Chips & Hardware
Fairphone brings its repairable Gen 6+ smartphone to the US
Fairphone's repairable Gen 6+ smartphone is now available in the US starting at $649, its first unmodified sale there.
Fairphone, the Dutch company known for its sustainable and repair-friendly phones, said Tuesday its latest smartphone, the Fairphone 6+, is now available in the U.S., starting at $649.
The company previously partnered with French open source operating system maker e/OS — which strips Google’s services out of Android — to sell a “de-Googled” version of its earlier phones in the U.S., but this marks the first time American buyers can purchase the company’s phones directly, without modification. Fairphone said the 6+ will support T-Mobile and AT&T at launch.
The Fairphone 6+ is a midrange Android device, but given rising prices for consumer gadgets amid ongoing component shortages, a repairable phone built to last for years could be an appealing alternative. “We’re delivering a device built from the ground up to be opened, repaired, and kept alive for many years,” said Fairphone CEO Raymond van Eck.
The phone runs on Qualcomm’s midrange Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 processor — a chip aimed at balancing performance and cost — with 12GB of RAM. It has a 4,415 mAh battery with 30 W fast-charging support, and a 6.31-inch LTPO OLED display — a panel technology that adjusts its own refresh rate to save power — with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. Its main camera uses a 50-megapixel Sony sensor with an f/1.88 aperture, paired with a 13-megapixel ultrawide sensor at f/2.2; the front-facing camera is a 32-megapixel sensor at f/2.0.
The Fairphone 6+‘s 12 replaceable parts — including the battery, cameras, USB-C port, and display — can be swapped out with a single screwdriver, and the company backs the phone with five years of warranty and software support, through 2033.
Fairphone said it also kept manufacturing sustainable, reducing the carbon footprint to 30 kg of CO2e for each Fairphone 6+ produced. The phone comes in Forest Green, Horizon Black, and Cobalt Blue, and Fairphone sells accessories such as a finger loop, lanyard, and card holder that attach by removing the back cover.
Why it matters
A repairable phone built to last for years could be an appealing alternative at a time of rising consumer-gadget prices and ongoing component shortages.