I work in a company where we work as maintenance technicians, we are often on construction sites and our smartphone hardly lasted more than a year. I recommended this smartphone to our manager and he took it for all employees, we have already changed a screen, but in general it is very durable. Well done for making such a product.
Serious question. How often do they release new phone versions? 3, 4, 5... I mean... If they say the next one will have a better screen and will have half the width with wireless charging... I would jump to the next phone. What to do with my previous one? Can I use the Fairphone 4 components in the Fairphone 5? Otherwise, is this going in the trash bin?
Because they cheaped out and skimped on everything they could after the FP3. The dropped TRS jack wasn't anything but being ~courageous~ enough to remove it.
When I bought my Fairphone 3, I was aware of most of the compromises I would have to make and I do not regret buying it. However, I want you to understand that, from my user perspective, Fairphone 5 is not in competition to Fairphone 4. It is in competition to all regular phones out there. Earlier Fairphone models should not be the main benchmark when you are designing your next phone. In the past better often was not good enough but just less bad, unfortunately.
that's a good point - and watching it back now, I can see why it comes across that way. Miquel mainly brought up the Fairphone 4, because Linus reviewed a bunch of things favourably in that video and criticised them this time around. But true, of course we're trying to be an alternative for everyone looking to by a phone right now and not compared to the best we could do in 2021 :)
@@FairphoneI can see why his view changed though. The world has moved on and technology has advanced since the FP4 came out. Something that was great, or even just good then is behind now. The industry, and with that what the average (not issue focused) buyer is expecting from a device. Every year we use our phones for more and more things. Something on the order of 78% of phone users in the US and Canada play at least one game per day on their phone, so the perspective of Linus is going to come from that US/Canada perspective.
If your Fairphone 3 is good for you, keep it and make it run. However, after two iteractions, I was hoping that spending three times the price for a budget phone would deliver better performances with higher durability and top notch repairability. According to the reacting video, performances were compared to 8 year older device with less ram and was on par with that. So maybe it's more resource wasting, but buying 2 budget phone will allow me to use them for 6-8 years, immobilize less money and maybe have a better phone after the first one. IMVHO Fairphone miss the point of... smartphone if the new device is not crushing a 8 year old flagship with less performance hardware...
@@GsrItalia why are you comparing it to a budget phone? the concept of the Fairphone is not only to make it the cheapest per silicon chip... it is fair for everyone involved, so if you're fine with children mining lithium for your batteries and assembly line workers making maybe a livable wage, that's your choice and the Fairphone is not for you! and you're asking for top notch repairability, it's pretty clear that no other mainstream manufacturer makes repairable phones, so yes it is top notch. What's not durable about the fairphone?
I think this video is a developers at blizcon kinda thing. These are people who are really passionate about that they do, but aren't the most PR trained
This video focuses a lot of comparing the 5 to the 4, and obviously the 5 is going to be better than the 4 - I’d be surprised if it wasn’t. But the phone doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and unfortunately while it’s better than the previous gen it’s not quite at the level of its competitors especially at the price point. It would have been better to explain why the phone is, for example, heavier than the competition and how it’s a trade off for repairability or any other reason instead of just leaving it at “6% better than last gen”. Some more insights into why the phone falls behind other options available on the market would have been good to see and would have led to a lot less negativity. Best of luck in the future though, and I can’t wait to see what the fairphone 6 and onwards will be like.
I totally agree here. Simply acknowledging that the phone slightly lags behind compared to other major companies due to their massively bigger sales and more aggressive exploitation would have been just honest. Fairphone, being more of a niche product, cannot compete in this way. But that doesn't diminish the outstanding product at all! It's still a fantastic phone, close to the top performance wise, WITH ALL THE IMPORTANT BENEFITS. I want my phone to last 10+ years. I want workers to be paid and a conscious handling of our environment. The response was too butthurt.
Sadly in some way, Fairphone exists in a vacuum, appart from Fairphone and Shiftphone I know of no other Phone manufacturer that can be trusted with creating a phone fair-ish and repairable, if you care about those things, there is no competition, I would love for the Pixels and Samsungs to be produced fair, but since I draw the Line at ignoring fair labour the two phones, FP5 and Shiftphone 8 exist in a vacuum
Thing is if i need a screen or a battery for my Samsung S21 it can be done in shop up the street and my old 5 year S21 still shits all over the new fairphone and battery still works at 89% of new. So why would I not just get a used S24 ultra next?
YOU GUYS ACTUALLY CREATING A TREND that phones should be more repairable phones should have more than 5 years of software support phone parts should be readily availible for the users to end of life Phone should have removable sd card slot i dont know why are they removing it headphone jack should be there but no one uses wired headphones except me and i dont have problem with the dongle KEEP ON DOING THAT AND ONCE IT RELEASES IN INDIA I WILL BUY IT
Their removing SD cards so you can't own anything that's not on a cloud. Pay pay pay pay pay. Pretty soon we'll all just give up on smartphones. I'm close
Yeah, that is an issue, the problem would be tough, is the vibration weak on all drvices or it happened to be on Pinus, his device only? That is why such claims are again, to be taken with a frain of salt.
Potential customers compare Fairphone 5 with other commercially available phone and NOT the Fairphone 4 Update since this comment made it to reddit I signed off one of my replies to this comment as "random dude on the internet". Don't drag Fairphone for something they didn't do. Lololol
The Fairphone 5 seems like a solid phone and i absolutely love the vision. However, maybe I do want to browse youtube for 10 hours on my off days (and i have) When I'm in bed i may not be able to put my phone on the "ideal" viewing angle, so the yellow tint is a problem. Also, a user not being allowed to change the position of the back button ironically is more restrictive (and annoying) when the hardware of the phone is easily accessible. I do think that it is a good idea to not over focus on mobile games. And again, i love that it is so environmentally friendly. Not having wireless charging isn't a deal breaker idgaf, I can also get used to the bezels and maybe the thickness. IMO just from the specs and Linus' review on the phone, Fairphone 5 seems like a good phone that needs the software updates to fix whatever can be fixed via the updates and a change in the screen. That's it for the unwarranted opinion of some random dude on the internet
Missed that part, thank you for pointing that out. At least this might help others see it's not the case. Still I can't shake the salty feeling out of this video. I understand you might feel bad when genuine criticism comes to your work of passion, but handling it well goes a long way too.
I think Linus's point about the back button and google search not being movable is that most people don't want to use a different launcher, and your response that "you are free to download any launcher" is not a very good solution. Every time I have switched to a different launcher, they are riddled with other issues that drive me just as bonkers. Just get the stock launcher right in the first place so nobody has to switch to a different one. And I have been able to move the back button on every phone I have had. I am pretty sure it is a default option on android, (Edit: OK so moving them is not the default option) and you stopped to respond to the running apps thing as a "stock android" thing, so why were the buttons changed to be worse? I am completely with Linus on the back button, I like it on the right side so I don't have to reach across the phone with my thumb. This is why the option to move them exists on other phones... You are right though, there were a lot of comparisons that he made that I'm thinking, "ok, so". I think he is being extra critical of the phone because he wants you guys to succeed so much. So take it to heart.
This was a weird reaction to watch. This isn't the entire Linus video, just snippets, they actually skipped over quite a few things that Linus praised the phone about, like the power button with included finger print sensor.
Back button position isn't a default option in Android, OEMs themselves have to implement support for it, which is engineering resources they may not be able to prioritise with other issues to resolve, and the general market push to gesture nav Google is working towards. The search bar placement is a GMS (certification) item, hence Miquel referencing breaking contracts with Google. Custom launchers aren't bound by the same agreement
@@MrTheJeoff I was surprised he didn't talk about the audio problems. It would have been a opportunity for them to correct Linus, or be honest. Instead they cut that part. It was a weird watch indeed.
@@JasonBayton Every phone I have encountered has the option to move the buttons around so I guess I assumed that it was the default option. Maybe it was and it changed. Same with the google bar being a contractual thing. I have been able to move or remove it from all my phones... again maybe it changed recently. It's too bad they even have to be in a contract to have google on the phone but I suppose that will keep it competitive. I think the main audience for this phone would be more willing to change the launcher, but they shouldn't be relying on that.
@@procrastinatingnerd hasn't changed in recent history, but OEMs can and do offer it, particularly those in the East. For the search, any OEM that ships with the Google launcher can't change it, but they can choose to ship with their own custom implementation, referring back to Miquel's comment on doing a Fairphone one. The license agreement grants access to Google apps and services, you could ship without (they offer /e/OS after all) but it loses mass market appeal indeed
I find it HILARIOUS that people can really compare the cost of this phone to the cost of other phones. It’s the same as comparing a well paid employee made dress to one produced in a sweatshop. If it’s not affordable for you right now then that’s fair enough, but it’s the other phones which are dirt cheap through exploitation. This is the cost that a phone is meant to be.
Definitely agree that Linus was nitpicking a lot on the Farphone 5. I do agree that having strong vibrate on a phone is key, so glad to see you took that one seriously. Sounds like other things such as volume/screen brightness can be solved with updates which is good to hear too! The only thing left is to get into the US market. ;) I know fairphone 4 is there but with only 2-3 years of updates left, it doesn't make sense for me to buy it now. I'd much rather buy soon after release so I can take advantage of that long update cycle, replacing parts when needed. Lastly.. if someone did truly need more than 10 hours of youtube... you should point out that they can swap to a fresh battery in seconds lol. BAM! Another 10 hours of youtube right there.
If you're in Europe you can get a Gigaset phone. They have many of the repairability advantages of a Fairphone without the high price tag. OK they dont have the Fair sourcing that Fairphone does. They do have user swappable batteries and good spare part availability.
I'm hoping by the time I have to replace my Pixel 7, the Fairphone 5 or 6 comes out to the U.S. ! - I'm aware Fairphone sacrificed the headphone jack on the 5, but don't get rid of the micro SD card slot on the 6! :)
I think you should be a little less defensive. I'd buy a Fairphone if it had a headphone jack, no holepunch camera, uniform bezels (I don't care if they're big) and at least 120hz. The ability to hot-swap TF cards is useful for people who do a lot of video or who listen to mp3s. Measuring a device thickness in my opinion should always include the camera bump. No question. You can't say "my car is 2.3 metres wide if you don't count the wheel arches" because that's literally part of it. As for "you're calling a deal-breaker something that can be solved in a monthly software update", you should never buy something for what it can be, only what it is. The ability to swap the back and multitask buttons is something I would need. Having them with the back button so far away is just not ergonomic. Linus' point about the Samsung being easy to repair is totally wrong. There's no question that Fairphone is easier. Is a Framework laptop as seamless as a MacBook? No. There's got to be a compromise. That's the nature of it. Your whole "thank you for the airtime" seemed really petty and like you had a personal grudge against a reviewer for doing their job. Do you really think many people will buy a Fairphone after such a hard-hitting review? I was going to and after seeing the problems he had I decided against it even though I firmly believe in the mission. Try to do this kind of thing with a more open mind. It felt like you were kinda acting stroppy in this video and it's really off-putting when your company is A+ otherwise. I hope it improves in the future.
Tbh redmagic has made phones with an under display front camera so there doesn't have to be a hole punch, but it seems to be a pretty new thing so far. Maybe the Fairphone 6 would have it but idk.
@@Vulcannyx I'm using an ROG Phone 7 Ultimate right now. Been using ROG since 2019. I swear they just get everything right for me, I just wish they were easier to repair.
@@mitchib1440 I find it weird you complained about it not having uniform bezels and later saying you have a ROG Phone 7 Ultimate. I was already going to ask you which phone you have, because the only phones in the whole universe that have had uniform bezels and still have to this date* are the iPhones. It always baffles me how any other company couldn't replicate this yet. * Edit: apparently this is no longer the case
@@LinuxIsNotAnOperatingSystemoh sorry, I mean top and bottom. I don't care if the sides are different. As long as top and bottom are the same thickness, and left and right are the same thickness. My bad, I should've been clearer with that. iPhones are probably the worst at the moment with their ridiculous camera cutout. To me, that's even worse than having a massive forehead and chin. I hate displays that have a hole punch or a notch or any other display intrusion. I'd genuinely rather have fat bezels. I want to be able to turn my phone to landscape and have the entire screen still be symmetrical. If you have a giant pill-shaped cutout on one side then that's not symmetrical and would annoy me so much when watching videos. I'm honestly amazed that Apple still hasn't solved that one.
I have the fairphone 4 and love it. It performs perfect for a normal person who needs a phone. I don’t need a supercomputer. I get worn out by tech reviewers and specs. People who bought this phone did for a different reason….appreciate the reaction and ownership of device’s performance.
For reference this phone costs £500 in the UK You can also get for £500 Pixel 7a Other last gen flagships Issues with this response: - Talks about efficiency loss from wireless charging but it still should be included for the price you are paying..... - For the SD card complaint, even if YOU only need to do it once it doesn't mean others may have different uses. They may want to constantly back up photos via SD or maybe they shoot with a camera and want to see the photos on a phone. But using a cable is still possible so this isn't much of an issue. - The bezels. Is this guys only comparison to the last phone they made. This must be the stupidest non response ever, pretty much a theme through this video that he's oblivious to the actual market and other phones. "Works really well" he says lolllllll. - The thinness and weight are all valid criticisms that he glosses over, no one cares if your phone is lighter than the last one you made... You buy a phone to use the phone and thinness and lightness are all factors of long term usability. Sure your phone is repairable but what's the point when it's laggy and cumbersome to even use. - TH-cam playback is a standard test to check battery life, but this guy thinks like using your phone regularly not on TH-cam will give better results. 10 hours sucks. - Performance wise, I can't begin to think if this guy doesn't get the criticism or is he just stupid. The whole point in this review is this phone doesn't make sense at its price point. Used old phones are more ethical and PERFORM BETTER. Why the fuck do you need a £600 phone when you only need email and calls. The main market segment for this phone really seems to be for people who break their phone regularly or they are stupid. Even eco mentalists will know that old phones are more sustainable than creating new e-waste. Unless your only business is to virtue signal with your "ethically sourced phone" I can't find a reason to buy this phone for that price. - The software gripes and issues. I'll give them slack here, software as a whole is very subjective to people so Linus's issues may seem like non issues to other people so I won't comment. But the bugs need to be gone. Overall I just want to say this, what makes a phone good is entirely subjective. But for this price, the bugs and performance issues are not a good sign. If you just want a phone to call and email then get an old phone. Why create more junk when there are already phones out there that can satisfy your needs.
