Slightly better camera (future tests will tell how much better)
120 Hz display
More RAM and storage (although I feel that the previous 6GB/128GB option was also sufficient for most users)
WiFi 6E Tri-Band (however you will likely never need this speed)
Bluetooth 5.4
Slightly larger battery
Con:
Backpanel now requires a screwdriver
Display has less resolution/PPI
Performance of processor will likely be nearly identical to predecessor (however it’s more efficient and modern)
Downgrade to USB 2
600€
My conclusion:
Overall the improvements are ok, however just releasing the Fairphone 5 with a newer SoC might have been the better/more cost effective choice.
Sacrificing display resolution for 120 Hz feels also quite wrong.
600€ is very pricy for a phone like this. Cutting some premium features away like the 120 Hz display or a bit of RAM and storage (that you can extend anyway with an SD card) might have saved enough to get the launch price down to somewhere near 500€ which would make it accessible for a wider audience.
In order to make the device more affordable, we explored how we could best balance our spec choices with the least possible impact on user experience. Going from USB-3 to USB-2 was one of them.
The transfer speed over USB on mine probably doesn’t even pass USB 2 speeds anyway and I’ve had flagship phones in the past that were even slower over a cable. I guess if that’s still the case then there’s probably a good engineering argument to reduce complexity.
I just checked my phone and the up/down speed for files is roughly 40MB/s despite having a USB 3 connection.
USB 2 has a max. transfer rate (under optimal conditions) of 60MB/s, so I think when the phone storage improves a bit or the cable is a bit longer it will likely become a bottleneck.
Also note that there are other applications than transfering files which might need more bandwidth.
To be fair it really doesn’t make much of a difference but USB 3 is now the standard for a century and has been around since 2008 so I somewhere expect a 600€ phone to also have it.
If the 10hz reading implementation is good I may consider upgrading my fp4. A better camera would be nice too but if they get the power saving if that screen right then I’m interested…
Otherwise my fp4 has everything thing I need a phone to be
Regarding resolution, I’ve been using my S21 Ultra at FHD quality (2400x1080) since I got it and it has a significantly large screen. I don’t see a point in higher resolutions but I definitely appreciate higher refresh rates. Makes it feel smoother and more responsive.
Compared to the Fairphone 5 it has some improvements but also a few downsides:
Pro:
Con:
My conclusion: Overall the improvements are ok, however just releasing the Fairphone 5 with a newer SoC might have been the better/more cost effective choice. Sacrificing display resolution for 120 Hz feels also quite wrong. 600€ is very pricy for a phone like this. Cutting some premium features away like the 120 Hz display or a bit of RAM and storage (that you can extend anyway with an SD card) might have saved enough to get the launch price down to somewhere near 500€ which would make it accessible for a wider audience.
What the fuck?
USB 2? What a stupid choice that appears to be. Did they have any reasoning behind that?
Use for all your old usb 2 ables lol
https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/24463093338898-The-Fairphone-Gen-6-FAQ
The transfer speed over USB on mine probably doesn’t even pass USB 2 speeds anyway and I’ve had flagship phones in the past that were even slower over a cable. I guess if that’s still the case then there’s probably a good engineering argument to reduce complexity.
I just checked my phone and the up/down speed for files is roughly 40MB/s despite having a USB 3 connection.
USB 2 has a max. transfer rate (under optimal conditions) of 60MB/s, so I think when the phone storage improves a bit or the cable is a bit longer it will likely become a bottleneck.
Also note that there are other applications than transfering files which might need more bandwidth.
To be fair it really doesn’t make much of a difference but USB 3 is now the standard for a century and has been around since 2008 so I somewhere expect a 600€ phone to also have it.
The extra RAM and storage probably increased the price much more than the screen upgrade.
If the 10hz reading implementation is good I may consider upgrading my fp4. A better camera would be nice too but if they get the power saving if that screen right then I’m interested…
Otherwise my fp4 has everything thing I need a phone to be
Regarding resolution, I’ve been using my S21 Ultra at FHD quality (2400x1080) since I got it and it has a significantly large screen. I don’t see a point in higher resolutions but I definitely appreciate higher refresh rates. Makes it feel smoother and more responsive.