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47% Positive

Analyzed from 2162 words in the discussion.

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#fairphone#phone#more#https#support#mobile#verizon#features#grapheneos#usb

Discussion (87 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

ThinkingGuyabout 2 hours ago
The Fairphone (Gen. 6+) comes with upgraded internal hardware that doesn’t compromise on our industry-leading repairability standards. The ‘plus’ isn't about adding features for a longer spec sheet; it's about intentional improvements that keep your device capable for longer.

AI-like typing detected.

SiempreViernes1 minute ago
This has it backwards, it is the AI that writes like cliched AD copy. Feast your eyes on this quote from a whiskey CEO, supposedly written in 2016:

> ‘When you bring people in from overseas [to Scotland], you’re working on their mindsets,’ he says. ‘You make them get a feeling for Scotch. It’s not about an advert, it’s about this magical industry with its rich heritage and this history.

> ‘It’s not about kilts and drums, but it’s about the Highlands, the water, the peat, the stories, and I call it softness – it’s very gentle marketing. A lot of what you’ve got to do is to win the hearts and minds.’

The waybackmachine has it first in 2019, but that's early enough to know this is 100% human trite bullshit. https://web.archive.org/web/20190823030911/https://scotchwhi...

nemomarxabout 1 hour ago
It really irks me that it still can't get the contrastive clauses right. "it's not about adding (more features), it's about (more features, but with a different emphasis)" is so empty of meaning. how do people copy edit this and not notice?
garlic_enjoyer2 minutes ago
I agree that it's marketing mumbo jumbo, but it's saying "we haven't added more features because more is better, we added them because they actually improve the longevity of the product."

If anything, that sentence tells me that they are insecure of their features being perceived as bullshit.

reaperducerabout 1 hour ago
how do people copy edit this and not notice?

If they wanted to pay trained copy editors, they wouldn't use A.I.

copperx15 minutes ago
Where do copy editors train?
lotsofpulpabout 1 hour ago
>how do people copy edit this and not notice?

I would assume they don’t, and they assume many people aren’t reading it either. Which includes me, even before LLMs came out. I would always skip the marketing and jump to tech specs and pictures/video.

nemomarxabout 1 hour ago
Why have the marketing blurbs at all then? it's just throwing away tokens if most people don't read it.
guywithahatabout 1 hour ago
I wonder at what point we're just going to see people writing like AI because they read it so much? That said I'm fine with companies saving money on copywriters
Forgeties7924 minutes ago
I’m not. I’m tired of trying to parse this crap.
mrbluecoatabout 2 hours ago
"[GrapheneOS] lost most interest in that hardware due to the poor way privacy, security, updates and marketing based on these things has been handled."

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/28825-is-there-any-chance-o...

NoboruWatayaabout 2 hours ago
I'm sure their concerns are valid but just because GrapheneOS don't consider the Fairphone to meet their standards for security doesn't mean it is not worth considering for other people who may have different priorities. Fairphones have certain advantages over Pixels such as better repairability and more ethically sourced labour/components. IMO it's good to see the Fairphone do well (and I hope GrapheneOS's partnership with Motorola also goes well).
stymaarabout 2 hours ago
Unfortunately it looks like it's not just a issue of missing hardware security features:

> Their partnership with Murena along with promoting it themselves with misleading marketing means no possibility of working with us.

I want to like GrapheneOS, but the pettiness of its leadership is a real problem for the long term prospect of the project.

hokumguruabout 2 hours ago
Is it pettiness or just sticking to their morals? Murena, as they mentioned, forwards data to OpenAI which is against pretty much everything Graphene stands for.
Cider998624 minutes ago
>I want to like GrapheneOS, but the pettiness of its leadership is a real problem

I used to feel a bit similarly. But I've since realized they are one of the very few software projects that actually make sensible privacy and security choices.

