So, I thought I’d kick things off here with some community building.
Quote this post with answers to the below!
What phone are you using?
Are you happy with it? What are its best and worst qualities?
Which phones have you had previously? Which were the best and worst of the lot?
How often do you upgrade to a new phone?
What other Android ecosystem devices do you have? Watches, headphones/earbuds, etc.
Do you also use any Apple products, or are you Android all the way? (And/or Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.)
Well, to be honest, I’m using an iPhone 6S. I want to switch to an Android phone, but I really want one with a headphone jack, an easily-replaceable battery, /e/ support, and good enough specs to last several years with multiple major OS updates. The Fairphone 4 looked great until I found out about the headphone jack being absent. Well, that and if anything was wrong with it, I’d be screwed. I’ve read about enough Fairphone defects to not want to have one imported.
I came pretty close to buying a Sony Xperia 5 III about six months ago, but I decided against it due to the battery being annoyingly difficult to replace.
Shift phone seems like an interesting Fairphone alternative, but availability in the US seems tough. Hopefully the new EU law on replaceable batteries will make improve the situation worldwide.
Yeah, I’ve heard about Shiftphone. It might be possible to have a company like Clove ship one to me, but exchanges would likely take ages, which is one of the reasons why I haven’t just had a Fairphone imported by Clove. Ideally, I’d like to be able to go the store where I bought the phone if I need to get an exchange.
Hopefully, companies won’t either make EU-specific phones with replaceable batteries or remove the headphone jack to make room. I’m mostly optimistic, but a also little concerned.
Poco f5
Is it available in the US without having to be specially imported? I ask because if I get a defective one, I’d really like to be able to exercise the warranty instead of just taking the hit, which is one of the reasons why I didn’'t buy a Fairphone 4. Well, that and the headphone jack, but you already know about that.
Well I’m sorry, I’m in Asia and don’t know much about what brand available in US. Best of luck though, there will be new Xperia with headphone jack but I’m not sure whether it will be available in the US or not.
I think you might have misunderstood me regarding the Xperia. I considered buying one six months ago, but I decided against it because the battery was a major PITA to replace. Before I got too serious about buying that phone, I looked for guides and videos for replacing the battery. I was able to find a teardown which showed the battery-removal process. I get the impression that Sony really doesn’t want people to be able to replace the batteries in their phones.
I want a phone with a battery which can be quickly and easily replaced. That’s why I’m interested in Fairphone. I’m just waiting for A) Fairphone to start selling in the USA so I can get an in-warranty exchange if I get a defective phone, and B) Fairphone to make a new phone with a headphone jack, as the current one lacks one.
I find it very strange, suspicious even, that the Fairphone 4 lacks a headphone jack. I find it at least somewhat suspicious because Fairphone only even unveiled this most recent model a few months after beginning to sell non-repairable wireless headphones. For a company that’s so focused on making repairable devices, it’s rather strange that they would make their phones less environmentally-friendly by taking away the headphone jack and also that they would sell headphones which were not repairable. Fortunately, that was a couple years ago, so even though they usually go 2-3 years between versions, it’s possible that they might release a new one this year. I’m really hoping it’ll have a headphone jack and that it’ll be sold in the US.A