Fairphone: quality tech that’s built to be repaired, not replaced

Repairability is a huge trend in tech right now as consumers, fed up with having to discard a device because of a broken screen or faulty battery, demand that their phones are made less of a disposable product. Fairphone, which started in 2013, is determined to do just this, with its signature modular phone designs immediately becoming popular among savvy customers.

This summer, the Dutch firm released the Fairphone (Gen. 6), its most advanced and self-repairable smartphone yet. Not only can you swap out the battery and screen, but spares are available for the USB-C port, speaker and cameras. Add to this eight years of software support, and you’ve got a phone that will remain useful and relevant for much longer than many of its contemporaries.

Power to perform

Inside the Fairphone Gen 6. you’ll find a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor backed by 8GB of RAM. Around the front there’s a silky 120Hz OLED display capable of putting out 1400 nits of peak brightness, and covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 7i for extra toughness and oily fingerprint protection. The front camera uses a 32MP Samsung sensor, while the main camera has a 50MP Sony chip that’s optically stabilised, alongside a 13MP ultrawide. It’s a tempting package even before you add in a two-day battery life with fast charging, 256GB of storage expandable with a MicroSD card, and a price of just £499. It’s the way phones should be made.

Fairphone isn’t just about phones. The company has branched out into earbuds and headphones, all coming with the company’s commitment to quality, repairability and sustainability. The Fairbuds are in-ear wireless buds that are easily repairable – you can replace the batteries in both the charging case and the buds themselves. They’re IP54 water resistant, and are 100% e-waste neutral.

The Fairbuds have a total music playtime of 26 hours, and come with both noise cancellation to block out ambient noise, and capacitive touch controls so you’re not fiddling with tiny buttons when you just want to skip a track. The titanium-coated 11mm drivers give fantastic sound, and multipoint Bluetooth connectivity means you’ll be able to pair them with multiple devices. At just £129, they’re a cost-effective way to get great audio and join the Fairphone mission.

If it’s larger headphones you’re after, Fairphone has something for you too. The Fairbuds XL are for you. Their premium sound quality is produced by 40mm dynamic drivers, while aptX HD support means you won’t miss any detail of your favourite tunes. Active noise cancellation shuts out distractions, and with up to 30 hours of listening from a charge, you’ll be immersed in your music.

Want more listening time? Pop out the battery and replace it with a fresh one. The Fairbuds XL have the same repairability as the smaller earbuds, and are built to last with IP54 ingress protection. Their modular design means you can replace internal cables, the headband, the speakers and their covers as well as the battery, meaning they could be the last pair of headphones you ever buy.

Accessorise with Fairphone

You’re going to need more than just smartphones and headphones as you move into the world of repairability and modularity. Fairphone offers a range of cases for its Gen. 6, including screen protectors for an extra layer of durability. Its soft cases are 100% recycled, and there are lanyards, card holders and finger loops to make your phone more useful. Fairphone’s dual-port 30W USB-C charger can keep your phone topped off with power – the chargers and cables are LONGTIME certified, so they’ll last rather than falling apart if bent a bit too hard – and you can even buy a screwdriver that’s the right size to start making your own repairs from the Fairphone store.

So if you’ve ever had to replace something in a device because its battery will no longer hold its charge, and wondered what happened to gadgets we would take apart and repair ourselves, then Fairphone’s ethos of repairability, reliability and long life will make disposable devices and ever-larger piles of e-waste a thing of the past.