mm jack¹, it is still an anti-feature, and I fully agree that the TWS style of in-ears are antithetical to the repairability ethos. It's especially bad when they sell one themselves.
Until Linux phones reliably support 5G communications with major carriers (this is a kernel driver issue for modems), I'm going to run with my current phone until it crumbles... Or at least until someone comes out with an actual modular phone where the mainboard can just be swapped as with desktops and Framework laptops.
¹I use a very high quality "dongle" DAC (Moonriver 2) and it gives me a cleaner, lower impedance, higher power output than any phone's on-board audio can. If I'm going to be using wired headphones, might as well go all the way.
Why does The Fairphone (Gen. 6) not have an audio jack?
After some of the criticism that we received about removing the headphone jack from Fairphone 4, we did consider bringing it back for The Fairphone (Gen. 6). However, we realized it would be at the expense of increasing the phone’s dimensions. We also looked into the consumer data and Fairphone 4’s weight and thickness were more of an issue than the lack of a minijack, so we decided to keep the same approach, although it was a difficult decision. We didn’t want to invest in OLED technology for the display and then not have improved the phone’s dimensions and weight. But just like with Fairphone 4 and Fairphone 5, we will still offer an adapter, which has had overall positive user reviews.
"We heard the criticism but decided that no, you would still need an adapter to use headphones, plus a USB-C hub to be able to charge the damn thing while listening to music or watching videos"
Funny how that's the same excuses that we get for modern laptops terrible design. "We HAVE to make it thinner so there's no space! You wouldn't want a laptop that's not complete shit if it meant it'd also be less thin and breakable, now would you?"
Let me expand, as I usually deal with surveys and population feedback. There's loud feedback, and there's statistically significant feedback.
People who want a headphone jack are very loud. They will interject this issue into every feedback opportunity given. They will mention it on the comment sections, forums, q&a sessions, answer their surveys accordingly, etc. That's all fine and their prerogative.
However, when you look at the statistics. They are unfortunately a very tiny minority of the entire population. They are not statistically significant for decision making. They don't have the volume to move sales significantly. This sucks, of course, and I personally wouldn't mind the return of headphone jacks, smaller phones and bigger batteries as a fair trade for thicker phones.
But unfortunately, the vast majority of the market is pre-occupied with other things. The phone screen is too small, the phone weights too much, the phone is too thick, I want to bring my phone to the pool without fear of it breaking, etc. They are not as passionate about it, not like the headphone people are, but they far outnumber them in several orders of magnitude. In the end, if the product doesn't sell, it won't matter how much it was worth to a single passionate person. It will sink the company if it doesn't have mass appeal. Making phones is already an extremely expensive endeavor.
You can get good Bluetooth earbuds for under $50 and a USB-C to AUX dongle for under $15.
The average person is fine with Bluetooth earbuds or an adapter, and audiophiles would not find the inbuilt DAC/amp on a phone to be adequate.
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People who want a headphone jack [...] are unfortunately a very tiny minority of the entire population.
People interested in paying more for fair trade materials and repairable phones are also a very tiny minority of the entire population.
Of course I don't have any statistic, but I would guess that the proportion of people wanting a Jack is significantly higher in the group of people interested in buying Fairphone that on the general population.
In my particular case, I'm still using my Fairphone 3, and I'm not buying a Fairphone again unless it has a Jack.
I don’t have any statistic, but I would guess that the proportion of people wanting a Jack is significantly higher in the group of people interested in buying Fairphone that on the general population.
Fairphone literally does have that statistic. They spent effort to gather that info in order to inform their business decisions. And they report:
We also looked into the consumer data and Fairphone 4’s weight and thickness were more of an issue than the lack of a minijack
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