The Phone Thats Fighting Big Tech - Fairphone 4 Teardown and Repair Assessment

Designed to be sustainable, repairable and open is it really as fair as it seems?
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[@busterscrugs]

a headphone jack might break, so let's make you use the charging port twice as often so it breaks instead! lol

[@autotropicplaybench1819]

And in exchange, you can buy our wireless earbuds for your audio needs instead, which are actually not sustainable! Smh for (un)Fairphone

[@coffeemakerbottomcracked]

This.

[@SweBeach2023]

Yeah, the reasoning is just insane. I can live with a phone without a working 3.5 mm jack. I can't live with a phone with a broken charging port.

[@tonyconpint1342]

If the headphone jack did break, they should just make it easily replaceable instead of not including it.

[@KingEurope1]

Modern USB-C jacks have way, way higher supported insertions before a fail state. Modern 3.5mm jacks simply do not. This is important when they offer a 5 year warranty.

[@jozsefizsak]

Great video. Between them not wanting a review from you, the headphone jack story and earbuds, we can see that there is room in the market for somebody to do this even better.

[@KingEurope1]

Perfect is the enemy of good. Fairphone is still a million miles better than anything else on the market. If you wait for the perfect phone you will be waiting forever. Considering they offer a 5 year warranty, it's reasonable why they wouldn't want to include a headphone jack given how few insertions modern jacks support. They would have an insanely high return rate within those 5 years because of that jack.

[@DMack6464]

@@KingEurope1 not if u could replace the jack

[@wclifton968gameplaystutorials]

Well there is the PinePhone and PinePhone Pro from Pine64 which is also extremely repairable and still comes with a headphone port I do believe and has toggle switches to physically cut the power off to some of the phone components such as the Bluetooth and Wifi chip or the headphone port but unfortunately this phone is not really designed for consumers just yet and doesn't run Android or Sailfish OS (which can natively run Android apps) but instead runs Desktop Linux With X11/Wayland application support...

[@TheSuperBoyProject]

@@KingEurope1 I think apple is still better.

[@angleisthebest]

@@KingEurope1 not if you consider the used market it isn't. I had a phone a "million miles" better than this trash heap 5 years ago for $250 brand new -- it's called an LG V20. Quad HD IPS screen + secondary OLED display, headphone jack with an ESS quad DAC, dual SIM + microSD card slot, IR blaster and a swappable battery that goes up to a whopping 10000mAh. You can still get it today for around $100 or so. A replacement battery for that thing went for around £15 -- whilst Failphone charges double that. Even Samsung had phones from their S4/S5 era that mop the floor with this Failphone by having a much better OLED screen, a headphone jack, a removable battery as well as IP68 certification. There is no excuse whatsoever for this company removing the headphone jack. I can accept losing the headphone jack for a lower price or some other features added in (higher water proofing certification) -- but having the price of this phone so high (they must be making at least a 400%+ mark-up on each phone), the specs pathetically low and the repair cost so obscenely high, it makes this phone less "environmentally friendly" or sustainable than even an iPhone. At least an iPhone has an attractive and fair upfront cost and scalps you with expensive repairs later -- this "Fairphone" is not fair value at any point in its lifecycle.

[@boxman139]

I am not easy on my electronics but I’ve never broken a headphone Jack. If it’s strategically placed such that it doesn’t experience any stress I notice it can survive my abuse. I personally agree with your theory that it’s to push the wireless earbud sales. It sucks how wasteful our society is now

[@jansonanson5813]

I managed to get two headphonejacks damaged in my whole life. (37 years old) The first was the iPod Video G5 and the second was the LG G2. Headphonejacks dont like it to be in jeans while riding your bycicle :( .

[@acerIOstream]

I've personally broken my fair share of headphone jacks as well. These things are so narrow compared to a USB C they like to just... snap off. Especially when in your pocket, like Janson said. Either that or the solder fails on the inside and it only works some of the time.

[@Bane_Amesta]

@@acerIOstream To that explains why my smartphone's headphone jack started to disconnect and pause my music :'(

[@KofolaDealer]

I broke more USB-Cs than headphone jacks. USB-C is the worst port when it comes to durability

[@avadrumm]

In a blog post they said that the official reason the FP4 doesnt have a headphone jack is for waterproofing reasons. It's already hard enough to make a phone with a removable back with any water resistance at all, they probably couldnt have done it if it had had a headphone jack. The argument that it's for durability is obviously BS since you could just replace it if it were to break. Or if you broke off a male connector inside of it, you could just open up the phone and push it out from the inside. The real reason is waterproofing

[@kbhasi]

Their moves to remove the earphone jack and instead have a notch were the reasons why I dropped Fairphone from my considerations when I was upgrading.

[@kenmastersmaster]

Really? Not the crappy soc? The lack of OLED? The ridiculous flagship price? The bad cameras? The plasticy build quality?

[@kbhasi]

@@kenmastersmaster I was talking about my reasons, not your reasons.

[@kenmastersmaster]

@@kbhasi and your reasons are what exactly? Oh right the headphone jack and the notch. Guess you're too good for an iPhone 13 pro 🤡 Get an LG v60....

[@kbhasi]

@@kenmastersmaster It has a notch, and I already got a phone that has the features I want.

[@kenmastersmaster]

@@kbhasi it doesn't have a notch it has a water drop

[@hanktank45]

I really can't think if an excuse to not have a headphone jack. Other than that this is impressive. Also the lack of charger in the box is okay but feels really scummy when they sell them for way over a normal price.

