The SoC appears to be a 7% CPU/GPU perf bump according to Qualcomm. No info on North American compatibility yet.
I want a Fair phone 6 Minus. Smaller phones please!
Current fairphone owner, but my must have for my next phone is the ability to install Graphene.
Without that, umtgoing to Motorola. Can’t even attempt to use e/os, as the installer won’t function on mine.
Why graphene specifically? Using Calyx on my FF4 currently.
I need to be able to run some play things for work, and Graphene has a sandbox ability that e/os and others don’t.
Your employer can provide you with a phone for work stuff then.
I’ve got my own business, but need things for clients like Okta.
I can buy a second phone, but really don’t want to have to carry it.
As in, they allow to run play things in the sandbox?
Graphene lets you run Google Play, but stops it from having outsized permissions, so it can’t spy quite as well.
I think one could achieve some of that by using Private Space where Play is allowed permissions while stripping its permissions in the main profile. That’s if you trust Android’s permission model.
hmmm, I’m not familiar with Private Space - but if it comes from Android, then don’t trust it. The whole problem is that Google makes huge amounts of exceptions for Play Services, and then uses them to spy.
I wouldn’t get my hopes up too much with motorola. They only mentioned the graphene collab like once in passing, and with how they’re managed these days they probably don’t even remember it.
No mention of adding the audio jack back. Sad, because it would be a solid phone with one.
Also, imo, it’s a huge miss when marketing for less e waste
What they did with the wireless earbuds is amazing. User replaceable batteries on an earbud is something I hadn’t seen before. And definitely kudos to them for doing that.
But skipping on the audio jack, which could have saved so much e waste too, was such a bad take.
They did the earbuds because they can charge you 100€ for them, and then you’re essentially locked to their battery subscription for when the batteries eventually fail every year. It was just a coincidence that they had just removed the audio jack before releasing them.
And even if you have usb c headphones now you have to replace the usb hub every year from wear and tear, and they get huge profit margin from it as it’s an Usb2.0
Sony Xperia devices have audio jacks + good support for custom ROMs usually. They don’t have the Fairphone bits of repairability and modularity though.
The upcoming Commodore flip phone is going to have an audio jack with an audiophile (whatever that means) DAC.
Noted, thanks for the recommendation. I’ll take what I can get. I want a phone that can run pmos well enough for daily driving, so I’m currently waiting to see what gets done with this new (much needed) push for mainline linux on phones. I’ll definitely keep an eye on sony’s phones, I’ve heard many good things about them.
You can always just use a usb-c to 3.5mm.
no charging then
That doesn’t work on other phones. I’ve tried.
AFAIK it depends on the adapter, some phones have an inbuilt DAC and literally just use pins in the USB-C port for headphones, which means the dongle is literally just wires.
Other phones don’t have that and require the dongle to have its own DAC.
You probably used a simple adapter on a phone which didn’t have those headphone lines in the USB-C port.
the big irony to me, is everytime they announce a new one, i want to upgrade to it, but im supposed to stay on my old phone until it is barely usable.
Think of new phone models as refreshes for people in the market at the time, rather than something you need to get. If you have a good phone from the last 5 years or so, you are not missing out on anything.
This is what most people I know do, the only exceptions being tech enthusiasts and people with fuck-you money
My phone has it’s 10th birthday next year, only thing I think I’m missing is 5G, and probably vital security updates.
Huh, that makes me wonder, last time I upgraded was fairphone 4, and that’s because my previous phone didn’t have NFC, which is very useful nowadays, and it seems to have been a model released in 2017. Did I make a bad choice on my previous phone, or do you not have that either?
What do you use NFC for? Because I literally never use it. Just curious.
As mentioned in another comment, paying with my card through my phone, and when I get a new ID using it to verify identity (on government sites).
Also pinging @HerbGrower@slrpnk.net, since you’re also curious ;D
Also curious, never used it. Got FF4, not sure if I have NFC or not.
Well it’s the iPhone X, not sure if it has NFC, what do you use it for?
Recently I’ve just been using it to pay with (instead of a separate physical card), but when I get my ID updated I believe I can use it to scan the chip inside to verify my identity. I’ll be honest, I think back then I was seeing NFC stuff pop up more often, but not sure if it was a passing trend or if I’ve just not been using stuff where it’d be useful.
Ah iPX had NFC so I use ApplePay all the time. But if something needs to verify my identity, it’s got to have a VERY good reason or it doesn’t get used.
This is a problem I have with tech YouTubers and how they often compare phones directly with last years model. It’s always inevitably not worth upgrading from their POV. For a while there MKBHD would compare the new model to a, I’m guessing a little, 3 year old model which is much more realistic since most people aren’t upgrading sooner than that.
