The Fairphone 5 is the company’s best phone yet with a clear prioritisation of longevity and repairability over specs and performance
Price When Reviewed
684 Euro
Best Prices Today: Fairphone 5
The Fairphone 5 is not supposed to be a powerful, spec-heavy smartphone, so it isn’t.
It’s not supposed to have cameras better than the iPhone 14 Pro or Google Pixel 7, so it doesn’t.
Its design isn’t supposed to wow you, so it probably won’t.
Instead, Fairphone has set out to make a smartphone that will get eight years of software support, possibly 10.
And it knows not all the components in the phone will last that long, so many of them are user repairable or replaceable, with the company promising to stock key parts for it for several years.
It’s impossible for me to test these promises right now, and the longevity of the Fairphone 5 relies on the company still existing in 2033. But Fairphone has a good track record so far, and its latest phone is impressive in what it sets out to achieve.
Importantly, Fairphone is a small company proving that other smartphone manufacturers could offer longer software support, while questioning the environmental ethics of phones whose components will only last two or three years.
It also says it fairly sources all the phone’s components, and fairly treats the workers at every stage of the supply chain right to its own factories, going above and beyond what other phone companies do. Buying a Fairphone, the company implores, is a vote for a fairer smartphone industry.Design & build
Fun, transparent model
Simple modular repairability
Solid but chunky build
The Fairphone 5 looks very much like the Fairphone 4 but there are several changes.
The design is plain, with a thick-feeling 9.6mm body and curved edges and corners. My sample is the excellent transparent version that lets you see through the removable plate to the removable battery and thoughtfully presented modular design underneath.
There are plainer, opaque black or blue models too, or you can even buy all three and swap them over like you did with your old-school Nokia in 2002.
It’s fairly heavy at 212g and is only IP55 rated for dust and water resistance, so basically don’t get it wet. It’s understandable when the phone is designed to be taken apart and put back together by the owner.
The phone comes in recyclable packaging but with no charging cable or brick, or a screwdriver. You can buy the latter separately to take the phone apart.
The battery comes out on its own but otherwise there are tiny screws that need to be removed in order to replace parts such as the display, cameras, earpiece, USB-C port, and loudspeaker, all of which are available to buy direct from Fairphone.
I took the phone apart with ease and had no trouble putting it all back together. It’s much easier than the Nokia G22, which requires you disassemble half the phone before getting to the battery, which needs cables detaching. The Fairphone is much simpler to repair.
Even before you’ve repaired anything, the phone comes with a five-year warranty. Fairphone walks the walk, here.Screen & speakers
6.4in pOLED
Gorilla Glass 5
Both screen and speakers replaceable
This is the first Fairphone with an OLED display. It’s bright and sharp with a 1224 x 2770 resolution, as well as a 90Hz refresh rate for a smoother look to apps and text scrolling by.
It’s a decent display but it’s not the highest quality panel out there at this price. The Google Pixel 7 has a better one at £599.
Despite this, I was pleased to find a ton of customisable options in the settings including three colour mode toggles and a custom one, a blue light filter, and a reading mode that gives the display a paper-like sheen for longer reading sessions.
In the settings it’s labelled ‘NXTVISION’, which backs up the theory that the Fairphone 5 is manufactured by TCL.