[@espertalhao041]

The lack of charger is not okay. You're already paying almost 600€ for a phone. A phone that isn't a whole functional system. For you to be able to use the phone, you need to either buy the extremely expensive cable and charger (or throw your dice and buy something else) or already have it from another phone and hope it works. If it doesn't work, you have a phone that takes a long time to charge.

[@_e621]

its USB C just use any other one you don't need the expensive one they sell

[@truckerallikatuk]

Removing a part from a phone designed to be user repairable, because it'd break is insane! Why not leave it and sell the replacement? They'd increase part sales as well as keep people happy.

[@JerziTBoss]

I mean you don't have to pick up official charger and cable still if they are environmentally friendly including a charge cable would be nice thing. I personally don't use charger bricks that often since I have sockets with USB for charging at my home and at work I can charge from PC but it's always good to have some in case it's needed and including charger and cable you are actually saving the environment. Not to mention if you are buying a 500€ phone something like cable and charger should be included.

[@miggee47_2]

I mean with the same logic might aswell remove the screen as it might break...

[@eolink]

3:53 Democratic Republic of Congo

[@lazerblazer528]

Huh

[@Scyth3934]

wtf it's literally the exact shape too

[@blakegriplingph]

They took the effort of sourcing the minerals used for the phone's ICs from mining firms practising fair trade, ensuring that there's no slavery or conflict minerals involved i.e. those funding local warlords and the like.

[@Prius389]

🤓

[@darkguardian1314]

Formerly Zaire.... Countries in Africa are always changing their names...

[@Steve-tu8eb]

I remember when Google wanted to do something similar with Project Ara. I honestly wish they had followed in the same footsteps as Fairphone so we just upgrade the parts we need and keep the parts we don't want to upgrade.

[@ilantzur02]

The reason for not including the headphone jack is a bit weird. If you merge the charging and headphones jack together you actually use the USB port much more than only for charging, and thus wearing it down faster. That's only if you have to use wired earphones.

[@SweBeach2023]

Not only that, but charging is almost always done with the phone in a fixed position and indoors. I.e. experiencing very little wear and tear. A headphone jack on the other hand is primarily used when out and about, thus experiencing far greater forces.

[@33blue]

@@SweBeach2023 And the headphone jack I'd bet is the tougher of the two. It's a rode that doesn't have tiny pins and that can rotate. With an L shaped headphones plug, it has a small footprint that's hard to apply force to even in the pocket of tight fitting jeans

[@Riswanthlovesgames]

I use f airpods

[@ilantzur02]

@@Riswanthlovesgames And those are expensive and almost impossible to repair

[@Riswanthlovesgames]

@@ilantzur02 it’s fake

[@Random_4400]

a headphone jack will break? 😂😂 I've owned tons of old devices and i have NEVER had the headphone jack break and i use the headphone jack very often that's just a very silly excuse possibly worse then Apple's "it won't fit" excuse

[@AlwaysBolttheBird]

As someone whose fixed phones for almost 10 years now let me tell you our third most popular thing to fix is the headphone jack (at least it was a couple years ago when they were still popular). Screen and battery are first two. It’s not exactly the jack itself broke but things breaking in there and people breaking the jack trying to get it out. Also people would get so much crap in there like dirt and lint and stuff. Also we saw a lot of corrosion in there from moisture. Maybe there was some “lost in translation” there and that’s what he was trying to say? With that being said and the phone focusing on repairability I think they should still have one but make no mistake we made a ton of money on headphone jack replacement.

[@kenmastersmaster]

@@AlwaysBolttheBird where do you find good aftermarket batteries? I can't find much for LG v60 except a used battery from a recycled phone.

[@diamondsandteatimewithniki8805]

I ruined the last phone I’d had with a headphone Jack because the chord of my headphones got caught on my boot and broke off in the device, we couldn’t get it out and it was too old to find a replacement

[@solhsa]

I'd bet the charging port is way more fragile than the headphone jack, and if you force me to use that port for both functions...

[@AlwaysBolttheBird]

@@solhsa so I’m not a materials expert or anything all I can say is what I’ve seen for the past ten years. In general the charging port is built better because you will be using it more. It’s also easier to clean because it’s a “rectangle” not a small circle. Now onto the actual charging ports themselves (not the protocol they use but merely the design”. I still say the design of the lightning port will always be better than USB because there is no middle part to mess up. It’s just an empty hole. Even USBC has a middle part (way more robust than micro but it’s still there”. The main reason we had to actually replace a charging port was the middle part was messed up bent broken and so on. On lighting ports 90% of the time it was just a cleaning. So yes the charging port may have an issue “faster” than a headphone jack it’s because you use it way more not because it’s more fragile per se.

[@krono9451]

Let's be clear: Fairphone, a company all about reparability, didn't include a headphone jack in their latest smartphone, because... It'll break and you'll have to repair it?

[@TommyAgramonSeth]

Instead, your USB-C port will break much faster and you can buy a replacement part from them, or their TWS earbuds 😏

[@KingEurope1]

Yes. They offer a 5 year warranty, so it makes zero business sense to include a port that offers so few supported insertions before a fail state that it will break before half that warranty period has elapsed. Sony offer headphone jacks on their phones. And they sell terribly. LG did, and they sold so poorly they went out of business. It's a niche feature. Fairphone's USP isn't a headphone jack, it's removing slavery from the supply chain.

[@CallMeRabbitzUSVI]

@@ingulari3977 Yeah that's the weirdest, reasoning i've ever heard

[@dlewis9760]

@@ingulari3977 LG went out of the phone business because of their reputation over a really bad phone, and the continual lies about Android updates would be released "Really Soon". I had a LG phone. Great phone. Crummy company.

