iDevice review
Fairphone (Gen. 6+) review: a phone you can fix yourself, with a gorgeous screen
Repairable at home with a screwdriver, a sharp OLED and good battery life, in a thicker body with a few US carrier limits.
Thumbs up
- Repairable at home, screwdriver in the box
- Gorgeous 120Hz OLED
- Removable battery with good runtimes
- Six Android updates through 2032
- microSD up to 2TB
Thumbs down
- On the thick side
- No Verizon support
- No wireless charging or charger in the box
- Limited peak brightness outdoors
- IP55 handles splashes, not a swim
Open the box and you'll find a T5 Torx screwdriver inside. That tells you what the Fairphone (Gen. 6+) is about. You can open it up and swap parts yourself at home, no specialist tools needed, battery included. It's living proof that a good, solid Android phone can be made fully repairable.
That design shows in the size. The phone is 9.6mm thick and 193 grams (6.8 oz), a bit chunkier than many phones. It puts repairability ahead of raw performance.
Screen
The 6.31-inch LTPO AMOLED is gorgeous, with essentially perfect blacks and contrast, and it runs up to 120Hz. Peak brightness is saved for HDR video, though, so it could use a little more headroom outdoors on a sunny day. At a beach or a ballgame, you may find yourself shading the screen.
Battery and charging
The 4,415mAh battery is removable and lasts well, with good runtimes despite its modest size. It charges at up to 30W over USB-C and works with QC, USB PD and PPS chargers. There's no charger in the box and no wireless charging, so a nightstand pad from your old phone won't help here. Because the battery comes out, a worn one down the road is a quick swap rather than a reason to replace the whole phone.
Speed and cameras
A Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 with 12GB of RAM handles everyday use comfortably. You get 256GB of storage, and a microSD card adds up to 2TB more. The rear has a 50MP main camera and a 13MP ultrawide with a 120-degree view, plus a 32MP autofocus selfie camera. Video goes up to 4K at 30 frames per second.
Living with it
Fairphone promises six major Android updates, through 2032. It's IP55, so it can handle splashes and dust but not a swim. The fingerprint sensor is in the power button, and NFC works with Google Wallet. There's no headphone jack, no Dolby Atmos and no LDAC. It comes in Cobalt Blue, Horizon Black or Forest Green.
US carriers
In the US it works on AT&T and T-Mobile, but not Verizon or any carrier that uses Verizon's network. It takes a nano-SIM and an eSIM, though eSIM doesn't work on T-Mobile, and only one SIM can use 5G at a time. If you're on Verizon or a prepaid brand that runs on its network, this phone won't work for you.