@@zulu02280 removal not so much since in my phone I need to press eject if I want to do it while on but I never have problem with inserting it while on
"Sure your phone is repairable but what's the point when it's laggy and cumbersome to even use." If you don't value repairability over other things, then it is OBVIOUSLY not the phone for you. FP very very very clearly states that it puts repairability and sustainability over other qualities. So to compare it to other phones without even including those categories in the comparision is stupid. Also, the impact FP has on the market is to include those categories in people's decision making, it's to give them visibility so large companies are forced to take them into account. Because I don't know if you have any experience with this, but fixing an iPhone is an extreme pain in the ass. You need 4 different screwdrivers, isopropyl alcohol, a heat pad, pryers, replacament sealant tape, etc etc. If you prove people are willing to pay for these things, you are making a difference long-term. Also, second hand phones usually last like 6 months: they are second hand for a reason, people got rid of them.
The back button thing is definitely valid criticism. It's a simple thing and almost every phone allows reordering them, so the user should not have to re-train 10+ years of muscle memory. And then you just roll your eyes as a response...
But as I understand this is something that is just not there in stock android so you should complain to Google, e.g. Samsung that allows that has a highly customized android.
It’s nitpick at best. When gestures replaced buttons that wasn’t a life ending problem. It’s very low stakes to tap a different part of the screen. It’s also something that can be patched in software updates very simply.
Actually it is not, and who the h, still uses buttons in 2024? I mean, never heard of gestures? It takes like a day to get used to them, and the screan will thank you for getting rid of buttons therefore getting rid of the main culpit of screen burn-ins. Anyway, why in the world would faiphone be responsible to implement something that samsung felt the need to implement to look different? Is is like accusing samsung of not having a huge notch like iphone, because well, you got used to it, so every device should have one... if your memory is so stiff that it can't adapt to other means of software navigation, well do not use the device but do not make a problem of yours being a problem of others. Linus is always mainly scratching the surface and his reviews are plain boring mostly and biased, but his review of fairphone is blatened and pointless, almost like a kid that cannot accept that there are other motives and usage of a device then his own. This is not how you review a device. But well, 99 ٪ of so called "reviewers" are plain biased and have no essence whatsoever, pure trash, influencer like, more then anything.
a FairPhone might not me my cup of tea. But as for someone like my dad who dose construction work. I can see the fairPhone being a way better option. Especially for those who just wanna use their phone to make calls, text, take pictures and play some basic games. I am so recommending the fairphone to my dad. Keep up the great work FairPhone.
Honestly I use my phone a lot, I watch videos and I'm on social media a fair bit, and the FP5 is perfect for that! It's not at all a phone that's just suitable for calls, texts, pictures and some basic games-- though I don't really play any mobile games myself. The FP4 wasn't for me, I looked into it about a year or so ago, the screen quality was the main dealbreaker for me (seeing as I like to watch movies & such on my phone), but I did end up making the switch when the FP5 came out. I had to slightly downgrade in a few aspects of it compared to my old phone (and upgrade in orders) but I've concluded I can live with that if it means having a phone that lasts a long time and is easily repairable if it breaks. It's a personal consideration and not everyone's phone habits work out with every model, I'd say I'm lucky that I'm not all that interested in mobile games at all, because that means the FP5 works out really well for me 😄
Great that you decided to respond, but along with some other guys say, you gotta be a bit careful with defensiveness. You got an amazing product, some of your responses are spot on and some are a bit passive aggressive "who watches TH-cam for 10h" "really, Linus" "you use your phone at this angle?" there aaaaare better ways to respond to this 😅 I have a fairphone 5, and love the mission
@@Tomas970506True, but on the fairphone you can pop out the battery and put in a fully charged one. Not saying it's ideal, just not a super common use case.
Also I'd like to use my phone for 2 or more days on a single charge. That comes in handy on trips and camping. Sure I can pack a powerbank but it'd be nice not to have to. Why does the fairphone have such poor battery life? It's got a big battery and a weaker processor than the Pixel, yet it only lasts half as long. It can only come down to software optimisation. They really have to work on that part. Google and other manufacturers have that part locked down pretty much.
This was a bad PR flex. Most of LTT´s concerns are fair and very important for potential buyers, seeing the product manager dismiss most of them, makes me not wanting to go with them.
For the wireless charging, would it be possible to do something like the Samsung Note 3 did? You could buy a new back cover that had the wireless charging coil built in. It had pins on the case and metal pads on the phone so if you wanted wireless charging you could just buy a new back cover and if you didn't, you already had everything you need.
@@rustyholt6619 Oh man, I remember doing that to an old Sony Xperia phone! It worked but didn't last for long as it was sandwiched between the phone and a case and I often used the USB port for file transfer, so the thin ribbon cable to the charging pad snapped :(
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I think the point is more that they do not support wireless charging efficiency as a whole at this stage - it is too inefficient and, therefore, wastes too much energy.
Wireless charging wasts energy. Charging via cable is much more efficient. And plugging something in takes no effort at all, unless you're lazy. If a phone wants to be green, wireless charging is just out.
Not meant to be haha just an excuse (a valid one tbf) and they're convincing people in a different way I mean all of the compromises are pretty straightforward and due to the limitations of the whole process that makes the phone special @@zehfisch2053
Well, that is also the point. Per the nature of the current tech landscape, every year every brand has a new phone with minor updates just to have yet another model on the market. Bigger, better, faster, longer..! As a result of that (and the online review landscape) people are focusing on the tiniest things with a magnifying glass because how else would you compare between the bajillion models out there. And it all gets very nitpicky which can be interesting but do we actually *need* all that, usually no, not really. The "Do I *actually* need that?" question could (and should) be applied to so many things in our lives though...
What makes a Great Phone? In my case, it is a phone with no drama. What is drama? 1. Features that don't work, but are advertised to work. 2. Performance that is uneven. It does not have to be instant, but if the response time to something changes, each time to try to use it, that is a fair. 3. User interfaces that are not consistent in the size of text based on the size preference selected by the user. 4. Background and foreground colors not being consistent with the base system color choices selected by the user. 5. Inability to get parts or be able to repair the device that you already own. 6. Selection of phone materials that do not align with the typical use case. For example, making the back of the phone out of glass. 7. Inability of the phone to work with whatever cell phone carrier I select. 8. A phone that does not keep up the the security patches and OS upgrades. Given how much we all have to DO with our phones today, it is too large a security risk to have a phone that lags behind. For now, after a long time of using iPhones and Samsung phones, the best drama free phone I can get, here in the US, is the Pixel phone series. I look forward to the day that Fairphones are shipping, from Fairphone, to the US. Keep up the good work!
@@kittencureIt didn't significantly degrade the battery on my Galaxy S9 I wirelessly charged it every night, for about 5 years, from when I got it new until I upgraded to a s23 and still holds an usable charge now.
I overall agree with your points, there is 2 points I call bullshit on tho : Comparing to your last product is just not how people buy things. you are not competing against yourself, you are competing against every other smartphone brands. And the camera over processing, at the end of the day, you're taking pictures of real things, and the goal should always be to make the picture as accurate to real life as possible. If people want to oversaturate for artistic style, they can do it in the editor, but it should never be the by default render.
Dude, there are a lot of places in this video Miquel says things like "is that what you want to do?" or "really Linus?" For a company that's about Right to Repair or user freedom, it's really not your place to judge the user. Y'all should try your best to give users the choice
but that's the thing though! Giving users choices requires making our own choices about what the Fairphone 5 can offer - and we've put in a ton of time to make balanced decisions that make the most of the hard- and software. We felt like Linus ignored most of that - so that's where the "really's" come in :)
He didn't ignore it, in fact your editors cut out several points where he addressed such choices so you could have Miquel explain it instead. What he is criticizing is those choices, he thinks some of them were just the wrong choice to make, like for example the choice of chip, I understand the long term software support was strong but other companies are now also offering long term updates that are as long as this but they do not make the same compromises on performance and battery life. @one Edit: Overall the "really's" and "is that what you want to do?" comments come off as unprofessional and to be honest with you it is disappointing considering how much it had seemed you had put users first. As someone who was looking into the fairphone, I agree with a lot of Linus's complaints, the battery simply isnt good enough for me with all of the work that I do and I really wish you all would listen more instead of acting passive aggressive and dismissive. This was your chance to show you were taking steps to fix these issues but now I'm not so confident you will.
@@Fairphone Sounds like you guys made some tough choices. I really like the phone and will definitely add it to my consideration pile once it's available in Canada. BUT, I'm going to be blunt with you, you came across EXTREMELY defensively in this reaction video. The problem is that being defensive doesn't make us feel like you care about criticism, even if it was a bit on the tough side. Not caring about criticism means you don't care about your customer's input and thereby them. For some of us a lot of his dealbreakers are legitimate issues. Your job in this video isn't to give us ANY "Really" comments with a sour look. Your job is to point out the positives the phone has, point out the changes that are coming and the things your thinking of for the future. If you don't know something (like they they played youtube for hours to test battery life, which by the way it's so that they can see how long it will stay on while performing a constant common task that people do), say that and that you are going to have some testing done for yourself and you'll post the results somewhere and then actually do that. Show us that you care about EVERYONE'S criticism, regardless of how harsh it is. As soon as you lose our respect, your nothing but another Samsung or Apple phone.
@@MrTheJeoffindeed he is very defensive. He's having a very good point saying that for a basic phone use, it's a good phone, but if you want more, it's probably not the ideal phone. And this shouldn't be something they should get defensive.
But seriously, does it make sense to trade-off anything (price, repairability, etc.) against having less tint from a 70 deg. angle of the display? Absolutely not, so its dumb to criticise that in a review.
fairphone 5 is the greatest phone anybody could get, imo. its greatest benefit, sustainability & repairability, outweighs all other cons. all silly modern fussiness aside, purchasing according to values and morals [in this case social and environmental] is such a massively important thing to consider that, to me, there simply is no other choice but fairphone. everything else is silly details that pale in comparison with the repairability and the sustainable manufacturing efforts. i'm glad fairphone still exists, and hope that will be the case in the future, and that more people will realise just how much the benefit of the sustainability & repairability outweighs all other cons- which are now more and more negligible compared to previous generations of fairphone.
What Linus said in the end, that he would recommend sooner that someone buy a used phone instead of the FP5, has a bit of merit. If you are a user who is comfortable with opening up glass backed phones and changing glued down batteries and is not looking to hold on to your phone for more than a couple of years - go ahead! Reuse is good! But then again, ethical concerns like where the lithium and cobalt for your battery is mined if you are replacing the old one in your samsung will not be addressed. Still, the FP5 is a phone you absolutely CAN use, you CAN repair and replace wear items like the battery, and you can trust the company is going to support it for years to come. To me it is a no brainer. (I don't have one YET, as my current and non-fair phone is alive and kicking. But I know what my next phone will be)
I've only changed phones because they stopped working or the charger port broke. Replacing those was 1/3rd of a new(ish) phone. Although I'd love to simply replace my usb port on my xiaomi 10 it was slightly more expensive to get a xiaomi 12. My phone before the xiaomi 10 was a Samsung where the power button fell off and before that I had a Huawei where the screen broke. I could have had the same phone now instead of buying 4 new ones
I love your concept and I wish big tech youtubers like MKBHD and Mrwhosetheboss gave you a 2023 prize, as the most sustainable phone. Also why care for a wireless charging? When you can simply open the case and change battery. It's instant 100%. You're a great company. Keep doing the good work. 👏
There was one part of this response by Fairphone which offended me quite a bit. The way Miquel responded to the problem with having to power the phone off for the SD card. It really made it feel like Fairphone will never consider the cases of some users. That one was pretty critical. I wish he had the same reaction to that as he did to the weak vibrator motor and loud notification sound. Those three, are really driving me away from buying the phone, which I want to do despite it not being available to me in the US.
I think, the phone/company on its own targets a niche part of the phone sector. If you then also need to include many specific things you will probably choose a smaller audience over a bigger one. It will cost something, maybe in space/battery or something else. So I get it completely. Also I think people using sd cards in general is decreasing a lot since default storage has gone up a lot.
@@uponpaulThe SD Card slot is amazing for copying files between PC and Phone due to how painfully slow transfers via USB from Phones are. I thought this was a problem from my phone which despite having USB3 connection would transfer at speeds bellow the USB2.0 spec. Recently I tried a Samsung S22 Ultra and a Pixel 8 and both have the exact same problem. On my phone I just need to take the SD Card out putting it on my PC or adapter and I can transfer files up to 90MB/s on my current SD card. I don't even need a SIM Tool or to turn off my phone to do so.
This SD card and SIM card placement behind the battery seem like an homage to old-school phones of the past. I don't think this cost-saving measure is something that should be resurrected. micoSD card swapping is needed if you take photos or videos with DSLR and then want to push them to Instagram or TikTok for example. SIM card swapping is a thing for many when traveling. Hoping seeing real-world use cases, helps Fairphone be fairer.
You seem a bit defense in areas that really do need improvement... I tried to like fairphone, but the small battery, crappy camera, and software felt incomplete :( especially at it's price.
I'll cut the guy some slack.. 100% Agree with the criticism tho, but I think when you're not avid content creator and doing off the cuff video like this... You'd be hard pressed to find more authentic reaction lmao. It's raw, and while they aren't reflecting great on spot, I do appreciate that it was still public, and I hope his able to reflect on the peoples critiques. I'm just imagining how many other creators would've scrapped the video when realizing it'd make them look bad. But again, actions speak louder than words so, only time will tell I suppose. From company stand point and of all the people working under them, I hope they succeed and get to making great product that reflects their vision and is more customer friendly.
An argument for the small battery is that you can carry a few of them in your backpack and pull one out when it dies, and charge them outside of the phone.
I would argue that Linus' review was not entirely in good faith. He complained about several things which are completely inconsequential, and comes across a bit whingy.
@@MorningNapalm That's Linus overall: a whiny-ass. It's why I can't take his opinions seriously. Really surprised he's as popular as he is with his overall demeanor.
I like the points you made in the video keep on improving. And I think its important how much you care about the ones working on the components of your devices, its really nice to see that. So good job.