[@tridinh1011]

@@KingEurope1 m8, sony phones dont sell because they are more secondary display for their Alpha cameras than being a phone. And LG had no direction for their phones so their downfall was seen from a mile away. The inclusion of a headphone jack does not account to anything

[@phonewithoutquestion80]

I can see where they made progress but had my eyes rolling at the lack of a charger and cable and headphone jack.

[@HeyNighT_Art]

I get the charge and cable things, the headphone jack one is not the thing I'm surprised about, since everyone is appears be doing the same shit so idk The charger thing tho is reasonable why you're rolling your eyes on it

[@ORIOLESFan02]

I feel like if you’re putting this much effort into a phone, at least give us features please. I’d love a headphone jack again.

[@HeyNighT_Art]

@@ORIOLESFan02 true. I do use the headphone jack alot as well, but I get why they didn't put it. Even so the USB C port audio thing has some stuff that I heard wasn't really good for the audio stuff

[@ORIOLESFan02]

@Ellis The DJ your username is very ironic lmfao

[@ORIOLESFan02]

@@HeyNighT_Art what happened to charging your phone and using a $5 (USD) pair of wired earbuds too?

[@SaikatJoydhar]

Gives me my school days vibe when I used to disassemble my computer, cleaned it, and reassembled it. It was so easy and no-brainer. Phones should be like this. After all it's a tool, not a fancy toy.

[@t0raneko]

You know, I've owned countless portable devices with 1/8" headphone jacks, including walkmen, discmen, and 3 iphones and NOT ONCE DID I BREAK A HEADPHONE JACK even as a child.

[@Username-qx9gk]

Headphone jack? No. Own brand unrepairable bluetooth headphones? Yes. Back cover seal/gasket? No. Replacement modules to repair damage arising from lack of seal/gasket? Yes. Latest specs? No. Tiny image of DRC over SoC? Yes, because reasons, apparently.

[@JACKHARRINGTON]

The miners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo contribute a significant amount of material to electronic manufacturing. It’s great to see recognition, and I think it would make a savvy DRCian happy to see. That it’s so large on a phone you’re supposed to open is eve better: the unknowing consumer might look up ‘country fairphone’ and learn about the mines over their. Those miners do a lot of labour for little wage and recognition.

[@Username-qx9gk]

@@JACKHARRINGTON Gotcha, Marketing.

[@leolego2]

just use any bluetooth headphones you want dumbo. Phones 5 years ago didn't have gaskets and weren't waterproof and we still managed to survive

[@Username-qx9gk]

@@leolego2 So much easier to just add to cart their disposable planned obsolescence headphones (because you probably needed a new pair anyway..) when buying your disposable planned obsolescence greenwash eco marketing phone

[@juliawolf156]

5:02 I can understand why Fairphone removed the headphone jack. I mean the headphone jack on my 3 year old GPD Win 2... no, that still works. But the headphone jack on my 7 year old ASUS PC... that also still works. My 9 year old Sony Vaio also has a working headphone jack too. The headphone jacks on my New 3DS systems also still work. The jack on the PSVita works fine. The jacks on all my DSi, DSes and Gameboys as well as both of my PSPs still work too. The jack on my iPod Classic Gen 7 also works. And finally the jacks on all my previous phones. I kinda feel like the dude from Fairphone is telling us bullshit.

[@CallMeRabbitzUSVI]

Oh BIG TIME bullshit!

[@robloxianews7636]

I've had three headphone jacks on my iPods fail. My family and I have... 25 of them. (They were bought on eBay, and I've since replaced two of the three broken ones.)

[@benzlover55]

Oh it absolutely is shameless BS

[@TheSpotify95]

Reminds me of the days when most Android phones were easy to repair, and could have the battery swapped out in seconds (Samsung Galaxy S4 era). How times have changed... The only thing I don't like is the lack of a headphone jack - there's enough space for it, and if it was to break over time, they could make it repairable (like how they made the USB C port repairable). Sadly, if you need a headphone jack nowadays, there's very little choice.

[@Chris47368]

I just mainly use a Bluetooth to aux receiver on my FP3+, despite the presence of the headphone jack. The lack of a headphone jack, lack of a OLED display and the notch design on the FP4(price combined) did get under my skin however - I might consider a shiftphone when I do eventually upgrade/change phones, as i feel 'upgrading' from a FP3+ to a FP4 would actually be a downgrade in many aspects for me. Fairphone has really lost it's direction with its design and release of the Fairphone 4. Especially when it concerns the lack of a headphone jack with their release of earbuds that would become landfill trash within 2-3 years of use. I might have forgave Fairphone over the headphone jack loss, if you could replace the batteries in their wireless earbuds....but nope....

[@PhilXavierSierraJones]

I think this phone could've been made better with some feedback from the community, and maybe partner with other companies in other countries to provide the logistics. The repairability gimmick is cool, but it still needs some problems ironed out. Adding back a headphone jack seems to be the first step in the right direction.

[@DDRKhat]

The unfortunate part is you called it a "Repairability gimmick" , being able to repair your hardware that you purchased should not be considered a gimmick.

[@technomatic6285]

reparability gimmick? I think we have lost the meaning of the word "gimmick"

[@taxsi]

if repairability is a gimmick, this is not a phone to go for or even comment about further issues.

[@baconwizard]

@@DDRKhat what I’m concerned with is that Fairphone seem to think its more of a gimmick - removing the headphone jack because you cant repair it whilst simultaneously being able to replace the USB-C port is asinine. Also wtf kind of company charges €35 for a cable?

