Indeed, it’s a good mid-level phone of 3 years ago at top-level phone of today’s price.
I love my Fairphone 4. I bought it in full knowledge that I could have gotten a new phone with similar specs for 400 euros less. But 400 euros was worth it to me to get 3 things I value immensely:
Repairability and long life
The ability to install whatever I want on MY phone
The ability run a deGoogled OS and deny Google access to my private life as much as possible
How much are these things worth to you? They’re worth 400 euros to me. In fact, they’re worth much more than that to me.
I will say this though: I have the means to pay that much and more for those things that I value. Not everybody does though, and I find it disgusting in the corporate surveillance society that the poor have to submit to surveillance and give up their privacy to afford the devices that everybody literally needs to live a normal life nowadays.
It’s just as disgusting as the poor needing to eat like everybody else, but only having the means to buy health-destroying junk food. Cheap, locked Android phones are the junk food of the mobile phone world: they’re affordable but they’re bad for you.
I’d pay more for something like this if the specs were more current. The way I see it is that this phone will become dated more quickly and need to be replaced sooner. I’ve had my current phone for almost 5 years. And there is a slightly cracked screen and the battery is still good, but is so android out of space which is why I’ll upgrade.
So it’s repairable is nice, but I would have repaired my current phone, so that’s not really a factor.
I do like the ability to put whichever OS on the phone I want, but that can be done with a pixel as well. Additionally my understanding is that certain apps like banking apps may not work without the official OS installed.
If you’d pay more if the specs were more current, it means freedom from Google isn’t worth that much to you :) It’s okay, to each his own. I’d accept worse specs than that phone at a higher price to escape Google myself.
As for the phone becoming deprecated more quickly, you’re thinking this like if it were a throwaway device. This would be a concern with non-repairable phones, but the whole point of this device is to remain usable well past its planned obscolescence date. As long as the main board doesn’t die, Fairphone will supply spares for all the other components for years to come. I just made sure I chose the Fairphone 4 with the most RAM and flash to have as much room as possible for future upgrades. But even if it stops being able to accept new Android versions, that won’t stop it from working.
Besides, like I said, I have the means to buy another one if it dies. Escaping Google is that important to me. But I don’t want to replace the Fairphone if I can avoid it for the environment, and because I don’t like throwing away things that can be serviced.
Just to be clear, I wasn’t being judgmental. I can well understand that people don’t want to pay through the nose for the privilege of escaping a problem Google has created and not them. In fact, NOBODY should have to pay a cent more to preserve their privacy, nor should sustainability and right to repair be an option that costs extra either. I understand where you’re coming from.
But it’s not the case. Sadly, there are sacrifices to make to restore what was normal only 20 years ago - financial, and in terms of convenience. I’m willing to make extreme sacrifices to keep the corporate surveillance collective at bay and defeat planned obsolescence as much as possible, because those are my pet peeves. They may not be yours and you may have a lower tolerance for the differential treatment imposed to those who don’t want to go with the flow. It’s understandable.
Please don’t take what I said the wrong way. I meant no disrespect.
It’s just too expensive for the specs you get.
I’d Love to have a phone like this, but it seems like it’s already outdated.
Indeed, it’s a good mid-level phone of 3 years ago at top-level phone of today’s price.
I love my Fairphone 4. I bought it in full knowledge that I could have gotten a new phone with similar specs for 400 euros less. But 400 euros was worth it to me to get 3 things I value immensely:
How much are these things worth to you? They’re worth 400 euros to me. In fact, they’re worth much more than that to me.
I will say this though: I have the means to pay that much and more for those things that I value. Not everybody does though, and I find it disgusting in the corporate surveillance society that the poor have to submit to surveillance and give up their privacy to afford the devices that everybody literally needs to live a normal life nowadays.
It’s just as disgusting as the poor needing to eat like everybody else, but only having the means to buy health-destroying junk food. Cheap, locked Android phones are the junk food of the mobile phone world: they’re affordable but they’re bad for you.
I’d pay more for something like this if the specs were more current. The way I see it is that this phone will become dated more quickly and need to be replaced sooner. I’ve had my current phone for almost 5 years. And there is a slightly cracked screen and the battery is still good, but is so android out of space which is why I’ll upgrade.
So it’s repairable is nice, but I would have repaired my current phone, so that’s not really a factor.
I do like the ability to put whichever OS on the phone I want, but that can be done with a pixel as well. Additionally my understanding is that certain apps like banking apps may not work without the official OS installed.
If you’d pay more if the specs were more current, it means freedom from Google isn’t worth that much to you :) It’s okay, to each his own. I’d accept worse specs than that phone at a higher price to escape Google myself.
As for the phone becoming deprecated more quickly, you’re thinking this like if it were a throwaway device. This would be a concern with non-repairable phones, but the whole point of this device is to remain usable well past its planned obscolescence date. As long as the main board doesn’t die, Fairphone will supply spares for all the other components for years to come. I just made sure I chose the Fairphone 4 with the most RAM and flash to have as much room as possible for future upgrades. But even if it stops being able to accept new Android versions, that won’t stop it from working.
Besides, like I said, I have the means to buy another one if it dies. Escaping Google is that important to me. But I don’t want to replace the Fairphone if I can avoid it for the environment, and because I don’t like throwing away things that can be serviced.
Is that what it means?
Just to be clear, I wasn’t being judgmental. I can well understand that people don’t want to pay through the nose for the privilege of escaping a problem Google has created and not them. In fact, NOBODY should have to pay a cent more to preserve their privacy, nor should sustainability and right to repair be an option that costs extra either. I understand where you’re coming from.
But it’s not the case. Sadly, there are sacrifices to make to restore what was normal only 20 years ago - financial, and in terms of convenience. I’m willing to make extreme sacrifices to keep the corporate surveillance collective at bay and defeat planned obsolescence as much as possible, because those are my pet peeves. They may not be yours and you may have a lower tolerance for the differential treatment imposed to those who don’t want to go with the flow. It’s understandable.
Please don’t take what I said the wrong way. I meant no disrespect.