Yo, wanted to say that I love the effort the company is putting into making something that should be industry shifting. I feel like you and Framework are working on similar points and are pursuing a similar objective. It's incredible thar you are still able to put in consumers' hands something that has high "environmental value" while still being perfectly usable and on par with some of the offers on the market. I completely understand that being able to fetch fair materials and components has to be a real pain because other competitors can just get their hands on better hardware just because of the lack of moral. This of course exposes you to some of the, I guess, founded critiques that Linus moves, he is the prototype of the consumer that could decide to go fairphone and do a favour to the environment and the people along the production line, but still has the ability to just go for Xiaomi / Oppo or whatever, sell is data and soul to big corpo and get a phone that is extremely competitive and (maybe) more aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately I am one of those guys as well (decided to go Motorola becauwe it wws cheaper). I wish your products could cost a bit less, but I guess, with how thigs are right now it must be hard to price it differently, especially if you want to pay your staff fairly. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for future updates and releases though. Cheers from Italy ❤
Even tho I would scream if the back button was for some dumb reason moved to the right side, I agree with having the option to move it, muscle memory is a real thing. Especially for navigation that you use all the time. But regardless I'm going to flash Calyx OS de-googled OS on it anyways that probably has that option.
I will be getting a Fairphone 5 for my mum whenever I can afford to do so. I love the cause of the company and she's not really a modern phone user anyway, but I'll finally be able to send her photos.
He literaly said he wants to support the cause and does not have a lot of money but he will still look forward to buy one for the mother, and you come here with even more expensive un-fair monopolistic garbage company device? Ignorance this days really has no borders.
Why? Not trying to be snarky or anything, I’m genuinely curious. With 1TB microSD cards available, I just can’t see a use case where somebody needs to switch cards on a regular basis
@@rpungelloI also would love to be able to change the card. I don't use a streaming service, I use MP3s (no subscription needed) and being able to transfer those, as well as videos I recorded on my phone to my PC without needing my phone to be completely tethered would be a game changer. Not too mention people who take lots of pictures for work being able to privately offload them as easy as it would be on a digital camera. Source: my mum does this for her job. Expandable storage is important to her.
@@rpungelloFastest data transfer until date? You can't really transfer files faster or more efficiently. Working with large amounts it gets proportionally easier if you transfer the data holder itself
@@rpungello if you shoot video with your phone and edit it on your PC (which isn't unreasonable given the recording quality on high end modern phones) being able to offload video quickly can be an advantage, and a reason to swap out SDs
If you're a Fairphone fan, you probably love this video. But if you don't already love Fairphone, this video is not converting you to be a customer. Very defensive, didn't really take feedback well. There are upsides to the Fairphone, but you can't just gloss over/deflect all criticism.
exactly, I'm not for or against fairphone, but not actually explaining the justification for their decisions is really turning me away. I know there are some sacrifices that must be made in such a repairable phone, but some others just seem excessive (like the lack of wireless charging because "they want more efficient charging", essentially just removing an option from the user)
@@izanefe4231 customers choice, you cant have everything you get from an 1400 Euro Unfair phone on a 700 Euro Fairphone. A brand can expect a certain level of intelligence from their customer base. If not, then this group is not their customer base. Simple.
@@vennemans9113 nobody is talking about €1400 Unfair phone. Unfortunately fairphone looks like its worse than €400 phones... used. (also helps the environment). I just wish they had a headphone jack and I would buy it in a heartbeat
Great response to a phone review - it's rare to see the phone manufacturer respond to these reviews and i love that you did this. I love having a phone that i don't need a cover for, since it is very durable and if anything should happen it is easily repaired - without chemicals, which i would consider a complication of the repair process.
while I agree that the FP5 is easier to replace the batter. I don't see why people are more concerned with the isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol) that's common use in cleaning, cleaning electronics, and cleaning injury's (though hydrogen peroxide and iodine are more common at this point). rather than the harder part I feel would be taking off the glued on back.
How often do you replace your battery ? I bet less often than changing your sim or micro SD card. So why making changing battery easier than changing micro sd card ?
Actually people who buy this type of devices buy two batteries to swap if neccessery, so yeah, a lot often then an sd card. And also, i do not care how easy it is to open a glued shut device to change the battery, prefere 100% the ability to open the device without any damage to the device structure.
On the early cell phones it was common to buy a spare battery and swap them out. You could even get charging stations that would charge the spare when it was removed from the phone. Its not as important now with battery improvements, but I miss having that option.
Because you can switch to a new battery when the current one run out of charge. And I think it's the reason why Fairphone is offering a free battery at new fairephone use actually
I have a Fairphone 4. The volume control is atrocious; everything is either super loud or quiet when I use headphones. It's like I can hear it jump across several noise levels. My choice right now is either developing tinnitus or not hearing my music. Idk. I love the mission you guys are on, but with a long standing issue like this that is still in your previous phone, I think it's a bit disingenuous to say that Linus' complaints can be fixed in software. Sure it can, but will you? Probably not, if my experience is anything to go by.
@@nathanruggles Of course it's the right place, because it's relevant. If they haven't fixed something like that on a phone they still support, why should we trust that they will in the future on another product? I wrote this comment months ago and it's still not fixed. Why should we believe that they'll fix anything inconvenient in software, when they pretty much never have? I can't release a buggy product and not fix it, then release another buggy product and just claim I'll fix it this time. History and context matters.
You've gotta understand that no matter how cool your mission is, if the phone is not very competitive, it won't sell. People are all for environmental friendliness up until it effects their daily life, so it makes sense most would go for a similar priced, better specced phone.
I think he is missing the point of the test. It's not that many would actually watch TH-cam for 10 hours. That was just a consistent way to test the phones battery with screen on and some CPU usage. A better response would be that the battery life is worse due to how it is removable and therefore less capacity for the same footprint. However, since it is removable, you can replace the battery when it starts to no longer last all day. Not something you can do easily with pixel.
@@JonSnyderfudge it's still not a good test, different types of work have a varying amount of impact on battery life based on the hardware that device has. This often results in circumstantial evidence especially considering different codecs, bitrates, bandwidth, memory, etc. For example, my phone has an ltpo screen so reading emails and browsing social media will have a drastically different impact compared to a device that has a more efficient decoder when it comes to VP9 but is stuck at 60fps. If the codec is for example AV1 or HEVC the battery life metrics could be very different on the same device. Etc The test only shows which device can play TH-cam the longest, it doesn't even include different video apps in that measurement.
you can't get mad at linus for being realistic instead of living in utopia. with that being said I gotta respect the efforts toward building something with a healthy vision.
I'm not saying linus was 100% fair, but this company really seems like they can't take feedback at all. Linus does make some good points and they are all very defensively replied to.
that's a bummer - didn't mean for it to come across like that. Of course we're all super passionate about our phone and our mission, but while sitting down with Miquel, we thought he was pretty balanced in agreeing and defending. Fair enough, though & thanks for watching!
I think they did a fine job at taking the feedback on. Maybe it's hustle that he had a reply for everything. But when you design everything in a phone you know the choices you made so was super interesting to here how they came out. Also given he made a list of things Linus said that they hadn't thought about I would say they are taking it on. Lastly I think a super point to make about what people are looking for when they buy a fair phone. Linus ain't looking for that when you could have best of the best and very tech savvy. To Linus it's all about the price to performance but at fair phone they add in sustainability as a big third factor
@@Fairphone I appreciate your taking the time to do the video in the first place and that you're active in the comments. I do think you make a good product, if I was in the market for a new phone I would consider it for sure.
Been looking at replacing my phone recently. The only reason I didn't buy a Fairphone was because I was looking for something just a tad smaller, to fit comfortably in my my limited pocket space. Otherwise, the Fairphone meets all the main bullet points anyone uses a smartphone for: Calls, Texts, Calendar, Alarm Clock, Weather app, Web-Browsing, Pictures (occasionally), and Music / Audiobook / Video Streaming. And it does it while keeping the phone repairable/upgradeable, and without overdoing it on high-performance, under utilized specs. Literally, my need for a smaller device, which is frankly a bit less capable compared to the Fairphone, is the ONLY reason I bought something else.
Arrogant replies like this don't accomplish anything. You've got an awesome product, but own up to the fact it isnt the fastest/prettiest/best phone for the price. Because that's not what your phone exists. Until right to repair movement goes mainstream, you'll always have a worse phone overall AND more expensive. Own up to it, don't bash a tech reviewer for saying the obvious, take the criticism on face value, make a better phone and because of your ethics you will come out on top. But not like this.
Please * add 3.5m * Make screen more bright * Bigger battery * Easy removal of sd card * Eventually make a midrange cheaper phone with 3.5m You cannot make a phone for everybody Please create 2 types I would like to buy a midrange phone which costs around 500 euro with 3.5m audio jack and sd card.
I moved from a Galaxy S20 to the fairphone5 and i am very happy with the performance. That we pay more for fair work conditions etc. Makes only sence. Instead of blaming fairphone for a relatively expensive phone, in my opinion the blame is to big brands for a relatively cheep phone. Thank you Fairphone for giving this great alternative choise and keep up the good work.
This guy doesn't seem to take constructive criticism very well, compare this guy to the CEO of the Nothig phone, they treat opinions very differently, it's not a great look in my opinion.
He actually took the few constructive criticism seriously, the bullshit (that was mostly Linus review) was not taken seriously, and for a good reason. In your opinion ir you are used to seeing a house size notch, because you are using apple iphone, then any device should have that? If you can't get used to simple gestures or button allience, then do not buy the device, but do not make your problem, to be others problem. I have no problem with stock android ways of navigation, and i find no reason as of why fariphone should take Linus claim seriously.
I think the criticism for the placement of the sim slot and sd card reader is pretty valid. I mean sure, you can argue that people won't be changing their cards that often but their are still a percentage that do for a practical reason. I don't really get what the compromise is if you had an external sim tray that can be accessed any time with a metal pin you could always take with you over the extra steps you'd have to do having it under the battery.
Rewatching the LTT review, I feel it completely missed the mark. The compromises it makes are a non-issue to me personally. I think this is comparable to the current GPU market. Nobody in their right mind buys a 4090. You just don't need one for normal day to day use. But having a 1500$ smartphone to be on social media is somehow normal.
This reaction comes of as way to defensive and nervous. While I feel Linus was rough, many points were fair. Especially on the battery life. Obviusly no one will be watching youtube for 10 hours, it's just used as a rought estimate of how different the two are in terms of battery life.
After seeing the Video about the "struggles" to produce a perfect, fair and repairable phone I have a big "heart" for Fairphone! The made a very good job, really like the concept, so happy to have a product on the market like this! I bought two Fairphones 5, for me and my dad, bouth our old phones are over 6 years old now, and not working very good anymore, very exciting to get the Fairphone 5 in some days!
How does Linus expect a privately held company (Fairphone) that has a net worth in the millions to compete with Samsung that has a net worth in the billions AND is subsidized by their national government? Fairphone only has been in the game since 2010, yet Linus wants Fairphone to compete with a tech giant phone that has had billions of dollars of R&D poured into it over the years? Easily removable batteries have been a HUGE request from tens of millions of people from all over the globe. Big tech won't do it for obvious reasons. Kudos to Fairphone for giving us the option to replace batteries and for being able to remove them from the handset for privacy/location tracking reasons. Most of Linus's complaints were personal preferences. The SIM slot location for example, was standard on older Nokia phones; in the back, underneath the easily removable battery. The only reason why people like Linus would want an exterior SIM slot side location is because he wants to switch phones all day long because he has so many of them. Most people have only one phone and that SIM always stays in there. Yes, like with any handset, there will always be room for improvement. While Fairphone is not the cheapest phone on the market, Fairphone cannot survive by giving away their phones for (U.S.)$100.00 just because it doesn't meet the specs and performance of a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Think of the price point of the Fairphone as an investment in competition, alternatives, choices, and the free market. That's something that Apple, Samsung, Alphabet (Google) and Microsoft are against.
in Greece, where I live, the phone costs €781.50 and only gives you a 2-year warranty. I'm sure that this is not your company's choice, but it's certainly what we Greeks thought when we went to make a profit from everywhere. also, accessories are nowhere to be found, I'm sure this is a deterrent to someone buying the phone.
I love the idea of Fairphone, a modular phone. I hope all companies follow their steps. I would like their product to reach Argentina, where I live, but I also appreciate that Linus Tech made that video, so you can see that they have things to improve. Ty
I'm also feeling that Linus is quite subjective here and overdoing some minor points. I'll probably try Fairphone at some point in the future, just not right now :) Keep the spirit going, I'm liking it very much 👍
Some items where i see a different aspect then you see. The biggest is that you see this review from linus in the light of the improvements you made from the FP 4 now to the FP 5. He reviews the phone from a more general & personal perspective. Where he criticizes gaming performance, this is not about playing games on your phone. This is a method of comparing the overall performance of the phone this is something you can extrapolate as programs and os updated become more demanding of the device. Where you want an amazing maybe overspec'd phone today so it is still great after those 6-8 years. I thought it was clear as this comparison was made after showing the relative responsiveness when even comparing it to the older samsung. And why dismiss his point about the battery life that is half of the pixel 8? "Oh the test that was run was bad for your mental health who actually wants to watch 10 hours of youtube?" This was pretty dismissive and some context here if you actually disagreed would have been nice. Criticizing his deal breaker for the backbutton position is kind of stupid honestly. It is obvious this is a divisive point in the community. Just remember the sony expedia phones and all the other strang things those phones had... Also Apple gets criticized heavily for similar problems, just because it feels like nit picking doesn't mean it is not valid. And his ideas in the end when comparing the repeatability of the FP5 to the samsung are not fundamentally wrong. If you would increase the complexity only slightly you might create a WAY more appealing phone. When some waterproofing could be introduced, or a slimmer phone was the result of a small compromise this would make the phone be more appealing to a way broader segment of consumers. As a someone waiting to buy a FP5 i really feel that these comments he made really are not that outragous, this phone when compared to other phones is expensive (for the right reasons ofcourse) while also compromising on what you are getting. I personally am willing to pay twice (price and product) for the cause but that does not invalidate the concerns he brings up.
Fair points all around - especially on the Fairphone 4 comparison. Miquel brought that up, because Linus reviewed that one quite favourably, while criticising the same things this time around. But you're right of course - we designed the Fairphone 5 to be an alternative for everyone who's looking for a phone right now, not (just) to top the best we could do in 2021. And while we don't agree with some of his points and find the overall take a bit one-sided, we don't mean to invalidate any of his concerns!
@@Fairphone "Fair points all around - especially on the Fairphone 4 comparison. Miquel brought that up, because Linus reviewed that one quite favourably, while criticising the same things this time around." Sure but you also raised the price and are competing in an even more developed market, phones have gotten more repairable as a whole so just having the best repairability isn't enough anymore.