Telaneoabout 2 hours ago
That does not seem like pettiness to me. That seems like a very good reason to not work with someone.
gruezabout 2 hours ago
Here's a post with more specific allegations:

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/24134-devices-lacking-stand...

my12340 minutes ago
One thing in the story is that the SPU - the secure enclave on Qualcomm chips that is separate from just running on TrustZone on the main processor - is only available on Snapdragon 8 and X tier products. It's market segmented away from 7 series and below.
microtonal25 minutes ago
Also, I think Qualcomm has only started supporting MTE on Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Older and cheaper SoCs do not support it yet. Outside that, I think only Google Tensor, recent Exynos generations, and Apple A-series support MTE (though IIRC Apple has an improved extension of it).
dnauticsabout 2 hours ago
i dont get it, they are comparing eOS to graphene, not talking about the hardware.

this would be like grapheneOS not using pixel because the stock android that ships with it does not respect privacy.

am i missing something?

threemuxabout 2 hours ago
Looks great! For other T-Mobile users, it actually supports the full range of frequency bands. Quite a few devices claim T-Mobile support but are then missing band 12 or 71 on LTE or n71 on 5G, all of which are critical for coverage outside of cities.
Grombobulous41 minutes ago
The device claims AT&T and Verizon only, I’m curious about that…
threemux34 minutes ago
To which device are you referring?

The Fairphone 6+ is compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile in the US and their MVNOs.

https://us.fairphone.com/carrier-compatibility

Grombobulous14 minutes ago
Oh this is weird. They have some contradicting information.

https://us.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-plus

Click on “see all tech specs” and under “compatibility” it says AT&T and Verizon.

But it lacks Verizon’s primary band and clearly can’t be used with it.

commonerabout 2 hours ago
Exciting to see this soon after someone got the Fairphone 6 camera working on postmarketOS:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49338285

The 6+ is a different model, but the announcement says the camera module is the same.

emaroabout 1 hour ago
They even mention that they want to move on to work on the Fairphone 6+.
VyseofArcadiaabout 2 hours ago
Fairphone products have been available in the US officially for ages. This is just the ability to purchase direct from Fairphone.

I bought a Fairphone 4 from Murena years ago (and am still using it), and I bought a pair of Fairbuds XL just in April from the same.

Grombobulous41 minutes ago
This is still a big deal and seems to come with more expanded carrier support.
newsy-combi9 minutes ago
A friend had the Fair Phone 4. It broke after a year. Hostile customer support, not worth her time. Idk. Stories of "good guy" indie companies who drop you as soon as you fell for their marketing keep piling up. It may be greed, short sightedness or an incompetent understanding of what it means to have customers, the results are the same. See Framework for another example of this.
jarbusabout 2 hours ago
Praying that fairphone somehow makes a foldable one day. My next phone will probably be a fold 8 because I really want a nice reading experience on the go, but I love the philosophy and love my framework laptop.
Runwaysabout 2 hours ago
USB 2.0 port is the only thing preventing me from purchasing one. A wild choice since I believe previous versions did not have this limitation.
emaroabout 1 hour ago
I wonder what their reasoning behind the downgrade is. I own a FP4 and even this model features USB 3.0 with DisplayPort support.
zyberzeroabout 2 hours ago
How often do you connect stuff to your phone, and for what purposes? I genuinely wonder!

I can't remember the last time I connected my phone to my computer for other purposes than charging the phone, but that's me and we all use our stuff different ways

Runwaysabout 2 hours ago
You can install Linux on this device. If it had proper dock support, this would be 'the' phone I've been looking for. There is a not insignificant number of users in the forum that are skipping this phone for that reason. It would have been my first.

https://forum.fairphone.com/t/fp6-discussion-about-usb-2-and...

Grombobulous33 minutes ago
There are only 264 replies in that forum total, and not every reply is a unique individual.

I would say that it’s easy to make an argument that this is quite an insignificant number of users even for a niche smartphone manufacturer. I can’t imagine that a lot of people actually dock their phone to use as a desktop. I would be surprised if the percent of smartphone users who do that eclipsed 0.5%.

