The User-Repairable Fairphone 4 Is Finally Coming To the US (theverge.com) 65
The Fairphone 4 -- a user-repairable smartphone built using ethically sourced materials -- is finally coming to the US, almost two years after it first debuted back in September 2021. The Verge reports: Fairphone is partnering with Murena, a company best known for de-Googling Android phones, to launch the US pilot of the Murena Fairphone 4 -- a variant of the handset that runs on a privacy-oriented Android-based operating system: /e/OS. There are two configurations available: one with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for $599 and another with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $679. The storage of both models can be expanded via microSD, and the phone features a modular design that can be easily disassembled using a standard Phillips #00 screwdriver to replace broken components. It also has an IP54 rating, meaning the device is protected against dust and water sprays.
The Murena Fairphone 4 will ship to US customers with 5G and dual SIM support, a removable 3905mAh battery, a 48-megapixel main camera, a 48-megapixel ultrawide, and a 25-megapixel selfie camera. The phones will be available to order exclusively from Murena's webstore starting today. The Murena Fairphone 4 also comes with the /e/ operating system preinstalled, which is described as a privacy-focused, Google-free mobile ecosystem for folks who want to avoid handing any data over to the search giant. Instead of the usual Google apps, the Fairphone 4 will come with a range of default Murena Cloud apps for things like email, calendar, and cloud storage as well as a dedicated app store that highlights the privacy ratings of each app to help users monitor how their online activity is being tracked.
The Fairphone comes unlocked, but the press release mentions that T-Mobile and other operators based on T-Mobile's network are the only US carriers recommended to be used with the device. Fairphone is also providing an extended five-year warranty for the hardware, and /e/OS is similarly committed to fixing bugs and supporting security and feature updates for five years. The Murena version is the only Fairphone 4 model being introduced to the US, and there's no mention of the standard Android OS model joining it anytime soon.
The Murena Fairphone 4 will ship to US customers with 5G and dual SIM support, a removable 3905mAh battery, a 48-megapixel main camera, a 48-megapixel ultrawide, and a 25-megapixel selfie camera. The phones will be available to order exclusively from Murena's webstore starting today. The Murena Fairphone 4 also comes with the /e/ operating system preinstalled, which is described as a privacy-focused, Google-free mobile ecosystem for folks who want to avoid handing any data over to the search giant. Instead of the usual Google apps, the Fairphone 4 will come with a range of default Murena Cloud apps for things like email, calendar, and cloud storage as well as a dedicated app store that highlights the privacy ratings of each app to help users monitor how their online activity is being tracked.
The Fairphone comes unlocked, but the press release mentions that T-Mobile and other operators based on T-Mobile's network are the only US carriers recommended to be used with the device. Fairphone is also providing an extended five-year warranty for the hardware, and /e/OS is similarly committed to fixing bugs and supporting security and feature updates for five years. The Murena version is the only Fairphone 4 model being introduced to the US, and there's no mention of the standard Android OS model joining it anytime soon.
No app store (Score:2)
and there's no mention of the standard Android OS model joining it anytime soon.
Of course not. "De-googling" a phone automatically cuts off access the the app store and all "standard" apps.
You're pretty much stuck with their distro if you buy this, which pretty much defeats the idea of making a repairable phone for the masses.
Re:No app store (Score:4, Interesting)
It's clearly not for the masses, the same masses that couldn't care less about their privacy.
You can sideload Google services in some sandboxed way if google stuff is really needed.
I'm definitely going to get this. Only question is if I replace e/OS with DivestOS or attempt to compile Graphene for this architecture.
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Why?
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[Privacy respecting] and [user repairable] are independent attributes, imho.
So there will be a market for phones that are easily repaired / upgraded by users, but still come with the usual Google stuff. Just like there's a market for regular phones running alternatives like LineageOS. And as you said, there's different ways to include Google stuff.
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You can also install the original firmware blob on the Fairphone 4. Downloadable from their website. You can also download the build-system if you want to change anything.
As to providers, there were similar restrictions here in Europe, I just chose to ignore them. No issues so far. The updates for the FP4 do not come via your phone network provider anyways, which usually is the reason for such restrictions. The phone network provider often do customizations and they have a list of phones they "support" that
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Yeah. I bought the kids Amazon tablets. Really good tablets and I was looking forward to the parental controls, which seemed really nice.
The problem came up pretty quickly that the Amazon App Store was always behind or missing apps. I eventually caved and installed Google Playstore... on it. Took some research, but it was pretty doable.
Whatever they do, I just hope they offer an easy way to get the Google services. Show off all the privacy stuff you want in your own store, but make it super simple to make i
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"Aurora Store is an unofficial, FOSS client to Google's Play Store with an elegant design. Not only does Aurora Store download, update, and search for apps like the Play Store, it also empowers the user with new features.
For those concerned with privacy, Aurora Store does not require Google's proprietary framework (spyware?) to operate. It works perfectly fine with or without Google Play Services or MicroG."
https://github.com/whyorean/AuroraStore
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How feasible is it to load something like Teams or Telegram on this OS? Does software like that usually require G-services?