So, it's all a bit less shit than Fairphone 4, that's the response. Ok And yes, I want to be able to watch TH-cam as long as possible without having to recharge my phone. I can't cope how stupid of a reaction this is. It actually tells me a lot about the company and their choices.
How often do you access the SD card? I'm a bit of an extreme case, but every few days, as I use my phone in conjunction with other things that the SD card is the only way to move data onto and off of them, and I use my phone as a download point and file manager when I'm not at home.
"Why are you measuring the thickness of the phone by the thickest part of the phone?" The camera bump is relevant. I have a pixel 8, and the massive camera bump made me throw a big thick case on it for some consistency in handling. The size of your phone is the size it is. That's okay if you're accomplishing your goals, just accept that. Also, the "10 hours of TH-cam" comment, it's about how long you get screen on and processor working on stuff, not specifically about TH-cam. Rather than doing what amounts to dunking on users habits, maybe just explain why your performance might be lower - difference in soc, battery limitations due to removability, and what you get in exchange for that sacrifice. Repairability is a great feature.
I think Fairphone did an awesome job! When taking everything into account, all the downsides actually have upsides as well. And I think they balanced them very well. LTT seems very dramatic for no reason, except for the views of course.
In the end it is mainly a video representing the opinion of Linus and why he don't keep it. Underpinned with quite a lot of data, so everyone can make their own picture.
We're really not out here with our pitchforks over his review :) Linus had some good points and can be as particular about his tech needs as he wants to be. It's just that he has a huge platform and this was a great chance to add our views on ethical electronics to the conversation
@one true, there is room for improvement for the FP5. But LTT's review was just low effort. It was almost as if he needed to vent some frustration and decided to take it all out on Fairphone. The quality of LTT videos have been going down for years now. They even stopped making videos to reconsider their content quality. It seems like they didn't stick to their new plan.
If I can get a proper response to my concerns here I promise I'll run out and buy a Fairphone 5 immediately, regardless of what the response is. I don't care at all about most of the stuff Linus looks at like problems. They mostly seem trivial. 1. Wireless charging is inefficient, BUT very useful and I use it every day. It could easily be integrated in the rear cover, and I hope you'll consider it. It's nearly a deal breaker, but I can get an adaptor for now. 2. Will you promise to keep working on what you can improve with software, based on customer feedback, for the duration of the support cycle? Not just keep it working, but keep improving it (like the volume thing, that seems really annoying)? 3. Truly ethical manufacturing in China isn't possible. It's just not. Even if you make sure the workers are treated and paid well, any taxes they or the manufacturers pay, WILL support an awful and suppressing regime. There are other nations that will manufacture a phone. Whilst I don't expect you to directly comment on the Chinese government, I hope you'll keep considering how you can improve the fairness in the manufacturing, not only considering the environment. I love your ideas and commitment, but there are still improvements to be made. That said, this is the only phone I'm willing to pay this price for.
@Miquel, It was your attitude and demeanor in this video that solidified my choice to buy a Murena FP5. Thank you, I received it today and it exceeded my expectations! With people like you stating honest facts, I am happy to support Fairphone. I just used Google instead of FreeTube to be able to post this comment. Have a good day Sir! (You made me laugh a few times with this video).
Linus really is quite terrible when it comes to review integrity, as has been repeatedly shown in the past couple of years. Specifically for the review, he makes a big deal of the tiny things and glosses over the USPs of the FP5. I proper LOLed when he said it's just as easy to reuse an old Samsung - you "just" have to remove the backplate (which isn't designed to be removed), and the battery (which isn't designed to be removed). And that's ignoring the several years out of date OS. How did someone so bad get so popular.
@@alextecplayzAnd for a Fairphone I need a Philips 00 screwdriver. For a Samsung I need a heatplate (have a hairdryer and a gasplate) I don't have isorpopyl alcohol only grappa and WD40 and contact cleaners, I also need those metal pinchers to remove many parts... I mean are they both servicable? Sure! But is Fairphone easier to service as being easy servicablity in mind? Definitelly PS.: As a test I have typed in Samsung phone camera replacement diagram into DuckDuckGo, and the first links were about phone repair locations and how I can book repair at Samsung. Not the diagrams, not the manuals you have just praised. No, Samsung is not locking out repair, but they sure not making it easy either.
@@TomNook., it's a niche market anyway. 99% don't care and would pay a professional to replace any component. Ok, with Fairphone everybody would replace the battery, but I don't think that many people would replace other components. Brake pads are easy to replace, yet very few people do it themselves. You also shouldn't overlook that the audience of LTT isn't just average people. Repairability is good, but it's not like other devices cannot be repaired at all. It's a trade off and it's totally valid to question if it is worth it to be able to repair a device easily vs paying a professional to do it in half an hour.
I love the idea of the fair phone. I've heard from various places they can be a bit more jank than some other larger manufacturers, or have less OS customization. For as much as I rely on my phone for many day-to-day tasks having it be rock solid, and customizable to optimize my time so I use it as little as possible is pretty important. I would likely have tried the fairphone 5 if It were out when I picked up my last phone (generally once every 4 years or so) I'm really hoping I can see an awesome product with strong customization in the OS and a real smooth operation when it comes to getting my next phone in a few years time. I love what you guys are doing here please keep up the awesome work you're doing to legitimately make this aspect of the world better.
There was some part of the Linus video missing. That was strange. Overall. Yeah. The comments under Linus video basically said the same thing. I like my Fairphone 5 very much and my wife likes her Fairphone 4 very much.
we left out the parts, where Miquel repeated himself or didn't have much to add - tried to get to the biggest points a bit quicker. Let us know if you have specific questions - we could dig through the rough cut and find some answers for you :)
@@Fairphone I think it's a bit weird as generally in today's age a "reaction" is someone watching and posting an unedited video of them watching and genuinely reacting to what they are seeing. This being edited is now a response video, not a reaction video. It plays and feels like a response video and unfortunately it's the kind of response video where we generally get a "sorry guys" video a week or so later.
I love my fairphone 3+, I like heavier phones with a metal feel, and sturdy as well since I work in automation. The fairphone company makes me excited to see what they will do next. Edit : Yes fairphone developing their launcher would be cool.
while it is true that the fairphone cannot be directly compared to a lot of other smartphones because of the added complexity of the fairness, repairability and longevity, a lot of linus' critisizms were pretty valid and were disregarded, while non-critisizms from linus were met with defensive answers. the choice of soc on the fairphone IS unorthodox, for the smartphone industry, and it wasnt portrayed as something negative. the reasoning to use the soc were explained by linus too and not in a negative way. but i still appreciate that some of the issues adressed are things youre working on or will be noted
Great response to Linus, his review is controversial and Unfairohone! But that's Linus! I wish the big smartphone companies would do more in making their EXPENSIVE not-so-smartphones eco friendly!
3:44 Haha. 😂 6:40 I agree, I do think it's more sensible to default to a usable 60Hz, especially with your goals in mind. Users who want more, will have no issue changing it in the settings. 16:13 That's very noble and I also think it would be great if things can be repaired more often instead of just throwing things away and _needing_ to buy different products. I would generally be interested in such a phone, but my issue is that they are too big. That's a general issue I have with the current market, but it would be great if a
I find problems with right or left return button also as big and deletion of google widget, we can do everything with hardware but not with software? Its not a deal breaker but something that can be fixed in future updates
I do feel like the techie youtubers are a little too high flying with features and frankly are spoiled by endless free tech. Im a boue collared man and repairability and something NOT MADE OF DAMN GLASS is important to me. This is pretty much everything I wanted in a phone and ill be buying mine soon!
I mean yeah it can be said that many of the things Linus criticised were nitpicky or maybe not an important issue at Fairphone but idk the way it was addressed in this video wasn't the best imo. A lot of the criticism was simply dismissed even tho it was showing that other phones were performing way better. I mean yeah maybe you shouldn't be looking at youtube for 10 hours and yeah maybe this was a very specific use case test but i mean it still shows something about the phone and it performed poorly. No point in denying that.
The criticism on the SD and SIM cards not being able to be removed unless the battery is out is valid. If you travel a lot internationally, the SIM needs to come out often; or if you often transfer a lot of data to and from your device (productivity feature); having to take the battery out complicates the swap operation in a couple of ways: 1) You only know if the SIM or SD card is installed properly after powering the device back on -- you don't get immediate feedback. The process of diagnosing a hardware issue with this device requires several boot cycles and an hour or more of time where a device with a quick ejection tray which I can test multiple SIMs and SD cards in a few minutes. 2) If I am looking to transfer files from the SD card to my laptop, removing the SD card creates a period where I am not reachable on my phone by anyone. Given that I am going to be reinstalling the SD card back on the device after completing my data transaction, I personally wouldn't both installing the battery back in the device immediately because that would quite frankly be a waste of time. 3) It increases the number of events where the user handles the battery of the device. I get that one of the biggest points of the Fairphone is that this is a simple operation that increases the longevity of the device, but mechanical operations concerning lithium ion or like material batteries should be minimized wherever possible. I don't know how the interior of the battery on your device is set up, but if I had to guess you've used solder, which in my experience working with batteries of the like is often brittle and leads to all kinds of failures. This is a failure in your design that will force users to buy batteries more often.
As a European man, this guy is painfully European... Just own up to the criticisms which are valid instead of rolling your eyes and going "but it's repairable"
There is no point in making a "Fair" Phone if nobody will buy it because it's subpar. People will just buy a second hand phone with a replaced battery which is better for the environment and the pocket.
"subpar" in your world, i.e. your priorities. They cannot be generalized. If my top priorities are fair production, repairability, google free, then Fairphone 5 with Mureno is above par...
Something that really bothers me about the peoples' response to this video is that I think almost all of it is miss-understanding from cultural differences in how Europeans vs Americans express themselves. I've spent a significant amount of time with both cultures, and can see how this would rub them the wrong way. If you have had such a reaction, I suggest re-watching it while ignoring all manerisims, tone, and turn-of-phrase. Instead focus on what is actually said. At that point I think you'll find that ALMOST everything that people are objecting to is gone.
I work in a company where we work as maintenance technicians, we are often on construction sites and our smartphone hardly lasted more than a year. I recommended this smartphone to our manager and he took it for all employees, we have already changed a screen, but in general it is very durable. Well done for making such a product.
It must be amzing give evreyone a company phone that you acn fix and send back in a day not wait 15 days cause of the delivery chain
Jj@@Ghfvhvfg
FairPhone did a much better job at convincing me to NOT get a FairPhone 5 than Linus... because I'll still be using my FairPhone 3 for years.
Let's gooo :)
Absolutely gigachad
Serious question. How often do they release new phone versions? 3, 4, 5...
I mean... If they say the next one will have a better screen and will have half the width with wireless charging... I would jump to the next phone. What to do with my previous one?
Can I use the Fairphone 4 components in the Fairphone 5? Otherwise, is this going in the trash bin?
No, you send it back and they will reuse it
Because they cheaped out and skimped on everything they could after the FP3. The dropped TRS jack wasn't anything but being ~courageous~ enough to remove it.
The sole fact that I can replace the battery like the old days on a modern smartphone... I'm sold.
When I bought my Fairphone 3, I was aware of most of the compromises I would have to make and I do not regret buying it. However, I want you to understand that, from my user perspective, Fairphone 5 is not in competition to Fairphone 4. It is in competition to all regular phones out there. Earlier Fairphone models should not be the main benchmark when you are designing your next phone. In the past better often was not good enough but just less bad, unfortunately.
that's a good point - and watching it back now, I can see why it comes across that way. Miquel mainly brought up the Fairphone 4, because Linus reviewed a bunch of things favourably in that video and criticised them this time around. But true, of course we're trying to be an alternative for everyone looking to by a phone right now and not compared to the best we could do in 2021 :)
@@FairphoneI can see why his view changed though. The world has moved on and technology has advanced since the FP4 came out. Something that was great, or even just good then is behind now. The industry, and with that what the average (not issue focused) buyer is expecting from a device. Every year we use our phones for more and more things. Something on the order of 78% of phone users in the US and Canada play at least one game per day on their phone, so the perspective of Linus is going to come from that US/Canada perspective.
@@DerekKnopI also see movement in how people talk about phone repairability/ support life/ sustainability
If your Fairphone 3 is good for you, keep it and make it run.
However, after two iteractions, I was hoping that spending three times the price for a budget phone would deliver better performances with higher durability and top notch repairability.
According to the reacting video, performances were compared to 8 year older device with less ram and was on par with that.
So maybe it's more resource wasting, but buying 2 budget phone will allow me to use them for 6-8 years, immobilize less money and maybe have a better phone after the first one.
IMVHO Fairphone miss the point of... smartphone if the new device is not crushing a 8 year old flagship with less performance hardware...
@@GsrItalia why are you comparing it to a budget phone? the concept of the Fairphone is not only to make it the cheapest per silicon chip... it is fair for everyone involved, so if you're fine with children mining lithium for your batteries and assembly line workers making maybe a livable wage, that's your choice and the Fairphone is not for you!
and you're asking for top notch repairability, it's pretty clear that no other mainstream manufacturer makes repairable phones, so yes it is top notch. What's not durable about the fairphone?
I think this video is a developers at blizcon kinda thing. These are people who are really passionate about that they do, but aren't the most PR trained
This video focuses a lot of comparing the 5 to the 4, and obviously the 5 is going to be better than the 4 - I’d be surprised if it wasn’t. But the phone doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and unfortunately while it’s better than the previous gen it’s not quite at the level of its competitors especially at the price point.
It would have been better to explain why the phone is, for example, heavier than the competition and how it’s a trade off for repairability or any other reason instead of just leaving it at “6% better than last gen”. Some more insights into why the phone falls behind other options available on the market would have been good to see and would have led to a lot less negativity.
Best of luck in the future though, and I can’t wait to see what the fairphone 6 and onwards will be like.
I totally agree here.
Simply acknowledging that the phone slightly lags behind compared to other major companies due to their massively bigger sales and more aggressive exploitation would have been just honest. Fairphone, being more of a niche product, cannot compete in this way.
But that doesn't diminish the outstanding product at all! It's still a fantastic phone, close to the top performance wise, WITH ALL THE IMPORTANT BENEFITS. I want my phone to last 10+ years. I want workers to be paid and a conscious handling of our environment.
The response was too butthurt.
