Until Framework does their own phone

General Topics
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…we at least have the Fairphone coming to the US!

Personally I got a new phone recently so I cant justify buying this, but at least it’s an option now!
I am curious how easy it is to buy parts for this…

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Finally! I can recommend something to my family. E OS is very good and is a small compromise for most to be free of google.

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@2disbetter Yeah I was surprised that they weren’t selling it here, but Im glad they are now!

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Note that it’s missing several frequencies for USA and CA users. It’s the just same EU phone hardware, not designed with USA or CA carriers in mind.

They advertise it as, for “T-Mobile and its MVNOs”, but of course neglect to mention that it’s missing several T-Mobile bands, that you may lack coverage compared to a phone actually designed with US carriers in mind. And I’m not talking about the fact that it lacks mmWave 5G bands, since that’s of little real-world use to most people, despite the hype. The Fairphone is missing several 4g and normal 5g bands. Including band 66 which was reported to account for 48% of T-Mobile’s network traffic.

Absolute dealbreaker for me. When I need it, I need my phone to work & work well. Service providers do not even provide good service maps in general, let alone the option to see coverage if you’re missing several bands. You have no way of knowing how bad coverage will be in the places you frequent.

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@MJ1 Huh good catch, thanks for posting that!

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I’d love to revive this thread and read reviews/ recos from this community on phones. I am approaching the four year mark that Teracube promised for support for my Teracube 1. I survived it, and the company has been great, responsive and did what it promised. But I would love for my next phone to be repariable and/or upgradeable.

I don’t love the need for overseas parts and support for Fairphone, lack of availability of 5, and that specs are designated only with EU users in mind. I am between that, the Nokia G-22, which gets higher than average repair ratings… or the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G. Have others been using Fairphone 4? How many years might I get out of that if I purchased now? What phone could continue to be a decent phone for longer?

Toggling scores and years on this ifixit sheet doesn’t show too many other options (thus the G22)…

Samsung A5 doesn’t appear above but it takes time for users to use and add info. This link says that components are replaceable and it’s guaranteed for five years.

This thread overlaps with Phone recommendations that follow a Framework ethos - #8 by Mlaps but this one was a little more recent.

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I hadn’t replied earlier, mostly because I never found a satisfactory answer. The Fairphone is closest, but the band issue made me too worried to try it. I work for myself, and missing a call or email can mean missing a job.

I ended up getting a Pixel 4a, that busted on me pretty catastrophically after only two years, and replaced it with a Pixel 7a about 6 months ago and I’ve already cracked the screen and the cost and energy to fix it isn’t worth it. Unfortunately, until there is a better option, I will probably continue buying mid-tier phones when they go on sale and expect to only get a couple of years of use out of them.

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Thanks Mlaps! Maybe if Framework succeeds they can work on or inspire a phone option. Frustating.

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Now that would be something exciting to see.

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