Fairphone 6 lands an ideal 10 for repairability

Dutch firm Fairphone continues to guide the cost on consumer- and planet-friendly electronics, proving that a fantastic cellphone would not need to be inconceivable to restore or environmentally unsustainable. The Fairphone 6 has simply been launched, coming two years after the last generation of the cellphone constructed to final. The parents over at iFixit wasted no time in conducting a teardown of this new entry to see the way it stacks up in opposition to earlier generations. The Fairphone 6 scored an ideal 10 out of 10, like each era of Fairphone bar the very first.

Fairphones are modular, and have been designed with straightforward restore in thoughts, however there may be one change from the earlier generations that makes issues tougher. Whereas the previous few Fairphones have used laborious batteries that could possibly be flipped out along with your fingernail, the brand new handset packs a soft-pouch cell that’s thinner than its predecessors. That’s slimmed the cellphone down, nevertheless it does imply the battery is now held in place with 5 screws.

It’s the identical with each different element on the handset, since not one of the elements are held in with glue. The dearth of adhesives does account for the cellphone’s IP 55 ranking, which is decrease than the remainder of the business. However given you’ll be able to’t precisely get Samsung to ship you a video guide telling you the right way to open your cellphone with nothing greater than a T5 Torx screwdriver, so there’s give and take.

iFixit is fast to level out that the Fairphone 6 isn’t a bleeding-edge smartphone, neither is it meant to be. It’s designed from the bottom as much as be as sustainable and repair-friendly as potential, and this implies some trade-offs in contrast with flagship units. The Fairphone 6’s use of USB 2.0, a much less pixel-dense display, and solely 8GB of RAM are all needed design selections when constructed with longer life cycles in thoughts. Nonetheless, this nearly definitely received’t have an effect on the day-to-day use of the handset for many shoppers, and proudly owning a tool you’ll be able to really restore your self simply may be value it.

In case you purchase one thing by a hyperlink on this article, we might earn fee.