The Fairphone 5 comes with an easily repairable body, a swappable battery, and the promise of 8-10 years of updates. It’s the most intriguing phone we tested in 2023.
I still remember the days when taking apart a phone was a matter of removing the battery cover, turning a few very obvious screws, and pulling plastics and metal bits apart to reveal the board, charging connector, screen, and speaker.
With the advent of modern, touch-only, and water-resistant smartphones, all of that became a nostalgic memory and I’d wager that there are teenagers nowadays who have never seen the switches behind a T9 keyboard, or even a T9 keyboard to begin with!
It’s that wafting nostalgia that took over me when I got my hands on the Fairphone 5 a few months ago. Here was a relic of the past in modern form and fashion. A phone made in 2023 with both an aura of 2013 and 2033 around it. There’s a mix of past and future with the Fairphone 5, older forgotten concepts like removable and easy-to-exchange parts with forward-facing concepts like repairability, sustainability, and long-term support.
But there was also something so simple and basic about the Fairphone 5. Seen from the front, it is the least flashy Android phone I’ve used, but it’s also a frequent conversation starter when people notice its back. “Is that… removable?” “It reminds me of my old Nokia!” And French people, specifically, always perked up when I told them about the eight-to-10-year update promise and the easy-to-replace modules. People here appreciate sustainability, recycling, and fair-trade efforts and the Fairphone 5 hit a nerve with everyone I talked to.
After carrying the phone for a month, I couldn’t recommend it to anyone wholeheartedly — there are battery and thermal issues that are tough to overlook (I noticed them on my unit, but online reports mentioned them too), but Fairphone tells me it’s working on software fixes for them. Still, it’s by far the most intriguing phone I’ve used this year.The Fairphone 5 is easy to take apart and put back together
I’m not Zach Nelson (from JerryRigEverything) or an iFixit contributor, nor have I ever taken apart a computer or a modern piece of electronics. But I was able to easily dismantle the Fairphone 5 and put it back together — in a functional state, of course — in less than 20 minutes total.
Fairphone has made the entire process so easy that you can do it without watching or following a guide. Just pop off the €24.95 back plate, take out the €39.95 battery, and you’ll see a series of screws. The silver ones are the ones you should remove; the black ones blend in more with the rest of the phone and should remain untouched.
After that, the €39.95 top unit (with the ToF sensor, SIM slot, and microSD slot) and €24.95 bottom part (loudspeaker) come off quite easily, leaving you with more visible modules. Each removable one is attached in place thanks to a metallic piece with an arrow symbol.
Pop the arrow bit off and you can take out the €19.95 USB-C port, €69.95 main camera, €44.95 ultrawide camera, €34.95 front camera, and €19.95 earpiece. You’re left with the skeleton of the phone, chipset, and €99.95 display.
And yes, I mentioned all of the prices here because every removable part can be bought separately and replaced without any expertise. Just pop it off, put the new one in its place, and boom, done! No need to take the phone to a repair shop, pay dozens of euros in extra labor, and risk unglueing and ruining your phone at the hands of an inexperienced employee.