[@technomatic6285]

@@baconwizard The USB C charging port is a necessity which cannot be fulfilled by any other port. The headphone jack however is not a necessity because you can just buy an earphone with a type-c connector However, that means you can't charge your phone while using the earphone or vice versa but who tf does that anyway? I personally just use Bluetooth earbuds when I'm charging and cable when I'm not charging.

[@kaizer2k2]

The country inside the phone is DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (where I'm from), I searched it as to why they have it. What I found was, Fairphone is one of the first phone companies to search for conflict free gold.

[@xPLAYnOfficial]

Such a disappointment for this phone. I was really looking forward to this, especially as it supports /e/ OS. Sadly this phone is something I cannot recommend, for a number of reasons: Lack of a headphone jack is debilitating, and their claim is BS. I have lots of devices, dating back to even the 1980's, that have experienced a lot of wear and tear, but no broken headphone jack. I have rarely ever experienced failure from it whatsoever. Something people need to keep in mind is that not all headphone jacks are created equal. It's entirely possible to build a robust one, and it's also possible to build a cheap one that will fail easily. I abuse my phones a lot, but my Unihertz Titan has a headphone jack. It's never failed me in the 4 years I've owned it, it's IP67 water resistant (so much so that I can and have tossed my phone underwater both intentionally and unintentionally with 0 damage), and it's far from alone in lasting without breakage. Plus, consider that the charging port is designed to withstand insertion cycles, *NOT* adjustment stress. When you want to listen to music, the phone is going to be in a more compromised and vulnerable position, and whatever connector is being used for the headphones will have insertion durability be the least of it's problems. The headphone jack is provably reliable for this, to the point that my Blackberry KeyOne has been literally yanked, dropped, pulled, dandled, and otherwise abused with headphones inserted (I oftentimes got the cables caught on something when I was younger and thus had the cable yank on the port *hard* when they pulled back), and yet it still works without any issue.There is no excuse for something like this being excluded. Lack of a gasket on the back of the phone is also not great. One of the biggest dangers for smartphones is liquid damage, as more-often-than-not, such damage makes the phone irrepairable. For a company that's designing a phone to be repairable, and literally removing key features because "it might break", this is yet another inconsistency in their message. If you're removing features because it might break, then why didn't you seal the back of the phone? Seems like one of these two things is far more important and worrysome than the other. The specs are not amazing, which normally I wouldn't care about too much, but considering this phone's price it's pretty steep for what you get. Specs are something that gets over-inflated by people. I've used a Blackberry KeyOne and now my Unihertz Titan as my daily drivers and never really had issues with performance. My family all has Moto G7 Powers and none of them have issues with the performance of the phone, despite their varieties of uses from production work to media consumption etc. Still, it is a concern. The materials also do not feel great. I completely understand the elimination of brittle glass backing, but Unihertz and Blackberry already solved this. The Blackberry KeyOne has a nice-feeling, grippy textured-plastic back, which feels nicer and looks nicer. The Unihertz Titan has some nice metal accents and other finishes on the back to avoid it looking plain. Considering the cost of the Blackberry, and especially considering the cost of the Unihertz Titan, it's really not fair to give Fairphone much slack here. Unfortunately, I feel like LG already showed us a better version of this phone: The LG V20. Massive, removable battery, with a dedicated external battery charger, good materials that don't feel like they cheapened out, excellent specs for the time (still decent today), a headphone jack that is both robust, water-resistant and connected to one of the best DACs ever built into a smartphone (that can even drive beefier high-end headphones), dual-SIM capabilities, a gasket on the back removable cover, and microSD card support for 2TB (yes they supported a capacity that didn't even exist at the time). Overall, this phone has potential, but this company... I'm not so sure. Really not liking the direction they've taken this product. Such a shame.

[@summerforever6736]

I have the v20

[@mojolotz]

Fairphone "community member" here: The negatives you mentioned (headphone jack, the e-waste earphones, stuff being soldered on, confusing website...) are definitely contentious in the community. I feel like feedback is being listened to so i am fairly happy with the bunch of sea people.

[@TuxraGamer]

Are you Fair-ly happy? Sorry.

[@faxmuchine]

This would be the perfect phone if it actually came with a charger, and had a headphone jack. But I guess big companies will never be satisfied unless they hold a monopoly over basic functions.

[@eddiew.4650]

@Chandler Russell They can't even ship enough phones out to their limited customer base, let alone include some charger.

[@trevor245]

@Chandler Russell Wireless earbuds, iems and headphones are basically all overpriced not to mention (noticably) worse sounding audio due to bluetooth encoding. Also wireless earbuds are basically doomed from the start due to non replaceable batteries. Besides you can´t just shove aside basically 40 years worth of products compatible with a 3.5 headphone jack and say the format is dead. It´s very much alive in every other space aside from phones.

[@eila2088]

They introduced wireless earbuds when they removed the jack. Purely profit motivated. The lack of charger is more forgivable.

[@chilly1661]

@Chandler Russell You should work for fairphone

[@mattelder1971]

@@eila2088 Wireless earbuds have been around a LONG time before companies started removing the headphone jack. Not sure where you got the idea that they only came about afterwards.

[@krono9451]

Fairphone always seemed gimmicky to me. Behind in the tech, with a dated look. Removing the charger, USB-C cable and headphone jack further exemplifies how Fairphone is becoming worse year by year.

[@rn.v4629]

my mother in law has one, but it feels so cheap tbh. and is very slow also.

[@jamoin9810]

@@rn.v4629 "and is very slow also." Thats because fairphone literally uses old parts - apperently "to be better for the environment"

[@sybsygstgstsgysg5330]

@@jamoin9810 it’s an excuse for them to upcharge you and make more money.

