General questions about the SHIFT5me

ungutknut

Member
Original poster
25 März 2020
6
Hi everyone,

Since it seems to be one of the very few modern smartphones with a moderate size I'm very interested in the 5me and I have a few basic questions I've not been able to find answers yet:

) How reliable is it? I'm currently using the Fairphone2 and it's the most horrible experience I've ever had with a phone. I like to tinker around with stuff but 1-3 random reboots per day is just too much (along with an ever-growing list of further malfunctions). FP3 is just way too big and also riddled with issues from what I've seen so far. Are there any known issues with the 5me?
) The shop-site says it supports android 8. Will there be an upgrade to 10? Other SHIFTphones have custom ROM support listed in the specs... but not the 5me. Is that correct?
) Is ShiftOS just normal android with google services + play store? Is there a google-free version for the 5me? I think I already found an answer to that question elsewhere. By default it's shipped with google stuff but there's an "L" version without google. That sounds perfect for me.
) The shop-site says something about flexible delivery times for the 4GB version. When roughly can I expect delivery, assuming I place an order today (also in respect of the current pandemic situation)?

I'm sorry if some of these questions have been asked already.
(feel free to answer in German... I'm just not sure what's the preferred language here)
 
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My 5me is very reliable so far. No random restarts for me. But of course you will always find somebody who has problems with this. I can only speak for me. And even if the phone is unstable, I believe the software is very solid, so it could only be the hardware. But the hardware is modular and you can replace defect parts.

I believe every Shiftphone supports custom ROM since the bootloader is unlocked. Android 8.1 is on the way for the 5me and as far as I know Android 10 is only available for 6mq.

Yes, Shiftphones are shipped with Google Android but you can flash Google-free at your own (resources for that are in the forums).

They said that the next delivery of 6mq is expected at the end of May, so I assume that the delivery of every other Shiftphone is in the end of May at the earliest, too. But you never can estimate the real delivery of the flexible order.
 
My 5me is very reliable so far. No random restarts for me. But of course you will always find somebody who has problems with this. I can only speak for me. And even if the phone is unstable, I believe the software is very solid, so it could only be the hardware. But the hardware is modular and you can replace defect parts.

I believe every Shiftphone supports custom ROM since the bootloader is unlocked. Android 8.1 is on the way for the 5me and as far as I know Android 10 is only available for 6mq.

Yes, Shiftphones are shipped with Google Android but you can flash Google-free at your own (resources for that are in the forums).

They said that the next delivery of 6mq is expected at the end of May, so I assume that the delivery of every other Shiftphone is in the end of May at the earliest, too. But you never can estimate the real delivery of the flexible order.
Thanks for your estimation. Actually I've found a lot of answers to my questions already in the unexpectedly helpful FAQ.

I'm still not sure if it was a good idea but I ordered the 5me yesterday. Let's see if it's any more reliable than the FP2.
 
Hallo ungutknut,
da die bevorzugte Frage im Forum deutsch ist, antworte ich mal auf deutsch.

Ich besitze ein 6m, kann also nur etwas zur Software sagen. Diese ist für das 6m und 5me identisch und wird nur hardwarebedingt angepaßt.

Die L-Version gibt es bisher leider nur als Beta, und seit Ende August ist leider kein Update oder Upgrade rausgekommen. Die stabile Version war mal für Ende 2018, das Upgrade auf 8.1 für Ende 2019 angekündigt und irgendwann auch mal ein Upgrade auf Android 9... Leider gibt es zur Zeit keine festen Zusagen. Wenn Du sehr viel Wert auf zeitnahe Aktualusierung der Android-Sicherheitspatches legst, ist ein Shiftphone für Dich z.Zt. nicht die erste Wahl. Ich hoffe, daß die Softwareabteilung nach Erscheinen des 6mq mehr Zeit für Softwareupdates hat.

Die L-Version läuft bei mir problemlos. Ich nutze allerdings fast ausschliesslich Apps von F-Droid und weder microG noch Gapps.

Wenn es bis zum Erhalt Deines 5me kein neues Update gibt, mußt Du flashen. Installationsanleitungen findest Du im Downloadbereich und bei YouTube.
Lineage ist ebenfalls verfügbar, das letzte Update ist vom Juni letzten Jahres.

Die Produktion in China ist inzwischen wieder angelaufen. @bharder: Wie sieht es mit den Lieferterminen für die verschiedenen Modelle aus?