There’s been a lot of buzz here about the Fairphone here lately, especially with it coming to the US.

On paper, it seems rather nice. Ethically sourced, privacy friendly stock ROM.

But the skeptic in me does say, “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism.”

What are the drawbacks of Fairphone that seem to be shunned away, or less discussed both by the company and community at large? Why shouldn’t I just buy a Pixel 7a and put GrapheneOS on it instead?

  • bbbhltz
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    261 year ago

    Lots of reviews and users come to the same conclusion:

    • a little expensive for the specs
    • a little heavy
    • camera isn’t the best
    • no headphone jack means you may need to purchase wireless headphones or earbuds and wireless earbuds don’t always have replaceable batteries
    • godless
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      141 year ago

      A simple USB-C to 3.5" connector does the trick. No need for wireless headphones.

      • bbbhltz
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        91 year ago

        True, and if you’re a music nerd or audiophile you can grab a USB-C DAC while you’re at it.

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          I just went to get my 3.5 to usb c dongle and plug it into my iPhone. I hate that I’m so sucked into the ecosystem, but really excited about ditching my Lightning shit. 15 Pro is a step in the right direction (thanks EU) but I sorely wish Apple didn’t start the anti 3.5 revolution.

      • calm.like.a.bomb
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        51 year ago

        I found it’s very annoying and I had two cables break on me because it sticks out more from the phone - and phones being larger with each release means we can’t keep them in our pockets as we used to. Also, replacing a USB-C->jack cable is more expensive than replacing an audio cable.

        • godless
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          31 year ago

          The adapters are $1 on Aliexpress. Generally agree though, I’d prefer to have a headphone jack directly and be done with it.

      • techno156
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        1 year ago

        Although you can’t both charge the phone/use pripherals, like a keyboard/mouse and use headphones in that case, unless you’re using one of the few phones with 2+ USB-C ports, and wireless charging can be cumbersome.

    • techno156
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      31 year ago

      no headphone jack means you may need to purchase wireless headphones or earbuds and wireless earbuds don’t always have replaceable batteries

      They’re also more expensive, even if fairphone does offer their own headphones.

      A cheap set of decent wired earphones is $10. $30 if you want something nice, like an IEM.

      Bluetooth headphones don’t tend to be quite as cheap, and are usually a good deal more.