cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/214933
You can access and swap out several components in the Fairphone 6, including its battery, with a single screwdriver. | Image: Fairphone
Fairphone has announced its latest repairable smartphone, nearly two years after introducing the last upgrade. The new Fairphone 6 is smaller and 9 percent lighter than its predecessor, but it includes a larger 4,415mAh battery — easily replaceable by removing just seven screws — that will power the phone for up to 53 hours on a full charge. It’s also more modular than previous versions, with new accessories like a card holder and finger loop that can be attached to the back of the phone.
The Fairphone 6 is available now through the company’s online store and other European retailers for €599 (around $696). There are black, green, and white color options. But as with previous versions dating back to the Fairphone 3, the new model will only be available in the US through Murena, and delivery is expected sometime in August. Instead of running standard Android, the Murena version of the Fairphone 6 will feature a privacy-focused and de-Googled version of Android that the company calls /e/OS. It’s available for preorder now for $899.
The Fairphone 6 has a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 mobile processor, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage that’s expandable up to 2TB using an SDXC card. It also features a 6.31-inch LTPO OLED display that’s slightly smaller than the Fairphone 5’s 6.46-inch screen, but with a refresh rate boosted from 90Hz to 120Hz.
On the back, you’ll find a 50MP main camera and a 13MP ultrawide camera, while the front has a 32MP hole-punch camera for selfies and video calls. That’s a significant step down from the Fairphone 5, which used 50MP sensors on all three of its cameras.
The Fairphone 6’s physical design is similar to the previous model, although the lenses on the back are no longer located on a small camera bump and instead sit directly on the back panel. That panel is more modular now, allowing the lower section to be removed using just two screws and replaced with alternatives that add more functionality, like a wallet for holding cards or a finger loop for more securely holding the phone with one hand. The idea is similar to the swappable accessories Nothing offers for its CMF Phone 1 and Phone Pro 2, but how useful it will actually be depends on how many accessories Fairphone makes available.
Repairability is still a priority for Fairphone, and its new phone carries forward the same modular design of past versions. The modular aspect lets you access and swap 12 different parts — including the screen, battery, and USB port — using just a single standard screwdriver instead of specialized tools.
To further extend the Fairphone 6’s lifespan, the company includes a five-year warranty and promises eight years of software support through 2033. But the downside to not having everything inside the phone being glued in place and sealed tight is that the Fairphone 6 still has a limited IP55 rating for dust and water resistance. It can get splashed or even blasted with a jet of water, but it won’t survive an accidental submersion.
Aside from performance improvements and the new modular accessories, Fairphone seems to be staying the course with its latest smartphone, but it is introducing one additional new feature on the software side: Fairphone Moments. Activated through a physical switch on the phone’s side, it will let you “toggle between a full-featured smartphone and a minimalist experience.”
We don’t know exactly what Fairphone Moments will be minimizing, but since the company describes it as being “a mindful way to engage with technology, putting owners in control, not their notifications,“ it sounds like an alternate mode that reduces distractions so you can focus on specific tasks.
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Lighter, smaller, better battery life than the 5. Very happy about those features.
A tiny bit sad you need a screwdriver to swap the battery, and a tiny bit sad you don’t get a headphone jack.
Seems like they keep moving in generally the right direction
I wonder if having screws helps with er protection. It will definitely help with safety, with the new accessories… I know my FP4 cover is now super loose because I keep playing with it 🙃
Definitely. I was getting worried that the phone was growing bigger and heavier with each new model until the 4. Seems like they successfully reversed coursed and the phone is now pretty “small” for today’s standards (screen is iPhone Pro size)
I’m actually quite fond of a large screen, but it’s not enough of a selling point for me to not go for this as my next phone. I have large enough hands that I don’t struggle with reach on a large phone, so the main drawback is the additional battery power. But the fairphone has a swappable battery anyway, so that issue is more or less nullified.
My pet peeve is the front camera, I cannot wrap my head around the lunacy of having a large dead spot on the front of the phone, to the point I’d rather have a phone with no front facing camera than a big dead spot. People throw out screens for less.
Fairphone is almost the ideal phone for me, except this, and although I can probably remove the camera module, I can’t swap the screen for one without the dead patch.
Can’t wait to swap out the OS for Linux when they come out with that feature.
Before I got my Fairphone 5, I considered waiting for the FP6 in hopes of a better camera. The FP5’s isn’t bad, it’s just not on par with many other phones. Glad I didn’t though:
On the back, you’ll find a 50MP main camera and a 13MP ultrawide camera, while the front has a 32MP hole-punch camera for selfies and video calls. That’s a significant step down from the Fairphone 5, which used 50MP sensors on all three of its cameras.
