Hi all,
So I saw that @GaelDuval posted today asking “Do you think that @Fairphone 3 would be a perfect device for /e/OS?”:
Honestly, I’m quite surprised that this isn’t already going to be the case! Personally I think that /e/ is a great fit for the FP3, a great replacement for their own Fairphone Open OS (or whatever it’s called) because /e/ includes online services whereas Fairphone themselves do not.
Maybe /e/'s ethical and eco credentials don’t meet Fairphone’s high standards yet? Or maybe they just haven’t had a conversation about it yet? If the latter, please start talking, I can’t believe you haven’t been doing so already!
Cheers
I don’t think that fairphone 2 or 3 will be a good idea. The hardware is at both only midclass and the prices to high for thus hardware.
The fairphone concept is nice, but …
I prefer using used phones. It is better for our resouces and our world
I’m all in on resource sustainability and reusing old hardware but at some point new devices will have to be manufactured, and supporting companies like Fairphone is one way of reducing our environmental footprint.
Also, ‘midclass’ hardware today is in my opinion more than enough for most use cases today e.g.: social media, media streaming, messaging. I’ve never owned a top-notch device and I get away with all of these things just fine.
Just my 2 cents, having extra options and alternatives is always a good thing.
EDIT: After checking Fairphone’s site and community forums it seems they have their own issues to work on. However I can’t help to notice some similarities with /e/ and I think both companies’ goals align quite nicely; I think there would be a lot to gain for both sides (and therefore the userbase) if these companies worked together.
Hi @PNJ88_Beast I completely agree. I also think that Fairphone might be /e/'s best chance of getting on a new device, not just refurbished. Which other manufacturer do you think will take the risk of being first?
Cheers
That’s a difficult question, the problem is that /e/ is still seen for what it is really: a fork of LineageOS that looks promising but still has a long way to go. A few years ago go we had a much richer echosystem of companies who were willing to experiment in order to stand out by releasing models with new shiny features and even things like FirefoxOS or Ubuntu. But today the smartphone market is incredibly competitive and way more mature, a handful of companies control the big bucks and cannot afford to innovate that much anymore, especially for such a niche user base that follows /e/. The same thing is true for companies still in the game but loosing traction.
If I had to guess some candidates I would mention some of the ones that don’t have a lot to lose at this point, and that are heavily invested in the European market. BQ for instance already released an Ubuntu phone in the past (with little success) and may try it again.
Wiko is a French manufacturer, focuses mostly in European market and has been doing well recently so I guess that’s also a potential candidate.
Sony comes to mind too, they recently announced that due to their losses they’ll be focusing their efforts in specific markets, Europe being one of them, so I guess it’s possible but they never showed any interest in innovating much and I doubt they can really afford the risk.
Just some random thoughts, and I’m sure a lot will change within 6 months so we’ll have to wait and see what happens!
Many of these European brands don’t have control over the software on their phone, they rely on their ODMs to handle the software for them - this is my experience with my Android Nokia phone. In this case it’s unlikely that those brands will capable of using /e/ as I don’t think their ODM will find it worthwhile for their own business. I don’t specifically know if BQ and Wiko fall into this category but I suspect some European brands do. The biggest European brand is Nokia! But I think they’re wedded to Android One and aren’t interested in anything else, unfortunately.
Still, European-centric brands are probably most likely to be interested as there’s enough people here who are sceptical enough of GAFAM that they might take a risk on a new OS. I’m sure that /e/ have explored various options. I think /e/ may have also spoken to some mobile operators about putting /e/ on their own brand phones, which is a good idea, but we’ve not seen any released yet so maybe they also decided it was too risky for them.
TL/DR I think Fairphone is probably the best chance /e/ have of getting installed on a new phone that people can buy brand new in a shop or online.
Cheers
@madbilly I think HMD(Nokia) had no real choice but to follow the crowd and jump on Android to try save the brand. Microsoft didn’t leave much left of Nokia after the fail of windows phone OS.
And I agree that fairphone would be a great candidate for an /e/ out of the box edition and I would buy one to support both /e/ and fairphone and at the same time support european businesses. I believe in what both companies stand for.
Yes and the only mention of other OSes is that they are investigating the option of producing their own Fairphone Open OS for the FP3, and another mention that they may release some tool in the next few weeks which will allow other OSes to be installed.
