Most phones today are disposable items, and if yours stops working for whatever reason it’s hard to repair it yourself work, and repairing it at the shop may prove to be too expensive. They are not really expandable either, so if you want a new feature, you may have to buy a completely new phone instead of simply adding a module with the functionality. The difficulty in repairing the phone and the lack of modularity leading to electronics waste. Finally, consumer products are cost-optimized, and that’s great for your wallet, but it may come at the cost of being made by slave labor either directly at the factory, or indirectly through the mining of materials. Aren’t you already feeling bad being complicit in destroying the planet and sponsoring human suffering while reading this on your device?
Good! But luckily there’s a solution with Fairphone that aims to be an ethical / socially responsible smartphone that is modular, easy to repair, and is manufactured using ethically sourced materials. A little while ago, we covered Fairphone 2 Ubuntu port, and now the company has just announced the launch of Fairphone 3.
Fairphone 3 specifications:
- SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 octa-core Kryo 250 processor clocked at up to 2.2 GHz, and an Adreno 506 GPU; 12nm process
- System Memory – 4GB RAM
- Storage – 64GB storage + microSD card reader
- Display – 5.65″ touchscreen display with 2160 x 1080 resolution, Gorilla Glass 5
- Audio – 3.5 headphone jack; stereo speaker; microphone
- Connectivity
- Cellular
- Dual nano-SIM
- 4G LTE Cat 13 up to 450 Mbps download speed; Bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 13, 20, 26
- 3G HSPA+ up to 42 Mbps; Frequencies: 800, 850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 Mhz
- 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE – 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
- Dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi 5
- Bluetooth 5 LE
- NFC for card paymentand more
- GNSS: GPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU, GALILEO, A-GPS support
- Cellular
- Cameras – 12MP rear camera with autofocus, dual LED flash; 8MP front-facing
- USB – 1x USB 2.0 type-C port
- Sensors – Fingerprint scanner, ambient light, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, barometer, compass
- Battery – 3,000 mAh removable battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support
- Dimensions – 158 x 71.8 x 9.89 mm
- Weight – 187.4 grams
- IP Rating – IP54
The phone the latest Android 9 Pie operating system, ships with a mini screwdriver, a bumper, and a quick start guide. USB-C cable, charger, and earphones are not included since you may already have those, and they can be purchased separately. Remember one of the goals is to reduce e-waste. Fairphone 3 comes with a 2-year warranty.
User-replaceable spare parts are what make this phone really unique, as most components are replaceable thanks to the modular design including cameras, speakers, bottom and top modules, the display, the battery, and the back cover… If after a few years your battery becomes depleted, you can replace it by spending around 30 Euros on a new one. This used to be standard in phones many years ago, but sadly it has now become a rarity.
Being socially responsible does come at a price however, as the mid-range phone sells for 450 Euros including VAT. Note that you can get up to 40 Euros discount if you recylce your old phone with the company. Some examples of prices for spare parts: 89.90 Euros for display, $49.95 Euros for camera, 19.95 Euros for speaker.
Via Liliputing
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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The term “fair” still has some limits, when you see that you pay it 1 year of salary of the worker who builds it in one hour…
Also if there is a long way to go, you still need to start to walk at some point….
The screams of trying to generate sales via woke points. All of those modules will be made in the same places that the latest Samsung or iPhone is made and I doubt they will sell enough phones to create an ecosystem for parts supply and servicing so supply of those modules will dry up pretty soon after their venture funding runs out.
Ironically the horrible unfair phones like the iPhones will be much more friendly in the long run because of all of the unauthorised repair shops.
Failphone
My bet is that it will prove to be a gigantic mistake to chose as a target group the minuscule intersection of two small and totally separate market niches: * one being technologically savvy open-source- and security-focused people who want a phone with a REAL and sufficiently open source system that they own themselves (as opposed to a closed android phone that is owned by a combination of google, the phone manufacturer, or whoever else pwns it via a vuln that hasn’t yet been fixed because of the lazy and restrictive update policy) * the other being ideology- or moral-focused… Read more »
The problem is that people don’t want a phone that is build to last. They want the latest shining thing. In that matter the price tag isn’t so bad. Check the cost of a iphone and most of them buy a new one on regular basis. And they are not so super also. My wife had a iphone and after 2 years it went out on irregular basis. I replaced the battery but it didn’t help. On the other side, I have a moto g 2014 titan that is still going strong on lineage OS. Shame Lineage stopped official support… Read more »
Fairphone 3 gets Android 13 four years after launch.
https://liliputing.com/fairphone-releases-android-13-for-the-fairphone-3-and-3/