Why would they go that route? Is there anything obvious I’m missing here?
Anyways, still love my Fairphone, especially in regards to repairability and privacy (running CalyxOS).
I have no clue what the different Fairphone cameras are like but in general it doesn’t make sense to compare two different models by looking at the megapixels only. That says nothing about the image quality.
4K images just have ~8 megapixels, full HD only ~2 megapixels. More pixels just make the picture bigger, not necessarily sharper, better colours or more natural.
Especially because virtually all high megapixel country cameras have smaller physical pixel size and use pixel binning and combining to try to recreate a better image through computation where smaller megapixel cameras can have bigger pixel sizes and absorb more light, leading to better raw images. (Of course there are great and bad implementations of both ideas)
Its weird, on the other hand pixels are not everything. I don’t understand it well enough but from what i heard other attributes of the cameras are better.
The GrapheneOS team says that Fairphone is bad, not secure and something about a scam. Can somebody explain?
Basically they don’t do security updates fast enough and are missing hardware security features that GrapheneOS considers essential.
https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices
Fairphone has never previously provided full security patches for anywhere close to their promised support. The Fairphone 4 doesn’t currently receive proper security support but rather receives the Android Security Bulletin patches consistently 1-2 months late and many of the recommended patches (Pixel Update Bulletin) years late.
Fairphone 4 does not include a secure element and does not provide many of the expected hardware security features. It also has a broken/incomplete implementation of verified boot and attestation.
I see, thx
Interesting. Do you have a source on a statement from the GrapheneOS team?
Check the other comment
Fairphone 6’s physical design is similar to the previous model, although the lenses on the back are no longer located on a small camera bump and instead sit directly on the back panel.
Hurrah away with that ugly camera bump!
Instead of a single island they are three pimples now. Yay?
Honestly this is the best, no camera bump and more space for battery. On the other side are leaks of new iphone with ginormous camera … erm… can I even call it bump if its half of the phone?..
I’d really really like a phone with cameras that are flush with the back of the case, and don’t care whatsoever how thin my phone is once it’s under 1cm.
It feels like the entire ethos of smartphone design (led by apple) had sleek minimal design as it’s guiding light, but keeps adding exceptions. As much as I enjoy a versatile, bulky laptop and photography camera, I really enjoy the style of a smartphone being a piece of glass in my pocket.
I understand. You probably like the new thin Samsung, eh? :) I actually like the small foldable factor (v that opens to normal smartphone size) but until its made fairly or at least repairably I will stick to my Fairphone :)
I used to own the first batch of the Fairphone 1 over 10 years ago! different times indeed. The phone was pretty terrible but I loved it dearly. Nowadays I prefer buying used phones I can flash custom roms on, but I am glad the company is still around.
Died 2013 - Born 2025
Welcome back, phonebloksWith no 3.5mm jack and no Qi charging or sharing, this beautiful phone is unfortunately off the table for me. Those are anchor features.
I hope it provides the rest of you with a good decade of service, though.
We don’t know exactly what Fairphone Moments will be minimizing, but since the company describes it as being “a mindful way to engage with technology, putting owners in control, not their notifications,“ it sounds like an alternate mode that reduces distractions so you can focus on specific tasks.
Just head over their website and scroll a little… It’s similar to T-UI, a minimal experience with adjustable apps in profiles. You can add Slack for a work profile. And keep the remainder apps available, with their notifications, at a home profile. Seems convenient, since you can have multiple custom profiles. Plus, they have a dedicated harware button… For me this latter point opens a vast amount of posibilities we are yet to see if they’re exploited by users…
Might get one of these to replace my existing “put proprietary glowy shit on here and nowhere else” device because of the whole “banking apps are going to start enforcing recent-enough patch levels” thing (my actual main device is fine with that but I don’t want those on there, and the aforementioned other device hasn’t recieved updates in 3 years), and if the:
promises eight years of software support through 2033
part is true, then… may as well, someday anyway
I get that people want a headphone jack. But I don’t get them saying that it is off the table because one feature that no other phone has.
What other phone would you buy?
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I guess they won’t implement it as wireless charging is done at a huge waste of energy.
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You could with Fairphone just replace and or even fix the charging port module :)
Which is exactly what I recently did with my 3+… all charging issues now solved and I didn’t have to spend days reconfiguring a new phone to how I like it
still no headphone jack, dont care.
I wonder if the Murena version works well in Canada?
I am not a fan of smaller, a larger model would be good as well. I have a pixel 7 pro and its barely big enough for my rock biter hands and fingers