Re: No app store (Score:4, Informative)
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F-Droid doesn't work for me any more. It fails to perform any downloads. I even reinstalled it...
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I get that the rush to First Post means not actually reading the article. But if you had, you'd have read that, through the app store, you can download the usual Google apps if you would like. FTFA:
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As for being stuck with a certain distro: that is not Fairphone's MO. The phone comes with /e/OS. Fairphone has their own distro you could load (and they'll support for at least the next five years). And you can load other distros if you like, such as Ubuntu Touch. You have all the necessary access.
Indeed. You can even modify and rebuild from their sources if you are so inclined. This is an _open_ phone, that belongs to _you_, not the usual commerce crap. Works fine too.
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Nope because 1) /e/OS includes App Lounge, that gives access to all apps from Play Store and aps from Fdroid 2) they worked on Safetynet pass.
Plus they have added trackers control, to cut mobile apps trackers.
So the experience is pretty fluid.
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You're pretty much stuck with their distro if you buy this
Yeah. Its PMOS port [postmarketos.org] is disappointing. No modem. No audio. No camera.
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In fact this phone ships with an app store were seamlessly merges both the Google Play store and the F-Droid repository. You can use all the apps from both.
You can flash another OS to the phone if you don't like the default.
Re: No app store (Score:2)
I've been running Androids without Google services (currently a Pixel 6e running LineageOS for microG), and most apps run nicely. Not an option for the masses but definitely usable if you are privacy minded and can make some small sacrifices.
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https://github.com/whyorean/AuroraStore
Re: No app store (Score:2)
great phone, I bought two (Score:4, Interesting)
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Software support depends largely on when you step into the ecosystem. At the edges of the models, you get 3 years, at most you get 5 years support for an already deprecated OS. Their first phone shipped with a deprecated OS and never upgraded. The 3rd generation phone is stuck at Android 11 and this 4th gen is stuck at Android 12.
The iPhone gets about 7-10 years of support depending on when you bought it and can go to the latest version of iOS for at least 5 years, so if it's purely support and longevity yo
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You really, desperately needed to crap all over it, did you?
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Possibly, but it's useful information. I want my phone to work. What I mean is, I don't want to compile shit for it and have it crap out and such. I play on full sized machines or a Pi or ...whatever, but not my phone. I need to take calls and get messages so I can keep my job and get laid. You know, unimportant stuff like that.
Wake me up when a rock solid privacy-focused OS is available on gear like this.
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How the fuck do you think you _need_ to compile anything? That you can does in no way mean you have to. And if you are not satisfied with /e/OS, then you will never be satisfied because you _chose_ to be dissatisfied.
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Watching people jerk around with Android phones over the years. It appears to be the OS du jour thing. Which is fine, I ran Gentoo for 15 years, but not on my phone. Vendor support sucks, whether it's from Google or anyone else, and you're pretty much driven to messing around with the OS. I regretted every Android purchase over the years and this looks like more of the same. However abhorrent Apple is, it just works.
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Well, I have several Linux clients and servers (Debian and Gentoo) and quite a bit of respective design experience, but for some reason I have no desire at all to mess with my Fairphone 4 default Vendor install. I have added maybe 10 apps. At the moment, it just works. No adware, nagware or vendor crap. Maybe you have unrealistic expectations of a phone?
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And you really, desperately needed to post without adding anything to the conversation, or refuting any of the excellent points he made, did you?
Ongoing software support is a problem, especially if you are buying a phone that is already 2 years old putting you right in the middle of the supported lifetime on day 1 of ownership. Why you don't think that's a problem is beyond me.
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Lineage OS is available for the FP4 now too: https://wiki.lineageos.org/dev... [lineageos.org]
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Headphone jack?
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Fairphone still don't have a store for southern hemisphere countries, you insensitive clod. :)
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Yeah but... (Score:3)
If it doesn't, I'm not interested.
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Noting in this phone is "locked down", so I guess it is not for masochists.
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You are a moron. And you are fundamentally dishonest in addition. Because you _can_ have all those features without them being "locked down", obviously. The only difference with the standard image is that you can remove anything you do not like. You need to be a certified idiot to see that as a bad feature.
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Add a big red warning label, make sure people know they are leaving the safe space, but then give them all the sources, tools and info they need. People that massively overestimate their own skills will always end up hurting themselves. There is no way to prevent that.
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About the low niveau I expected from you. Thanks for the confirmation. At least cretins remain cretins and so somethings in this ever-changing world can be relied upon. You are probably an authoritarian failure in addition.
$600? (Score:3)
Does it even work in the US? (Score:2)
The Fairphone comes unlocked, but the press release mentions that T-Mobile and other operators based on T-Mobile's network are the only US carriers recommended to be used with the device.
Does this mean all other US carriers do not have Fairphone on their approved VoLTE device whitelist and therefore it won't work?
This is the problem in the US with unusual devices these days after 3G shutdown. Instead of any device that meets requirements it's now any device that meets requirements and pays each and every carrier to go through their hoops to get on their special list... something especially difficult for smaller vendors.