Sadly in some way, Fairphone exists in a vacuum, appart from Fairphone and Shiftphone I know of no other Phone manufacturer that can be trusted with creating a phone fair-ish and repairable, if you care about those things, there is no competition, I would love for the Pixels and Samsungs to be produced fair, but since I draw the Line at ignoring fair labour the two phones, FP5 and Shiftphone 8 exist in a vacuum
yes it is, it actually is far superior to its competitors if you value what fairphone brings to the table. if you dont, get another phone
Thing is if i need a screen or a battery for my Samsung S21 it can be done in shop up the street and my old 5 year S21 still shits all over the new fairphone and battery still works at 89% of new. So why would I not just get a used S24 ultra next?
@@federicorubionavarro3399If u take out battery and screen repairs which can be done what else is there to value?
YOU GUYS ACTUALLY CREATING A TREND
that phones should be more repairable
phones should have more than 5 years of software support
phone parts should be readily availible for the users to end of life
Phone should have removable sd card slot i dont know why are they removing it
headphone jack should be there but no one uses wired headphones except me and i dont have problem with the dongle
KEEP ON DOING THAT AND ONCE IT RELEASES IN INDIA I WILL BUY IT
Their removing SD cards so you can't own anything that's not on a cloud. Pay pay pay pay pay. Pretty soon we'll all just give up on smartphones. I'm close
@@Mixmastermez and all those ai llm shit for galaxy they are going to make even the basic software and os paid
The vibration strength could 100% be a deal breaker for many people, I can see that.
Yeah, that is an issue, the problem would be tough, is the vibration weak on all drvices or it happened to be on Pinus, his device only? That is why such claims are again, to be taken with a frain of salt.
The three phones I've had somewhat recently I'll have different kinds of vibration and some of them are not as good.
I always miss calls with my no-fairphone. Hate it.
@@kaptn_kapton well then get a new phone
@@kaptn_kapton no one is forcing you to keep it. (Also nine one one exists if you need help)
Potential customers compare Fairphone 5 with other commercially available phone and NOT the Fairphone 4
Update since this comment made it to reddit
I signed off one of my replies to this comment as "random dude on the internet". Don't drag Fairphone for something they didn't do. Lololol
The Fairphone 5 seems like a solid phone and i absolutely love the vision.
However, maybe I do want to browse youtube for 10 hours on my off days (and i have)
When I'm in bed i may not be able to put my phone on the "ideal" viewing angle, so the yellow tint is a problem.
Also, a user not being allowed to change the position of the back button ironically is more restrictive (and annoying) when the hardware of the phone is easily accessible.
I do think that it is a good idea to not over focus on mobile games. And again, i love that it is so environmentally friendly. Not having wireless charging isn't a deal breaker idgaf, I can also get used to the bezels and maybe the thickness.
IMO just from the specs and Linus' review on the phone, Fairphone 5 seems like a good phone that needs the software updates to fix whatever can be fixed via the updates and a change in the screen.
That's it for the unwarranted opinion of some random dude on the internet
we appreciate your opinion, random dude on the internet! Taking notes here
Wow, such a degrading and salty response to a valid point from FP. As much as I support your cause, this is just plain bad marketing.
@da8576 that's how he signed off his message, check his last sentence - we were sincere 😅
Missed that part, thank you for pointing that out. At least this might help others see it's not the case. Still I can't shake the salty feeling out
of this video. I understand you might feel bad when genuine criticism comes to your work of passion, but handling it well goes a long way too.
I think Linus's point about the back button and google search not being movable is that most people don't want to use a different launcher, and your response that "you are free to download any launcher" is not a very good solution. Every time I have switched to a different launcher, they are riddled with other issues that drive me just as bonkers. Just get the stock launcher right in the first place so nobody has to switch to a different one.
And I have been able to move the back button on every phone I have had. I am pretty sure it is a default option on android, (Edit: OK so moving them is not the default option) and you stopped to respond to the running apps thing as a "stock android" thing, so why were the buttons changed to be worse?
I am completely with Linus on the back button, I like it on the right side so I don't have to reach across the phone with my thumb. This is why the option to move them exists on other phones...
You are right though, there were a lot of comparisons that he made that I'm thinking, "ok, so". I think he is being extra critical of the phone because he wants you guys to succeed so much. So take it to heart.
This was a weird reaction to watch. This isn't the entire Linus video, just snippets, they actually skipped over quite a few things that Linus praised the phone about, like the power button with included finger print sensor.
Back button position isn't a default option in Android, OEMs themselves have to implement support for it, which is engineering resources they may not be able to prioritise with other issues to resolve, and the general market push to gesture nav Google is working towards.
The search bar placement is a GMS (certification) item, hence Miquel referencing breaking contracts with Google. Custom launchers aren't bound by the same agreement
@@MrTheJeoff I was surprised he didn't talk about the audio problems. It would have been a opportunity for them to correct Linus, or be honest. Instead they cut that part. It was a weird watch indeed.
@@JasonBayton Every phone I have encountered has the option to move the buttons around so I guess I assumed that it was the default option. Maybe it was and it changed.
Same with the google bar being a contractual thing. I have been able to move or remove it from all my phones... again maybe it changed recently. It's too bad they even have to be in a contract to have google on the phone but I suppose that will keep it competitive.
I think the main audience for this phone would be more willing to change the launcher, but they shouldn't be relying on that.
@@procrastinatingnerd hasn't changed in recent history, but OEMs can and do offer it, particularly those in the East.
For the search, any OEM that ships with the Google launcher can't change it, but they can choose to ship with their own custom implementation, referring back to Miquel's comment on doing a Fairphone one.
The license agreement grants access to Google apps and services, you could ship without (they offer /e/OS after all) but it loses mass market appeal indeed
I find it HILARIOUS that people can really compare the cost of this phone to the cost of other phones.
It’s the same as comparing a well paid employee made dress to one produced in a sweatshop. If it’s not affordable for you right now then that’s fair enough, but it’s the other phones which are dirt cheap through exploitation. This is the cost that a phone is meant to be.
Agreeeed
If every phone would add their environmental and social cost of manufacturing and usage/repair, they would be 10 times more expensive.
@@krutikattige8340 which means you're to used to exploration which is fine but don't think it's norm
Definitely agree that Linus was nitpicking a lot on the Farphone 5. I do agree that having strong vibrate on a phone is key, so glad to see you took that one seriously. Sounds like other things such as volume/screen brightness can be solved with updates which is good to hear too!
The only thing left is to get into the US market. ;) I know fairphone 4 is there but with only 2-3 years of updates left, it doesn't make sense for me to buy it now. I'd much rather buy soon after release so I can take advantage of that long update cycle, replacing parts when needed.
Lastly.. if someone did truly need more than 10 hours of youtube... you should point out that they can swap to a fresh battery in seconds lol. BAM! Another 10 hours of youtube right there.
Give me a fucking headphone jack and I'll buy it in a heartbeat.
Sony phones have headphone jack and micro SD card slot. Also It has most of the things other phones have!
@@CharllesC78The problem with Sony phones is that they only have two years of software support.
get Xperia
If you're in Europe you can get a Gigaset phone. They have many of the repairability advantages of a Fairphone without the high price tag. OK they dont have the Fair sourcing that Fairphone does. They do have user swappable batteries and good spare part availability.
For non-Samsung phones with a headphone jack, I think the Zenfone is a good option.
I'm hoping by the time I have to replace my Pixel 7, the Fairphone 5 or 6 comes out to the U.S. !
- I'm aware Fairphone sacrificed the headphone jack on the 5, but don't get rid of the micro SD card slot on the 6! :)
Yeah that's my plan too! I had to get a new screen for my pixel 7 pro because it failed right after the warranty.
@@Nautical_CyclistJesucristo te ama arrepiéntete de tus pecados y ten perdón de pecados en Su Nombre
While not official, You already can buy in the U.S. off of Amazon via third party providers.
Replace after your pixel dies (better for environment )
@@adityadubey177 I will by the time support ends by 2027.
I think you should be a little less defensive. I'd buy a Fairphone if it had a headphone jack, no holepunch camera, uniform bezels (I don't care if they're big) and at least 120hz. The ability to hot-swap TF cards is useful for people who do a lot of video or who listen to mp3s.
Measuring a device thickness in my opinion should always include the camera bump. No question. You can't say "my car is 2.3 metres wide if you don't count the wheel arches" because that's literally part of it.
As for "you're calling a deal-breaker something that can be solved in a monthly software update", you should never buy something for what it can be, only what it is.
The ability to swap the back and multitask buttons is something I would need. Having them with the back button so far away is just not ergonomic.
Linus' point about the Samsung being easy to repair is totally wrong. There's no question that Fairphone is easier. Is a Framework laptop as seamless as a MacBook? No. There's got to be a compromise. That's the nature of it.
Your whole "thank you for the airtime" seemed really petty and like you had a personal grudge against a reviewer for doing their job. Do you really think many people will buy a Fairphone after such a hard-hitting review? I was going to and after seeing the problems he had I decided against it even though I firmly believe in the mission.
Try to do this kind of thing with a more open mind. It felt like you were kinda acting stroppy in this video and it's really off-putting when your company is A+ otherwise. I hope it improves in the future.
Tbh redmagic has made phones with an under display front camera so there doesn't have to be a hole punch, but it seems to be a pretty new thing so far. Maybe the Fairphone 6 would have it but idk.
@@Vulcannyx I'm using an ROG Phone 7 Ultimate right now. Been using ROG since 2019. I swear they just get everything right for me, I just wish they were easier to repair.
@@mitchib1440 I find it weird you complained about it not having uniform bezels and later saying you have a ROG Phone 7 Ultimate. I was already going to ask you which phone you have, because the only phones in the whole universe that have had uniform bezels and still have to this date* are the iPhones. It always baffles me how any other company couldn't replicate this yet.
* Edit: apparently this is no longer the case
@@LinuxIsNotAnOperatingSystemoh sorry, I mean top and bottom. I don't care if the sides are different. As long as top and bottom are the same thickness, and left and right are the same thickness. My bad, I should've been clearer with that.
iPhones are probably the worst at the moment with their ridiculous camera cutout. To me, that's even worse than having a massive forehead and chin. I hate displays that have a hole punch or a notch or any other display intrusion. I'd genuinely rather have fat bezels.
I want to be able to turn my phone to landscape and have the entire screen still be symmetrical. If you have a giant pill-shaped cutout on one side then that's not symmetrical and would annoy me so much when watching videos. I'm honestly amazed that Apple still hasn't solved that one.
@@LinuxIsNotAnOperatingSystem sorry? my nothing phone 1 and a LOT of samsung's current lineup of phones have even bezels
I have the fairphone 4 and love it. It performs perfect for a normal person who needs a phone. I don’t need a supercomputer. I get worn out by tech reviewers and specs. People who bought this phone did for a different reason….appreciate the reaction and ownership of device’s performance.
For reference this phone costs £500 in the UK
You can also get for £500
Pixel 7a
Other last gen flagships
Issues with this response:
- Talks about efficiency loss from wireless charging but it still should be included for the price you are paying.....
- For the SD card complaint, even if YOU only need to do it once it doesn't mean others may have different uses. They may want to constantly back up photos via SD or maybe they shoot with a camera and want to see the photos on a phone. But using a cable is still possible so this isn't much of an issue.
- The bezels. Is this guys only comparison to the last phone they made. This must be the stupidest non response ever, pretty much a theme through this video that he's oblivious to the actual market and other phones. "Works really well" he says lolllllll.
- The thinness and weight are all valid criticisms that he glosses over, no one cares if your phone is lighter than the last one you made... You buy a phone to use the phone and thinness and lightness are all factors of long term usability. Sure your phone is repairable but what's the point when it's laggy and cumbersome to even use.
- TH-cam playback is a standard test to check battery life, but this guy thinks like using your phone regularly not on TH-cam will give better results. 10 hours sucks.
- Performance wise, I can't begin to think if this guy doesn't get the criticism or is he just stupid. The whole point in this review is this phone doesn't make sense at its price point. Used old phones are more ethical and PERFORM BETTER. Why the fuck do you need a £600 phone when you only need email and calls. The main market segment for this phone really seems to be for people who break their phone regularly or they are stupid. Even eco mentalists will know that old phones are more sustainable than creating new e-waste. Unless your only business is to virtue signal with your "ethically sourced phone" I can't find a reason to buy this phone for that price.
- The software gripes and issues. I'll give them slack here, software as a whole is very subjective to people so Linus's issues may seem like non issues to other people so I won't comment. But the bugs need to be gone.
Overall I just want to say this, what makes a phone good is entirely subjective. But for this price, the bugs and performance issues are not a good sign. If you just want a phone to call and email then get an old phone. Why create more junk when there are already phones out there that can satisfy your needs.
In my experience Android does not handle the removal or insertion of an SD card while powered on very well.
@@zulu02280Maybe you had bad experiences. Android treats Sims and SD cards the same even on hot swap, I've never had issues. Again that's just me.
@@zulu02280 removal not so much since in my phone I need to press eject if I want to do it while on but I never have problem with inserting it while on
"Sure your phone is repairable but what's the point when it's laggy and cumbersome to even use." If you don't value repairability over other things, then it is OBVIOUSLY not the phone for you. FP very very very clearly states that it puts repairability and sustainability over other qualities. So to compare it to other phones without even including those categories in the comparision is stupid. Also, the impact FP has on the market is to include those categories in people's decision making, it's to give them visibility so large companies are forced to take them into account. Because I don't know if you have any experience with this, but fixing an iPhone is an extreme pain in the ass. You need 4 different screwdrivers, isopropyl alcohol, a heat pad, pryers, replacament sealant tape, etc etc. If you prove people are willing to pay for these things, you are making a difference long-term. Also, second hand phones usually last like 6 months: they are second hand for a reason, people got rid of them.
The Pixel 7a is also pretty repairable by the way. I'd say every families' "IT Guy" could and would.
The back button thing is definitely valid criticism. It's a simple thing and almost every phone allows reordering them, so the user should not have to re-train 10+ years of muscle memory. And then you just roll your eyes as a response...
But as I understand this is something that is just not there in stock android so you should complain to Google, e.g. Samsung that allows that has a highly customized android.
I have to agree, even though I own a fairphone, my workphone buttons are switched around....
@@99MrX99 : That would be a fair remark. Much better than just rolling his eyes like the presenter did...
It’s nitpick at best. When gestures replaced buttons that wasn’t a life ending problem. It’s very low stakes to tap a different part of the screen. It’s also something that can be patched in software updates very simply.