[@rn.v4629]

@@jamoin9810 but charge prices of newer parts hehehe what a shitphone i told her 20times but she wanna help the world and such...

[@williamv0242]

the removal of a headphone jank kills it for me thats just so stupit ill just stick to buying cheap nokia phones they are the same specs they just require more tought when replacing parts (but is totally doable)

[@sol_xz]

i've been lately watching a lot of your vids, this is skill dude, keep the great content/work!

[@D_A86]

Fairphone is kinda a overstatement when once you purchase the charger, cable and headphone separately its no cheaper than any top end smartphone 😕

[@Okararu]

How is it not fair? Because you have to pay more money so the people who mine the resources don't have to suffer? Yeah, totally unfair.

[@txma.]

I think one of the more ironic features of this phone is how large the top and bottom bezels are yet they still decided to have a notch

[@oatmeal7818]

Better use a design like galaxy s9

[@iankrajacic7974]

I remember when I worked for a Samsung repair centre years ago, this phone reminds me of the Samsung galaxy s2. Very easy to open and repair.

[@diegosantiagojones]

Good teardown process! Thanks!

[@LawpickingLocksmith]

Probably the best teardown video I seen to date. To me having the chance of swapping the battery would be my main point. My Nokia 6110 Navigator was the pinnacle at the time. Found every Australian street with turn instructions at the best time. Got me thru Japan and China. Next hit was the HTC Velocity, gave me nearly 500 days of Apple free 4G network freedom and perhaps the best Navigator of its time. A Fairfone and a spare battery will save your life if lost in the bush. Thanks Hugh! Next: Set up a go fund page to provide for Louis's depression?

[@lagautmd]

Would love to see this in the USA! The headphone jack is not a big deal either way for me. I prefer a jacked set of phones mainly because I've always considered wireless buds to be a bad idea (though a fine option to offer). And, they will get lost. Putting a $200+ device in my ear using friction is just completely nuts to me. So, I'd be buying an adapter.

[@nathansharma87]

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

[@NoobsDeSroobs]

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I might get this one next time I change.

[@ginx2666]

That just feels like a scam phone, now a "fair" phone. Their excuse for removing audio jack is laughable.

[@FMeister94]

How is it is a scam it does what it says it pays its workers fairly, sources its parts ethically and it’s repairable. Why must a company be dogpiled on cos it doesn’t fit every single expectation. Sure I think they can certainly work on their PR as it lets them down.

[@Abishek_Muthian]

If the Linux support for Fairphone 4 gains momentum and becomes usable then it would be the go-to phone for the Linux enthusiasts as other options have performance drawbacks(but lesser proprietary drivers though).

[@cosminandreimatei756]

If you ask me, I prefer the headphone jack back again. While I'm not at home, yes, I use the wireless headphones, but while I'm at home I'm using the headphone jack because I own some wired headphones and I have an wireless speaker with a headphone jack

[@dentjoener]

Heh, the timing. Mine just got delivered in store. Waiting until tomorrow to pick it up. It was this or the Pixel 6, but after hearing all the issues they had, it was a clear choice. As I tend to keep a phone around for about 5 years, I'm glad I can easily change a battery or a screen (for cheap) when I drop it or when it dies.

[@jameswoll]

I used to say to my friends, "Watch how fast I can recharge my phone." And then just pull out the dead battery and pop in a fresh one. I loved that. A great feature that most folks don't think about when dwelling in iPhone-land!

[@YearsOfLeadPoisoning]

I love the idea and product, but unless the major players adopt these principles, the net effect is still nearly zero. Legislation is the only way forward, not niche products.

[@brunoais]

I think both are the way forward. Legislation to provide a basic but niche to go one step forward. I love having a physical keyboard. So I found a way to get one (f(x)tec PRO¹)

[@YearsOfLeadPoisoning]

​@Bessie Hillum I wish I could agree, but the free market has only continued to move away from repairability. I see no reason the major OEMs would sacrifice profit margins for sustainability unless given an economic incentive. Competition with a hyper-niche brand isn't going to accomplish this.

[@brunoais]

@Bessie Hillum I disagree. People being enforced by the majority is bad. Causes suppression. However, companies being enforced by the majority is good. However, the laws governing companies are not protecting the people while they are supposed to protect the people from the companies (such as the abuse that is happening).

[@brunoais]

@Bessie Hillum In a democracy, it is. democracy means the people makes the laws, not the companies. So, it's expected that the companies get lawfully bullied by the people when they don't act in the people's interest. Corporations and companies don't have rights, in a democracy.

[@ominkan3129]

Great video and nice phone. I missed if the memory was replaceable to increase memory. I think to many manufacturers copy Apples philosophy. Sad they do.

[@xybersurfer]

the storage and RAM that come with it are NOT replaceable. it's part of the motherboard. they don't offer the motherboard as a spare part

[@hydreg]

I feel like this is a case of one step forward, two steps back - no headphone jack, no dual sim (they could at least merge second sim slot with micro SD card slot, like Xperia did, though I personally don't like that either), sim and micro SD slot non openable without special tool or dismantling the back of the phone, therefore making it more prone to breaking (once again Xperia has the right idea), no gasket so I wonder if it's splash proof... Also I must wonder if hardware can be upgraded? If they come up with better camera component or OLED screen - would I be able to just swap it? That would seriously be a huge step to reducing e-waste. There's potential there, but it's not really realized.

