Can you be ethical in building a mobile phone? The answer is affirmative and you don’t need to bother the marketing of Apple or the big brands to hear it said. Fairphone, a small manufacturer born in 2013 in the Netherlands, makes sustainability its credo and also for its latest addition – the Fairphone 4, on sale online starting from 579 euros and for delivery from 25 October – has firmly focused on recycled materials and from responsible sources and conflict-free areas and on the concepts of modularity and repairability. Just arm yourself with a special screwdriver to disassemble and possibly replace at low cost (starting from 20 euros to go up) the modules that compose it, including the display, cameras, speakers, battery and polycarbonate cover.
How it’s done?
For the microprocessor (the system on chip Snapdragon 750G), the memories and the fingerprint reader integrated in the power button, however, it is necessary to be advised of their reliability and take advantage of the product warranty, extended to five years. What else can be said about this sui generis smart appliance? Much. Compared to previous generations, to begin with, it comes with a more streamlined design and with a completely renewed technical identity card, complete with an integrated module for 5G mobile networks and double Sim (one physical and one virtual nano) as an option. The absence of the 3.5 mm jack input, which involves the obligation to use Bluetooth headphones and earphones when you do not want the speakerphone, does not objectively seem a choice in favor of the environment, given the need for recharging, but much ‘And.
What is the mission?
In any case, the mission to create smartphones that last over time does not fail, looking for the right compromise between usability, look & feel and performance. The hardware equipment is in fact very respectable, from the 6.3-inch Full Hd + LCD screen to the photographic sector with two 48 megapixel rear cameras with laser autofocus and a 25 MP front sensor housed in the central notch, and is completed by Android 11 under operating system. And speaking of software: Fairphone 4 aims to reach support for its smartphone until 2027 including consequently the updates to Android 14 and 15, with or without the help of the supplier of the Soc. And in the face of many more famous vendors.