From their newsletter:
📸 Premium 50MP Triple Camera System
The Fairphone 5 comes with a 50MP selfie camera, a 50MP main camera with a finely tuned Sony lens, and a 50MP ultrawide camera for that perfect, cinematic shot.
⚙️ 8 Years of Software Updates
Packing a unique, long-life Qualcomm Octa-core chipset, the Fairphone 5 comes with clean Android 13, zero bloatware and at least five major software updates. That’s future-proof!
🎯 5 Years Warranty
The Fairphone 5’s modular design makes it super easy to repair by yourself. Add to that a five year warranty that’s twice the industry standard. The Fairphone 5 is definitely built to last.
♻️ Made fairer than ever
The Fairphone 5 is made with 70% fair and recycled materials in fair factories under fair working conditions and is a 100% electronic waste neutral. That’s fair!
No headphone jack no sale, it makes zero sense not having one
Genuine question, but for the common user, why should a phone have a headphone jack?
Can’t speak for everyone but here are the reasons I prefer an actual jack:
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3.5mm headphones are extremely universal and can be used for any audio device. USB-C and Bluetooth headphones cannot
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Bluetooth is extremely inconsistent when paired with multiple devices and often gets disconnected because of competing devices
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I can’t charge my phone and listen to USB c headphones at the same time
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Manufacturers claim the removal of the jack was to improve the water resistance. I have never dropped my phone in water and would be willing to risk it.
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I already have too many wireless things to charge
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I have a small stockpile of broken wireless headphones. Meanwhile my 10 year old wired headphones are collecting dust
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I have never lost something more often than that tiny ass USB to 3.5mm dongle adapter
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I distrust large corporations with incentive to get consumers to buy more stuff from them
Well TBH, I have been exclusively using Bluetooth headsets for like 7 years now and I’ve had a good experience with that.
I would recommend either big clamshells (I use a rather expensive but awesome Bose 700) or necklace designs like my LG tone 800 hbs headsets (I got like 4 of those over the years). I bought a pair of extremely expensive Sony WM-1000XM 4 that suck donkey balls for a long list of reasons, but not Bluetooth.
Barring some connection issues sometimee, Bluetooth is really quite nice and allows me to walk around freely. I haven’t missed the jack plugs ever, really.
Manufacturers claim the removal of the jack was to improve the water resistance. I have never dropped my phone in water and would be willing to risk it.
Let us not forget that S7 and S7 Edge had headphone jack and were waterproof.
Your point is generally well taken, but your first point about 3.5 mm jacks being universal isn’t really true any more. It’s nearly impossible to find a device these days with a 3.5 mm audio Jack. It sucks but it’s true.
TBH good sounding IEM/Headphones actually worth keeping for years today are almost all modular. IEM/Headphones worthy of playing from a jack will not sound great from a trash built-in one and will need extra AMP/DAC anyway.
Funnily enough, the best AMP/DACs you can get today all use bluetooth. They are even good after the battery dies since they are also wired DAC/AMPs. There are some where a battery change is also likely. IEMs have TWS converters as well.
It is all pretty convenient without a builtin jack, unless you are really running dry on cash and/or dont even care about the most important part which is audio quality.
…to plug headphones in. How is this a genuine question?
People still use their phones to listen to music and wireless earphones are almost universally garbage, require charging, and produce insane amounts of e-waste. Wired headphones don’t have these issues
Lol its a given that it would be used as an audio solution. I guess what im getting at is if you’re not an audiophile or have a specific need, most people don’t care about an aux Jack. Personally, I hate the feeling of a cable when I go out, shopping or for a run and I want to listen to a podcast or music. I strangely feel claustrophobic. And also, I feel wired headphones are far more disposable than wireless. Over the coarse of 6 years, I’ve only owned 2 different pairs of wireless buds. Before that I can recall countless mix of cheap and decent wired headphones. This is just me though, which is why I wantedbto,see the discussion for wider use cases for the average consumer.
USB-C dongles are notoriously prone to breaking and also are another bunch of silicon and plastic that contributes to e-waste pollution.
though truth be told, most phone 3.5mm outputs suck donkey balls because of massive output impedance and signal to noise ratio on sensitive headphones (of which most portable audio devices are) and companies should be ashamed of putting these hunks of shit in their phones.
To have a convenient cheap set of earbuds that keep working, never need any charging nor can be lost.
You can find those everywhere for like 5€, if you don’t get them for free with certain devices.
I still have a couple laying around that have never been used.
I don’t get battery operated devices for things that don’t stray further than 1 meter from the device they are connected to.
Cars with wired input. More reliable than Bluetooth and not annoying when it connects when you don’t want to.
Fairphone do sell a type c to 3.5mm adapter you can use. Or just grab a cheap one off somewhere online.
