Fairphone has unveiled its Fairphone 4 modular smartphone, the first electronic waste-neutral mobile phone on the market. The smartphone supports 5G and will come with a five-year warranty. The phone sports the company’s trademark modular design and aims to save resources and reduce emissions. Its shell is wrapped in 100 percent recycled material, against the Fairphone 3’s 40 percent and comes with more fairly sources materials, to 14 from 8, including gold, aluminum and tin.
To make the phone waste neutral, the company will, for every Fairphone 4 sold, recycle a phone or electronic waste in the same quantity. Alternatively, Fairphone will refurbish at least one phone to prevent the production of a new device. The company is also guaranteeing the long-term availability of spare parts and software support, so that users can use their phones for longer.
The new 5G smartphone features a 6.3 inch HD+ display, a Qualcom Snapdragon 750G SoC, a replaceable 3,905 mAh battery and a dual-camera system with 48 megapixels and 25 megapixels for selfies, plus a third sensor for depth. The device will come with either 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage or 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. The device supports nano and e-Sims. There is no 3.5 mm jack: audio is provided through the USB-C port or via Bluetooth. This was done in order to achieve the IP54 rating, Fairphone said.
The phone is open to pre-orders in Europe, with delivery scheduled for 25 October. The device with 6 GB will cost EUR 579 and come in grey. The version with 8 GB will come grey, green and speckled green and cost EUR 649. The prices for parts will range from EUR 15 (USB-port) to EUR 80 (rear camera and display. The phone will not for the moment get a US release, the Verge reported. Fairphone said it is interested but will focus on Europe for the time being.
At Deutsche Telekom, a partner of Fairphone, customers on the operator’s green network will pay EUR 1 for the cheaper version of the device, when on the MagentaMobil M deal.
