this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2025

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155

Fairphone’s new cables and chargers are LONGTIME®-certified. Here’s what that means. (www.fairphone.com)

submitted 16 hours ago by Sunshine@piefed.ca to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk

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[–] Nastybutler@lemmy.world 23 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (2 children)

If I make a "love you LONGTIME®" joke will it get deleted?

[–] etherphon@midwest.social 5 points 8 hours ago

I was going to say that's my goddamn trademark see you in court. /s

[–] Aralakh@lemmy.ca 3 points 11 hours ago

Glad to see someone with the same sense of humour lol.

[–] Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 39 points 14 hours ago (6 children)

Who are all these people that have outlets next to where they usually use a phone and can use a 1m cable? All my cables are 2m because power sockets tend to be near the ground and phones and other items you charge tend to live on tables, desks and shelves. I don't understand why the USB spec considers 1m to be enough for anything.

[–] real_squids@sopuli.xyz 6 points 8 hours ago

I have seen the light, give me 3m or give me death

[–] floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

The length limit is because the data rates are so high in USB 3.2 that timing is very tight and signal integrity degrades very quickly with natural cable capacitance. Charging via USB-PD does not have the same limitations, but it's suffering from the one-cable-does-it-all nature of USB-C

[–] PumaStoleMyBluff@lemmy.world 11 points 12 hours ago

Tbf the 2.5m version is only 5€ more

[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 7 points 13 hours ago

It made some sense when the primary function was to sync the phone (iPod, camera, etc.) with a computer. Then I honestly think that companies just never wanted to take the on cost of the cable being longer and heavier especially when they could sell you a second one for more profit and claim some green wins in the weight and material reduction.

[–] Greddan@feddit.org 3 points 13 hours ago

There are these nifty little devices that let you extend and even multiply your wall outlets away from the wall. I have one attached to my nightstand and one on my desk. Both also have USB outlets so no need for adapers.

A pro tip is to run one of these genious things behind your media furniture so you no longer need to plug every single device into their own wall socket.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

I like a 2m cable for sure but a 3’ cable should reach most any table, desk, or nightstand. I only have one 6-10’ cable and it’s because it’s routed through my desk. A 3’ standard has been working fine for most people for a long time and saves on materials.

[–] domdanial@reddthat.com 3 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Average desk height is like, 30in. If the outlet is 6in off the ground, that gives you 1 foot of leeway to the nearest outlet. Hopefully it's next to the desk.

Average elbow height for men seems to be about 1m, give or take. Have to stand next to the outlet to use it plugged in.

I'm only buying 2m+ cables for wall charging, data transfer cables can be shorter and so can cables for battery banks.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 3 points 12 hours ago

Buy whatever you want, but as a standard 3’ is fine. My desk is cable managed properly and the powerbar is mounted under my desk. You can use zipties or 3M tape, and if you’re worried about aesthetics 1) if you do it correctly then it’ll be nice and 2) you’d already be the kind of person to use individual wall outlets for everything so yea I doubt it worries you that bad.

[–] Greddan@feddit.org 3 points 13 hours ago

A pro tip is to run one of these genious things behind your media furniture so you no longer need to plug every single device into their own wall socket.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 13 hours ago

A cable is only there to power the Qi charger anyway.

[–] Zwiebel@feddit.org 11 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/long-life-32-cable-1m-1883

Nice they got proper specs

[–] Patches@ttrpg.network 4 points 11 hours ago

Long life but no long cable 😢

[–] Ross_audio@lemmy.world -2 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Since they got rid of the headphone jack and started selling disposable Bluetooth earphones I don't pay any attention to fairphone.

It's not just the headphone jack quality has plummeted since the 3, yes you can get security updates but the warranty returns mean you're probably putting more into landfill than buying a Motorola every 2 years.

[–] the_swagmaster@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 hours ago

The headphones they sell are actively the least disposable ones you can buy. That being said, it's not the most sustainable way to listen to music. Imo, they removed it too make engineering the phone easier. If that means they can reduce the price from what it would have been and make the phone more repairable, then I'm happy for that compromise.

Have you owned a fairphone? From experience with my gf's fp4, she has not had to keep sending it back in due to hardware issues. If it was such a big issue as you seem to think, they would have gone out of business with all the replacements they would need to do...

[–] phonics@lemmy.world 6 points 13 hours ago

i have the fairbuds because i was tired of my batteries running dying. but man, these headphoned sound like shit and cant even sync to video. i bought them in 2025. also the replaceable battery looks off the shelf but is proprietary. so if they decide to stop selling them my headphones die anyway.

[+] ArtificialLink@lemy.lol -28 points 15 hours ago (4 children)

I don't give a shit about what fairphone does anymore. They removed the headphone jack to follow trends and sell their own pos wireless earbuds.

Just another company attempting to leverage its green messages to get more sales.

[–] tomi000@lemmy.world 0 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

They removed the headphone jack because noone except for a handful of loud crybabies needs it and anyone that actually needs it could use a 1€ USB-C adapter instead of whining about it.

[–] the_swagmaster@lemmy.zip 25 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

No organisation is perfect but to use this one point as a reason they are evil is absurd. No one else seems to make a product that is anywhere near as sustainable, environmentally conscious and ethical. You gotta pick your battles and imo this is a battle for when the whole industry has taken up fairphone's standards

[–] ArtificialLink@lemy.lol -1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Never called them evil. Id probably put it closer to misguided.

They are battling for industry standards? Yet they just follow the industry trend?? Which is it? imo you can't have both.

