I’ve had my OnePlus 6 for 5 years. It was great, close to stock Android, and a good enough camera. Besides the camera having a little trouble focusing, it still works great after 5 years. It’s still fast and snappy, but since it’s still on Android 11, and no security updates since November 2021, it was time for an upgrade.
I’ve been checking out Fairphone for a long while now. Since their first phone I’ve been interested, but 5 years ago I was more comfortable with a more budget phone. That has however changed, and for about half a year I was waiting for the Fairphone 5 announcement.
The Order Process
The announcement finally arrived and I ordered the phone the same day. One thing that I loved about the ordering process is that picking it up from a local pickup point was cheaper! This is a small thing, but I’ve long felt that this should be the default. As long as people walk or cycle to pickup points, it will help the environment. There was a choice for the color of the back of the phone, but of course I chose the transparent option.
The one thing I was less sure about was choosing the accessories. I wanted a screen protector and I had the choice between ‘blue light filter’ and ‘privacy’. I would’ve preferred just a regular option. I also chose a blue case, even though I really love the transparent back so I didn’t want cover it.
Arrival & Migration
Click for original file. Shot on Fairphone 5
It arrived on Friday the 15th of September and I went to pick it up. It came in a fully cardboard box, together with the accessories that I ordered. It was the thinnest phone box I’ve ever seen. It was fully cardboard, with the only plastic being a small wrapper around the phone.
I tried to turn it on, but it didn’t. It took me a while, but then I found out I was pressing the volume buttons instead. The power button was a bit lower than what I was used to from my OnePlus 6, and I first thought it was the sim-card tray. Oops!
After I turned it on, I was met with the Android setup steps. It asked me for my sim-card first, so I turned the phone off again and had to open up the phone. Removing the back cover and battery to access the sim-card slot was a wonderful experience. It’s weird, but I’ve missed this a lot. It’s something I’ve last done over 12 years ago, before I got an iPhone 4S. It’s an amazing feeling to just open up the phone without any issues.
I turned it on again, and it asked to connect a cable to connect to transfer everything. I went upstairs to grab a cable, since of course one didn’t come in the box (a good thing!) and it started transferring. It transferred all play store installed apps, pictures, contacts, etc. It didn’t transfer any app-data or some folders on the phone. But it did transfer my Downloads folder, and a few old folders created by apps. I guess I’ll have to clean that up at some point…
First day of use
Now my phone is setup, and I’ve logged in to most apps, it’s time for the first day of use. It was all quite smooth. One thing that was annoying is that I couldn’t find a way to remove the big Google search field from the stock launcher, so I installed another launcher. I was quite used to the OnePlus Launcher, so changing is going to take some getting used to.
The phone is a bit heavier than my OnePlus 6, but it’s not a bad thing. It feels solid and with both phones they don’t feel heavy to hold.
I went to the zoo for the first day, so it has a great opportunity to take some pictures. Below are some pictures taken with the wide camera, and the regular camera at 1x and 2x zoom. These are the default options when switching between the options. As a bonus, I also zoomed in the maximum (20x) at one point.
Wider, normal, 2x zoom & 20x zoom. Click for original files. Shot on Fairphone 5
Taking pictures is smooth and fast. The camera app is easy to understand. I’ve seen quite a few reviews comparing smartphone cameras and zooming in to super small details. I’m sure there’s better camera’s, but the pictures it takes are clear, and look good. This seems to be the case for all smartphone camera’s nowadays, and for the Fairphone this is also the case.
Wider, normal, 2x zoom. Click for original files. Shot on Fairphone 5
A Silly Thing
One thing I miss in modern day smartphones, that my very old phones had: A charm attachment point! Old phones had a small part where you could add a trinket or a strap, and this is something I miss. When taking pictures near water or depths, I’m quite scared to drop my phone. It would be great to be able to attach a small camera strap for these cases.
Battery
When I charged the phone to full for the first time, I also checked the battery settings real quick. There were some interesting options! The first option was between regular and slow charge. Now, regular charge can charge the phone quite fast, but that will impact the battery more than a slower charge. I charge my phone when I’m sleeping, so I don’t need my phone to charge within an hour. It can do a nice and slow charge, so I chose that option.
The other option is to only charge the phone till 80%. I’ve also enabled that. I’m not away from charging options often, and I don’t use my phone a lot. Hopefully this will make the battery last super long.
For the days I will need a way longer charge, I can set the charge to 100% and I’ll order an extra battery when it becomes available since changing a battery is way easier (and smaller!) than messing with a powerbank.
Accessories – Privacy Screen Protector (€ 32.95)
I ordered the Privacy screen protector because I wanted a screen protector, and I had the choice between “Privacy” or “Blue-light filter”. I really didn’t want colors changed by the blue-light filter, so the privacy filter was my only choice. The privacy filter does it job well and you can’t see the screen from the side. Funnily enough, you can see it from the top! So somebody across from you can still see the screen. The filter has a good enough view that I’ve always seen my screen well myself, even when holding it a bit weird.
Personally, I don’t need any privacy filter though, and when viewing things to other people, it was quite annoying. Only one person can view what’s on the screen at a time. When another screen protector becomes available, I’ll likely switch to that.
Accessories – “Protective” Case ( € 39.95 )
I also ordered a case, just to be sure. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great buy. The volume buttons work well, and have no issues, but the area around the power button is a bit too high, making it harder to press and use the fingerprint scanner embedded into it. That’s not the worst though…
The case is not high enough to protect the screen. If I lay my phone flat, it lays down on the screen instead of the edges of the case. Sometimes when taking the phone out of my pocket or handling it, I accidentally pushed the phone partially out of the case, and when I hold the case and move it a bit rapidly, I can get the phone to fall out. I’ll be sending the case back.
I’m now using the phone without the case, and it’s a great experience. It’s clear to me I won’t need a case for my phone, even if it was a good one.
Final Thoughts
After the first day I love my new phone. It’s a very smooth experience to use it. Unlocking it is easy, since the power button is perfectly located for where my thumb is positioned. The phone is fast and smooth, without any stutters (literally 0 so far!). I’m excited for it’s future and I hope to be able to use it for 10 years.
See you in the “A Week with the Fairphone 5” post.
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