Is Fairphone really fair?

Great video

How is it fair for me to pay flagship money and get mid range phone ? Fairphone OK... But fair to who?

This is just my opinion, but I feel like we may benefit from moving away from the smartphone ecosystem and into something more durable (a new type of device perhaps?).

Repairability is nice, but when the manufacturer decides to give up on a device and it stops receiving updates for its operating system, you get cut out from developed apps which are only released for the latest device operating systems. This happened to someone I know who lives without a smartphone. When came the time to do some mandatory paperwork which require an app, she tried purchasing a second hand smartphone. Except the app only worked on the latest operating system so she purchased a second hand phone for nothing, and her paperwork is still due. It's still perfectly usable for 90% of use case which is nice, but the whole ecosystem (hardware, software, apps, etc.) keep advancing.

When you compare the smartphone ecosystem to, say, a desktop computer, it feels like smartphones are nearly designed to be disposable, as much as I hate that, whereas you can keep your computer going for much longer than that. Take it from someone who's only ever purchased 1 smartphone.

It's still very niche, but I appreciate the Framework laptops for that. They're slightly closer to desktop computers since you could just replace obsolete hardware and keep using it, instead of replacing the whole unit.

No matter how good they get at this, I won't buy one,i didn't like the "removable battery" phones back in 2000,and don't like them now,if this is the future of the smartphone,to get easy user replaceable battery and we'll go back to removable backs, I'm getting an esim smartwatch and ditch the phones completely.
And there is absolutely no chance I'm going to pay flagship money for a mediocre specd device, I'd rather buy a bunch of $200 phones and use them till they break.

Maybe 🤔 the name is Fairphone but it’s not that fair.

An important thing to remember, which wasn't really touched on in this video, is that Apple generally distorts or flat out lies about its sustainability efforts. A good example is that disassembly robot, which has been shown to process as many phones in a year that Apple sells in a day - i.e. it has no actual impact and is just for show. Another is the recent lawsuit Apple filed against its "recycling" partner, where Apple sued them for not destroying usable phones (yes, destroying as in shredding, not recycling) but instead refurbished them and sold them at a lower price - something which honestly should be commended for reducing the amount of e-waste.
Remember Apple's track history, as touched on in the video; they do not care about the environment or treating anyone fairly, they care about how to make more money, which now includes pretending to care.

Apple is not making it easy for consumers to change batteries, it’s actually getting more difficult.
Governments need to put more pressure on manufacturers, because at the moment they’re making landfill.

Great insightful research, thanks! I just quickly changed my USB C port in my Fairphone 4. I love all their reports and transparency. I'm very happy with my decision. :)

Appreciate their effort. I have been thinking of late why the phone manufacturers burden us by forcing us to buy a new phone every 3-4 years. Instead of going for a new phone, I bought a used phone recently. Came across this video today. Would definitely buy a FairPhone once its available in my country even if it cost more than an used phone (iPhone/Samsung) solely for their effort and consideration for the common man, the factory worker, the miner, the planet and the nature.

The social status is something people buy the iPhones and Samsung. If the consumer is smart and not a show off, they will go for a phone like this and save themselves lot of money.

Thank you for making this video!! I had questions about the detailed claims that Fairphone makes, and this video answers all my questions. One question since you mentioned the Bluetooth, is it so bad that you cant exit a room, or what? Thanks!!

A MAJOR downside to repairable electronics is that the company needs to produce additional excess inventory of replacement parts to accommodate POTENTIAL future user repairs.

If the company does not forecast the future repairs accurately, then every single component that goes unused is another component that goes into E-waste.

I hope this is something that the 3rd party study has accounted for.

Here after watching MKBHD's Apple secret lab tour video which was basically an Apple sponsored ad to fight against repairability.

thanks for this review. Just got mine today and looking forward in using it a long time and maybe make some hardware updates over time. I Waited until the bugs on my Nokia 8.3 are going to annoy me until i get a new phone. :P used this for about 4 years.

If you could actually replace the CPU/Mainboard then I would probably go buy it - My phones never actually break, however they outdate over the 3 years I usually own them..

They are still a better company than apple and i think ive read that apple only has 2 machines that recycle parts? Correct me if im wrong tho. But if im right they are still way behind on recycling than this small company. So if u wanna support the planet maybe support companies like this. Sad tho that this phone is not available in my country

I owned more than 3 iPhones over the years and it was always an issue of cracked screens and terrible battery with age. In the past, I regrettably replaced old iPhones since repair prices were not attractive.
I have a Fairphone 4 which I hope to keep more than 5 years.

The repairability of the phones has not become easier and the cost of the parts from Samsung or Apple are a joke. It’s is loads of horsecrap as are these companies with phones that do not justify the price mark

Liked and subscribed. Amazing video!

Is waterproofing that much important? Are people really that bad in handling their devices?

I don't get the phone thickness competitions. Do we really want to have phones as thin as a paper?

But iPhone and Samsung don't have expandable memory 🤡

Just like all the others they took away the jack the same generation they started selling extremely overpriced earbuds.
FairPhone is better but still super anti-consumer.

