Initial Thoughts on the Fairphone 4 US Release

After years of waiting, Fairphone announced it will be releasing the Fairphone 4 in the US in partnership with Murena. Several mainstream members of the tech press have write-ups about the announcement and here is a great breakdown on why what Fairphone has accomplished with their repairable devices.

Fairphone 4 Teardown: If Only Apple Made Phones Like This - iFixit
Excerpt:

It’s almost depressing, thinking about how different the world would be if repairing every smartphone battery and screen was this easy. Props to Fairphone for reminding the world that this is possible, and making it look easy.

This post isn’t to review the actual device. Rather, I want to write out what I love about the device and issues I see and why it would be a hard sell for me to buy one, even though I am the exact customer they want.

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The hardware

I am squarely centered in the audience Fairphone targets with their devices. A completely repairable device with a swappable battery that is fully unlocked. Its the dream phone I’ve been wanting for many, many years.

In a way, the Fairphone is doing what Framework is doing for laptops. The only difference is you can’t upgrade the hardware.

CPU

The Snapdragon 750G is the processor on board for the Fairphone 4, which was released in 2020. At this point it is getting long in the tooth for a mid-range processor. But, for most everyday usecases it is more than enough.

My primary concern is firmware updates. Qualcomm offered 3 years of firmware support for this SoC, which will end only months after finally selling in the US. I don’t know if I would pay $600 for a phone that already has reached its EOL for firmware updates.

Am I over-valuing firmware updates? Is the security risk lower than I think?

Peripherals

One of the most exciting features (other than the repairability) is that the FP4 supports OTG and DisplayPort. These features are another reason why this device has staying power, by allowing users to connect it to a USB-C dock and use as a PC. Or, as in my case, connect to a lapdock and work as an Android powered laptop.

I currently do this with my Samsung Galaxy S10e and a UPerfect X Mini lapdock. I love it. Its low-powered, ultra-portable, reduces the number of devices I have to manage, and makes my phone investment that much more valuable.

A minor issue is that it doesn’t have an official desktop mode. Instead, it uses the built-in features that come with Android 12. On Android, DeX mode really is a game-changer to be more like a desktop environment. The native desktop mode in Android is kinda trash, although there are some tools to use to make it better.

Realistically, the best way to use a docked phone at a desk or on a lapdock is to install a proot-distro and run a full Linux desktop. Then using VNC you can make your phone feel like a true laptop. I’ve even been able to use tools like X2Go through a proot environment.

Murena and /e/OS

I think this is where I have the greatest concerns.

I’ve used /e/OS a lot over the years, even as far back as 2019 on a Nexus 5X. The device cloud services are all based on Nextcloud, which is a huge win. You can either pay for their cloud or host your own and connect to your personal Nextcloud. I tried out the Murena cloud service and it works exactly how you would expect. I would use it more, but for 3rd party cloud services I am using Proton due to their encryption layers.

I would switch in a heartbeat if they could offer a Proton competitor that encrypts my data and keeps Murena from being able to access it.

Support

Murena is offering a 5 year warranty on the FP4, plus 5 years of software updates and security patches. I could not find anywhere that listed how many versions of Android it will get, simply the vague answer above. Currently /e/OS for the FP4 is based on Android 12. I’m guessing that in the next 5 years there may not be many Android version bumps for the device and will instead rely on security updates for whatever Android version it is running.

The OS comes with deep integration with MicroG and will work with many apps from the Play Store. Having used /e/OS I know that most apps don’t complain about MicroG. But, when it comes up, its painful. A lot of banking apps will complain about it, as will any app that has in-app purchases. This isn’t a dealbreaker for me. It only stings for people who are deep in the Google ecosystem or rely on their phone as their primary computing device.

Their app store on the device is called the App Lounge and is a significant improvement to the experience in years past.

Alternative OS

The FP4 is unlocked and is supported by several other operating systems, which is another reason why it is so attractive to me.

If /e/OS isn’t for me, I can load up the stock LineageOS with GApps. LineageOS on the FP4 is up to Android 13. In addition, I can also install Postmarket OS and Ubuntu Touch.

The issue is that doing so will void the warranty on the device. I know there’s ways to put the device back to stock /e/OS. But, I want a similar treatment for the phone like the Framwork laptop. Give me a phone that I can install whatever OS I want and you warranty the hardware.

It can be tricky. But, I think it can be done. Especially for the privacy audience which has a lot of very technical people. One of the best features of the FP4 is this ability to flash different ROMs and actually get to use the device they way you want.

Personally, I feel like Murena is really trying to assert control over the FP4 in the US. I’m just not that interested in a device locked to a specific OS.

Final thoughts

I know I’m nitpicking on the release. It is exciting and I want more devices like this.

Yet, for a mid-range device from 2021, the $630 to $700 asking price is just too much. I can’t see spending $700 on a device that won’t get firmware updates. Not when Samsung devices are getting 5 years of support as well and there are plenty of quality devices below $500. Yes, the FP4 is more repairable. I’m not sure its worth the extra money to be locked to 2021 hardware with /e/OS.

I desperately want to support repairable devices. But this one is not it.