Fairphone has spent more than a decade proving a point. Smartphones don’t have to break after two years. They don’t have to glue their components together so tightly that repair becomes a specialist job. And they don’t have to rely on minerals mined under dire conditions.
The Dutch company’s latest effort, the Gen 6+, lands in the US market at $650 with a clear message. Longevity and ethics can coexist with usable performance. But getting there required years of stubborn engineering.
“We’re doing something that was long thought to be nearly impossible,” Fairphone CTO Olivier Hatton told Ars Technica. “Which is delivering high-performing modular smartphones that can last for a very long time.”
The phone measures just 9.6 millimeters thick. That’s slimmer than many earlier Fairphone models. Yet it packs 12 user-replaceable modules. A single Torx T5 screwdriver opens everything. No heat guns. No prying tools that risk cracking delicate parts. Battery, display, cameras, USB-C port, speakers — all swap out in minutes.
This approach carries real costs. Modularity adds some bulk compared with the thinnest flagships. Waterproofing stops at IP55 rather than the IP68 common on premium devices. Cameras deliver solid but not class-leading results. Yet owners gain something rarer: the ability to keep the device running for a decade or more.
Fairphone promises software support until 2033. That means at least six major Android updates from the Android 16 launch version. A five-year warranty covers manufacturing defects even if users perform their own repairs. The company also runs a loyalty program that rewards owners for each year of continued use and each self-repair.
These commitments matter. Independent testing from iFixit gave previous Gen 6 models a perfect 10 out of 10 repairability score. The Gen 6+ builds on the same chassis. The Verge noted that nearly the entire phone comes apart with that one screwdriver. Replacement parts range from $8 for a SIM tray to about $90 for a new OLED screen.
But repairability forms only part of the story. Fairphone sources more than 50 percent of the device’s materials from recycled or fairly mined sources. Aluminum, copper, steel, plastics and rare earths come in recycled form. Gold, silver, cobalt and tungsten trace back to mines that meet higher labor and environmental standards — sometimes through credits that support responsible operations.
The company publishes full lifecycle assessments. It claims the Gen 6+ generates roughly 30 kilograms of CO2 equivalent over three years of use. That’s about half the footprint of an average smartphone, according to internal calculations. Extending ownership to five years instead of three cuts the annual carbon impact by roughly a third, studies from the Fraunhofer Institute have shown in relation to earlier models.
Fairphone also maintains 100 percent e-waste neutrality. For every device sold, the company collects and recycles an equivalent weight of old electronics. Assembly happens in facilities that pay living wages and give workers a voice in operations.
These details didn’t come easily. Supply chains for ethical materials remain fragmented. Finding suppliers willing to meet strict standards while delivering components at competitive prices took persistent relationship-building. Hatton explained to Ars Technica how the company sometimes had to redesign modules around available parts rather than the other way around.
Performance reflects similar pragmatism. The Gen 6+ uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 processor paired with 12GB of RAM. That’s a step up from the original Gen 6’s 8GB and older chip. App loading feels 24 percent faster in Fairphone’s tests. Multitasking improves too. Yet it remains a midrange device. Heavy gamers or photography enthusiasts may look elsewhere.
The 6.31-inch LTPO OLED display runs at up to 120Hz and peaks around 1,400 nits. A 4,415mAh battery supports 30-watt charging. Storage starts at 256GB with microSD expansion — a feature many manufacturers dropped years ago.
Accessories add another twist. The rear panel splits into sections. Two screws let users swap the lower half for a card holder, finger loop or lanyard. These modular add-ons screw directly onto the phone. They turn a basic handset into something more personalized without glue or permanent modification.
Fairphone entered the US officially with this model. Previous generations reached American buyers only through partners like Murena, often with de-Googled software and higher prices. The Gen 6+ sells directly from Fairphone and soon Amazon. It supports T-Mobile and AT&T networks out of the box. Pricing sits at $650, or €649 in Europe.
That figure positions the phone against midrange Android devices from Google, Samsung and Nothing. But those competitors optimize for annual upgrade cycles. Fairphone bets customers will value longevity instead.
Recent coverage highlights the tension. TechCrunch quoted CEO Raymond van Eck saying the company delivers “a device built from the ground up to be opened, repaired, and kept alive for many years.” The publication noted that component shortages and rising prices make a repair-focused phone more attractive now.
Critics point out limitations. Average battery life in reviews hovers around a day of mixed use. Cameras lag behind Pixel or Galaxy midrangers in low light. The boxy design won’t win beauty contests. And at launch, the phone runs Android 16 with monthly security patches for the first two years before shifting to less frequent updates.
Still, the bigger picture impresses. EU regulations now require user-replaceable batteries in smartphones starting in 2027. Fairphone helped shape those rules through years of advocacy. Its products already exceed the new standards.
Other manufacturers watch closely. Some have begun offering easier repairs or recycled materials. None match Fairphone’s combination of full modularity, long software support and transparent supply chain reporting.
The Gen 6+ isn’t perfect. It makes trade-offs in thickness, camera quality and raw speed. But it delivers on its core promise. A phone that owners can maintain themselves. One built with fewer ethical compromises. And one designed to stick around long after the next flagship announcement.
That combination remains rare. In an industry geared toward constant replacement, Fairphone keeps demonstrating another path exists. The question now becomes whether enough buyers will choose it.
Fairphone Gen 6+: The Phone Built to Outlast Industry Norms first appeared on Web and IT News.