Wow, has it already been a month since I bought the Fairphone 6? Time has been going fast.

Anyway, I enjoy the phone a lot. I do wish the minimum brightness was lower and the speaker could go a bit louder but eh, minor nitpicks. Definitely a huge upgrade over my Fairphone 3.

Let's see if this lasts until the Fairphone 9 releases :)

in reply to Chris Hendriks

@olikilo For me the #1 points stay the repairability (I replaced the battery on my FP2 and 3 before and I also replaced the screen and upgraded the camera in the 3), the clean stock Android (very little bloatware, 8 years of updates promised!), openness towards custom ROMs (I used Lineage on the FP3 for years).

The 6 also just works well enough for all I need. It's no performance beast, but it does what it needs to do and that's good enough for me. And it's nice to know it's built ethically :)

in reply to Chris Hendriks

@olikilo Funny, I gave a presentation about mobile privacy at work this year ;)

I think realistically, hiding completely is impossible. However, you can regain a lot more privacy by using private Open Source Android apps from #IzzyOnDroid and #FDroid instead of closed source apps filled with trackers. I personally recommend using Droid-ify as it is simple and preconfigures both IzzyOnDroid and F-Droid: apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/a….

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in reply to Sylvia

@olikilo Custom ROMs let you remove even more Google from the device and Fairphone does sell a Google-free version: shop.fairphone.com/nl/the-fair…. I however don't have a lot of experience with /e/OS so can't vouch for them, but it is definitely the easiest way. And they do still allow you to run most popular Android apps (check out Plexus and Sapio on IzzyOnDroid/F-Droid for user reviews on app compatibility).

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in reply to Sylvia

@olikilo For Google-free Android, you basically have 3 levels:
1. Custom ROM with Google Play Services (Most app compatibility, least extra privacy. Example: LineageOS with Google Play Services manually added)
2. Custom ROM with microG (decent app compatibility, bit more privacy. Example: CalyxOS, /e/OS)
3. Custom ROM with no Google or microG (lowest app compatibility, most privacy. Example: LineageOS, CalyxOS if microG disabled).

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in reply to Sylvia

Hi, thanks for your feedback.
I'm still using my "old" OnePlus6T with /e/OS and thinking to change to a Fairphone6.
What about the "quality" of camera and photos taken with the FP6? Could you share some samples of photos taken with your device (nothing private).
Do you think that the ROM provided by default with the FP6 is more or less "privacy-leaking" than /e/OS/?
Many thanks 🙏
in reply to Sylvia

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I've had it for two weeks now and also just wish for a lower brightness in night-mode (and a lower lowest audio signal when using earphones). I also wonder when zoom will be available for the camera in e/OS. Otherwise the camera is good and I get compliments for the pictures taken with Fairphone 6. It's my first "google-free" android and I'm overall just very grateful to the people providing e/OS.
in reply to Sylvia

does the app Dimmer from F-droid help to dim the screen further? It turns off some configurable % of pixels, in a random pattern to avoid burning in iirc

I don't love it on my S10e but my screen is kinda wonky anyhow (not how it's supposed to be, but it started well out of warranty)

I do love that the app was last updated 10 years ago. Doesn't have internet permission at all and simply does what it says on the tin, nothing more, nothing less ^^