Fairphone 6 no longer feels like a compromise (except in the US)

The Fairphone 6 arrived nearly two years after 5, which proves the company’s approach to upgrading cycles. If anything, I suspect the company would be frustrated if Fairphone 5 owners were already considering the new model – these are phones to keep, repair and stick to until the pain ended.

The latest Fairphone continues the company’s commitment to user replication, long-term customer support and ethical production. This means compromise on consumers: You will find more powerful phones with a more beautiful monitor and a more capable camera for less money. But this year, these compromises are smaller and easier than ever, and phones are still much better for the planet – you can’t say fairer than that.

Fairphone 6 is now available in the UK and Europe. The version of the custom Android software running Fairphone is priced at €599/£499, which is quite close to the stock experience, or the Google free version of Android made by Murena is closer to the stock experience. If you are in the United States, The only one The model is available and you have to buy it directly from Murena for $899, Murena founder and CEO Gaël Duval told me that I reflect tariffs on U.S. imports. It’s a big price difference, making the Fairphone 6 like the middleman Pixel 9a In Europe, like Pixel 10 or iPhone 16 In the United States, it is more difficult to justify.

I’ve been testing my phone’s privacy-centric /E/OS version. It may not be a million miles from stock Android, but the experience is very different from the out-of-the-box. It provides quick access to options to block tracking cookies in the app, forge your geolocation information or hide your IP address, and a “Wall of Shame” listing your app so they try to track how many times you’re active. Murena describes it as “De-Googled”, which means it is built on an Android open source project, but does not require a Google account to use, does not include Google Apps by default, and all data should not be shared with Google.

If you’re ready to commit to a free Google life, there will be a range of relatively simple inventory software, such as calendar and map apps, that look like it’s been lifted up a decade ago. The App Store defaults to an open source option, provides privacy scores for each app and provides details about the tracker it uses and the required permissions.

The App Store also allows you to install almost any Android app, or even Google apps – but only if you want to. This is thanks to Microg, an open source alternative to Google Play services. The only warning is that Google Wallet doesn’t work for NFC payments, and some apps are a bit… Janky. Most people seem to work, but MyFitnessPal doesn’t run, while others tend to stutter and crash.

In terms of hardware, Fairphone 6 is better than 5with a brighter, smoother 6.31-inch 120Hz display. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset isn’t flagship hardware, but most of the time it’s smooth enough and uses 8GB of RAM, which is powerful enough except for serious gaming. The 4,415mAh battery lasts for more than one day, and the wired charging speed is Beautiful But there is no impressive, no wireless option.

The camera is still big compared to the competitors. The 50-megapixel main lens and 13-megapixel overspeed agent are good for the basics and exceeds my expectations from time to time – but they struggle with dark, complex lighting or fast-moving themes. If you only need a phone camera Good enough That certainly is, but you can get the same money (or less) better cameras elsewhere.

Another large addition to the Fairphone 6 is a series of semi-module accessories similar to the ones provided Nothing is CMF Phone 2 Pro. There is a lanyard, a cardholder and a loop grip, but cleverly, all three screws are on the back of the phone, becoming part of the hardware. Hope there are more choices.

What’s more important is the ability of the mobile phone to last for many years. Whether you purchase from Fairphone or Murena, you will receive a five-year extended warranty. Fairphone also promises eight years of software updates and seven Android version updates, although Murena only promises five years of software support for its versions – worse than the Apple, Google and Google and Samsung versions.

The phone is made of quite sturdy plastic, which feels tough. There is a big downside to durability, though: it only has an IP55 rating for dust and waterproofing (good but not very good), which is a downside of the repairable design, which can swap glue for fewer watertight screws. So while the Fairphone 6 is easier to repair than other alternatives, the risk of first needing repair is slightly higher, at least in terms of sand and water.

Say: You only need a TORX T5 screwdriver to peel the phone off to the parts that can be simply pressed and disconnected and clicked into place. You can replace the battery, display, back cover, each camera lens, speakers, headphones, USB-C ports, and SIM card tray (as a microSD slot for expandable storage, it doubles as a microSD slot). Spare parts are sold by Fairphone and Ifixit and promise to store them for years. In the United States, Murrena should They are in stock, but at the time of writing, the parts are not on their website yet.

I want to confirm whether any The idiots can do repairs, so I took all my phones and put them back in place again, which took over an hour and the other side brought me the perfect phone. Fairphone has some good YouTube videos that can do any given repair step by step, and as long as you pay attention to screwing everything up in the right order (ahem, this is not a mistake I’ve ever made…).

The “fair” bit of the name also applies to production. Fairphone claims to use as much recycled materials as possible and works with mines, recyclers, component factories and assembly lines, from living wages to workers’ representatives. There is no moral consumption under capitalism, but fair cell phones claim to be as close as possible.

I have always carefully recommended previous Fairphones. The pitch of the elevator is great, but paying a premium for under-functioning hardware is still difficult to sell. But pure power is not the difference factor that used to be, so even Fairphone 6 yes It’s not as powerful as its power, and it’s still powerful enough. Still, the software support and improved durability of other manufacturers still makes the Fairphone offer less uniqueness—although no one offers such repairability.

Fairphones are in conflict with the Middle Agent alternative because its price in Europe is owned in Europe. There are some minor compromises, but for anyone, it’s still a fair option. In the US, it costs more than some flagships, and whether you like it or not, it comes with De-Googled /e /OS, only for those who are truly committed to their careers.

Dominic Preston / The Verge Photography