Background
Fairphones are smartphones produced by the Amsterdam-based company, Fairphone. Fairphone designs smartphones with the goal of reducing their environmental impact, both in the phone’s manufacturing and its life cycle. Fairphones do not contain conflict minerals and are manufactured under fair labor conditions.
Fairphones are designed to be repairable—meaning users have their smartphone for as long as possible, reducing e-waste and keeping the planet that much healthier. Although the original Fairphone scored a 7/10 repairability score from iFixit, later models improved dramatically and have been scored 10/10s:
- Fairphone 1: 7/10
- Fairphone 2: 10/10
- Fairphone 3: 10/10
- Fairphone 4: 10/10
- Fairphone 5: 10/10
The Fairphone 2–5 are the only smartphones iFixit has ever given a 10/10 repairability score.
Fairphone also sells numerous spare parts, enabling Fairphone owners to easily fix their own devices. Included in the Fairphone parts repository are replacement displays, batteries, cameras, speakers, etc. Fairphone is also committed to keeping their software open source and offering 7 years of software support.
Identification
Each generation varies significantly in form factor. Most Fairphones devices proudly state "FAIRPHONE" on the back cover.
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The Fairphone 1's first production line had no external identification other than the logo of a square with a star silhouette. Later editions state "First Edition" on the back cover.
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