42 MAY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE387
IT’SANOPENsecretthatsmartphhhonesare
environmentallycostly.Boththematerials
theyuseandthewaste of producinnngthem
amountsto anecologicalnightmareee,onethat
onlygetsworsewithtwo-yearupgrrradecycles
andcomponentsyoucan’treplacewithout
voidingthewarranty.
TheFairphone3takesadifferennntapproach,
aimingto putsustainabilityandhummmansfirst.
Theformerby designingitshandseeetstobe
repairablebyusers,withcomponennntsthatcan
bereusedtoreducee-waste;thelatttttterby
sourcingconflict-free(andideallyreeecycled)
minerals,andbyfocusingongoodwwworking
conditionsinitsfactories.Fairphoneopenly
admitsthatthisisaworkinprogress,butit’s
alreadylightyearsaheadofitscommmpetitors.
GONEGREEN
Admirableasthisapproachis,ifyou’re
thinkingthattheresultwon’tbecuuutting-edge
technology,thenyou’recorrect.TheFairphone
3’sspecsaredistinctlymiddleoftheroad:
namely,theQualcommSnapdragon
and4GBofRAM.That’stheexacts
specificationastheMotoG7Power
376)but,at£378,thisisalotmoreexpensive.
TheFairphone3alsohasasomewhat
datedlookfromthefront.Ithasthekindof
bezelsthathaven’tbeenseenona
smartphoneforquitesometime, especially
at thetopandbottomofthe18:9screen.It
comeswithathickrubberisedbumperaround
theoutsidesto protectfromdropdamage,
butthiscanbeeasilyremovedifyoulike.
Flipitoveranditlooksalotmore
distinctive, andlargelyinagoodway.It’sa
transparentbutslightlyopaqueplasticcase,
soyoucanseeexactlywhatmakesittick.The
word‘Fairphone’isembossedinallcaps,and
theslogan‘changeisinyourhands’isvisible,
printedonthebatteryunderneath.
There’salsoagoodmixofhardware
features.ItusesUSBType-Ccharging,hasa
3.5mmheadphonejack,supportsNFC,has
twoSIM-cardslotsandamicroSDcardslot
supportingcardsofupto400GBinsize.
By farthemostdistinctivetrait,however,is
theFairphone3’srepairability.Mostphones
aredesignedto bereplacedratherthanfixed,
FAIRPHONE 3
★★★★★
£378•From shop.fairphone.com
VERDICT
The Fairphone 3isanoble project, but in pure
hardware terms it charges more fooorless
ANDROID9.0SMARTPHONE
largelyfallenooouuutttoooffffffaaavvvooouuurrrwwwiiittthhhmmmaaannnuuufffaaaccctttuuurrreeerrrsss,,,
theMotoE6Plus(page40)notwithstanding.
Thatisn’tgreatforconsumers,butit’sfar
worsefortheplanet.‘Reduce,reuseand
recycle’arethethree‘R’sof sustainability,and
thesmartphoneindustryislousyateachof
them.Intacklingthisperniciousproblem,
FairphonehasnotonlymadetheFairphone3
repairable,itincludesascrewdriverinthebox
anddetailedinstructionsonitswebsite.
HAVE IGOT SCREWS FORYOU
Takeoff theplasticbackandremovethe
battery,andyou’representedwith13tiny
screwstopickout.Thesemagneticallystickto
thescrewdriver,butthey’restillprettyfiddly.
Onceremoved,youcansimplypopoutthe
screenbypushingitthroughwherethe
batterycompartmentusedtobe;withalittle
extrafingernailto getitout,you’rehomefree.
Thisfirststepisnecessaryforallfuture
repairs,andonceyou’rein,Fairphonehas
instructionsandtutorialvideosonhowto
replacefourmodulesinadditionto thescreen
, c savaa e rom
ttthhheeeoooffiffifficcciiiaaalllwwweeebbbsssiiittteee’sssssspppaaarrreeepppaaarrrtttsssssshhhoooppp.IIIttt’sss
importanttostatethatwhilethismakesita
modularphone,thisisn’taboutupgrades:all
ofthecomponentsintheshoparejust
replacementsfortheexistinghardware,
shoulditfail.
Pricesvarywildly.Anewscreencosts£77,
whichfeelsfairenough,buttheaskingpriceof
£21forareplacementbackcover–itselfa
flimsyplasticthing–raisesaneyebrow.Anew
batterycosts£26,acameramodule£43,atop
module£26,andthebottomandspeaker
modulesgofor£17each.Thetotalcostofall
thesesparesis£227, whichisaroundthesame
priceasafullyassembledMotoG8Plus.
However,affordabilityisn’ttherealpoint.
It’sabsolutelybrilliantthatFairphonehas
madetheFairphone3asfixableasitis,and
demonstratesacompanywillingto walkthe
walkoneaseof repair,aswellastalkthetalk.
BRIGHT SPOTS
TheFairphone3’s5.65inIPSscreenhasa
resolutionof 2,160x1,080,whichismorethan
enoughforascreenofthissize. Less
positively,thickbezelsatthetopandtailof it
giveitacertainretrofeel,andcolour
performancedoesn’tdoitmanyfavours
either:95.3%coverageofthesRGBgamutis
good,butcoloursarereproducedinaccurately,
soeverythinglooksoversaturated.
The Fairphone 3demonstrates acompanywilling to walk
the walk on ease of repair,aswell as talk the talk