Actually it is not, and who the h, still uses buttons in 2024? I mean, never heard of gestures? It takes like a day to get used to them, and the screan will thank you for getting rid of buttons therefore getting rid of the main culpit of screen burn-ins. Anyway, why in the world would faiphone be responsible to implement something that samsung felt the need to implement to look different? Is is like accusing samsung of not having a huge notch like iphone, because well, you got used to it, so every device should have one... if your memory is so stiff that it can't adapt to other means of software navigation, well do not use the device but do not make a problem of yours being a problem of others. Linus is always mainly scratching the surface and his reviews are plain boring mostly and biased, but his review of fairphone is blatened and pointless, almost like a kid that cannot accept that there are other motives and usage of a device then his own. This is not how you review a device. But well, 99 ٪ of so called "reviewers" are plain biased and have no essence whatsoever, pure trash, influencer like, more then anything.
a FairPhone might not me my cup of tea. But as for someone like my dad who dose construction work. I can see the fairPhone being a way better option. Especially for those who just wanna use their phone to make calls, text, take pictures and play some basic games. I am so recommending the fairphone to my dad. Keep up the great work FairPhone.
Honestly I use my phone a lot, I watch videos and I'm on social media a fair bit, and the FP5 is perfect for that! It's not at all a phone that's just suitable for calls, texts, pictures and some basic games-- though I don't really play any mobile games myself. The FP4 wasn't for me, I looked into it about a year or so ago, the screen quality was the main dealbreaker for me (seeing as I like to watch movies & such on my phone), but I did end up making the switch when the FP5 came out. I had to slightly downgrade in a few aspects of it compared to my old phone (and upgrade in orders) but I've concluded I can live with that if it means having a phone that lasts a long time and is easily repairable if it breaks. It's a personal consideration and not everyone's phone habits work out with every model, I'd say I'm lucky that I'm not all that interested in mobile games at all, because that means the FP5 works out really well for me 😄
Great that you decided to respond, but along with some other guys say, you gotta be a bit careful with defensiveness. You got an amazing product, some of your responses are spot on and some are a bit passive aggressive "who watches TH-cam for 10h" "really, Linus" "you use your phone at this angle?" there aaaaare better ways to respond to this 😅
I have a fairphone 5, and love the mission
Exacty there are flights which is over 10h, and most of us while flying watch content on their phone. So it was also valid!
@@Tomas970506True, but on the fairphone you can pop out the battery and put in a fully charged one. Not saying it's ideal, just not a super common use case.
Also I'd like to use my phone for 2 or more days on a single charge. That comes in handy on trips and camping. Sure I can pack a powerbank but it'd be nice not to have to.
Why does the fairphone have such poor battery life? It's got a big battery and a weaker processor than the Pixel, yet it only lasts half as long.
It can only come down to software optimisation. They really have to work on that part. Google and other manufacturers have that part locked down pretty much.
THIS
@@Tomas970506Surely if you're on a flight for over 10 hours, your seat will have a charging port?
I'm disappointed that the bit about the phantom headphones was cut out. Do better.
The edits were pathetic tbh.
That was likely due to Linus having a prototype
This was a bad PR flex. Most of LTT´s concerns are fair and very important for potential buyers, seeing the product manager dismiss most of them, makes me not wanting to go with them.
For the wireless charging, would it be possible to do something like the Samsung Note 3 did? You could buy a new back cover that had the wireless charging coil built in. It had pins on the case and metal pads on the phone so if you wanted wireless charging you could just buy a new back cover and if you didn't, you already had everything you need.
i added wireless charging to a $100 nokia with a $15 adapter card plugs into c port and sticks to back under case
@@rustyholt6619 Oh man, I remember doing that to an old Sony Xperia phone! It worked but didn't last for long as it was sandwiched between the phone and a case and I often used the USB port for file transfer, so the thin ribbon cable to the charging pad snapped :(
I think the point is more that they do not support wireless charging efficiency as a whole at this stage - it is too inefficient and, therefore, wastes too much energy.
Wireless charging wasts energy. Charging via cable is much more efficient. And plugging something in takes no effort at all, unless you're lazy.
If a phone wants to be green, wireless charging is just out.
@@bzuidgeest LMFAO
You can have wireless charging coil on the back cover and still have it removable, like Samsung Galaxy S5 did years ago
Samsung was the GOAT back then....I remember people still carrying around s3's almost a decade after it came out
Fairphone: You don't need that anyways.
It's a question of priorities.
they're not not totally wrong
@@Saxziton but i dont see how that is a good way to convince people buying your phone
Not meant to be haha just an excuse (a valid one tbf) and they're convincing people in a different way I mean all of the compromises are pretty straightforward and due to the limitations of the whole process that makes the phone special @@zehfisch2053
Well, that is also the point. Per the nature of the current tech landscape, every year every brand has a new phone with minor updates just to have yet another model on the market. Bigger, better, faster, longer..! As a result of that (and the online review landscape) people are focusing on the tiniest things with a magnifying glass because how else would you compare between the bajillion models out there. And it all gets very nitpicky which can be interesting but do we actually *need* all that, usually no, not really.
The "Do I *actually* need that?" question could (and should) be applied to so many things in our lives though...
What makes a Great Phone?
In my case, it is a phone with no drama.
What is drama?
1. Features that don't work, but are advertised to work.
2. Performance that is uneven. It does not have to be instant, but if the response time to something changes, each time to try to use it, that is a fair.
3. User interfaces that are not consistent in the size of text based on the size preference selected by the user.
4. Background and foreground colors not being consistent with the base system color choices selected by the user.
5. Inability to get parts or be able to repair the device that you already own.
6. Selection of phone materials that do not align with the typical use case. For example, making the back of the phone out of glass.
7. Inability of the phone to work with whatever cell phone carrier I select.
8. A phone that does not keep up the the security patches and OS upgrades. Given how much we all have to DO with our phones today, it is too large a security risk to have a phone that lags behind.
For now, after a long time of using iPhones and Samsung phones, the best drama free phone I can get, here in the US, is the Pixel phone series.
I look forward to the day that Fairphones are shipping, from Fairphone, to the US.
Keep up the good work!
It should be possible to integrate wireless charging into the battery cover. Samsung did it years ago when the batteries were removable.
Wireless charging significantly degenerates battery lifespan. I am not sure that many people really care about it.
@@kittencureIt didn't significantly degrade the battery on my Galaxy S9 I wirelessly charged it every night, for about 5 years, from when I got it new until I upgraded to a s23 and still holds an usable charge now.
@@cobrapond How do you know?
The back button was actualy a problem. I got used to it, but it was an inconvenience.
I switched my navigation mode to gestures instead, so it's never bothered me because I can swipe from either side of the screen to go back ☺️
@@josephmorris1248 it's good to know that's supported. I genuinely had no idea whether that was a pixel exclusive or not.
I am actually surprised if I see people actually using these button(s).
Left? Right? Nope, swipeit it is.
Probably something that can also be added in future feature update
@@huffy7412It's standard on every android phone i bave ever used in the last 5 years
I overall agree with your points, there is 2 points I call bullshit on tho :
Comparing to your last product is just not how people buy things.
you are not competing against yourself, you are competing against every other smartphone brands.
And the camera over processing, at the end of the day, you're taking pictures of real things, and the goal should always be to make the picture as accurate to real life as possible.
If people want to oversaturate for artistic style, they can do it in the editor, but it should never be the by default render.
Dude, there are a lot of places in this video Miquel says things like "is that what you want to do?" or "really Linus?"
For a company that's about Right to Repair or user freedom, it's really not your place to judge the user. Y'all should try your best to give users the choice
but that's the thing though! Giving users choices requires making our own choices about what the Fairphone 5 can offer - and we've put in a ton of time to make balanced decisions that make the most of the hard- and software. We felt like Linus ignored most of that - so that's where the "really's" come in :)
He didn't ignore it, in fact your editors cut out several points where he addressed such choices so you could have Miquel explain it instead. What he is criticizing is those choices, he thinks some of them were just the wrong choice to make, like for example the choice of chip, I understand the long term software support was strong but other companies are now also offering long term updates that are as long as this but they do not make the same compromises on performance and battery life. @one
Edit: Overall the "really's" and "is that what you want to do?" comments come off as unprofessional and to be honest with you it is disappointing considering how much it had seemed you had put users first.
As someone who was looking into the fairphone, I agree with a lot of Linus's complaints, the battery simply isnt good enough for me with all of the work that I do and I really wish you all would listen more instead of acting passive aggressive and dismissive. This was your chance to show you were taking steps to fix these issues but now I'm not so confident you will.
@@Fairphone Sounds like you guys made some tough choices. I really like the phone and will definitely add it to my consideration pile once it's available in Canada.
BUT, I'm going to be blunt with you, you came across EXTREMELY defensively in this reaction video. The problem is that being defensive doesn't make us feel like you care about criticism, even if it was a bit on the tough side. Not caring about criticism means you don't care about your customer's input and thereby them. For some of us a lot of his dealbreakers are legitimate issues. Your job in this video isn't to give us ANY "Really" comments with a sour look. Your job is to point out the positives the phone has, point out the changes that are coming and the things your thinking of for the future. If you don't know something (like they they played youtube for hours to test battery life, which by the way it's so that they can see how long it will stay on while performing a constant common task that people do), say that and that you are going to have some testing done for yourself and you'll post the results somewhere and then actually do that. Show us that you care about EVERYONE'S criticism, regardless of how harsh it is. As soon as you lose our respect, your nothing but another Samsung or Apple phone.
@@MrTheJeoffindeed he is very defensive. He's having a very good point saying that for a basic phone use, it's a good phone, but if you want more, it's probably not the ideal phone. And this shouldn't be something they should get defensive.
But seriously, does it make sense to trade-off anything (price, repairability, etc.) against having less tint from a 70 deg. angle of the display? Absolutely not, so its dumb to criticise that in a review.
Thic bezels absolutely rock! *Much* *more* practical in daily usage.
fairphone 5 is the greatest phone anybody could get, imo. its greatest benefit, sustainability & repairability, outweighs all other cons.
all silly modern fussiness aside, purchasing according to values and morals [in this case social and environmental] is such a massively important thing to consider that, to me, there simply is no other choice but fairphone. everything else is silly details that pale in comparison with the repairability and the sustainable manufacturing efforts.
i'm glad fairphone still exists, and hope that will be the case in the future, and that more people will realise just how much the benefit of the sustainability & repairability outweighs all other cons- which are now more and more negligible compared to previous generations of fairphone.
What Linus said in the end, that he would recommend sooner that someone buy a used phone instead of the FP5, has a bit of merit. If you are a user who is comfortable with opening up glass backed phones and changing glued down batteries and is not looking to hold on to your phone for more than a couple of years - go ahead! Reuse is good! But then again, ethical concerns like where the lithium and cobalt for your battery is mined if you are replacing the old one in your samsung will not be addressed.
Still, the FP5 is a phone you absolutely CAN use, you CAN repair and replace wear items like the battery, and you can trust the company is going to support it for years to come. To me it is a no brainer. (I don't have one YET, as my current and non-fair phone is alive and kicking. But I know what my next phone will be)
I've only changed phones because they stopped working or the charger port broke. Replacing those was 1/3rd of a new(ish) phone. Although I'd love to simply replace my usb port on my xiaomi 10 it was slightly more expensive to get a xiaomi 12. My phone before the xiaomi 10 was a Samsung where the power button fell off and before that I had a Huawei where the screen broke. I could have had the same phone now instead of buying 4 new ones
I love your concept and I wish big tech youtubers like MKBHD and Mrwhosetheboss gave you a 2023 prize, as the most sustainable phone.
Also why care for a wireless charging? When you can simply open the case and change battery. It's instant 100%.
You're a great company. Keep doing the good work. 👏
I love how sassy this guy is
There was one part of this response by Fairphone which offended me quite a bit. The way Miquel responded to the problem with having to power the phone off for the SD card. It really made it feel like Fairphone will never consider the cases of some users. That one was pretty critical. I wish he had the same reaction to that as he did to the weak vibrator motor and loud notification sound. Those three, are really driving me away from buying the phone, which I want to do despite it not being available to me in the US.
I think, the phone/company on its own targets a niche part of the phone sector. If you then also need to include many specific things you will probably choose a smaller audience over a bigger one. It will cost something, maybe in space/battery or something else. So I get it completely. Also I think people using sd cards in general is decreasing a lot since default storage has gone up a lot.
Remember when Apple took away the audio connector? And refused to used USB or USB C.... Yea companies do 0:01 that, all the time.
@@uponpaulThe SD Card slot is amazing for copying files between PC and Phone due to how painfully slow transfers via USB from Phones are.
I thought this was a problem from my phone which despite having USB3 connection would transfer at speeds bellow the USB2.0 spec.
Recently I tried a Samsung S22 Ultra and a Pixel 8 and both have the exact same problem.
On my phone I just need to take the SD Card out putting it on my PC or adapter and I can transfer files up to 90MB/s on my current SD card.
I don't even need a SIM Tool or to turn off my phone to do so.
This SD card and SIM card placement behind the battery seem like an homage to old-school phones of the past. I don't think this cost-saving measure is something that should be resurrected. micoSD card swapping is needed if you take photos or videos with DSLR and then want to push them to Instagram or TikTok for example. SIM card swapping is a thing for many when traveling. Hoping seeing real-world use cases, helps Fairphone be fairer.
Im offended by your reaction. How did you even survive before smartphones were invented?
You seem a bit defense in areas that really do need improvement... I tried to like fairphone, but the small battery, crappy camera, and software felt incomplete :( especially at it's price.
I'll cut the guy some slack.. 100% Agree with the criticism tho, but I think when you're not avid content creator and doing off the cuff video like this... You'd be hard pressed to find more authentic reaction lmao. It's raw, and while they aren't reflecting great on spot, I do appreciate that it was still public, and I hope his able to reflect on the peoples critiques.
I'm just imagining how many other creators would've scrapped the video when realizing it'd make them look bad.
But again, actions speak louder than words so, only time will tell I suppose. From company stand point and of all the people working under them, I hope they succeed and get to making great product that reflects their vision and is more customer friendly.
exactly !!!!
An argument for the small battery is that you can carry a few of them in your backpack and pull one out when it dies, and charge them outside of the phone.
Lol legends. Still rocking and loving my Fairphone (2)
Fairphone 2? You're the legend!
While I don't think this response had the best tone to it, I still think the company mission at Fairphone is worth celebrating and supporting.
