Germany’s affordable answer to the Fairphone with a "super battery" at a bargain price: Gigaset GX6 Pro review
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Germany-s-affordable-Fairphone-alternative-Gigaset-GS6-Pro-review.1375726.0.htmlOpen linkView original on piefed.zip
76 replies
Not sure why they're comparing this to the Fairphone, as far as I can tell the only hardware component that is replaceable here is the battery. Which is nice, but not close to the Fairphone
And the point of the Fairphone is also that they try to ensure fair working conditions and better treatment of people throughout the entire supply chain
But does the Gigaset?
Since it isn't plastered all over marketing materials, almost certainly not. It causes a significant (but justified) rise in cost you also have to justify to customers.
Well by law they need to provide replacable battery if the phone is not water resistant, so yeah, they pretend making phone in accordance to law is a feature
Hey now, this only goes into effect from late February next year!
Having a replaceable battery is not an excuse for lack of water resistance.
Also it is water resistant, is it not?
It is in the law. Or rather, an IP68 rating allows you to have a non-replaceable battery as long as the battery is rated to last at least 1000 cycles at >80% capacity.
Fairphone 6 has an IP55 rating. Some resistance to water spray but can't be submerged.
I guess they are pretty clear about it in the first sentence: It's an alternative for those looking for something more European. Which is valid even though it's not why most people get a fairphone.
It's crazy how Microsoft managed to effectively kill Nokia phones.
Aren't Fairphone Dutch?
Yeah, it's an alternative to Fairphone as in "gosh, I want a European phone but the Fairphone is so expensive, I wish there was an alternative". Sorry, I wasn't very clear, nor is the article.
The company is Dutch but the phones are mostly manufactured and assembled in China. The company is transparent about this and discloses on their website their efforts to do this as ethically as they can.
Yeah, I know, I more meant in comparison to this German phone (which I assume is also manufactured in China)..
Nokia killed themselves. Microsoft was just the wolf that gobbled up the dying lamb.
No, Nokia would have had quite some success with Maemo and/or MeeGo devices such as the N900 and N9 had Microsoft not killed the projects and tried to push Windows instead.
The N9 was ahead of its time. It feels modern to use even almost two decades later.
SailfishOS continues MeeGo as a new project. Other operating systems such as Android and iOS have copied many UI elements such as the gestures from that.
If Microsoft had done marketing for the existing OS instead if pushing Windows phones, there's a chance Nokia phones running MeeGo would've become a common sight and probably still would be.
The N9 still feels great every time I take it out of the drawer, but with 2G and lacking updates, it isn't really usable any longer.
HMD are Nokia but yeah if anyone can fuck up a lead its a tech giant.
Almost like sometimes it is the point
A CEO recruited from Microsoft to Nokia, scraps the working OS and the near launch next one in favour of Windows Phone. Tanks business because the hardware is great but the OS is not ready and the ecosystem is abysmal.
I don't think it was the point. They tried to elbow in late on the market with their Trojan CEO but had no strategy beyond the Nokia takeover.
Plus some google-independency
Well, good to have more choice there. But only two major Android updates? Fairphone policy is eight major updates.
You could go with /e/os, they promise 8 years of software updates for the Gigaset GX6 and as many Android upgrades as they can get running during that time. Admittedly a fixed promise would be better but from what I could gather they tend to support devices fully for longer, even though the Android version upgrades take longer to arrive
/e/OS has some weird customisations in the Android UI, making it look alnost like iOS. They also do not clearly say where their app store gets the apps from.
For those and other reason I always recommend French iodéOS instead.
https://iode.tech/
The /e/os customization are just a custom launcher (which you dont have to use) and having a fixed accent color. They have said that their app store gets its apps from google play via the aurora library and from CleanAPK. This has been critiqued so they have since moved from CleanAPK to their own in-house mirror.
