What if your next phone was a 7-year-old model? Commown, a cooperative society that specializes in the rental of durable computer equipment, has just launched its FrankenPhone project. Its principle? Put Fairphone 2 back into circulation to reduce their carbon footprint.
A smartphone produced from salvaged parts
The idea is simple: since Commown’s business model is to rent smartphones in order to ensure traceability of parts and repairs, why not build new phones “from different components from electronic corpses“? If the idea does not necessarily seem attractive to anyone wishing to try out the very latest fashionable technologies, the FrankenPhone project has the advantage of having an extremely reduced carbon impact, since, as we have known for years and as Commown repeat it”nearly 80% of digital environmental impacts are associated with the device production phase“.
“In the field of electronics, the first step towards sobriety consists in making the devices last as long as possible to avoid the consumption of resources and primary energies associated with their renewal.“, explains Commown in its press release. The Fairphone 2 and its modular design are therefore perfectly suited to the exercise, since it is easy to make a patchwork of parts to recreate a “new” smartphone.
Availability from October 31
Of course, the longevity of a phone is not only measured by the durability of its components. The software must follow too. On this aspect, the Fairphone 2 was already a marathon runner since it was launched under Android 5 and received several updates, up to Android 10 earlier in the year. But Commown goes a little further, since the FrankenPhone will be delivered with /e/OS, the “de-googled” version of Android 11. A choice both motivated by a concern for the protection of personal data, but also for the preservation of privacy. ‘environment : “The device does not need to send astronomical amounts of personal data to Google’s servers, which requires much less resources“, justifies Common.
Behind the FrankenPhone is therefore a certain vision of the computer industry, which the cooperative society hopes to lean towards “a fun sobriety“. Admittedly, the FrankenPhone is more an ethical commitment than a technological dream. And although the Fairphone 2 is not a thunderbolt and some components may show signs of weakness, the offer at €6.90 per month of Commown includes battery change, breakage and breakdown management at no extra cost, if necessary. If you are interested in the idea, you can take a look at the page dedicated to the FrankenPhone. Orders will be open from October 31.