Yeah he's very defensive. I understand this phone has compromises due to its repairability, but he didn't take criticism well.
I would argue that Linus' review was not entirely in good faith. He complained about several things which are completely inconsequential, and comes across a bit whingy.
🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓@@MorningNapalm
@@MorningNapalm That's Linus overall: a whiny-ass. It's why I can't take his opinions seriously. Really surprised he's as popular as he is with his overall demeanor.
Linus gripping about the smallest shit with millions of viewers vs a 150 person cellphone manufacturer? You're hilarious.
I like the points you made in the video keep on improving. And I think its important how much you care about the ones working on the components of your devices, its really nice to see that. So good job.
Yo, wanted to say that I love the effort the company is putting into making something that should be industry shifting. I feel like you and Framework are working on similar points and are pursuing a similar objective.
It's incredible thar you are still able to put in consumers' hands something that has high "environmental value" while still being perfectly usable and on par with some of the offers on the market. I completely understand that being able to fetch fair materials and components has to be a real pain because other competitors can just get their hands on better hardware just because of the lack of moral.
This of course exposes you to some of the, I guess, founded critiques that Linus moves, he is the prototype of the consumer that could decide to go fairphone and do a favour to the environment and the people along the production line, but still has the ability to just go for Xiaomi / Oppo or whatever, sell is data and soul to big corpo and get a phone that is extremely competitive and (maybe) more aesthetically pleasing.
Unfortunately I am one of those guys as well (decided to go Motorola becauwe it wws cheaper). I wish your products could cost a bit less, but I guess, with how thigs are right now it must be hard to price it differently, especially if you want to pay your staff fairly. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for future updates and releases though.
Cheers from Italy ❤
My biggest issue with FairPhone 5 is that it is not available in the USA. Other than that, it's my favorite phone!
"Note 5 is openable like a Fairphone, look "
[Take is chemical kits with is breaking bad lunch box]
Exactly!
well it is openable, he didn’t say easily.
But moving the back button should be standard. Please add that feature.
Even tho I would scream if the back button was for some dumb reason moved to the right side, I agree with having the option to move it, muscle memory is a real thing. Especially for navigation that you use all the time. But regardless I'm going to flash Calyx OS de-googled OS on it anyways that probably has that option.
To be fait that's the default android behavior. On my pixel 7 I can't change, and it pisses me off.
Complain to Google than
I will be getting a Fairphone 5 for my mum whenever I can afford to do so. I love the cause of the company and she's not really a modern phone user anyway, but I'll finally be able to send her photos.
Get your mum an iPhone 14 and a heavy duty case. Infinitely beer for her.
@@ieditedmyname289 She would hate iPhone, gesture based OS wouldn't be for her. She needs 3 button navigation that android has
He literaly said he wants to support the cause and does not have a lot of money but he will still look forward to buy one for the mother, and you come here with even more expensive un-fair monopolistic garbage company device? Ignorance this days really has no borders.
@@ieditedmyname289 damn you got destroyed lol
@@ieditedmyname289 lmao why would you buy an iphone
I DO change my microsd card pretty often
Why? Not trying to be snarky or anything, I’m genuinely curious. With 1TB microSD cards available, I just can’t see a use case where somebody needs to switch cards on a regular basis
@@rpungelloI also would love to be able to change the card. I don't use a streaming service, I use MP3s (no subscription needed) and being able to transfer those, as well as videos I recorded on my phone to my PC without needing my phone to be completely tethered would be a game changer. Not too mention people who take lots of pictures for work being able to privately offload them as easy as it would be on a digital camera.
Source: my mum does this for her job. Expandable storage is important to her.
@@rpungelloFastest data transfer until date? You can't really transfer files faster or more efficiently. Working with large amounts it gets proportionally easier if you transfer the data holder itself
You do change because you're switching among few of them (different content) or you're replacing a defective one?
@@rpungello if you shoot video with your phone and edit it on your PC (which isn't unreasonable given the recording quality on high end modern phones) being able to offload video quickly can be an advantage, and a reason to swap out SDs
If you're a Fairphone fan, you probably love this video. But if you don't already love Fairphone, this video is not converting you to be a customer. Very defensive, didn't really take feedback well. There are upsides to the Fairphone, but you can't just gloss over/deflect all criticism.
exactly, I'm not for or against fairphone, but not actually explaining the justification for their decisions is really turning me away. I know there are some sacrifices that must be made in such a repairable phone, but some others just seem excessive (like the lack of wireless charging because "they want more efficient charging", essentially just removing an option from the user)
@@izanefe4231 customers choice, you cant have everything you get from an 1400 Euro Unfair phone on a 700 Euro Fairphone. A brand can expect a certain level of intelligence from their customer base. If not, then this group is not their customer base. Simple.
@@vennemans9113 a tip for you as well, gatekeeping doesn't help the brand you're supporting
@@vennemans9113 nobody is talking about €1400 Unfair phone. Unfortunately fairphone looks like its worse than €400 phones... used. (also helps the environment). I just wish they had a headphone jack and I would buy it in a heartbeat
Completely agree. Poor reception of criticism and not actually addressing the issues or having a proper "dialogue"/explanation.
Great response to a phone review - it's rare to see the phone manufacturer respond to these reviews and i love that you did this.
I love having a phone that i don't need a cover for, since it is very durable and if anything should happen it is easily repaired - without chemicals, which i would consider a complication of the repair process.
while I agree that the FP5 is easier to replace the batter. I don't see why people are more concerned with the isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol) that's common use in cleaning, cleaning electronics, and cleaning injury's (though hydrogen peroxide and iodine are more common at this point). rather than the harder part I feel would be taking off the glued on back.
How often do you replace your battery ? I bet less often than changing your sim or micro SD card.
So why making changing battery easier than changing micro sd card ?
Going to need a second battery with the battery life of the fair phone 5.
Maybe cos you’d corrupt it by forgetting what you are accessing
Actually people who buy this type of devices buy two batteries to swap if neccessery, so yeah, a lot often then an sd card. And also, i do not care how easy it is to open a glued shut device to change the battery, prefere 100% the ability to open the device without any damage to the device structure.
On the early cell phones it was common to buy a spare battery and swap them out. You could even get charging stations that would charge the spare when it was removed from the phone. Its not as important now with battery improvements, but I miss having that option.
Because you can switch to a new battery when the current one run out of charge.
And I think it's the reason why Fairphone is offering a free battery at new fairephone use actually
I have a Fairphone 4. The volume control is atrocious; everything is either super loud or quiet when I use headphones. It's like I can hear it jump across several noise levels. My choice right now is either developing tinnitus or not hearing my music.
Idk. I love the mission you guys are on, but with a long standing issue like this that is still in your previous phone, I think it's a bit disingenuous to say that Linus' complaints can be fixed in software. Sure it can, but will you? Probably not, if my experience is anything to go by.
Huh, would it be fixed if you swapped ROMs?
I agree with you in this. it prob goes from 10 to 10% or smth like that. in my case, the minimum is still too loud...
This video is about FP5 not FP4. So not the place for that criticism unless you just feel like piling on
@@nathanruggles Of course it's the right place, because it's relevant. If they haven't fixed something like that on a phone they still support, why should we trust that they will in the future on another product? I wrote this comment months ago and it's still not fixed. Why should we believe that they'll fix anything inconvenient in software, when they pretty much never have?
I can't release a buggy product and not fix it, then release another buggy product and just claim I'll fix it this time. History and context matters.
You've gotta understand that no matter how cool your mission is, if the phone is not very competitive, it won't sell. People are all for environmental friendliness up until it effects their daily life, so it makes sense most would go for a similar priced, better specced phone.
if i wasnt watching 10 or more hours of youtube consistently, i wouldn't be watching this. think about that
🤔🤔🤔
What's a TV? @@Fairphone
And it was 10h with 480p, so you can imagine results for 720p / 1080p.
I think he is missing the point of the test. It's not that many would actually watch TH-cam for 10 hours. That was just a consistent way to test the phones battery with screen on and some CPU usage.
A better response would be that the battery life is worse due to how it is removable and therefore less capacity for the same footprint. However, since it is removable, you can replace the battery when it starts to no longer last all day. Not something you can do easily with pixel.
@@JonSnyderfudge it's still not a good test, different types of work have a varying amount of impact on battery life based on the hardware that device has. This often results in circumstantial evidence especially considering different codecs, bitrates, bandwidth, memory, etc. For example, my phone has an ltpo screen so reading emails and browsing social media will have a drastically different impact compared to a device that has a more efficient decoder when it comes to VP9 but is stuck at 60fps. If the codec is for example AV1 or HEVC the battery life metrics could be very different on the same device. Etc
The test only shows which device can play TH-cam the longest, it doesn't even include different video apps in that measurement.
you can't get mad at linus for being realistic instead of living in utopia. with that being said I gotta respect the efforts toward building something with a healthy vision.
Fairphone is a great idea that I hope catches on. I just wish it was available in the U.S.
I'm not saying linus was 100% fair, but this company really seems like they can't take feedback at all. Linus does make some good points and they are all very defensively replied to.
that's a bummer - didn't mean for it to come across like that. Of course we're all super passionate about our phone and our mission, but while sitting down with Miquel, we thought he was pretty balanced in agreeing and defending. Fair enough, though & thanks for watching!
I think they did a fine job at taking the feedback on. Maybe it's hustle that he had a reply for everything. But when you design everything in a phone you know the choices you made so was super interesting to here how they came out. Also given he made a list of things Linus said that they hadn't thought about I would say they are taking it on. Lastly I think a super point to make about what people are looking for when they buy a fair phone. Linus ain't looking for that when you could have best of the best and very tech savvy. To Linus it's all about the price to performance but at fair phone they add in sustainability as a big third factor
@@SpaceDropletwhen the response is along the line "it's better than our last gen" it feels defensive
@@Fairphone I appreciate your taking the time to do the video in the first place and that you're active in the comments. I do think you make a good product, if I was in the market for a new phone I would consider it for sure.
@@hithere1219you can feel anything you want. That doesn’t make it true for anyone else but you
I really love the fact that Fairphone reacts and takes note of people's review big tech never do that so cool! 💯👌
Been looking at replacing my phone recently. The only reason I didn't buy a Fairphone was because I was looking for something just a tad smaller, to fit comfortably in my my limited pocket space. Otherwise, the Fairphone meets all the main bullet points anyone uses a smartphone for: Calls, Texts, Calendar, Alarm Clock, Weather app, Web-Browsing, Pictures (occasionally), and Music / Audiobook / Video Streaming. And it does it while keeping the phone repairable/upgradeable, and without overdoing it on high-performance, under utilized specs.
Literally, my need for a smaller device, which is frankly a bit less capable compared to the Fairphone, is the ONLY reason I bought something else.
Arrogant replies like this don't accomplish anything. You've got an awesome product, but own up to the fact it isnt the fastest/prettiest/best phone for the price. Because that's not what your phone exists. Until right to repair movement goes mainstream, you'll always have a worse phone overall AND more expensive. Own up to it, don't bash a tech reviewer for saying the obvious, take the criticism on face value, make a better phone and because of your ethics you will come out on top. But not like this.
Please
* add 3.5m
* Make screen more bright
* Bigger battery
* Easy removal of sd card
* Eventually make a midrange cheaper phone with 3.5m
You cannot make a phone for everybody
Please create 2 types
I would like to buy a midrange phone which costs around 500 euro with 3.5m audio jack and sd card.
When you start shipping to the US, I will be the first one to buy your phones.
I moved from a Galaxy S20 to the fairphone5 and i am very happy with the performance. That we pay more for fair work conditions etc. Makes only sence. Instead of blaming fairphone for a relatively expensive phone, in my opinion the blame is to big brands for a relatively cheep phone. Thank you Fairphone for giving this great alternative choise and keep up the good work.
This guy doesn't seem to take constructive criticism very well, compare this guy to the CEO of the Nothig phone, they treat opinions very differently, it's not a great look in my opinion.
He actually took the few constructive criticism seriously, the bullshit (that was mostly Linus review) was not taken seriously, and for a good reason. In your opinion ir you are used to seeing a house size notch, because you are using apple iphone, then any device should have that? If you can't get used to simple gestures or button allience, then do not buy the device, but do not make your problem, to be others problem. I have no problem with stock android ways of navigation, and i find no reason as of why fariphone should take Linus claim seriously.
Jesucristo le ama muchísimo, arrepiéntete de tus pecados y ten perdón de pecados en Su Nombre
I think the criticism for the placement of the sim slot and sd card reader is pretty valid. I mean sure, you can argue that people won't be changing their cards that often but their are still a percentage that do for a practical reason. I don't really get what the compromise is if you had an external sim tray that can be accessed any time with a metal pin you could always take with you over the extra steps you'd have to do having it under the battery.
Rewatching the LTT review, I feel it completely missed the mark.
The compromises it makes are a non-issue to me personally.
I think this is comparable to the current GPU market. Nobody in their right mind buys a 4090. You just don't need one for normal day to day use. But having a 1500$ smartphone to be on social media is somehow normal.
Come to America! I will be ordering your phone when my pixel gets recycled
This reaction comes of as way to defensive and nervous. While I feel Linus was rough, many points were fair. Especially on the battery life. Obviusly no one will be watching youtube for 10 hours, it's just used as a rought estimate of how different the two are in terms of battery life.
After seeing the Video about the "struggles" to produce a perfect, fair and repairable phone I have a big "heart" for Fairphone! The made a very good job, really like the concept, so happy to have a product on the market like this!
I bought two Fairphones 5, for me and my dad, bouth our old phones are over 6 years old now, and not working very good anymore, very exciting to get the Fairphone 5 in some days!
How does Linus expect a privately held company (Fairphone) that has a net worth in the millions to compete with Samsung that has a net worth in the billions AND is subsidized by their national government? Fairphone only has been in the game since 2010, yet Linus wants Fairphone to compete with a tech giant phone that has had billions of dollars of R&D poured into it over the years?
Easily removable batteries have been a HUGE request from tens of millions of people from all over the globe. Big tech won't do it for obvious reasons. Kudos to Fairphone for giving us the option to replace batteries and for being able to remove them from the handset for privacy/location tracking reasons.
Most of Linus's complaints were personal preferences. The SIM slot location for example, was standard on older Nokia phones; in the back, underneath the easily removable battery. The only reason why people like Linus would want an exterior SIM slot side location is because he wants to switch phones all day long because he has so many of them. Most people have only one phone and that SIM always stays in there.
