Fairphone brings its $649 repairable Gen 6+ smartphone to the US

[Shawn Knight]

Bottom line: Dutch electronics maker Fairphone is now selling the latest version of its namesake smartphone in the US. The Fairphone (Gen. 6+) features a dozen user-replaceable components and guaranteed software updates through at least 2033 for a price that seems… well, fair.

The Fairphone (Gen. 6+) is billed as the company's first device to feature 12GB of RAM, and comes at a time when manufacturers are more conscious than ever about the amount of memory they are stuffing into their devices due to AI-driven shortages. The handset is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 SoC, which drives a 6.3-inch, 120Hz OLED display, and is paired with 256GB of local storage.

Other noteworthy features include a trio of cameras comprised of a 50MP main with 10x digital zoom, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens with a 120-degree field of view, and a 32MP front-facing camera with autofocus. Battery life is rated at up to 22 hours of music playback / 18 hours of video playback thanks to a 4,415mAh battery pack. With fast charging, you can get up to a 50% charge in about 20 minutes.

The handset ships with Android 16 and promises at least six major updates.

The phone's key selling point, however, is its modular design and repairability. A single T5 Trox screwdriver is all that's needed to replace up to 12 different components including the battery, display, camera units, USB-C charging port, and earpiece. Replacement parts are reasonably priced, too – the battery, for example, is less than $40 and a new screen costs just $89.95.

Fairphone's latest comes backed by a five-year warranty and carries an IP55 rating against the elements. Pricing is set at $649.99, and it's shipping now in your choice of blue, black, or green colorways. Considering flagship foldables have pushed premium handset pricing beyond the $2,000 mark, $650 now feels about right for a mid-range phone and perhaps even somewhat of a value for a repairable device that has the potential to afford several years of service.

Standard delivery is set at 2-6 days, and there's even a 14-day free trial period to make sure the device is right for you.

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Fairphone brings its $649 repairable Gen 6+ smartphone to the US

 

[stewi0001]

I will definitely consider fairphone when I need a new one. Especially since it has a micro-sd slot

 

[tonylukac]

This looks good, but I only paid $50 for my phone. Apple products, altho thin, are not repairable. I had a Macbook Pro where the display was damaged and it came back with the display still partially damaged. I thought I had an extended warranty via the credit card company, but it was always "being adjudicated" and I never got my $500 back. At the time a good laptop could be had for $500. Then a year later the keyboard had a recall and they said I had poured something into the keyboard which I didn't. It came back entirely unusable after that. To give credit to Apple, that was during Covid and the Apple store was closed, so a different retailer repaired it unsuccessfully.

 

[sreams]

This looks good, but I only paid $50 for my phone. Apple products, altho thin, are not repairable. I had a Macbook Pro where the display was damaged and it came back with the display still partially damaged. I thought I had an extended warranty via the credit card company, but it was always "being adjudicated" and I never got my $500 back. At the time a good laptop could be had for $500. Then a year later the keyboard had a recall and they said I had poured something into the keyboard which I didn't. It came back entirely unusable after that. To give credit to Apple, that was during Covid and the Apple store was closed, so a different retailer repaired it unsuccessfully.

You give credit to Apple for sending the computer they were supposed to fix to a 3rd party?

 

[LordVile95]

This looks good, but I only paid $50 for my phone. Apple products, altho thin, are not repairable. I had a Macbook Pro where the display was damaged and it came back with the display still partially damaged. I thought I had an extended warranty via the credit card company, but it was always "being adjudicated" and I never got my $500 back. At the time a good laptop could be had for $500. Then a year later the keyboard had a recall and they said I had poured something into the keyboard which I didn't. It came back entirely unusable after that. To give credit to Apple, that was during Covid and the Apple store was closed, so a different retailer repaired it unsuccessfully.

You can just order parts from Apple and do it yourself

 

[Hecate91]

The whole point of the Fairphone is an easily repairable phone.
You can't fix your own iphone without specialized tools and have to pair the parts to the phone.

 

[pnntmp]

That's nice, but "10/10 repairability score" is not the first thing users are looking for.

I'm using iPhones since v.4, along with wife & kids. Not sure what iPhone's repairability score is, but I can't care less as none of them ever needed a repair. I only changed batteries - not myself, but local shops do it cheaply.

 

[Axeia]

The whole point of the Fairphone is an easily repairable phone.

Not quite, their point is more along the lines of not making the world a worse place just to make a phone.
They co-founded the 'Fair Cobalt Alliance' for example to obtain cobalt for the phones without child labor being involved. In the whole production chain they try to do it in such a way where it minimally impacts people and the environment.
Repairability is a great tool towards minimizing environmental impact (as is the eight! years of software support).

They've come quite a long way, this seems a lot better price/performance wise than the previous ones.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

It looks decent, the CPU is a bit of a disappointment, except for the battery. 4400 mah with a 6.3 inch 120hz screen is gonna give atrocious SoT.

I'd be more interested if they offered a larger battery option. Since it's removable, shouldn't be too hard right?

 

[Win7user]

$649 plus tax for a phone. Lmao....

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

Last I checked the Gen 6+ (USA) is supported by Tmobile, AT&T with some caveats, some smaller carriers, and Verizon no.