My understanding in the iPhone world is that the most common use case for fast USB-C connectivity tends to be people doing content creation work where they’re generating a lot of high fidelity camera footage rapidly and offloading it into external storage and other professional solutions.

zyberzeroabout 2 hours ago
Ah, that makes sense, thanks! I tried that way back when Windows phone was a thing (using my phone as a desktop), I even had a small dock for my Lumia 925. It worked well enough for presentations and RDPing into my workstation.
Telaneoabout 2 hours ago
Syncing music is my main use case where USB 2 is annoying. Beyond that, pulling photos of the phone, but I rarely do that to an extent that USB 2 speeds become a problem.
tcfhgj43 minutes ago
that said, Fairphones habe a micro SD card slot which you can use for such things
microtonalabout 1 hour ago
When we are travelling, we often hook up our phones to a hotel/apartment TV with a DP-Alt to HDMI adapter to use our own streaming services/apps. A phone without DP-Alt would be a no-go.
fnord123about 2 hours ago
You need to transfer more than 480Mbps over a hard line to and from your phone? Seems like a niche requirement that even iPhone 17 doesn't bother with. Or is it psychological 'nunber must go up and usb number went from 2 to 3 many years ago so now 2 bad'
stonogoabout 2 hours ago
Previous versions of the Fairphone did have USB3, and also Displayport Alt Mode, so you could plug the phone into a display and use Android Desktop. There's more to a given version of USB than line rate.
fnord123about 1 hour ago
I have a fairphone 5 and actively don't like it when it asks me if I want to mirror my screen when I plug it into a charging cable attached to a monitor.
NewJazzabout 2 hours ago
Even my lgv20 could do an external display.
dmixabout 1 hour ago
That website took a very very long time to load.
amazingamazingabout 2 hours ago
$650 for anyone who does not want to click. Hard sell compared to the iPhone 17e but more choice is good.
Noaidiabout 2 hours ago
I would buy this phone in a second over a 17e. Replaceable parts? Expandable storage? Any companies that says they care about the environment and does not have these things are just liars.
microtonalabout 1 hour ago
Unfortunately, there were quite a lot early reports of users whose FP6 volume buttons broke or their logic boards during charging. Both are components that are not user-replaceable and it often takes Fairphone 4-6 weeks to repair them. Similarly, the head band on their FairBuds XL regularly break for a bunch of people (user replaceable, but you still have to go through their slow support if you do not want to pay for the replacement yourself).

Fairphone (in contrast to Apple) are also known for introducing really bad bugs and then not fixing them for months. Like how the FP4 could only keep a single app in memory after they introduced a memory management bug or how currently a lot of FP6 users are affected by a bug where WiFi stops working (due to an IPv6-related bug) that has been reported in March.

https://forum.fairphone.com/t/dns-over-tls-ipv6-issues-apps-...

Then there are the really weird design decisions on the FP6. Like, they put the fingerprint scanner in the power button, which makes it nearly impossible to use it one-handed with your left hand if you actually want to unlock it or use fingerprint unlock in an application. And they put the power button on the exact opposite side of the volume down button, so you make a screenshot when you want to lock the phone half of the time.

And then we haven't talked about the hardware. The speakers are pretty mediocre. The camera is only mid. The SoC even caused render slowdowns in 2026 in /e/OS, it's going to be wholly underpowered after 7 years (the new CPU in the plus is barely going to help, the 7s Gen 4 is the Gen 3 with slightly higher clocked cores).

I had the Fairphone 6 and I am happy that I was able to get rid of it for still a fairly OK price (I got it because I like their mission).

Noaidi36 minutes ago
> And they put the power button on the exact opposite side of the volume down button, so you make a screenshot when you want to lock the phone half of the time.

To be fair, Apple has nearly the same design.