It’s why I’ve been looking for smaller channels that have old phones and compared them with less older phones. Sadly I’m not finding any luck with this that I felt quality enough.
i do think 6+ is more of an incremental upgrade and i dont need it. my phone works great, pretty much the only games i play on my phone are via steamlink or retroarch.
i had the fp5 imported into the US, but when my usb started wearing out and i tried to get a new one it was a huge pain to get here. decided to get the 6 bc they actually sell parts here.
im slightly worried theyll do something like partner with postmarketos and make the 7 work flawlessly under linux at launch. it would be a great thing, but damn guys give me a reason to not buy the next model! lol
Can always sell. It’s an upgrade to somebody.
Consumption under capitalism something something
I feel pretty good about getting refurbished phones.
The good thing about fairphones is that they are still great secondhand, so you could pass the fairphone bug onto someone else who needs a new phone with your old phone and get the newer one for yourself I guess
Same, but I’ve been holding out on my FP4 for almost 5 years. This shit is neigh indestructible with how much I let it fall on the floor. Had to buy a back plate twice though.
USB 2.0, wifi 6.0. Why did they make such a choice in 2026 ? We want last tech not a retro phone.
Fairphone is not about the latest tech. They tend to go for well-supported hardware to ensure longterm support.
They’re also not meant to be flagship phones. These specs are pretty common in midrange phones still (and also completely fine for the majority of people).
USB 3 hasn’t been latest tech in a while. I’m sure they aren’t saving more than 5 dollars on this decision
Fairphone is not about the latest tech. They tend to go for well-supported hardware to ensure longterm support.
The USB 3.0 standard was finalized and published in 2008. USB 3.1 specification superseded it in 2013, and then USB 3.2 superseded that in 2017. Each version is fully backward compatible with every standard version from before, so there’s nothing stopping people from releasing a 3.0 controller and certifying it works in the 3.2 mode that is a drop in replacement for 3.0.
Don’t get me wrong, I know USB 3 isn’t even remotely cuttting edge, but OP said that they want the latest tech, which is just not what Fairphone is about.
In the midrange, which is what FPs are, USB 2 is still pretty common.
How often and how much are you transferring to your phone via USB?
Everytime I need a fast backup of the pics and videos. It is the fastest way for large files.
Isn’t WiFi 6 faster?
Personally I need it for dp alt mode. It’s such a nice feature.
Using WiFi to transfer is far more convenient than having to get cables out anyway.
I need the dp alt mode. I regularly use my phone to play movies to my family when were staying over somewhere and its much easier to bring a single usbc-hdmi adapter than a whole laptop.
Furilabs FLX1 has the same problem. They backed down and removed usb3 to usb2 on newer models and it baffles me why.
Why is it USB 2.0? This would have been a great chance to undo the downgrade when they released the base version.
The lack of a headphone jack was already a factor, but the usb 2.0 was the reason I ended up deciding to get a different phone.
The Murena tax on these items is crazy. 34% increase in prices to have them shipped to US.
Wow that’s a lot. I imported mine from Clove UK.
I don’t even see the option to send it to the US
www.murena.com has the old fair 6. They are listed as the official provider for outside EU
Removed by mod
I love that fairphones have kept the SD card slot. Now make them a bit smaller and they’d be perfect.
Now if only we could get the headphone jack 😭
Check out Sonys xperias, they are less wide than most phones and has kept both jack and card
My current phone is an Xperia but Sony is slowly pulling out of Europe. They’re not sold in my country anymore and I don’t know if I’ll be able to get one when I need a new phone. Sony is not exactly a reliable company.
Next vacation in Japan then? 🤪
Currently rocking the Xperia 1 VI and it’s easily the best phone I’ve owned!
The Sony Xperia 5V has to be the phone with the worst software and technical support I’ve ever had. Add the excessive price to the mix and you have a customer that will never buy your product again. I loved having a headphone jack and sd card, but at some point you just need a phone that works properly.
But if they make the sd card slot smaller, you won’t be able to fit an ad card in there, duh.
Not interested unless and until they decide to put the headphone jack back in. Removing it was not “fair”, nor was their nonsense justification.
By pure chance, they released a wireless earbud product after removing the headphone jack. Just coincidence, really.
And then, they’ve come up with the silliest excuses for not having an audio jack. Truly silly excuses. They said it would take up too much space. Then they said it would reduce durability. Then they said it somehow reduced user choice and their freedom to use their phones as they want. And then they just said using their own dongle is better.
