Fairphone 6 no longer looks like a compromise (with the exception of the United States)

Fairphone 6 reaches approximately two years after 5, a testimony to the company’s approach to the upgrade course. If there is anything, I think the company will feel frustrated if the owners of Fairphone 5 are thinking about a new model already – these are the phones that must be kept, fix and stick to until the bitter end.

The latest FIR phone continues to adhere to the user, and customer support in the long run, and moral production. This means concessions to the consumer: you will find more than stronger phones with more beautiful screens and more capable cameras for less money. But this year these medium solutions are smaller and easier than ever, while the phone remains much better for the planet – you can’t say more just.

FairPhone 6 is now available throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. It costs 599 euros / 499 pounds sterling for a version that operates the Android program for the specific phone, which is somewhat close to the stock experience, or 50 euros / 50 pounds / OS / OS, a version that focuses on privacy from Android made by Murena. If you are in the United States, this is it only The available model, and you will have to purchase it directly from Murena for $ 899, which is the price that the founder of Murena and CEO Gaël Duval told US imports. It is a big difference in price that takes Fairphone 6 from competing with contestants such as Pixel 9A In Europe to the pioneers like Pixel 10 or iPhone 16 In the United States, which makes it difficult to justify it.

I was testing the phone -focused phone version /OS from the phone. You may not look at a million miles of Android stocks, but an outdoor experience is completely different. Enjoying quick access to options to prevent tracking of cookies within applications, fake your geographical location information, or hide your IP address, along with the “Shame Wall” narrates your applications through the number of times they are trying to track your activity. Murena describes it as “Download Corree”, which means that it is based on the Android Open Source project, but it does not require the use of a Google account, does not include Google applications by default, and it should not share any of your data with Google.

If you are ready to adhere to Google’s free life, there is a group of relatively simple stock programs, such as calendar applications and MAP applications that appear to have been raised a decade ago. The application store leaves open source options, giving each application a special degree with details of the followers that it uses and the permissions it requires.

App Store also allows you to install any Android app – even Google – but only if you want it. This is thanks to Microg, which is an open source of Google operating services. The only warnings are that Google Wallet will not work with NFC payments, and that some applications are a little bit … Janky. Most of them seem to work, but myfitnessPal will not run, and a few others tend to be affected and disrupted.

On the side of the devices, Fairphone 6 is smaller and lighter than 5With brighter and smoother width 6.31 inches 120 Hz. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip collection is not leading devices, but it is smooth enough at most of the time, and with 8 GB RAM, it’s strong enough for anything except for dangerous games. The 4,415 mAh battery lasts more than a day, and the wire charging speed is 30W fine But impressive, with no wireless option.

The cameras remain a significant reduction compared to competition. The main lens with an area of ​​50 megapixels and 13-megapixels is fine for the basics-and my expectations have exceeded from time to time-but they are struggling in the dark, in complex lighting, or with fast-moving topics. If you only need your phone camera Good enough Then this is definitely, but you can get much better cameras for the same money (or less) elsewhere.

Another large addition to Fairphone 6 is a set of almost modified accessories, similar to that introduction Nothing is PROP Phone 2 Pro. There is a rope, a card holder, and the fist of a loop, but the smart thing is that all the three screw against the background of the phone, and become integrated parts of the devices. I hope more options are coming.

More importantly, the phone’s ability to continue for years. Whether you are buying from Fairphone or Murena, you will get a five -year warranty. Fairphone is also committed to eight years of software updates and seven Android versions, although Murena is only five years of software support for its release – worse than Apple, Google and Samsung.

The phone is made of somewhat powerful plastic, with Corning Gorilla Glass 7I on the screen, and it feels difficult. There is the big downside, although it only contains the IP55 classification for dust and water protection – good, but not great – a defect in repair design that exchanges glue for less closed screws. So, although Fairphone 6 is more repair than other alternatives, there is a slightly higher risk of this repair in the first place, at least when it comes to sand and water.

Talking about: You just need a single Torx T5 screwdriver to strip the phone down to spare parts, which connect and separate with a simple batch, and click in place. You can replace the battery, width, rear cover, each individual camera lens, amplifier, earphone, USB-C port, and SIM (which doubles as an expandable MicrSSD hole). Spare parts are sold by Fairphone and IFIXIT, with a promise to store them for years. In the United States, Mourina He should Store, but at the time of writing this report, the parts are not on their location yet.

I wanted to confirm if any The idiot can withdraw a repair, so I dismantled every part of the phone that I was able to put together again, which took a little more than an hour and left me with a functional phone completely on the other side. Fairphone contains some good videos on YouTube to play by any step -by -step repair, and it cannot be much easier, as long as you pay attention to installing it in the right arrangement (important, not a mistake I will go …).

The “fair” thing applies to the name as well. Fairphone claims to use the largest possible number of recycled materials, work with mines, equation centers, components factories, assembly lines with fair working conditions, from live wages to workers’ representation. There is no moral consumption in the shadow of capitalism, but Fairphone claims to approach as possible.

I was careful to recommend previous emotional phones. The elevator stadium is great, but pushing a premium for devices that suffer from a lack of power is still a difficult sale. But the pure power is not the distinguished factor that it was once, so even if it was Veron 6 He is Less power of her counterparts, still strong enough for most of us. However, the improvements in supporting software and durability from other manufacturers made FairPhone offer less unique – although nobody provides repair capacity like this.

In exchange for medium alternatives, as its price in Europe, the Fairphone phone holds itself. There are small concessions, but it is still a fair choice for almost anyone. In the United States, where it costs more than some of the pioneer and comes with the removal of the al -Ghuqal /E /OS, whether you like it or not, it is only for those who are really committed to the reason.

Photography by Dominic Breston / The Forge