I can also can recommend IodesOS (/e/os is French as well btw), I mainly use /e/ because it supports the Fairphone camera app
Oh, seems they have reacted on the criticism. Haven't looked into it for a while, so thanks!
While it is nice to have this here, I don't think the Gigaset is in any way a good comparison to the Fairphone. If you want to have a "real" alternative, check out the
Shift Phones.Edit: Sorry, the English version of the page seems not to be up-to-date and missing a lot of info. Please check the German version if possible for you.
I'm confused a bit, though - there is SHIFTphone 8 for preorder while they are already selling 8.1? There is also no mention (or it is in German) of OS updates they are comiting to etc. But I like that phone company produces also an e-bike :) EDIT - which leads only to a banner, nothing else.
In the German FAQ they guarantee feature updates until 2036 and security updates for longer than 2036.They also claim to try to deliver feature updates after 2036.
Also the 8.1 seems to be basically the same as the 8. On the shop page they use both names for the same thing
Ah, sorry. I didn't realize that the English version of the page is bit outdated. There is much more info on the German version. (I added a note to my previous post.)
Cool, I didn't even know this company exists. The 8 specs are a bit hidden, though.
Fairphone has PMOS support (6 is getting there very quickly)
Fairphone has calyxOS support (now that calyx is resumed, they will likely support the 6)
Does the gigaset have any of that, or just stock android with barely any updates even?
And you can buy a Fairphone 6 with Murena preinstalled
USB 2 type C so no video over it, unlike the Fairphone.
Fairphone 6 also has USB2.0 sadly. Cost cutting...
the most important questions about a smartphone for me are:
-can you easily unlock the bootloader?
-how's the custom rom situation?
Don't forget:
This should be possible to have the most basic security feature.
Another one without a headphone jack.
i think we have to get used to it, 3mm jack will not come back
Yeah, mainly because some people want to sell bluetooth shit that will need replacement more often.
If at least someone could make a dongle that doesn't suck.
The ifi Audio GO Link is pretty decent.
FiiO KA11 might also be good. Both around 50 $.
Edit: GO link is phased out, it's 2 now.
Heck, any generix 10€ dongle with a CX31993 will be more than sufficient for most people
Yup, got a "JM6 Pro" or whatever from aliexpress and it has been great both on my phone and PCs
They look pretty good, yes. I'll look into it, if they'd come with 90 degree usb they'd be perfect.
Thanks
Apple's version is first rate and like $15. I use them to connect my computers to Class D Amps, gets me great 5/7.1
For mobile I've had the Qudelix-5K for a couple of years, pricey, but really nice. I forgot and left LDAC 990kbps/96kHz on for months (overkill and bad for battery life), nary a stutter at really impressive ranges. Pretty much makes the audio jack issue irrelevant.
tbh, I switched to bluetooth after some time. My cables broke way too often. I still like it as a fallback, but that’s pretty much it.
I have the opposite experience, lots of connection problems and batteries dying, when I decided to buy something of better quality it bricked itself after the warranty expired. Fuck Senheiser.
But probably depends strongly on the use case. I’m talking about walking around with headphones in my ear and phone in my pocket, that exerts a lot of stress/pressure on the jack and where the cable bends. I also had the phone part break twice so far
Or in other words: my headphones connected to my PC basically never break, but on my phone I had to replace them every few months
I'm not sure if I ever broke a headphone cable that way but that did happened to the last usb dongle I bought. The times I broke a cable is because they got caught on door knob or something. Also the cable of the headphones I use on my PC for running over it with the chair one too many times, luckily that cable can easily replaced.
That.
Also, I miss headphone sharing.
And people not blasting the whole train with some loud shit they are watching instead of simply plugging in some 2 € / piece headphones.
I liked when the Sony MH-410c came with every new phone.
If people still had phones with headphone jacks, I'd just throw cheap headphones at them and travel on the train in peace.
Clicks Communicator is gonna be released later this year and it brings back both the headphone jack and physical keyboard! And the company is registered in the UK which is perhaps interesting for this sub.