[@extrahourinthepit]

Upgradability is something they have committed to with previous phones and I'm pretty sure they're on the record for intending to keep doing it, and it is IP67.

[@marymadigan9707]

Great video as always Jeffrey 👏😎🇮🇪

[@BlackSkorpionLP]

The logo inside the phone represents congo - probably hinting at the harsh conditions under which cobalt is sourced for lithium batteries.

[@amak1131]

I'm surprised buttons aren't replaceable, given those are the parts getting used the most. Great idea, but the execution can use more refining.

[@KristianNowak]

fairphone 5 better have dual sim on every model and headphone jack with everything else on this it will be perfect

[@SomeRandomPiggo]

ikr, fairphone is the last company i'd think would remove those, especially the headphone jack. bluetooth is good if you're a casual listener but for enthusiasts with good headphones its a slap in the face

[@danr3778]

my 2016 moto x pure comes apart just like this. use the sim removal tool through a small hole in the back to remove the rubber battery cover and everything is there to be replaced. its got about twice as many screws though but the screen frame and mid frame go together the same.

[@mirkopacchioni4158]

We all hope that the phones will all be like this again but I guess it's just a hope. Nice video as always.

[@billienomates1606]

Excellent vid, I like the concept of the easy self repair and the replaceable battery, but value for money, in my opinion, I think not. Putting the recycle, fairtrade blah, blah, blah out the way I just by 2nd handphones, which is my little way of helping the planet. The bonus to buying 2nd hand is I can upgrade every year or so. Currently for the price of £220 British pounds I purchased a nearly new condition OPPO Reno 4 Pro 5G with 12 gigs of ram and 256gb memory. Value for money is my bottom line when buying a mobile phone.

[@pablouribe1522]

Too expensive for what it offers, almost impossible to get in America, the missing headphone jack. The idea is great but the execution so far has been subpar. Also the parts seems way to expensive, the premium is huge. It will be powerful if they competed better and make other companies make changes towards reparability.

[@richardmyers7181]

An absolutly brilliant design

[@greenpedal370]

Back in the day I owed a phone shop. I don't believe a headphone jack ever broke. Replaced or resoldered plenty of USB ports though.

[@grandmaster101587458]

Really great device! I use wireless headphones so that's not an issue for me, but because it's not available in Canada I'd have to hunt for one pretty hard. If the bootloader is unlocked though, how much of the sources are available? I'm curious to see what the custom ROM community would be like. I've used ROMs for years and still do (even on my current phone, a OP8 Pro) so seeing that parts and software are so readily available is a huge plus.

[@gus74v07]

why change device when the one you currently own is better?

[@grandmaster101587458]

@@gus74v07 The fact I can repair it. I don't like buying phones every three years so I'm hoping that at some point they'll have something better than what I own

[@JaiRestore]

I'm honestly impressed by the time and effort you put into these videos, Keep it up!💛

[@dcaravana]

Thanks!

[@NewRepublicMapper]

Love that intro

[@mayurdumbre9347]

The next fairphone need to bee upgradable. Like you have notch display but you can buy a punch hole display and just plug in it it . If you want to upgrade camera just change module. That would be so awesome

[@clgst14]

Well, they tried that back in 2011 with Project Ara by Motorola. Never really took off because they said not many people would actually upgrade their internal components as much as possible/wanted.

[@AliG-rc6ox]

Wish all phones were made this way, removable battery rocks, why don't we get more phones with that built in

[@digitalife8719]

Great job from a great company.

[@TheColinputer]

Be awesome if they offered a external battery charger. The last phone i owned that had a removable battery (Samsung Note 3) had these awesome little kits which came with a spare battery and a little white case would not only protect your spare battery from damage but also had a USB port to charge it outside the phone. Was awesome back in the day.

[@SeptienPatterson]

A smartphone with a removable back? What year is this?

[@jaash8]

9:20 I didn't know Digi existed in Australia. I thought Digi was only in Malaysia.

[@MohamadAlifHazwanRoslan]

He probably went to Malaysia for a holiday i guess 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Agumon5]

The lack of a headphone jack is perplexing ..... The target audience for this device certainly would have wanted such a feature.

[@Julian_H]

You should look at the teracube - similar idea, with a headphone jack and available in more regions.

[@solhsa]

The missing headphone jack is a deal-breaker for me. A pity.

[@Knaeckebrotsaege]

This. Guess I'll forever be stuck with my S10. Can't think of any recent phone that I'd even consider worth replacing it, as they all have some form of huge drawback to me... like no headphone jack (most phones), garbage cameras (A-series Samsungs), being garbage overall (Xiaomi), being no longer in the market (LG), intentionally crippling a couple features like leaving out the compass for no good reason (Motorola), etc. .... phones have turned into a pain in the rear TBH. A game of "which drawback do you pick and never end up being fully happy with because of it"

[@aujorduunforte2922]

@@Knaeckebrotsaege why don't you try sony's

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

For a phone that's sets to be different from the rest, it seems to follow a lot of the modern trends of not including a charger and cable, having a camera notch, raised camera cluster, no headphone jack, requiring a stupid USB adapter for headphones and so on. The argument for no headphone jack is BS of the highest order. A USB C port would be much more expensive to replace than a headphone jack and breaking one would also prevent you from charging the phone. They want to lure you into their rebranded bluetooth earbuds. The battery is also pissing small for a SD 750G CPU. Only 3905 mAh? Even phones with SD8 Gen1 CPUs have larger batteries. Also, would they care to explain how you're being more environmentally friendly when you'd need two extra boxes for the charger and cable instead of a single one if the phone came with those?

