PieFed.caFairphone’s new cables and chargers are LONGTIME®-certified. Here’s what that means.
submitted by
Sunshine (she/her)
www.fairphone.com/en/2025/09/11/fairphones-new-…
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.
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
Tbf the 2.5m version is only 5€ more
I have seen the light, give me 3m or give me death
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.
I feel like having to hug a power socket constantly is a worse solution to just having all my USB cables be 2m long especially if you want a clean desk.
For example this setup is not possible with just 1m if you actually want to also use the phone
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.
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.
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.
I'm a bit surprised I've never heard of LONGTIME. Seems like they're doing exactly what I've wanted - searching out products designed to last.
https://longtimelabel.com/en/
That said, not sure I need a Buy It For Life cable. Far more interested in BIFL appliances.
I've heard a lot of people use Anker cables for BIFL? Or perhaps just they are the longest lasting I've heard of
If I make a "love you LONGTIME®" joke will it get deleted?
Glad to see someone with the same sense of humour lol.
I was going to say that's my goddamn trademark see you in court. /s
No, those are specifically designed to keep working.
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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.
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.
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...
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