I'd totally buy this if it can run Lineage OS or some other non-google Android or Linux. With Stock Android and Play Services it's a no-go for me unfortunatelt. Nice device, I love the concept - buy will never use the google ecosystem.
The real innovation here should be a quick release mechanism, so when the mfers gets snagged anywhere, they won't get damaged.
The keys seem the same shape, making them hard to distinguish without looking.
I'd love new hardware with the same keys as the BlackBerry Classic, though.
No jack? Send it back!
Good thing.
Even more so if you intend to take the 'waterproof' aspect for serious: IP68 means that you can actually take a few close-up pictures of your goldfish.
There is no reason to not have both Jack and waterproofing. And as Samsung had shown recently, no reason to not have waterproofing and replaceable battery. If there is a place for headphone jack, just put it there.
Waterproofing a 3.5mm jack is not that difficult compared to a USB-C port. There are quite a few phones on the market right now which are waterproof and have a headphone jack: https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?chk35mm=selected&sAvailabilities=1&sIPCerts=11
The problem is that it takes away a chunk of space which usually means less battery life.
If you open a Fairphone 4/5/6/6+, there's more than enough space for a headphone jack.
Fairphone 4 for example: The SoC could provide the output, the Xperia 10 III has the same one. They could probably cram in a tiny DAC somewhere. No idea about the SoCs of the newer models, but I imagine it's not that difficult.
Hm. If you say so. But I would never trust it further than a few minutes in the rain.
Do you think it's more difficult to waterproof than a USB-C port? And if so, how did 148 phones from the list above get their IP68/IP69 ratings?
No, but I think most "waterproof" phones can fulfil only something like IP44, that is, withstand some light rain.
Even if they appear in other search lists, and especially (!!) when they "invent" other standards than the strict IPxx numbers that have existed alteady before this phone.
I think the Asus ROG phones did just fine with it. Unfortunately, it seems that line has been discontinued.
But anyway, the last one from 2024 had a 5,800mAh battery, a headphone jack, and 2 USB-C ports (side and bottom).
It is important to note that Gigaset is a German company, but since 2024 it is owned by V-Tech based in Hong Kong.
I'm fairly (lol) happy with my Fairphone, but more competition and more options certainly won't hurt customers!
gigaset isn't german anymore? because we like to sell out :)) gigaset, avm, kuka and many more :))
The owners are Chinese. The factory is still in Germany.
Still, I wouldn't call it European then
So there are only Chinese phones on this planet.
Are all phone brands owned by chinese companies?
As far as I know, Fairphone is still Dutch for instance and the factory are in Europe too. But sure, at the end of the day components are still Chinese. Not much you can do about that.
You can get it for 399 with /e/OS at https://murena.com/ !
"Android"
Enough said.
Good or bad?
Depends what you favor in convenience vs privacy & being free to do whatever the fuck you want with hardware you supposedly bought.
Also the common version of Android is an American OS controlled by a company that falls under the Cloud Act jurisdiction, amongst others, so not really trustworthy (even if you're American, much less European).
Does this phone even have an easilly unlockable bootloader?!
German device design, Taiwanese components, German assembly and controlling software layer made by an American Tech giant whose CEO has given support to Donald Trump, is sorta EU made but is not EU controlled, IMHO.
I think that this day and age and given what we all see happen, we should be pushing for at least designed for openness in a made-in-EU a device which is supposedly always with you, loaded with personal info and highly weaved into one's life.
I can't support anything German for having the defense of genocidal colonial power as the reason of the state
You're probably using a device funded by a genocidal power but I don't see you throwing away your device in the garbage. You're just pointlessly grand standing lol
Nice All-or-Nothing Fallacy. I don't see that kind of bullshit here when we are talking about boycotting the USA which I support.I am pretty my phone was not made by a country having a genocidal state who talk about killing all men, and all women, all infants and even animals as a reason of the state