u/theotherkaty

Hello all. I wanted to share my experience after a month of daily use.

I've had my eye on Fairphone for years but as you know, it was unavailable in the US until recently. I have been gently de-Googling and was very interested in /e/OS for that reason, as well. For context- I'm not a dev or tech person but I'm fairly competent and willing to do lots of research to troubleshoot issues.

This is by far the most expensive phone I've ever purchased, as I'm not typically buying the latest phone. My previous phone was a Samsung Galaxy S20 FE that believe still has a lot of life left, and I plan to use it for work and the bits of Google that I can't quite quit.

I spent a lot of time setting up the phone. I struggled immensely with the setup process, as the phone never gave me the option to transfer files. I factory reset the phone several times and spent a lot of time on reddit and Fairphone forums trying to find a solution for that. The support ticket I submitted to Fairphone four weeks ago was just responded to this week, without solutions.

Despite spending a frustrating business day on setup, I persevered. I installed the Lawnchair launcher (vital) and a different keyboard and all the little things you do to customize.

Most of my apps work - notably, all the important ones (banking, email, docs, etc). There's one weather app I have purchased previously that was not restored, but the handful of other apps that I previously purchased are working fine. I like how clean App Lounge is and I find that I rely on the privacy rankings quite a bit.

/e/OS is great. Supper approachable and familiar enough that I could jump right in and customize most of what I wanted. I do desperately miss my Samsung Edge Panel for quick access apps so I'm curious to find an alternative for that (suggestions welcome).

I had Cricket wireless for years but research indicated that it would not work with the new phone, which was a bummer. Thought I'd give it a try anyway, and I'm happy to report that it does work with my Fairphone 6! Have had no issues with phone service or mobile data over the last month. *fingers crossed*

The phone feels big and chunky, which I don't love. It doesn't fit in a little phone stand that I had been using daily. But being able to repair as needed is a huge draw, and I've ended up treating the larger size of the phone as a reminder to be more careful than I've been with phones in the past.

I love the physical switch and attached it to my flashlight, and find it utterly charming to click it on and off. I have taken sooo many accidental screenshots and don't seem to be able to change that setting. (And yes, I did see that recent post about it- I'll keep trying to figure it out!)

I have not noticed a lot of the bugs that I see others post about, but I appreciate when that info and corresponding solutions are shared. The one bug that's happened a couple of times is that my screen will freeze up momentarily and not recognize touches. Not world-ending but noticeable.

Overall, I've been super pleased. When I encounter any friction that didn't exist on previous phones, it's a good reminder that this is a more sustainable product that isn't built to burn out in two years. De-googling means I generally have a lot fewer apps and that means I'm not on my phone as much, which is good for me. And it isn't filled with bloat like my previous phones (some of which had like 20 gb of "other" data stored that I wasn't allowed to view or clean up).

Very happy with this purchase and where I've ended up.

Thanks for reading!