With the first batch of Fairphone 2s soon to be reaching their new owners, we try out the ethical smartphone to find out how well it works.
The first thing that greets your eyes when you open the packaging of the Fairphone 2 is a simple message: “Yours to open, yours to keep.” For added emphasis, these words are printed on the inside of the device, seen before you assemble it for the first time. These words represent two of the Fairphone’s major selling points, and combined with a third — the fact that it uses a number of conflict-free minerals in its construction — create a rare proposition in the electronics market: an ethical smartphone, or, as near to one as you can hope.
The Fairphone 2 wants to change the way smartphones are thought about, manufactured and repaired, from ethical sourcing to easy repairing. They're noble ambitions but we'll have to wait for the Fairphone 3 for a truly compelling handset.
TNW:
Fairphone's latest phone is completely modular, and you can fix it yourself in just a few minutes. We go hands on and pull it completely apart.
