I recently got an e-mail from Fairphone that they will be ending support for Fairphone 3(+) in a couple of months and I’m thinking about getting a replacement with /e/OS installed on it instead of Android.
All the independent information I can find seems to be from two or three years ago, so I was wondering if anyone with recent experience or knowledge has any thoughts about it?
I’m not interested in recommendations for other operating systems as I’m only considering switching from Android because there is an option for it to come pre-installed on the latest Fairphone with the bootloader locked, which may solve a few headaches. I’d just like to know if /e/OS has any gotchas to be aware of and if Ecorp/Esolutions/Murena are considered to be reputable (i.e. they’re not going to steal my data).
I have been daily diving /e/ is on an FP4 for almost a year. I’ve encountered a few weird things with calls and texts, but that might have as much to do with my US carrier not playing well with a European phone. As for the OS itself, the only real limitation I’ve come across is that Cash App doesn’t work. PayPal and Venmo are fine, and my local credit union app works great. Sometimes the App lounge hangs, but I’ve also got Aurora store for google play apps and obtainium for FOSS stuff. Other than Cash App, there’s nothing I can’t do with it that I’ve wanted to, even if it takes finding an alternative. I’ve not regretted using it, and it only seems to be improving. It won’t be as polished a UX as stock android, but I have no reservations in recommending it.
Yeah, different countries use different frequency bands and they get renegotiated now and then by the carriers. They can be roughly summed up per continent and there’s some overlap but a phone made for southern asia will not have good connection in europe or america. If you haven’t bought it yet, look it up on gsmarena’s phone picker and your country/carrier.