[@FMeister94]

But they did it before it was popular at least the cable

[@kokonut5]

The headphone jack breaking is the last thing on my mind on the thousand of parts in my smartphone to shit itself. My PocoF1 lasted me 6 years before its motherboard decided to kill itself. I opened it a few times replacing the battery and power flex cable. I literally used my headpohone jack everyday to commute for 6 years. I call total BS on Fairphone's reasoning here.

[@JJ21lives4ever]

Water resistantance is a must. Rain, accidental drops, even snow had ruined some of my phones in the past. Need water resistantance and repairability. Some of Samsung's enterprise phones have this

[@BABiFun]

Okay hardware aside, how's the software? Will they update it for years to come like Apple does or are they doing the usual Android move where it's 2ish updates and they're done

[@PaperReaper]

5 years of official updates, maybe even more. And 2ish updates has not been standard for a whiiiile

[@BABiFun]

@@PaperReaper That's good to hear then, 2ish big android upgrade was what I wanted to say, but anyway, 5 years sound really good. Just wish they ship to more countries

[@AmalDevYT]

Even fairphone is becoming evil

[@alexlandherr]

That clip-on back reminds me of my first Android phone (some Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 I think).

[@davidorama6690]

Brilliant. Me, an iPhone user since the 3G, is wondering if I might switch.

[@PaperReaper]

To me, it would have been excellent if we had an OLED option

[@alistairgammond2221]

Thank you for the upload Hugh It's 4am in the UK and I'm wide awake stressing because I'm supposed to be going away today, but I've been testing positive for the last 6 days so I'm stressed out

[@samal3196]

Ah man, I'm sorry to hear! Hope you sleep/slept alright man.

[@kenmastersmaster]

You have aids?

[@dracopug]

5:00 honestly removing the headphone jack doesn't make it more sustainable. First of all, if you're using the charging port more for audio, you're going to wear that out a little bit sooner. And secondly, it requires new peripherals like usb-c to 3.5mm dongles which could also become landfill, moreso that they're a flexible cable. Theyre just moving one breakable part inside the phone, and pushing it out while moving the cost of dongles/wireless headphones onto the user.

[@vani-lla]

I don't know if you get this question often, but what model phone do you personally use? You mentioned yours has both a headphone jack and two SD slots.

[@hellopeeps2001]

I think this is a very cool and interesting idea for a phone. I wish that Apple would take a page out of their book and make their phones more self repairable. My only thought with this phone is if dust will be able to get into the housing due to there being no adhesive holding the screen down🤔

[@xybersurfer]

i doubt that dust is a major issue

[@shapelessed]

If their mindset is that they had to remove the headphone jack because it can "break" - then they should also remove the screen - because it could shatter, the battery - because it could blow up, and everything electronic - because it might short out.

[@CarbonPanther]

So you'd be left with just the Phone's frame! No wait... It might bend so they'll better remove it too.

[@shapelessed]

@@CarbonPanther Introducing... AirPhone! A phone that can not break because it's just air!

[@CarbonPanther]

@@shapelessed Too bad the name "Nothing Phone" was taken already, eh? XD

[@jtveg]

Thanks for sharing. 😉👌🏻

[@athmaid]

3:43 had a feeling it has to do with their campaign to source conflict-free metals needed for production. And sure enough, it really is the map of the DRC, where most of the tantalum and cobalt is from

[@toonistiny]

It's a miracle someone actually thought of this and made a company just for fan service.

[@rambledogs2012]

Hey, we took the headphone jack out of our repairable phone as it might break (which means it's unrepairable). To combat this, you can spend additional money on our over priced wireless headphones, instead. Can't say we aren't fair. While you're at it, buy a charger too as we didn't include one.

[@brunoais]

Yep. If it breaks, then just make it easily pluggable inside the phone

[@rambledogs2012]

@@brunoais Just a scam to spend more money on the wireless ones.

[@brunoais]

@@rambledogs2012 Indeed. That dent has been making me rethink about what they are actually after... Or what investors they have...

[@StarfoxHUN]

Tbh a TWS Headphone with repairability is really interesting concept to do. All i can think about is making you able to unclip the bottom part where the battery is from the speaker, and replace just that. I wonder if there's a better way for that.

[@StarfoxHUN]

@@ingulari3977 Yea or replace it entirely. However i'd like to mention that TWS-cabled hybrid IEM exists, maybe LG or Sony made one recently, can't remember the exact company tought.

[@gazthegamer784]

I wanna see if you can put a dual sim combative on iPhone 11 or 11pro,11 pro max? U think u can mange that because I have a physical sim and eSIM iPhone 11

[@comicsanz97]

If anything, this phone further convinces people that easily-repairable devices have to be bulky and ugly-looking. Also, they removed the headphone jack because it breaks over time, but the power and volume buttons are not replaceable? Ahem.

[@Sinna94]

When Apple removes stuff from the box, it's called greed; when Fairphone does it, it's called sustainability!

[@JACKHARRINGTON]

Yes, good observation. If Apple took sustainability to heart and really publicised it, they would create an ‘aura’ (so to speak) that makes good intentions the first option.

[@re-fix9678]

very good👍👍

[@ritwikgossain]

Hi so what if you drop it in toilet, what all will have to be replaced? I don't think there's any waterproof seal due to no adhesive

[@rosaria8384]

If they can add an option for a headphone jack and a default power cable, a modular display design to allow up to 144hz, or even a customizable motherboard with similar connections yet different spec sheets, and brick in the box, it's a win. Close but no cigar, yet.