I really like the idea behind the fairbuds, and I was really considering buying a fairphone. But this whole audio jack debacle has made it clear that despite very wide pushback (that they themselves admit), they don’t care about what users want and will prioritize profits.
It’s kinda sad seeing such a cool sounding company have a meltdown over not wanting to add a simple audio jack. And it definitely has soured their image for me. I’m no longer considering their phones.
By pure chance, they released a wireless earbud product after removing the headphone jack.
Exactly. They pulled an Apple. Create a problem. Sell the solution. That just undermined their entire mission in my eyes.
But this whole audio jack debacle has made it clear that despite very wide pushback (that they themselves admit), they don’t care about what users want and will prioritize profits.
Where are you getting this “prioritise profits” line from? They have reported losses for the last three financial years, and in 2022 (the last year they were profitable) Fairphone had a profit margin of 0.07%.
If you want a device with good custom ROM support + headphone jack, the Sony Xperia devices seem quite good. The Xperia 10 VII is a budget to midrangeish plastic fantastic 6.3" device (like the Fairphone) with the jack, microSD card slot, and support for LineageOS as well. You also have the Xperia 1 series, which also have good LineageOS support, but those devices are larger and more expensive (you do get better chip, cameras, etc. though), as well as the Xperia 5 line (more expensive, but not larger)
It does kind of suck that the Fairphone had the jack removed though, following the trend of other big companies doing the same. I think the only one still putting the headphone jack in all their devices is Sony’s Xperia brand, and Motorola if you discount their Razr foldable.
Sony’s software support is awful. I had a Sony Xperia 5V and, while I did like the size and hw in general, the phone refresh rate for example was constantly jumping around, which made the experience never feel very fluid. It also has issues with certification. I had to root it just to be Google Play certified because Sony did not give two shits about the issue. There are some custom roms available, but you have to constantly update modules and apply patches to be able to use Google Wallet. On top of that, some banking apps (e.g. Revolut) are much much harder to hide root from (I personally was never able to do it).
On top of all of this, their phones are expensive af and they only promise 2 major OS updates.
Sony’s software support is awful
Hence custom ROM support!
You’re making it sound like there are plenty of roms and they all work flawlessly. At least for the Xperia 5V there are only a few and they’re not perfect.
It’s a lot better than 0
I guess. It’s still not a solution or something you can rely on.
Is there an xperia with at least 5000mah battery?
Because in the years i got used to strip down my phone to be a googless machine that needs charging every 3 days with 10-12 hours sot
The newer Xperia line is claiming multi day battery life because they aren’t using 4K displays on their highest end models anymore. Their Xperia 1 V was their last model with 4K if you wanted that for watching movies or something. I believe the Xperia 10 devices have always had reasonable battery life, comparable to other phones in a similar form factor (6.1" to 6.3" I think)
I don’t hear any good from Amazon users 'bout the FP6…hopefully this one does better.
Just going by what I read about BT problems and apps crashing from Canadian Amazon site. I screwed up when I got rid of my Pixel 4…it ran Ubuntu Touch no problem.
Having said that…how has your phone perform since you bought it because I am on the market to switch from Android…?
Ask if you’d like, I’ve been using one for half a year.
It’s not an option for me if it can’t run GrapheneOS unfortunately.
Pretty sure the Bootloader in unlockable (at least they were in the past?) and support(ed) mainline Linux kernel for an actual Linux mobile OS.
Idk, to me that sounds way better than staying on a google device.
I think i’ve heard graphene-heads say the Pixels have some specific hardware features that make them more secure and is the reason graphene only works on them. Still i’m not gonna give google any money, i’d rather vote with my wallet and get an FP next
if you want graphene but want to avoid giving google money you could always just buy a used phone on the second hand market
Arguably you’re still giving google money, by funding the next google phone for the person who previously bought a google phone :P
Though I’d imagine buying a used phone is still a better choice than buying a new one, even if it’s theoretically funding a better company.
only if that seller is moving to another pixel :-)
For me that is not an option considering how difficult battery replacement surgery is on pixels
Buying a Google phone and then removing all the Google stuff actually costs Google money.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this were the case, but is there a source for this?
I don’t have a source (and am not who you replied to), but it could be that Google sells Pixels at a slight loss in an effort to get more people on the platform. Maybe not loss, in the traditional sense, but more so in that they build getting people into the Google ecosystem into the price.
For sure, and that’s where I thought they were going with it. But unless there is a source for how much it cost google to have the phone made, and how much they’re expecting to make back with users in their ecosystem, it’s just guess work.
I’d probably get a pixel for my next phone if this were the case, but I’d want to be sure.
An unlocked bootloader for a user that cares about physical security and privacy is a show-stopper. It basically gives up the keys to the kingdom, with a smile.
