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| Fairphone announces its latest sustainable smartphone |
Dutch manufacturer Fairphone has launched a fourth generation mobile phone with the aim of making it easier to repair smartphones made of ethical materials.
The Fairphone 4 uses a modular design similar to the company's previous phones. But it does have more powerful internals, a five-year warranty, the promise of two major Android updates, and software support until the end of 2025.
Compared to the old design and low-power components of the company's previous phones, this new phone is a huge step forward.
The company is committed to creating a more ethical alternative to modern smartphones. This means that ethical devices are used in durable materials before any support and warranty are planned so that they will last as long as possible.
The company guarantees that it will be supported by the end of 2025. However, it has the ambition to extend this support until 2027.
The company's hardware specifications are generally less than ethical considerations. But unlike the previous phones, the Fairphone 4 is a competitor to other mid-range Android phones.
The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor that supports 5G networks and comes with 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of internal storage that can be expanded via a microSD card.
Powered by a removable battery with a capacity of 3905 mAh, the screen is a 6.3-inch LCD panel with a resolution of 1080 pixels.
There are two rear cameras - a 48-pixel main camera and a 48-pixel wide-angle camera - and a 25-pixel selfie camera.
The company offers optical image stabilization for the main rear camera, which can record up to 4K resolution at 30 frames per second.
Fairphone 4 support until 2025. Expand
One obvious drawback compared to the company's previous phones is that the Fairphone 4 no longer includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, which goes against the company's customer-centric approach.
The company made the decision to offer an official IP rating for dust and water resistance that was not available on the company's previous mobile phones.
Fairphone sells 8 phone repair devices. This includes replacing the screen, battery, back cover, USB-C port, speakers, headphones, rear camera, and selfie camera.
All this can be removed with a standard screwdriver. This means that customers should be able to make many repairs themselves.
This phone is made of aluminum and tungsten from trusted sources. Recycle the can. and rare earth metals. and plastic (including the backplate, which is 100% recycled polycarbonate).
The company has taken various measures to improve the working conditions of miners and workers in its machinery supply chain.
The phone is available for pre-order in Europe and ships on October 25th. The model with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage costs 579 euros. The model with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage costs 649 euros.