That would essentially be designing for the past. Agree many cars still have it but new cars have usb
No headphone jack on this type of device is unreal. I am still using my AKG Earbuds I got with my S8 which are now 5 years old. Meanwhile ask the first gen Airpod consoomers how they are doing.
You can get a USB-c to 3.5mm headphone adapter. I got one recently and it works just fine.
Meanwhile I’ve bought a few and they are all trash.
I can’t charge my phone while using them. They cut in and out. I hate them.
I’m gonna buy it. Since it’s gonna be my first Fairphone and first phone I’ll buy new; I’m excited :)
I just wish they made Fairbuds XL in those new colors (I mean blue and translusive)
Fairbuds. The most important reason I will not support this model. Forcing me into their ecosystem by removing the headphone jack should not be what this company stands for. It is literally against their philosophy.
Bring back the jack.
If they do, we are talking again.
Although I agree with you that the headphone jack should be brought back, I dont think it’s fair to say they’re forcing you into their ecosystem.
Apple making apple watches only work with iPhones is forcing you into their ecosystem, but with this phone you can use any Bluetooth headphones.
Well… they do offer a usbC to jack in their online store (but you can buy from whoever you want).
But I guess usbC to usbC would work which would make sense if you’re using your charging cable which is (more or less likely to be) an usbc to usbc cable.
I might be wrong tho, but we have usbC earbuds and headphones (or was it apple’s lightning wired earbuds? I’m not sure)
But nontheless I think minijack would make for a more versitile device and I was a little dissapointed when I learned that Fairphone 4 does not have jack. Well FP5 does not have it either but I don’t care, I can get jack to C adapter cable from my friend if I ever need it
700€
Yeah that’s the biggest turnoff for me personally, it sucks how we are always expected to pay a fat premium for something more sustainable. There should be some small government subsidies for phones like these, just like there are on e-bikes and EVs in many countries.
Well, if they actually ensure fair wages for as many people in production as possible, that’s just what a phone of this caliber should cost.
Idk, the word price premium sounds more like an arbitrary and baseless increase to me, which this (hopefully) isn’t.
There’s a lot more that needs to happen, obviously. Because 700 bucks is a lot of money for many people either way, fair or not.
Edit:
OLED. I’m sold. Well, whenever my current phone dies, but then I’m sold.
It is not that Fairphones are expensive.
It is that every other phone is made by slave labour, which makes them inexpensive.
Is that alot? Mybe im out of touch but most flagships cost 1k+ iirc
700 is cheap. Especially considering the hardware, the fact that i can repair it myself with ease. You should watch jerryrigeverything’s video tearing it down. Its insane how easy it is to replace any part. The screen comes off the front and has 1 cable connecting it and can be replaced for 100 €.
People complaining about the cost of a phone that was made in a way that is not only sustainable but also paid 3veryone involved at least a living wage (more than minimum) is something we should all be happy to pay more for. The fact that any major company can make phones of this quality for less is because they pay their workers less than minimum wage (if anything at all), outsource everything to 3rd world countries and exploit their workers.
If that means nothing to you then you are probably a capitalist or just too immoral to care, in which case, who gives a shit what you think.
Sorry thats not directed at you, just people who hear all that and still dont even consider changing their mindset around this.
What phone have you bought recently that will be updated/supported for 8 years and comes with a 5 year warranty? My last 5 phones have come with a 1 to 2 year warranty and fall out of support the following year when the next model comes out. But im stuck with them for 3 years because of a contract i locked myself into.
I am doing some research and strongly feeling like i might make this my next phone and maybe i wont need to upgrade it for a long long time. That sounds nice.
Frankly speaking specs wise seems kinda competitive to me. I certainly would have bought it if i hadnt bought my phone literaly 3 weeks ago. And frankly speaking if they hadnt annouced that headphone jack is not coming back i would have waited for relase instead of buying rog phone on a promo.
6.46 inch display is too big for me. I’m desperate to find something with a 6" screen but it seems 6.1" appears to be the size most manufacturers are going for.
This phone looks like something I could dig though.
I don’t mind big screens but they are hard to use with one hand and in the pocket they are too big.
I didn’t realise it until later on in its life, but the Pixel 5 was the perfect phone size for me. I hear the Pixel 8 is going to be smaller but the rumor is it has a 6.1" display.
I just found my old Moto G1 phone (4.5 " screen) yesterday in a box - charged it and used it for a while for some utility apps and for listening to music and some old favorited podcast episodes that were still on its harddrive - and my god was it NICE to handle it and use. It is so light and thin… just wow.
Then I saw it had the last security update available from march 2016 and did not even dare to turn on the WiFi… But I might go back to use it for the utility apps, OTP, music, and maybe just as a phone (for days when I want to be offline but reachable).
