The brand new Fairphone 6 is smaller and extra modular than older fashions within the collection, nevertheless it’s simply as repairable. The cellphone picked up an ideal rating in iFixit’s teardown test, regardless of now not providing tool-free battery replacements.
It helps that the one software you do want — all through the cellphone — is a T5 Torx screwdriver, and solely seven screws sit between you and a battery swap. Fairphone itself has proven you can get from shutdown to reboot with a new cell in just two minutes, so it’s nonetheless a easy swap. The corporate says that the screws are required for the slimmer soft-pouch battery.
The one glue all through is discovered on the cellphone’s mainboard, which is nearly the one restore Fairphone doesn’t advocate you make your self: virtually every part else, from the USB-C port to the person digicam sensors, might be changed with minimal effort. Alternative elements will likely be accessible from Fairphone and iFixit, and the cellphone’s replaceable backplate additionally allows a line of swappable equipment just like these discovered on the CMF Phone Pro 2.
iFixit additionally rated the cellphone extremely for its IP55 score — not one of the best round, however spectacular for a cellphone sealed with screws slightly than glue — and for the corporate’s longterm help. Fairphone is guaranteeing seven years of Android OS updates and eight years of safety patches, with a five-year guarantee and a loyalty program that rewards you for hanging onto your cellphone and repairing it.
Regardless of the excessive rating, iFixit acknowledges that you simply do compromise on specs by choosing the Fairphone 6. Its twin rear digicam is pretty primary, and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7S Gen 3 chipset isn’t any powerhouse. Even the USB port is proscribed to sluggish USB 2.0, although the 6.3-inch 10-120Hz LTPO OLED show is extra spectacular.
This isn’t the primary Fairphone to fare so properly. Every model since the Fairphone 2 has acquired a ten/10 in iFixit’s teardown exams, a rating that no different cellphone has ever managed. The Fairphone 6 is on the market now in Europe for €599 (round $705), from Fairphone and different retailers. It prices significantly extra within the US, at $899, the place it’s solely accessible from Murena and ships operating /e/OS, Murena’s privacy-focused and de-Googled tackle Android. It’s accessible to preorder now, and ships in August.