[@Minitrucker231]

As much as I want repairable devices, Fairphone is really hurting themselves by not offering their devices worldwide. They've been around for a decade, so you would think they could start selling them outside of the EU. I don't see them being around for another decade in my opinion

[@rosaria8384]

@@Minitrucker231 yep - US and Asia, as well as Africa and Australia need to taste Fairphone.

[@Marcelo-56]

I have an idea to lower costs: They could put all the components in a heat-sealed envelope and let each buyer assemble it as they prefer, like a fun brain teaser🤗

[@eddiew.4650]

And still charge the same price? No thank you. If you're expecting me to build my own phone, then there better be a deep discount.

[@kaylons]

@@eddiew.4650 Ehhhh... no. Running a company is hard. Selling products is even harder, because the company _needs_ to make a profit to keep developing phones. If you want a deep discount, corners will be cut. And I'm p sure you don't want a cheap phone that sucks. Fairphone still needs to operate within a fair market. They can't undersell their products, otherwise they go out of business and the smartphone market becomes monopolized. The customer isn't always right. (Alsp depending on whether or not this also comes to fruition, you may get a discount since shipping it incomplete may or may not cut down on labor.... but not a deep discount)

[@sihamhamda47]

Framework laptops actually do that thing with their customizable DIY pack, and customers can freely choose any components individually like motherboard, RAM, SSD, display, laptop frames, some other modules and even operating systems I doubt if Fairphone would do the same thing because RAM and storage in phones are all soldered into the mainboard

[@Marcelo-56]

@@sihamhamda47 My son put my computer together by buying all the components separately, choosing the best of each one, it is totally personalized and it works very well.

[@maxmeinert6264]

I do repair phones regularly and I don't see that the cameras are more easy to replace then for other phones. The display dismantling though is cool.

[@arnevandemaele7445]

We sell those phones here in Belgium, although, selling might be a bit of a stretch. Since it's release more than half a year ago, only one has been sold from our store

[@gary_rumain_you_peons]

Could it be the price? Lack of support? Some sort of technical issue?

[@ncc74656m]

Nice idea, but it's not very useful if you can't own it in most countries. While I'm not a frequent dropper of my phones, either, and don't tend to use them in places where they'd end up in water or something, I'd still very much appreciate a higher IP rating and availability/compatibility with other regions' networks.

[@SATOhara3173]

Wow that headphone jack policy is absolutely stupid

[@lastlast2078]

Could I potentially use this to play PoGo? If I purchased multiple batteries, charged them up in the phone one by one (unless there is a more efficient way to charge the batteries outside the phone?) and go out with just the phone and a couple of batteries in my pocket? No bulky power bank or annoying cable then.

[@geoffreyguez]

Isn't it the shape of the DR Congo ? Nice video !

[@higihups]

Physical SIM cards, that even my grandmother is able to swap, how inconvenient. Better make "all those people" running to me, to get help setting up their eSIM. The screen can also break, why do not remove it? The battery is going to break, why do not leave that out? You wanted to make a product, that is "repairable", so do not pull the "it might break and need repair" excuse. Those connectors by design need thousands of insertions to break. Because they were designed (over a hundred years ago), to wear out the plug and not the recepticle. A proven design, that is working and does its job fine. You have wireless connectivity, even in phones with physical ports. Who might want to watch some netflix while they are waiting anywhere and possibly charge their phone? But they have a point with the breaking: I had a phone where the headphone jack was "broken". There was dirt in it. The same dirt, that got in the charging port too, "breaking" it. Nothing, that could not be repaired with a needle, IPA, 15 minutes and some patience. Or if it is really broken: With a 3€ replacement part and screwdriver. You will even wear the usb port more, by plugging the adaptor in. And finally: The laws of physics will make it, that small loose things you have to carry extra, will not be at your disposal when you need them. Fairphone: I was considering to look at your phones, as a replacement for my phone, once it finally breaks. Two of my basic needs for a phone: Headphone jack and dual physical SIM. I am sure, there are options to make that phone even triple SIM capable, if you want to include eSIM.

[@CyborgKuroChan335]

I applaud them for trying to make a repairable phone but there's alot of weird decisions also.

[@FinlayDaG33k]

I still remember when I got my first Android phone... It hardfroze quite often *but* I could just yank off the back cover and take out the battery. God where have those days gone T_T

[@MARTINA-gc3tq]

Isn’t there aN USB-c to 3.5mm female jack connector? I’m sure I got one that was lightning to jack for my son's iPhone XS Max.

[@Matt-wi1tx]

Excellent!

[@darkguardian1314]

"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever" 😂 Something Apple and Google should have been doing day one. Very odd that it's only for certain countries. Is there a secret government monitoring system in it's operating system? 🤔

[@trevor245]

I mean the market for something like this is very small and the market for android phones is way bigger in the EU than in the US so it´s likely they just didn´t want to pay for permits and stuff to sell outside of the EU and UK.

[@peterjf7723]

I live in Turkey and were I to import a phone, in order to use it I would have to register it, which costs something like £130.

[@gary_rumain_you_peons]

@@peterjf7723 How do tourists do it in Turkey? Surely you can bring in a phone with a foreign SIM and it would work. Paying that much to use a phone service during a 2 week holiday wouldn't be popular.

[@gary_rumain_you_peons]

It's more likely to be a support issue.

[@peterjf7723]

@@gary_rumain_you_peons Tourists can use their own phone in Turkey for up to 120 days via international roaming or with a Turkish SIM card without having to pay Customs duty, or to register it.

[@runedyrting8476]

This was really interesting in spite of a few downsides.

[@Rayantechtips]

The FairPhone is Build Durable And I Like How They Managed To Make The OS stable.