> I got it because I like their mission

Same here. This is why we need to be buying them now, while they are working out the bugs. Small sacrifice in my mind.

hedoraabout 2 hours ago
I’d pay twice what they are asking for one with a reasonably sized screen.

I’m holding on to my iphone mini, but apparently people buy the razr and just leave it closed 100% of the time.

That’s $700, and not having the dumb hinge mechanism and internal facing display would be a selling point for many.

guywithahatabout 1 hour ago
I mean replacing a battery is something you do, at most, once every 5-7 years. If removing the battery requires a heat gun then it's not the worst thing imo.
fsfloverabout 1 hour ago
You can also carry one or two spare batteries with you and get from zero to 100% charge in a minute.
the_gamedevabout 2 hours ago
Wondering if fairphone will ever be officially available in india. I would like a no bloatware and repairable device.
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roflcopter69about 1 hour ago
Inb4 people complaining that Fairphones are overpriced lmao
AdmiralAsshatabout 3 hours ago
No Verizon support. :(
Alcorabout 2 hours ago
How is that still a thing? I can’t think of a phone here in Europe that you can’t just put a SIM card from any carrier in and it will work.
davey48016about 2 hours ago
From Fairphone's US order page

> Critical Notice: The device does not support LTE Band 13 (Verizon's primary coverage frequency).

Presumably that frequency isn't used in Europe? It also says that it's "not certified for use on the Verizon Wireless network." I don't know if that means Verizon might block it (which sounds like a very US thing) or it's related to not supporting the frequency that Verizon uses for LTE.

Onawaabout 2 hours ago
Because the United States sucks in regards to mobile phone compatibility and spectrum allocation. https://share.gemini.google/u6E8mAiITMcJ
Zambyte34 minutes ago
What is that link?
mmooss14 minutes ago
That's been true for much of the history of cellular networks, as far as I know - universal standards in Europe, US phones can't (always) be moved between service providers. It used to be even worse in the US, with phones locked to individual carriers regardless of technology.

That's some of the European over-regulation that everyone complains about, compared to unfettered American competition.

Cider998621 minutes ago
Why use Verizon directly? It's insanely overpriced. US mobile and others provide better prices, service, features, security, and customer service. If it doesn't work on their towers, US mobile allows you to switch to at&t and t mobile towers.
wilsonnb3about 2 hours ago
Interesting, the tech specs page said Verizon was supported but the carrier coverage page says it isn’t
Noaidiabout 2 hours ago
Yeah, that’s a bummer. But I’m seriously thinking about switching to AT&T over this, but I would need to know if the frequencies are covered as good on AT&T.

I can’t believe how few choices we have in cell phones in the United States. Where is all the innovation I keep hearing everyone talk about?

mxuribeabout 1 hour ago
> I can’t believe how few choices we have in cell phones in the United States. Where is all the innovation I keep hearing everyone talk about?

The beginning of your sentence - "I can’t believe how few choices we have..." - can be applied equally sadly to other areas here in the U.S....such as but not limited to lack of choice of residential ISPs, or lack of choice (or generally mis-incentivized) healthcare providers, or lack of choice of mobile service providers, or, etc., or etc. And, of course, your last part of your comment asking where the innovation is? Well, innovation often is pocketed in those who control the capital, and only released little by little at the whims of releasing more capital. Sorry, i have to step away, cuz felt sad instantly just citing my own comments here. :-(

lotsofpulp8 minutes ago
How are you going to innovate installing hundreds of thousands of cell towers across the USA?

Mobile network via satellite might increase number of network providers by 1 or 2, but the physics problem of needing tons of physical assets to create a wireless network usable by small, low powered devices remains.

I guess you could innovate some new physics that allows you to send wireless signals through more surfaces, that is also not ionizing radiation to animal and plant tissue, and doesn’t need a lot of power to send from a mobile device. That is a lot to ask, though.

delfinomabout 2 hours ago
Innovation in the US is mainly how many more creative ways they can suck money out of consumers.