No audio jack. No thanks.

My Fairphone 3 from 2019 is still going strong with all the original parts and it's still receiving security updates. Pretty happy with that.

The Germany based "Shift" company also has a "Fair" smartphone. Their newest model, releasing in August/September, the Shiftphone 8 will be modular, have removable back plate, you can repair anything with a screwdriver just like on Fairphone. Their Battery, while small (3850mH) is a multi purpose battery and are using it on multiple devices. The Phone will also be IP67 certified making it "on par" with most regular smart phones on terms of water and dust proofing. Maybe worth checking out.

Great video

That intro made me orgasm

Bruh. What landscape shot? The landscape is horrendous. It's depressing soul-sucking grey concrete cubes of death. There's nothing TO impress. Unless you're bringing over a Soviet dignitary, that is.

I watching this video as part of my research towards a new phone. I bought a Poco X3 Pro because I liked the raw power of the Snapdragon 860 for emulation, but ended up barely even doing that. And then a charging mishap fried something and I gave it to a repair shop, got told it's not fixable. And it was already not getting software updates anyway... so now my shiny phone is out of updates and unrepairable when I was still perfectly happy with it.

Their funky industry chip seems about on par with the 860 I was happy with, and now I can actually use and repair the thing and keep it updated. And I loved the side mounted fingerprint scanner on my Poco, so I'm very happy to get that!

Only downside is no headphone jack... but eh, I barely ever use headphones anyway.

My main issue with them is the price, and no headphone jack. Like if I can't even listen to music on it for so much money, I wouldn't exactly call it fair. And I really think they should make a mid range phone around 300 Euro and not like high end ones of about 600.

don't worry about apple recycling as much phone that they sell! they have been pinned for forcing their partner to recycle perfectly fine and functional phone and not resell them...
their vision of green is unique, "we use only recycling material! from source that didn't need to be recycled."

It's just another marketing ploy. None of the phones have ever been fairer than other phones, they just tweak the definition of the word fair to shoehorn it into the claims made. The swapping of component to upgrade the phone never worked, the parts availability for previous models de facto ends when a new model is introduced. There wasn't supposed to be a new model to begin with, the phone was going to be upgradable with new technology. In the end you just drop it in a drawer, like you did with the previous models from other brands. It's just greenwashing, if they could make it stick these phone would be marketed as vegan and transgender as well.

I think we all should be eco conscious so thumbs up fairphone

Absolutley awesome video, loved that you research thoroghly!

I just want phones that dont use child labour and labour in dangerous mines, didnt see they offer that in their web page, actually they buy from Congo, as the other brands. So i find pointless paying more for this phone. The most i saw is in a media web, not in their web, that use conflict free materials, but that certification is given by a congo company that can just lie, also is not free from child labour or labour in dangerous mines. The only way would be buying coltan from other countries.

I have seen where iPhones are being shredded and even had a lawsuit against the company as some of those iPhones were sold elsewhere and Apple was not happy about this. I would love to see all these companies take back phones and sell them again to others instead of filling landfills with them.

My old phone broke down yesterday after around 8 years of using it, due to it no longer being able to run anything on it's 16gb of storage. Looked up phones when a friend reccomended the Fairphone to me. Pretty much everything that I want from a phone, so it's a perfect buy for me. Even more, the one I bought (Fairphone 4) is still cheaper then other competetors I looked at with similar specs.

my Fairphone 4 can't do voicemail (I have to call in to listen to messages), can't connect to my car's bluetooth (WTF?), and can't do touchless pay. Adding insult to injury, Murena Fairphone has the worst customer service I've ever had. There's no phone number to call them, forcing us to send an email, then wait a week for them to reply (if they reply at all).

I don't mind if it would be even twice as much bulky as regular phone, I just want a high performance phone with no bloatware where I can replace my batery.
And a headphone jack and SD card slot, because apparently those are not a standard anymore...

I really appreciate the amount of work and research you out into this video! I've been looking for a video like this.

Will it run Mobian/Plasma? If you want to be truly fair, make it FOSS.

dinero nobasta

This is so good as a prospective buyer

I'll tell you a hard truth: the market doesn't reward effort, but rather final achievements. That means if you have to explain a product and its vision, it implies that your product isn't good. I also hope that in the future, phones will be more repairable and sustainable, but I believe Fairphone simply isn't achieving that yet... it's on the right path, but their product is still subpar despite good intentions

I think the biggest issue is that in the USA, we are huge consumerist, many people want the next new thing, even if its not anything "new" in terms of tech; and I think companies have taken advantage of that fact and cuts costs in terms of repair and longevity to maximize profits, it just makes sense from a business standpoint. I dont think we can really become Eco friendly and whatnot while also exploiting the earth to build products. I think the best solution to become eco friendly is to keep tech around longer by making it easier to repair. However, considering how we humans are greedy af I dont this will be the case.

Its all a facade.

If *any* component of this is made in China, it is a hoax.