When a phone gets slow or the battery gets weak, most of us buy a new one. Fairphone asks a different question: what if you could just change the part that is tired?
On the Fairphone, the battery is removable. The product page lists 12 spare parts that you can replace yourself, with a small Torx T5 screwdriver (sold separately). iFixit, the repair website, gave the Gen. 6 10 out of 10 for repairability. The company also promises software support until 2033 and a five-year warranty (terms apply).
There are two models. The Gen. 6 has a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip and 8 GB of memory. The newer Gen. 6+ has a Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chip and 12 GB. Everything else on the two pages is the same: a 6.31 inch OLED screen, a 4,415 mAh battery, 256 GB of storage with a microSD slot, a 50 MP main camera and IP55 protection against water and dust. According to Fairphone, 51% of the phone by weight is made of fair or recycled materials.
The company says it also tries to be fairer in how phones are made. It works with suppliers on better working conditions and a decent standard of living for workers, and it says that for every product it sells, it takes one back for recycling. Fairphone grew out of a research programme at Waag, an institute in Amsterdam. In 2013, more than 5,000 people pre-ordered the first Fairphone within three weeks, at €325 each, before it shipped.
There are limits. The phone has no 3.5 mm headphone jack, no wireless charging and no mmWave 5G (a very fast type of 5G that needs special antennas). At €599 it is also not a cheap phone: you pay for the repair design, the updates and the work on the supply chain.
Where it is made also matters. Fairphone is based in Amsterdam, but its phones are not made in Europe. In its 2024 Impact Report, the company says the final assembly of the Fairphone 4 and 5 is done by TCL Mobile in Huizhou, China, and that 116 of the 132 production sites it identified in its supply chain (88%) are in China. It adds that the final assembly of its smartphones has the SA8000 certificate for working conditions. That report does not cover the Gen. 6, and we did not find an official statement that names who assembles it.
If you like this, try these from Europe
- Murena 🇫🇷: a French company that sells phones with /e/OS and no Google services. It also sells the Fairphone Gen. 6+ with /e/OS already installed.
- Mudita 🇵🇱: a Polish maker of calm phones, for people who want technology to ask for less of their attention.
Where to find it in Europe
- From the maker: the Fairphone (Gen. 6) and the Fairphone (Gen. 6+) are sold in the official shop, which has a page for each country. On the product page, delivery takes 2 to 5 days, from €3.95, and there is a 14 day free trial.
- With /e/OS: the Fairphone shop lists a Gen. 6+ with /e/OS. Check the price on the product page.
- Rent it: the product page also lists rental through Commown, from €29.70 per month in Germany and France.
- Check the page of your own country, because prices and conditions can change.
The European context
Fairphone is a Dutch company that started as a research project and now works on phones, earbuds and repair. It has been doing this for more than ten years, and its main idea has stayed the same: a phone should last longer, and the people who make it should be treated fairly.
Official website: https://www.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6
Also on Choosing Europe
- Phone: Volla 🇩🇪: another European phone for people who want more control over their data.
- Phone: Mudita 🇵🇱: a calm phone, for people who want technology to ask for less of their attention.
