Weekly poll: will you use a Fairphone 5 in the next 8 years? – News GSMArena.com

September 10, 2023

Apple has a reputation for having the best software support in the smartphone world, but when iOS 16 arrives in 2022, it’s only for phones from 2017 onwards – the 2016 iPhone 7 and iPhone SE have been hit. remove. That’s better than Android manufacturers, who only update the operating system for up to four years… well, it’s better than most Android manufacturers.

Dutch company Fairphone has been making waves with its fifth-generation phone – using industrial Qualcomm chips, it can promise eight years of support (with the option to extend that to 10 years ). This means security patches, but the company is also targeting “at least” five operating system updates from Android 13 that the phone received at the factory.

The Fairphone 5 can easily last for a long time. For starters, the company offers a 5-year warranty instead of the standard 2-year. And of course, what makes Fairphone famous is the repairable design of their phones. The Model 5 has ten modules that can be replaced individually by inexperienced users – you just need a prying tool and a Phillips head screwdriver.

Well, the “Fairphone” in “Fairphone” actually represents how the company sources components and materials and how it builds its phones – this year the phone is made from 70% recycled materials and fair and factory workers are paid a living wage.

So the best phone ever? Let’s take a look at the specs first. The Fairphone 5 costs €700/£650, up from €580/£500 for the Fairphone 4. That’s a pretty steep price, and the Qualcomm QCM 6490 is only equivalent to a Snapdragon 778G or so – you could easily get the 8 Gen 2 in this price range.

On the plus side, this year Fairphone has switched to a 90Hz OLED display with a higher resolution, 6.46” 1,224 x 2,700px, compared to a 60Hz, 6.3” 1,080 x 2,340px IPS LCD display. The phone now also has stereo speakers – but no headphone jack.

Additionally, the phone has three 50MP cameras – a main module (1/1.56”, 1.0µm) with OIS, an ultra-wide camera (0.7µm) and a selfie camera (0.74µm). All three can record 4K video at 30fps. And notice the absence of a notch, which is the company’s first punch-hole camera.

Additional improvements include more RAM and storage in the base configuration (actually just), 8/256GB versus 6/128GB, partially offsetting the price increase. There’s also a larger 4,200mAh battery with faster 30W charging (vs 3,905mAh/20W), reaching 50% in 20 minutes (vs 30 minutes). And the water resistance is upgraded from IP54 to IP55.

Overall this is a solid mid-range machine, and although it costs more than a mid-range machine, that cost will be amortized over time. A current mid-range Android device can lose support after just 2-3 years, and even if it lasts 4-5 years, that is only the warranty period of the Fairphone 5, not to mention the actual lifespan its.

There are no direct competitors to the Fairphone 5, although the future looks bright. Apple recently took a 180° turn and announced support for Right to Repair bills. Cupertino is also expanding its Self-Repair program, as is rival Samsung. Additionally, the EU could force manufacturers to make their batteries easier to replace. But that’s in the future, Fairphone is here today and does a better job of repairing itself than any other company.

Checking the company’s online store, we see the estimated delivery time has been reduced to September 20-25 (starting date was September 14). That shows there is demand for this device. Fairphones are niche devices, they sell in the tens of thousands instead of tens of millions like the iPhone and Galaxy, so demand is still quite small.

Maybe it’s time for this to change – what do you think, is the company on track and will you get the Fairphone 5?