It just informed me of the fact they if they were tasked with doing something for their consumers and longevity or doing something for their bottom line they are gonna pick their bottom line. Right now most their bottom line benefits from being "eco aware" telling you they will be in it for the long haul. But I don't really trust that will always be the case cause they already showed what corner they thought they could cut and still keep users "happy". Influence And Money destroys most.

Wireless headphones are destined to be landfill waste practically from the day they are made. Just because they made theirs a little user serviceable doesn't negate the fact that when the Bluetooth codec on em gets too old or incompatible they will be trash. Unlike wired headphones which don't need to rely on any of that and can last basically as long as you take care of them or the physical materials degrade.

[–] the_swagmaster@lemmy.zip 0 points 4 hours ago

I don't think they blindly follow the trend to remove the headphone jack. They said they did it cause it free up space, make it a bit cheaper, and make it a bit easier to engineer the device for their small team. I think those are fair arguments and better than apple just saying "it took courage" and do little else with it.

They have literally kept repairability the same throughout their phones (and now other devices). They have also kept replacements parts and sending out some software updates for their old phones too. Imo, they have yet to compromise on their core promise.

One day Bluetooth may not be backwards compatible but to my knowledge that has not happened for over 10 years. I have a Bluetooth speaker from 2014 that still connects to every Bluetooth device. Unfortunately the battery on that is shit now and I can't replace it... So it will go to the landfill soon. If fairphone made that speaker then I could still use it. Playing down replaceable batteries in fp's headphones is crazy. I would agree, however, that their headphones (especially the in ears) should be better so that people actually want to keep them.

[–] Cenzorrll@lemmy.world 8 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

How does removing the headphone jack change their position?

[–] the_swagmaster@lemmy.zip 13 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

It does dilute it somewhat since it means there are more batteries and integrated circuits in stuff that don't necessarily need it. I personally don't think it's a problem (as I have indicated in my other response) cause I just prefer Bluetooth headphones anyway but ultimately they aren't the most environmentally conscious way to listen to music

[–] ArtificialLink@lemy.lol 0 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I don't prefer wireless headphones, as can probably be told by my impassioned argument. But I also recognize the convenience of them, even if I think it's not that much of a convenience over a pair of wired earbuds. I just see no reason other than their bottom line why they couldn't have given us both options.

You already have to make a compromise in your hardware choices when choosing a Fairphone, because their hardware is simply put nowhere nearly as competitive to the other phones out there that compete in their price category, with the longevity of their updates as well. That singular choice demonstrated to me that the compromise you have to make for a more sustainable phone is ultimately not worth it, because they're willing to sacrifice their sustainability in order to push sales of another one of their own products.

[–] the_swagmaster@lemmy.zip 0 points 4 hours ago

Their hardware will never match the prices of other brands spec for spec because thats not the only thing your getting. Your also getting repairability and materials sourced and manufactured as ethically as possible. That costs money and is where all other manufacturers skimp on.their phones definitely used to be too slow but since the 5 they are find for everyday use in my experience.

[–] ArtificialLink@lemy.lol 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

It's just bullshit to me. There was no reason to do it other than industry trends and their want to sell their own wireless headphones (another industry trend).

There was no reason they couldn't do both keep a headphone jack and sell wireless headphones. But they looked at the bottom line and went with the option that was good for their pockets, not their consumers.

[–] Cenzorrll@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Shouldn't they though? They are already competing at a disadvantage. If selling Bluetooth headphones allows them to continue making phones as sustainably as possible, shouldn't they do so instead of going out of business or compromising elsewhere?

[–] ArtificialLink@lemy.lol 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

No because wireless headphones are not sustainable.

Also and this is my opinion they don't compete at a disadvantage because of their sustainability. They compete at a disadvantage because they have yet to make a phone with hardware that actually makes them worth buying. They're whole selling point is sustainability but nothing else makes their phones worth while when there are other players in the industry with better hardware at the same price and with software updates for close to the same length as fairphone.

So to me when their whole brand is focused on sustainability and you have to give up better hardware for that yet they make a whole unsustainable decision and remove the one feature that most phones has dropped for "industry standards" why would i ever consider the company?

[–] the_swagmaster@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Imo since the fair phone 5 the speed of their devices has seemed adequate for most things outside of gaming. I recently got a fp6 and it's snappier than I expected. You don't need a flagship processor unless your gaming.

What company would you consider? I'm not aware of any other phone company that a really gives a damn about repairability, sustainability, and longevity of their products.

[–] ArtificialLink@lemy.lol 1 points 41 minutes ago

Pixels have 7 years of updates. Lol.

Do they have the same level of sustainability or ethical sourcing? No. But they still do uses plenty of recycled materials for its production.

But its a way better phone hardware wise for a price that is very similar. With enough "eco washing" for most people to not give a shit.

[–] TriflingToad@lemmy.world 3 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (2 children)

to be honest, I agree with you somewhat. but it's the best we got for now till a competitor comes along.

that being said though headphone jacks are SO annoying because they make noise and fall out so easily, I wish we could get a 2nd USBC instead.

also I'm gonna keep using my Pixel 8 till security updates run out then see how fairphone is doing. It was a tough decision to get the pixel but the fairphone 5 wasn't sold where I live back then :(

[–] real_squids@sopuli.xyz 1 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

have you seen miad 01? it's more of a dac with a phone but they got 4.4mm, i think it's a cool idea

edit: idk what kinda jacks you had, maybe i'm not using it that much but i've never had one fall off, even on a phone that i reassembled before. what kind of failure point was it?

[–] ArtificialLink@lemy.lol 1 points 12 hours ago

Which is a damn shame.