this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2023
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The new fairphone 5 came out, it looks cool but the price is really, really high..

If it's a phone that can really last 10 years it could be good, but is that true? Is it worth it? I could get the one with /e/os from Murena because i want a degoogled phone with a bootloader locked, but is it usable on a daily basis?

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

No.

No headphone jack, no buy. It's not a question of whether a headphone jack is useful to you, it's just the principle of it - there's no good reason to remove it (especially for the asking price of FP5), and more importantly, it goes against what the Fairphone stands for, IMO. I can understand if it were some other profit-driven company making a shrewd business decision, but for Fairphone to do it, seems very unfair to me.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

On the GrapheneOS side, a used Pixel 5a js the last good phone... both size and a headphone jack. Sucks a lot.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago

Too bad the ultrawide on it is trash, and the battery is subpar. And it is outdated.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There is a good reason to remove it. Especially for a company like fairphone. Why waste resources and money into making a redundant component (USB-C can do audio, also the majority of people have switched to wireless audio) when you're trying to make a planet-conscious product?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There is no good faith argument that can be made for the removal of the headphone jack. Companies removed it to sell overpriced wireless headphones.
They said it was due to size, but new phones are quite chunky these days so that's not true. Waterproofing? Can be done, many phones have waterproofing and a headphone jack.
Costs? Come on it's a very simple, very old, plastic bit.
And sustainability? "planet-conscious"? You must be kidding. It's way better to use regular headphones than the wireless pieces of crap with batteries and an amplifier and a bluetooth receiver in them.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Companies removed it to sell overpriced wireless headphones.

Of course, I'm not denying this. That still doesn't negate my point about audio jacks being redundant ports.

It’s way better to use regular headphones than the wireless pieces of crap with batteries and an amplifier and a bluetooth receiver in them.

Yes, and those regular headphones CAN be plugged into phones without headphone jack via the USB-C port

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Well good luck then. Because enough of us have absolutely no problem with using the usbc or Bluetooth. I rarely even listen to music anymore anyway so it's not something I use.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

majority of people have switched to wireless audio

Citation needed. Also, just because people have "switched" to wireless doesn't mean that they don't have a pair of old wired headphones still lying around somewhere, unused, eventually turning into e-waste. Also, I suspect a significant portion of Fairphone users are the kind who'd still hold on to wired headphones.

when you're trying to make a planet-conscious product?

The first rule in making a planet-conscious product is the RRR - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. If people already have wired headphones, then the most eco-friendly solution would be to enable users to continue to use them, and not force them to buy even more new products. And as a manufacturer, there's practically no shortage of 3.5mm jacks around (plenty of old devices where the parts can be recycled from), and there's almost no complexity involved in wiring up or making circuitry for something that's been a standard for several decades.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Citation needed.

I don't have a source ready with me to back up my statement. But at least here in India, almost everyone I see in public transportation use wireless earbuds. Usually I look like the odd one out for wearing wired earphones.

If people already have wired headphones, then the most eco-friendly solution would be to enable users to continue to use them, and not force them to buy even more new products.

You absolutely don't need to go out and buy a new headphones if your phone doesn't have an audio jack. Just buy a dongle. Yes, I'm aware that this is worse for the planet than just including an audio jack in the phone. But if you buy a dongle once, you don't have to worry about your future phones not having a headphone jack. So in the long run, this move is better for the planet.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago

I find it hilarious since we both are from India, and an incredible amount of people utilise the 3.5 mm jack for their $10 earphones. You do not even understand or care for the demographic choice, and are encouraging people buy wireless TWS they need to replace every 2 years, when they can get by with wired earphones half the price. Within a span of 10 years, people would buy $20 of wired earphones versus $500 of wireless ones. This does not even include the possibility of many people losing one of the two wireless earbuds, causing another purchase.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I am thinking it is. I cannot find one decent phone with a great ultrawide camera AND a SD card slot, both in one phone. And I mean flagship grade, when I mean great. I maintain manually on paper a list of good ultrawide phones, and the list across the whole price range barely has 20ish phones, most of which happen to be $1500 flagships.

I can forego the 3.5 jack (unfortunate) and compromise with a dongle, but the expandable storage and ultrawide are impossible to compromise. There is only Honor 90 and Nothing Phone 2, that fit the ultrawide criteria with a decent price, but they do not give SD card slot either.

People shitting on it are finding arbitrary reasons, I think. The 3.5 jack exclusion may be "ethically" not in line, but sure as hell tell me one phone that fits the above criteria.

And before someone pops in to tell me Pixel has good camera, no, the camera hardware is simply superior on FP5, and loading GCam on it will be a non-issue. FP5 with GCam is probably the best midrange ultrawide on the market alongside Honor 90.

Edit: most of the ultrawide phones on the market today have the exact same 8 megapixel 1/4.0" UW sensor as that on my Huawei P30 Lite from 4 years ago. And let me tell you, if I do not click in RAW, that ultrawide is a potato. I need upgrade, not a forsake sidegrade. Ultrawide camera is the biggest differentiator among smartphones across the whole price range.