I got my gen 6 a few days ago with /e/os installed. I definitely don't regret it.
this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2026
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same, but installing a different launcher is sadly mandatory as the default is ass
Not a big deal for me as I customize every phone that I own anyway, so for me I'm just using Lawnchair and that works perfectly for me even on this phone so I don't see an issue with it.
Nice. How does it work compared to Android? Do all apps work (bank, government, shops and so on)?
I have eOS on the fairphone 5, and I have had zero problems with banking apps and the like.
That doesn't mean you won't have problems though, I don't use many of those kinds of apps other than a bank authentication app, and a few others for public transit tickets, etc. I also live in europe, milage may vary elsewhere.
Keep in mind that eOS IS android, just with google telemetry removed. You can add a google account if you want/need to, at which point any android app should work as expected. That of course defeats the purpose somewhat, but even then eOS will still help you stay as private as possible by informing you about app trackers and using alternative services for location, etc.
Fairphone 6
My bank app will install, but I can't login unless I also install Google Play Services. The website works fine without.
No issues with other apps. I do prioritise installing from F-Droid whenever possible.
My bank app worked. I was very happy about it. My metro pass app also installed without issue and transferred my pass. Even government apps worked. Microg is useful for sure.
Not /e/OS user, but it is Android - just degoogled. Uses microG as a replacement for Google services if I'm not mistaken.
As for apps, I recommend checking out an app called Plexus on Fdroid - it's an app where people report how apps work on alternative ROMs with either microG or fully degoogled. It's pretty neat.
Surely without Google services it's AOSP. Android is trademarked by Google.
Same
Got mine with Android and now wish I'd gone for /e/os instead - looks to be a mega faff to change it now
Let's hope the growth means the software improves. I've never owned such a buggy phone. I would never be able to recommend anyone I know actually buy one and it's pretty difficult to keep using it myself. I'm really hoping the upcoming Android 16 release fixes a lot of bugs but if past Fairphones are anything to go by I'm not expecting much.
I've been using a FP6 for over a month and I have no idea what you could be referring to
Fairphone 5 for ~ 1 1/2 years. Not a single bug encountered...
Yeah, same here. If I had to highlight a negative, its the poor placement of the volume keys, esp, because I'm left handed.. But the positives far outweigh the one annoyance. I love this thing. I fwwl like it's actually mine, and not just locked down.
Interesting, I would have guessed that being left handed would make the placement better. I've heard people don't like the button placement but it doesn't bother me. I have an iPhone for work as well and as far as I can tell the buttons are in the same place so 🤷
I keep hitting the volume key with my thumb and somehow getting the sound on mute. But its about learning new muscle control :) It would be cool if their were a software update where it would require a double click to activate the sound.
Sometimes after using the camera, the taken photos will just disappear.
Often my screen will freeze up and the ohone becomes entirely unresponsive until I turn the screen off and on again.
Sometimes the screen won't even turn on at all and will then suddenly unlock and register every single swipe and tap I made on the off screen registers at once.
Then sometimes when idle the phone will just randomly crash and reboot.
A genuinely awful experience I have to say.
Weird. Which model and OS is this happening on?
I keep reading comments like this though. Are people just expecting too much?
I don't think it's expecting a phone to not crash constantly and actually save the photos I'm taking.
You can install iode on a Fairphone. I was using iode for years without issues. I would be surprised if it had many bugs specific to Fairphone.
I might have to give it a try. I used CalyxOS on my old Pixel 7 and loved it so I'm hoping that will be an option once they're back up and running.
the Jolla phone is the way to go
Are there any downsides to this? There has to be, right.
Edit: https://commerce.jolla.com/products/jolla-phone-sept-26
Are there any downsides to this? There has to be, right.
SailfishOS userland is proprietary software. AOSP is more open than SailfishOS. The Android compatibility layer of SailfishOS is based on AOSP, so the stack to get the most important 3rd party apps working relies as much on AOSP as any Android ROM.
Upside of SailfishOS: There is a decent chance that the upcoming Linux ARM version of Steam + Proton will run directly on that device.
I mean the downsides are it's Linux. That's not without it's upsides but the downsides are huge.
Like Android you mean?
What about it?
Would a phone have that many downsides? I would think that a computer would have much more. Maybe the phone companies don't play nice? I 100% don't know what the downsides would be.
From my research, the phone part of the "phone" doesn't work very well. Which is a pretty big caveat.
Where did you get that from? I have been using one for the past 6 months without any calling issues.
I have one. It has no issues with calling, video, ect...
It works in the states as well. And all apps too. I guess my only complaint is parts are getting hard to come by for fairphone 4. Which is why i bought the phone, to be repairable.
We were discussing Jolla, not fairphone
Oh wait sorry for some reason the interface didnt load the first comment. I dodnt see the context. Woops!
That’s the main thing you’re buying it for…
Well, are you? I can’t remember the last conversation I had over phone.
Yes. Especially with work, although not necessarily with my personal phone, it does happen.
Also, it’s a 650 Euro, £562, device….i don’t want to buy it and some parts don’t work.
I'm on the phone all day. Believe it or not some people are different from you 🤯
Goes both ways, I'd be happy if more calls would simply fail midway.
"What a shame, better write an e-mail."
Goes both ways
No one was arguing the other way...
"What a shame, better write an e-mail."
Ah yeah, I love writing emails back and forth for 5 days to do what could be accomplished in a 5 minute phone call.
We clearly have different communication partners. Most of the issues of mine are solved by them thinking about it. Writing an e-mail forces them to.
WTF is a "communication partner"?
Anything you email me gets lots in a sea of bullshit imploding in my inbox. Just send me a text if it's not urgent or doesn't require discussion or you just don't like me.
Well the way you write I'm not surprised people don't like you.
I'm with you - I'd pay extra for a phone that doesn't take calls just so I can force everyone to just send it as a text.
could you not just get a data-only SIM?
Just delete all your phone apps and then you won't get anymore phone calls. Bing bang boom.
It also isn't as performant for the price, or so I've heard. They're working on it, but it isn't up to par with big name companies.
What does that mean to you? I hear people say this all the time about various devices but I haven't come across anything my phone couldn't run in over a decade. I haven't had a flagship or top tier phone in that whole time either. Are you talking about actual functionality issues or just theoretical stuff and benchmarks?
I think I bought one, but I'm not sure. I might have been very drunk back then.
On the first one there were limitations on the android emulation stack. Not sure how they managed afterwards on later OS releases or how it will go with newer ones.