Personally I would like to see the whitelists outlawed.
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The problem is that you are carrying an unapproved (illegally imported) radio in a licensed band. If that modem is frequency hopping into the wrong bands or starts misbehaving in some obscure way, you may have a hefty FCC fine for operating an unlicensed radio.
As far as I can find, that particular model is not approved for any band with any carrier in the US, this isn't a limit by the carriers, the FCC simply hasn't approved the device to be operated in the licensed bands.
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It's not an FCC issue, it's an AT&T whitelisting issue. T-Mobile allows you to use the phone just fine. My mother had a ZTE phone, when AT&T killed 3G, they also disconnected hers because it wasn't part of their whitelist. It's humming along just fine on T-Mobile VoLTE.
We all know, if we have been watching the news the past few years, that T-Mobile is LAX.
T-Mobile will bend over in almost any direction to gain subscribers.
T-Mobile's LAX nature has been widely proven in their lack of security on customer accounts. How many times has T-Mo been hacked in the most recent 2 years? 2 or 3? More than VZ or AT&T I think.
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The problem is that you are carrying an unapproved (illegally imported) radio in a licensed band. If that modem is frequency hopping into the wrong bands or starts misbehaving in some obscure way, you may have a hefty FCC fine for operating an unlicensed radio.
The issue has nothing to do with frequency bands or licensing. With LTE voice was moved from the baseband to IMS in the application processor and certain US carriers seized on the opportunity to make vendors run through unnecessary extra hoops.
People have had high end LTE phones they've used for years in the US stop working due to the 3G shutdown because carriers refused to whitelist VoLTE despite devices having hardware and software stacks fully capable of it. As a result the phones would switch to 3G to
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That may be true, but that doesn't stop that particular model that OP mentioned not having gone through FCC certification (given it is a phone only intended for the Chinese market).
The issue is a bit more complicated than many people think, the VoLTE frequency bands are small with lots of channels and there is a lot of potential for interference on neighboring bands/channels. You don't WANT a radio that's not been approved in a VoLTE network, just like you don't WANT any random WiFI AP in a well designed sy
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That may be true, but that doesn't stop that particular model that OP mentioned not having gone through FCC certification (given it is a phone only intended for the Chinese market).
Not only is the certification assumption incorrect:
https://device.report/fccid/2a... [device.report]
So is "only intended for the Chinese market":
https://www.statista.com/stati... [statista.com]
The issue is a bit more complicated than many people think, the VoLTE frequency bands are small with lots of channels and there is a lot of potential for interference on neighboring bands/channels.
VoLTE is not a frequency band it is essentially a VoIP protocol. Saying "VoLTE frequency bands" is like saying IPv6 frequency bands are small with lots of channels. It makes no sense, wrong layer.
You don't WANT a radio that's not been approved in a VoLTE network, just like you don't WANT any random WiFI AP in a well designed system.
VoLTE runs on top of IMS which runs on top of the basebands existing LTE radio layer. There seems to be a lack of understanding of underlying technolo
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That FCC cert, if you look at the model number seems to be for the Redmi Note 12S - https://versus.com/en/xiaomi-1... [versus.com]
The company has already made it clear that the Xiaomi 12S Ultra will remain exclusive to China.
I was simplifying a bit, the frequency bands where VoLTE capable phones operate is different than the frequency bands for say 3G or 2G GSM/CDMA. They have to be as you don't want them stepping onto each other and the modern frequencies bands are much smaller domains. Similar to how semiconductors ha
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App Store & Nextcloud (Score:2)
It's called App Lounge on /e/OS. Proxies for Play Store with anonymous logins. My fav FLOSS store is Droidify: IMO it has the best options to add repo's, easy updates, and so forth. I prefer it over F-Droid. /e/OS like many other AOSP-based ROMs uses micro-g to mimic Google Services. So my banking app and other closed and/or secured apps work just fine, if that's what worries you.
My favorite option of /e/OS compared to the other free ROMs I tried (been Google-free since Cyanogenmod, LineageOS) is how /e/OS
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I know you think all these things are features. And for you, they are. But all this post would accomplish, if presented to a prospective phone purchaser, is narrow the field by one choice.
One major downside (Score:1)
If it doesn't work well with all major US carriers, that's gonna bite.
The same people who want freedom to tinker and freedom to repair generally want freedom to change carriers.
Fairphone Fair-warning (Score:2)
US FP4 user chiming in (Score:2)
You all do not know how happy I am at this announcement.
I had a FP4 imported last year and have been using it as my daily driver, I absolutely love the device but there are quite a few quirks that make the EU version difficult on US networks, mostly relating to the differences between EU and US 5G GSM bands (80% of them line up, there are a few that are not available in the US). Overall I have no problems with the smart side of the smart phone, data can be buffered and the phone is smart enough to change c
Non-standard USB-C : QuickCharge instead of PD (Score:1)
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You can, however, swap your battery, as long as you're not one of those people who bites their fingernails.