My fairphone 4 is still strong as ever
I've been using a Fairphone 4 for some years now. For a period of 3 ish months I've dailied a Galaxy A17 instead due to me fucking up my fairphones software by installing Linux, but I've now finally restored it back to a useable state and reflashed /e/OS on it.
Today, after 3 years, I eventually had to swap the charging port as well. The process was very simple - I went to my local electro stores website, ordered a charging port, and the next day it was delivered at the store. A few hours later I picked it up, and when I got to my room I spent 5 minutes maybe and boom new charging port. All for the low price of 150NOK (incl. VAT).
And now, I have a 'brand new' phone, yet again. Like magic.
This is not my first time doing this. Once I borked the screen, ordered a new one which got delivered to my home within a week, and 5 minutes later I had a new screen and a fresh phone. 800NOK. For comparison, a screen replacement for an iPhone at the local Apple store ranges from 5000NOK to 8599NOK - both of which is more than I've spent in total on both buying and self-repairing my own Fairphone. How the hell?
Anyways, with this replacement done I've managed to renew my Fairphone 4 for at least yet another year since security updates on stock are ending in 2026. However, with me now having a second phone that I keep all the apps that don't run on custom ROMs on, I might just continue using my Fairphone even longer - provided that custom ROMs offer longer support that is.
All in all, I highly recommend Fairphone. I know other users have told stories about different issues and that their customer support is practically useless, but to this day, I've yet to encounter a single fault on my FP4 which isn't a direct result of me fucking around (ie. flashing Linux), and it's been liberating to have a phone which is so easy to hop between different custom ROMs and back to stock with zero fuss on.
My goal has been to get a phone that just worksâ„¢, lasts long, is (more) sustainable, I can repair, and that has great software freedom. Fairphone has managed to check off every single box here, and will hopefully continue to do so for years to come.