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by CaptainMarvel 823 days ago
Thank you. I did actually come across this a few weeks ago as I semi-regularly search for new phones in my despair!

It is the closest phone to what I have been after for a while. I particularly like their long software support and their support for right-to-repair. It runs stock Android, however I'm not sure whether that means Google is still fully entrenched into all aspects of the phone by default including through Play Store APIs, notifications, etc.

(If anyone would shed some light on the software side, I would appreciate it because I'm not familiar with modern Android.)

Even if it were suitable I would not be in a position to buy it for a while, hence I am still plodding along with my iPhone but just keeping an eye out for good alternatives.

Edit: I re-noticed you said it runs postmarketOS. That's awesome and I'll need to look into it - I know very little about it. Though it seems many aspects of the hardware are not supported on even the Fairphone 4.
3 comments
Nullabillity 823 days ago
Fairphone runs pretty standard Google Android, basically what you get in the emulator if you ask for the "Google Play" image, sliightly closer to AOSP than the Pixels.

The bootloader can be unlocked trivially (just like on OnePlus/Nexus), but loses SafetyNet when you do.

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jcfrei 823 days ago
My guess is that if you want to use any of the common apps you will need the play store services app that does all the data collection.
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COGlory 823 days ago
The company that imports Fairphone 4 to the US (Murena) runs e/OS which is OK. There's a bit of FUD that pops up on HN about e/OS from time to time, but the reality is that it's a mostly de-Google'd but still usable LineageOS clone. Their emphasis is on de-Googling, and usability, not security. It's probably worth a look. I'd say that their privacy/de-Googling is the best of all the LineageOS flavors. You can see comparisons between all the flavors here:

https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm

That said, you can flash any Android Os that supports Fairphone, or PostmarketOS to it.

The phone itself is responsive/quite good despite being a bit old at this point. I can do all normal phone tasks (email, web, music, navigation, etc) with no lag or any issues. I have not attempted to game on it. The Fairphone 4 is modular, parts are available for repairs, and it works great in the US with T-Mobile or T-Mobile MVNOs.

https://murena.com/america/shop/smartphones/brand-new/murena...

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