How sustainable is the Fairphone 3? - Fairphone
www.fairphone.com
At Fairphone, our dedication to change means a dedication to measurement. We’ve just completed the life cycle assessment on the Fairphone 3, and we’re humble-proud to present our results. As with the Fairphone 2, we turned to the independent experts at the Fraunhofer Institute IZM to examine the phone’s lifelong environmental impact – from the […]
    • AgreeableLandscapeM
      2·
      4 years ago

      Why not just set up a distribution center in China then? Save an entire trip across the world.

    • Stoned_Ape
      1·
      4 years ago

      Wait… don’t tell me smartphones are being flown in… that can’t possibly be true, can’t it?

  • doodie
    4·
    4 years ago

    I have FP2 for two years now and it’s quite robust. It’s the easiest phone to repair (the only one to get 10/10 on ifixit), and you can install custom ROMs (I’m using LineageOS).

    They are going to release a new update of their Android after 5 years of initial release, which is quite remarkable. I’m not sure if any other phone get a support this long.

    I can still get spare parts on their official site.

    I wish it was a bit faster with biggest battery, but all in all in happy with it. Apparently FP3 has been improved in this regard.

    It’s the most sustainable phone on the market AFAIK, except for buying a used phone.

  • AgreeableLandscapeM
    3·
    4 years ago

    It should also be noted that the plastics are still petroleum products, and being an electronic device, it uses rare elements that are, well, rare, as well as lithium, which while not that rare might not be able to keep up with current demands for batteries.

    Also, recycling any electronic device comes with the same problems. Only a small portion of material is recovered, which doesn’t include many rare elements. It also takes a lot of energy and the process often involves burning and other processes that release toxic chemicals into the environment.

    My advice in general is to use your current device for as long as you possibly can and not switch to a Fairphone just because.

    • kujawOP
      2·
      4 years ago

      I think that buying FP and selling your current device to other person is not that bad, that could even prevent other person from adding another unsustainable phone to the circle.

  • koavf
    1·
    4 years ago

    I don’t have a smartphone but have considered a Librem 5 or Pinephone because they are open designs. Can anyone tell me if 1.) as an American, I could buy a Fairphone and it would work out of the box and 2.) if the openness of the hardware and software are comparable to the two models I just listed?

      • koavf
        1·
        4 years ago

        Thanks! Looks like Librem 5 and Pinephone are my options, then and neither are really at market yet.

        • michel
          2·
          4 years ago

          Yeah. I’m personally pre-ordering the Pinephone PostmarketOS, but it’s for a secondary device to experiment with - I wouldn’t want to depend on it as a daily driver yet.

    • doodie
      2·
      4 years ago

      They don’t ship outside of Europe. Not sure if it’s work in the US, sorry.

      The software is open source, the hardware is using closed source Qualcomm chips AFAIK. But you can easily dismantle the phone and repair it. Not sure how it compares to other phone you listed.

      • Ephera
        2·
        4 years ago

        The software isn’t fully open-source either. It comes with the Google Play Services preinstalled, for example. They haven’t ruled out the possibility of a Google-free version in the future and you can get LineageOS running on there, but yeah, it’s just not all sunshine and roses.

  • wraptile
    1·
    4 years ago

    I have FP2 since release and I can answer the question: not sustainable at all.

    They implied the phone should last several years but mine started break after few months and now has ubresolvable issues that make the phone stutter and lag constantly. The support got back at me after a month suggesting to do a factory reset on the device…

    Additionally since its such a rare phone you can’t repair ir or replacement parts anywhre and they don’t even ship outside of Europe.

    • doodie
      3·
      4 years ago

      Since it was still under guarantee after few months, why didn’t you get it replaced?

      • wraptile
        2·
        4 years ago

        I did get a replacement camera but they couldn’t ship it outside Europe so I had to find a middleman to reship it for me which was ridiculous.

      • AgreeableLandscapeM
        1·
        4 years ago

        Replaced under warranty or not, it still created unnecessary E-waste. Huge blow for sustainability.

        • doodie
          2·
          4 years ago

          Overall it’s still better than other brands.