The ability to run true Linux is nice though.
E: word
Not really… At least not generally. The privacy increase from switching from Android to proper Linux is, to me at least, more important than loosing a locked bootloader.
That’s just my threat model. I know that Google & Co are extracting as much info about me as humanly possible, and I have no reason to believe that I am being targeted by someone with the capability to exploit the unlocked bootloader.
Same for my PC btw - secure boot is disabled because it’s not worth the hassle. Again. In my threat model.
(But I would wager that this goes for a lot of users.)
Could you explain further please?
What is so bad about the unlocked bootloader? Can’t you relock it?
Unlocking the bootloader makes the entire system compromised - an adversary can install malware that persists through reboots or even factory resets, since the security regarding verified boot is disabled; they can decrypt the storage and read, copy it; it is relatively easy for a system to experience privilege escalation, and run admin commands - if the user is aware of it or not.
There’s a few other things, and some of it needs an additional step or two, but most things go from ‘impossible’ to ‘trivial’. And when you’re facing an adversary (be it a rootkit in an apk, law enforcement, or government agencies) that expect you to be knowledgeable about tech, they will take advantage of the potential holes users might make along the way.
Relocking the bootloader is incredibly rare on custom roms; I know of only one that supports it (gos). Every other rom I’ve ever used, so in the 50+ range, doesn’t worry about it. So usually the only way to relock is to revert to factory.
LineageOS via avbroot, CalyxOS and iodéOS all support bootloader relocking.
Is calyx still a thing? I used to use it years ago. iode is a new one to me :o
Yeah CalyxOS just came back from a hiatus due to some internal drama, and iodéOS is a French based ROM that is based on LineageOS.
CalyxOS has made some pretty nice QoL changes in the last few years that I really appreciate (Seedvault backups, Per-app, per connection type firewalling, Work profile ootb, VPN sharing over all profiles)
iodeOS offers bootloader relocking on devices that support it, and they support devices longer than Calyx & Graphene for Eco. sustainability, but you do still run the risk of the proprietary hardware drivers having vulnerabilities. I tried it out for a bit but it wasnt for me.
Thank you!
No problem :)
Yes, you can relock it. There is quite a bit of misinformation in this thread, I’m not sure why. As you can see from this chart, bootloader locking is available with iodéOS across multiple devices (including Fairphones), not just Pixels.
Yes, you can relock the bootloader, though only with official builds
https://doc.e.foundation/os/learn/bootloader-relocking#relocking
The trouble is the bootloader is often not relockable with a custom avb key
The only OEM with official support for relocking the boot loader with a custom avb key is Google sadly
This is blatant disinformation. CalyxOS requires a relockable bootloader with their AVB key to support, and they support Fairphone, Motorola, Shift and in the past have supported OnePlus and Xiomi in addition to Google.
https://calyxos.org/docs/guide/device-support/
The reason Graphene is only on Pixels is due to the Titan security chip on Pixels being so vital to the GrapheneOS security profile.
who is this for?
People who want to replace a battery without paying $150 for genuine parts and labour. At least that’s who I am. 😅
Still no wireless charging. Due to one of their founders having a personal feud with it. That’s a hard no from me.
If the cameras were significantly improved, I’d probably upgrade and gift my current FP6 to my niece. Looks like they’re exactly the same though. For my use cases, I don’t see any point in having more RAM or a better SoC in my phone, FP6 will serve me just fine on that front for many years.
Speaking of the cam, I find it quite good. It’s comparable to Pixel a-series. What sucks for me is that it’s not consistent. That’s entirely software though.
So that means they’ll fix it through a software patch, right?
…
They’ll fix it through a software patch… right?
It can take nice pictures, but as you say, it’s not consistent. I’m not sure it’s entirely software. Even using GCam software, about 30-40% of my pictures end up being wobbly. My Pixel 4a made much better pictures on average. Also, videos seem to have frequent stutters. Then there’s the wideangle camera, which I’d consider pretty unusable quality-wise.
My phone is 8 years old. I really need a new one, but i also need a keyboard…
So it will be the clicks communicator… Hope it will come in a good shape :)
I have a very lightweight bluetooth keyboard that’s been a good companion to my slab phone.
Which one?
I just love to type on an hardware keyboard phone. I tried a normal phone for about two years and it was absolut horror
Which bluetooth keyboard? Some random cheap one. I think the brand is “Quintie”? I can check if you want.
I don’t mind typing on a screen keyboard if it’s just for a few words, like a text message or email equivalent. Anything longer and I use my laptop if I can, or the bluetooth keyboard if I’ve only brought my phone.
