Review: The Fairphone (Gen. 6)

I have always loved the idea of the Fairphone. A fair-trade, repairable smartphone designed to be used for a long time, shedding the notion of upgrading every year or two. The idea makes it more environmentally friendly than every other phone. The goal is admirable, but the company's hardware always fell short in a few ways. The Fairphone 5, for example, had a mediocre camera and so-so performance.

I've now been using The Fairphone (Gen. 6) for two weeks, and I don't feel like the phone is severely lacking in a specific department. Could the camera be better? Sure, but many of the images in my photo library from my test period are perfectly serviceable. The biggest downside is that the company still isn't selling the phone officially in the US, though you can import it. US carrier support is spotty—it should be fine on T-Mobile and its mobile virtual network providers (I tested it on Google Fi without problems)—but you will likely face issues on AT&T and Verizon.

Find the idea of an ethical smartphone that runs Google's Android operating system perplexing? You'll be happy to know that you can buy the Fairphone (Gen. 6) with Murena's deGoogled /e/OS operating system (which we reviewed positively here). I didn't test this version, which costs an alarming $899, but the Fairphone is an investment, considering you'll be able to replace several components of the device throughout its life.

Core Update

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

The Fairphone (Gen. 6) continues the tradition of scoring a perfect 10 on iFixit's repairability scale like its predecessors, a rating no other smartphone has achieved. It comes with a screwdriver, and there are 12 easy-to-replace parts, from the battery and screen to the camera and USB port. You also get a five-year warranty, and Fairphone promises at least seven Android OS upgrades and eight years of total software support (it launched with Android 15).

I wasn't worried about repairability, but I did hold this review because I wanted to see how the company handled software updates. I've been dealing with a display refresh rate issue, where at certain times, the screen's refresh rate would ratchet well below 120 Hz, making the phone feel choppy and slow. A restart was an easy but annoying solution. Thankfully, the company identified this bug early and delivered a patch on August 11. It's not completely resolved, but it's definitely better. (There's a healthy community forum!)

I've run into two other problems intermittently. Twice, the phone froze, and I had to force a restart to fix it (I haven't seen this issue since the update). Second, the auto-brightness feature always makes the screen too dim, so I was constantly fussing with the brightness slider. (This could just be my need to have the screen at what my wife calls “blinding” brightness levels.)

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Outside of this, performance has been great, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 launching apps quickly, and showing no signs of slowdown when juggling through them. Lightweight games like Pako Forever didn't give the phone any trouble either. I only wish it came with 16 GB of RAM instead of 8 GB for future-proofing, considering that the many new artificial intelligence features seem to suck up memory. (Google's Gemini is the default assistant here.)

Battery life has also been reliable. The 4,415-mAh cell has generally lasted me a full day, even with hours and hours of doomscrolling through Instagram Reels. On heavier days, I've found myself at 20 percent by bedtime, and if I use navigation a lot and music streaming via Android Auto, I have needed a top-up. But with average use, you can comfortably use this phone for a day and a half on a single charge.

I like the 6.31-inch size, and the OLED panel has been sufficiently bright on some sunny days in New York and San Francisco. I don't love the power button. It sits flush with the side of the phone and doubles as a fingerprint sensor, but it's not satisfying to press at all. There's a nicer, neon yellow button above it, but I'll get to that in a minute.

There's not much to complain about on the spec front. It's rare to see 256 GB of storage included at this price, not to mention a microSD card slot, so you can expand storage if needed. It has Gorilla Glass 7i on the front, no glass on the back for better durability. And there's NFC for tap-to-pay, which I've been liberally using at my neighborhood deli. The phone is only IP55-rated for dust and water resistance, par for the course for devices that sport replaceable batteries. That means it's fine in the rain, but you should keep it away from bodies of water.

Fair Play

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Fairphone doesn't want to be known only as that repairable phone brand, which is why the Gen. 6 has some new tricks up its sleeve. That bright yellow button? Flick it down, and the phone turns into a distraction-free handset. It triggers “Fairphone Moments,” which are modes you can create and customize to lock down your smartphone from distractions.

By default, the Essentials mode presents a minimal interface with just a few apps (Camera, Chrome, Maps, Messages, and Phone), and only allows notifications from starred contacts. You cannot go back to your normal Android experience without flipping the switch. That might not be a huge deterrent if your goal is to limit screen time, but it's a way to block out distractions. You can create modes tailored for driving, your morning routine, and more. Don't care for Fairphone Moments? You can set the button to trigger another action, like the flashlight or Do Not Disturb.

The other standout feature on the Gen. 6? Modular accessories. Instead of going with a magnetic system like Apple's MagSafe, Fairphone is taking a page from Nothing's CMF brand with accessories that you screw into the back of the phone. A portion of the back panel is removable, and you can swap it out for a fingerloop (my favorite), a lanyard, or a card holder. This is why there's no wireless charging, though it'd be cool if there were an accessory that enabled it.

Finally, the camera system. It's a 50-megapixel primary shooter paired with a 13-MP ultrawide and 32-MP selfie camera. You can expect sharp images, even in mixed lighting scenarios, though the prevailing issue is how the phone renders colors. In high-contrast scenes, colors can look flat, or the white balance doesn't do its job, and you end up with weird tints. The blue sky is an odd hue sometimes, or the sunset isn't as yellow as it should be. The details are largely there, it's just these quirks of processing. 4K video footage is fine and usable, though not quite the quality you'll get from a proper flagship phone.

Frankly, the camera system is better than I expected. No, it won't beat the $500 Google Pixel 9a, but I still happily shared photos with friends and family and on social media as usual. Ultimately, it's not about price. If it were, then even a $400 Moto G Stylus 5G would impress.

The Fairphone (Gen. 6) is made with more than 50 percent fair or recycled materials, an 8 percent improvement over its predecessor. The company believes it'll achieve its lowest carbon emissions thanks to improvements in manufacturing and assembly. A total of 14 materials are considered fair mined or recycled, including cobalt, and the plastic is 93 percent postconsumer recycled.

Fairphone also partners with organizations like The Fair Cobalt Alliance to ensure responsible mining practices, and workers at three of its suppliers and its final assembly factory are in a Living Wage Bonus program, where the company pays the gap between minimum wage and a living wage. It's also a Certified B Corp. If you believe in all of those practices, there's just no other phone like the Fairphone.