Yes, like with any handset, there will always be room for improvement. While Fairphone is not the cheapest phone on the market, Fairphone cannot survive by giving away their phones for (U.S.)$100.00 just because it doesn't meet the specs and performance of a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Think of the price point of the Fairphone as an investment in competition, alternatives, choices, and the free market. That's something that Apple, Samsung, Alphabet (Google) and Microsoft are against.
in Greece, where I live, the phone costs €781.50 and only gives you a 2-year warranty. I'm sure that this is not your company's choice, but it's certainly what we Greeks thought when we went to make a profit from everywhere. also,
accessories are nowhere to be found, I'm sure this is a deterrent to someone buying the phone.
excellent Mr Miquel 😂
I love the idea of Fairphone, a modular phone. I hope all companies follow their steps. I would like their product to reach Argentina, where I live, but I also appreciate that Linus Tech made that video, so you can see that they have things to improve. Ty
I'm also feeling that Linus is quite subjective here and overdoing some minor points. I'll probably try Fairphone at some point in the future, just not right now :) Keep the spirit going, I'm liking it very much 👍
Seeing a company reacting to criticism is always a good sign to me. Apple or Samsung would never make a video like this.
Some items where i see a different aspect then you see. The biggest is that you see this review from linus in the light of the improvements you made from the FP 4 now to the FP 5. He reviews the phone from a more general & personal perspective.
Where he criticizes gaming performance, this is not about playing games on your phone. This is a method of comparing the overall performance of the phone this is something you can extrapolate as programs and os updated become more demanding of the device. Where you want an amazing maybe overspec'd phone today so it is still great after those 6-8 years. I thought it was clear as this comparison was made after showing the relative responsiveness when even comparing it to the older samsung.
And why dismiss his point about the battery life that is half of the pixel 8? "Oh the test that was run was bad for your mental health who actually wants to watch 10 hours of youtube?" This was pretty dismissive and some context here if you actually disagreed would have been nice.
Criticizing his deal breaker for the backbutton position is kind of stupid honestly. It is obvious this is a divisive point in the community. Just remember the sony expedia phones and all the other strang things those phones had... Also Apple gets criticized heavily for similar problems, just because it feels like nit picking doesn't mean it is not valid.
And his ideas in the end when comparing the repeatability of the FP5 to the samsung are not fundamentally wrong. If you would increase the complexity only slightly you might create a WAY more appealing phone. When some waterproofing could be introduced, or a slimmer phone was the result of a small compromise this would make the phone be more appealing to a way broader segment of consumers.
As a someone waiting to buy a FP5 i really feel that these comments he made really are not that outragous, this phone when compared to other phones is expensive (for the right reasons ofcourse) while also compromising on what you are getting. I personally am willing to pay twice (price and product) for the cause but that does not invalidate the concerns he brings up.
Fair points all around - especially on the Fairphone 4 comparison. Miquel brought that up, because Linus reviewed that one quite favourably, while criticising the same things this time around. But you're right of course - we designed the Fairphone 5 to be an alternative for everyone who's looking for a phone right now, not (just) to top the best we could do in 2021. And while we don't agree with some of his points and find the overall take a bit one-sided, we don't mean to invalidate any of his concerns!
@@Fairphone "Fair points all around - especially on the Fairphone 4 comparison. Miquel brought that up, because Linus reviewed that one quite favourably, while criticising the same things this time around."
Sure but you also raised the price and are competing in an even more developed market, phones have gotten more repairable as a whole so just having the best repairability isn't enough anymore.
So, it's all a bit less shit than Fairphone 4, that's the response. Ok
And yes, I want to be able to watch TH-cam as long as possible without having to recharge my phone. I can't cope how stupid of a reaction this is. It actually tells me a lot about the company and their choices.
How often do you access the SD card?
I'm a bit of an extreme case, but every few days, as I use my phone in conjunction with other things that the SD card is the only way to move data onto and off of them, and I use my phone as a download point and file manager when I'm not at home.
"Why are you measuring the thickness of the phone by the thickest part of the phone?"
The camera bump is relevant. I have a pixel 8, and the massive camera bump made me throw a big thick case on it for some consistency in handling. The size of your phone is the size it is. That's okay if you're accomplishing your goals, just accept that. Also, the "10 hours of TH-cam" comment, it's about how long you get screen on and processor working on stuff, not specifically about TH-cam.
Rather than doing what amounts to dunking on users habits, maybe just explain why your performance might be lower - difference in soc, battery limitations due to removability, and what you get in exchange for that sacrifice. Repairability is a great feature.
I think Fairphone did an awesome job! When taking everything into account, all the downsides actually have upsides as well. And I think they balanced them very well.
LTT seems very dramatic for no reason, except for the views of course.
In the end it is mainly a video representing the opinion of Linus and why he don't keep it. Underpinned with quite a lot of data, so everyone can make their own picture.
@@gregor2436 it's indeed his choice to ruin his reputation even further.
We're really not out here with our pitchforks over his review :) Linus had some good points and can be as particular about his tech needs as he wants to be. It's just that he has a huge platform and this was a great chance to add our views on ethical electronics to the conversation
@one true, there is room for improvement for the FP5. But LTT's review was just low effort. It was almost as if he needed to vent some frustration and decided to take it all out on Fairphone. The quality of LTT videos have been going down for years now. They even stopped making videos to reconsider their content quality. It seems like they didn't stick to their new plan.
@@UPPERKEESit sounds like it is actually you who needs to vent about smth...
If I can get a proper response to my concerns here I promise I'll run out and buy a Fairphone 5 immediately, regardless of what the response is. I don't care at all about most of the stuff Linus looks at like problems. They mostly seem trivial.
1. Wireless charging is inefficient, BUT very useful and I use it every day. It could easily be integrated in the rear cover, and I hope you'll consider it. It's nearly a deal breaker, but I can get an adaptor for now.
2. Will you promise to keep working on what you can improve with software, based on customer feedback, for the duration of the support cycle? Not just keep it working, but keep improving it (like the volume thing, that seems really annoying)?
3. Truly ethical manufacturing in China isn't possible. It's just not. Even if you make sure the workers are treated and paid well, any taxes they or the manufacturers pay, WILL support an awful and suppressing regime. There are other nations that will manufacture a phone. Whilst I don't expect you to directly comment on the Chinese government, I hope you'll keep considering how you can improve the fairness in the manufacturing, not only considering the environment.
I love your ideas and commitment, but there are still improvements to be made. That said, this is the only phone I'm willing to pay this price for.
@Miquel, It was your attitude and demeanor in this video that solidified my choice to buy a Murena FP5.
Thank you, I received it today and it exceeded my expectations! With people like you stating honest facts, I am happy to support Fairphone.
I just used Google instead of FreeTube to be able to post this comment.
Have a good day Sir! (You made me laugh a few times with this video).
Linus really is quite terrible when it comes to review integrity, as has been repeatedly shown in the past couple of years.
Specifically for the review, he makes a big deal of the tiny things and glosses over the USPs of the FP5.
I proper LOLed when he said it's just as easy to reuse an old Samsung - you "just" have to remove the backplate (which isn't designed to be removed), and the battery (which isn't designed to be removed). And that's ignoring the several years out of date OS. How did someone so bad get so popular.
@@alextecplayz "It literally is that simple that you just have to heat up the glue"
And with this one "simple step", you have excluded 99% of people.
@@alextecplayzAnd for a Fairphone I need a Philips 00 screwdriver. For a Samsung I need a heatplate (have a hairdryer and a gasplate) I don't have isorpopyl alcohol only grappa and WD40 and contact cleaners, I also need those metal pinchers to remove many parts... I mean are they both servicable? Sure! But is Fairphone easier to service as being easy servicablity in mind? Definitelly
PS.: As a test I have typed in Samsung phone camera replacement diagram into DuckDuckGo, and the first links were about phone repair locations and how I can book repair at Samsung. Not the diagrams, not the manuals you have just praised. No, Samsung is not locking out repair, but they sure not making it easy either.
@@TomNook., it's a niche market anyway. 99% don't care and would pay a professional to replace any component. Ok, with Fairphone everybody would replace the battery, but I don't think that many people would replace other components. Brake pads are easy to replace, yet very few people do it themselves. You also shouldn't overlook that the audience of LTT isn't just average people.
Repairability is good, but it's not like other devices cannot be repaired at all. It's a trade off and it's totally valid to question if it is worth it to be able to repair a device easily vs paying a professional to do it in half an hour.
I love the idea of the fair phone. I've heard from various places they can be a bit more jank than some other larger manufacturers, or have less OS customization. For as much as I rely on my phone for many day-to-day tasks having it be rock solid, and customizable to optimize my time so I use it as little as possible is pretty important. I would likely have tried the fairphone 5 if It were out when I picked up my last phone (generally once every 4 years or so)
I'm really hoping I can see an awesome product with strong customization in the OS and a real smooth operation when it comes to getting my next phone in a few years time.
I love what you guys are doing here please keep up the awesome work you're doing to legitimately make this aspect of the world better.
There was some part of the Linus video missing. That was strange.
Overall. Yeah. The comments under Linus video basically said the same thing.
I like my Fairphone 5 very much and my wife likes her Fairphone 4 very much.
we left out the parts, where Miquel repeated himself or didn't have much to add - tried to get to the biggest points a bit quicker. Let us know if you have specific questions - we could dig through the rough cut and find some answers for you :)
@@Fairphone I think it's a bit weird as generally in today's age a "reaction" is someone watching and posting an unedited video of them watching and genuinely reacting to what they are seeing. This being edited is now a response video, not a reaction video. It plays and feels like a response video and unfortunately it's the kind of response video where we generally get a "sorry guys" video a week or so later.
I love my fairphone 3+, I like heavier phones with a metal feel, and sturdy as well since I work in automation. The fairphone company makes me excited to see what they will do next. Edit : Yes fairphone developing their launcher would be cool.
while it is true that the fairphone cannot be directly compared to a lot of other smartphones because of the added complexity of the fairness, repairability and longevity, a lot of linus' critisizms were pretty valid and were disregarded, while non-critisizms from linus were met with defensive answers. the choice of soc on the fairphone IS unorthodox, for the smartphone industry, and it wasnt portrayed as something negative. the reasoning to use the soc were explained by linus too and not in a negative way. but i still appreciate that some of the issues adressed are things youre working on or will be noted
This is great that company representatives make this video and give feedback and it’s not just a Head of Marketing
Great response to Linus, his review is controversial and Unfairohone! But that's Linus! I wish the big smartphone companies would do more in making their EXPENSIVE not-so-smartphones eco friendly!
Fully agree
3:44 Haha. 😂
6:40 I agree, I do think it's more sensible to default to a usable 60Hz, especially with your goals in mind. Users who want more, will have no issue changing it in the settings.
16:13 That's very noble and I also think it would be great if things can be repaired more often instead of just throwing things away and _needing_ to buy different products.
I would generally be interested in such a phone, but my issue is that they are too big. That's a general issue I have with the current market, but it would be great if a
I find problems with right or left return button also as big and deletion of google widget, we can do everything with hardware but not with software? Its not a deal breaker but something that can be fixed in future updates
agree! We're looking into it
I do feel like the techie youtubers are a little too high flying with features and frankly are spoiled by endless free tech. Im a boue collared man and repairability and something NOT MADE OF DAMN GLASS is important to me. This is pretty much everything I wanted in a phone and ill be buying mine soon!
I mean yeah it can be said that many of the things Linus criticised were nitpicky or maybe not an important issue at Fairphone but idk the way it was addressed in this video wasn't the best imo. A lot of the criticism was simply dismissed even tho it was showing that other phones were performing way better. I mean yeah maybe you shouldn't be looking at youtube for 10 hours and yeah maybe this was a very specific use case test but i mean it still shows something about the phone and it performed poorly. No point in denying that.
Thank you, Fairphone, for this amazing product. Please give us the option of choosing a more compact Fairphone with a smaller screen size.
The criticism on the SD and SIM cards not being able to be removed unless the battery is out is valid. If you travel a lot internationally, the SIM needs to come out often; or if you often transfer a lot of data to and from your device (productivity feature); having to take the battery out complicates the swap operation in a couple of ways:
1) You only know if the SIM or SD card is installed properly after powering the device back on -- you don't get immediate feedback. The process of diagnosing a hardware issue with this device requires several boot cycles and an hour or more of time where a device with a quick ejection tray which I can test multiple SIMs and SD cards in a few minutes.
2) If I am looking to transfer files from the SD card to my laptop, removing the SD card creates a period where I am not reachable on my phone by anyone. Given that I am going to be reinstalling the SD card back on the device after completing my data transaction, I personally wouldn't both installing the battery back in the device immediately because that would quite frankly be a waste of time.
3) It increases the number of events where the user handles the battery of the device. I get that one of the biggest points of the Fairphone is that this is a simple operation that increases the longevity of the device, but mechanical operations concerning lithium ion or like material batteries should be minimized wherever possible. I don't know how the interior of the battery on your device is set up, but if I had to guess you've used solder, which in my experience working with batteries of the like is often brittle and leads to all kinds of failures. This is a failure in your design that will force users to buy batteries more often.
I really like the fairphone ideas behind the product. My next phone that I‘ll buy will be a fairphone.
I agree with your points here. I dont have isopropylalkohol and screwdrivers to remove a battery. This is the kind of phone I want.
As a European man, this guy is painfully European... Just own up to the criticisms which are valid instead of rolling your eyes and going "but it's repairable"
There is no point in making a "Fair" Phone if nobody will buy it because it's subpar. People will just buy a second hand phone with a replaced battery which is better for the environment and the pocket.
"subpar" in your world, i.e. your priorities. They cannot be generalized.
If my top priorities are fair production, repairability, google free, then Fairphone 5 with Mureno is above par...
But the stock OS on the fairphone is very far from google-free
rome wasn’t built in a day.
what an amazing video. i have no idea what the writer on that linus video was talking about.
Something that really bothers me about the peoples' response to this video is that I think almost all of it is miss-understanding from cultural differences in how Europeans vs Americans express themselves. I've spent a significant amount of time with both cultures, and can see how this would rub them the wrong way. If you have had such a reaction, I suggest re-watching it while ignoring all manerisims, tone, and turn-of-phrase. Instead focus on what is actually said. At that point I think you'll find that ALMOST everything that people are objecting to is gone.
I love the Fairphone 5! Cant for that Linus List coming soon :)
Btw I am a gamer so I took that personal xd 6:21