The adventure continues for Fairphone, the small Dutch manufacturer who did not want to turn a blind eye to its carbon footprint, nor to the working conditions of workers in the mines and factories with which it collaborates. What is the Fairphone 4, the fourth version of its fair-trade smartphone? Is it as efficient on a daily basis as competing devices?
Well equipped
The new Fairphone is a more modern looking mobile than its predecessors. It has a very large screen, sharp, bright, and rather respectful of colors. It displays blacks that sometimes lack a little depth since OLED technology (organic light-emitting diode) is not there, but it only gets in the way when the sets of a game or a movie are dark.
It offers a comfortable memory (128 GB) and incorporates a 5G antenna which is not, however, essential equipment, 5G struggling to convince the general public. But you never know, this technology could improve in the coming years, and the credo of this mobile is precisely to last. The Fairphone 4 lacks two classic high-end attributes: wireless charging, quite practical for everyday use but hardly essential, and waterproofing.
More annoying, the manufacturer makes a concession with the times by depriving its mobile of headphone jack. The mobile box does not even contain the USB audio adapter that would allow you to connect a wired headset. It does not contain either a charger, an accessory that the French are, it is true, often equipped with, or a USB-C cable, which is more annoying because some households do not have one, and others do not. only have worn cables.
Pretty good photos
In addition to its classic lens, the new Fairphone incorporates a super wide angle that sees “wider” for spectacular landscape or architectural shots. Overall, the pictures of the Fairphone 4 are average for what a good smartphone at 350 euros would achieve. They are passable at night and in poorly lit rooms, but successful during the day, even if there is occasionally a very slight red or bluish color cast.
His photos have a personality that is a bit against the current trend: Fairphone refrains from making them too bright, too sharp or too colorful, at the risk of rendering them a little dull. Their softness can please, it is even objectively preferable when the scene is rich in detail, as in a bushy English garden.
Since the photos on the Fairphone are minimally retouched automatically by the mobile, they retain a better potential for manual retouching, but is this really what the average smartphone user is looking for in 2021? We are not sure. Please note: we have tested a prototype, which is certainly very close to the final model, but which can still improve.
Uncomfortable in hand
The biggest flaw of the Fairphone 4 is its size: it is very thick and particularly long. We have the feeling of holding a small briquette, and except for having long fingers, it is difficult to reach the notifications of the smartphone and the buttons at the top of the screen, as the mobile circulates badly in hand. The Fairphone 4 is intended more for sedentary people who have the option of using both hands in almost any scenario.
The massive line of the Fairphone 4 gives it a bit of the allure of a shockproof smartphone. In fact, its aluminum rim seems particularly robust. But its screen seems on the contrary very exposed, and its back is coated only with a layer of plastic which, even thick, will not protect it badly from impacts.
Still so easy to repair?
In the event of a breakage, however, the Fairphone 4 is much easier to repair than a regular smartphone. Its battery is particularly easy to remove: all you have to do is unclip the rear shell of the mobile, slip your fingernail into a slot, then pull towards you.
Sunday handymen will be able to replace the other removable parts of the mobile provided they have precise fingers and good near vision. To replace the loudspeaker, it is necessary to bring a micro-tourvenis and to dislodge the plastic part by exerting a certain force, which can intimidate; wrongly, because it is resistant to torsion and pressure.
Things get complicated when you want to replace the screen or the USB-C socket of the smartphone: after playing with the screwdriver, you have to unplug a tiny connector and then put it back in place, which is difficult, as its adjustment is precise. Disassembling the Fairphone 3 was easier, and taking the Fairphone 2 even more so.
It is especially the change of the photo unit which proves delicate: it is necessary to remove three of these tiny connectors, very close to each other. Many apprentice repairers will grope for a long time to put them back in place. Fortunately, these plugs are more robust than they appear. We console ourselves by considering that the maneuver would be much more complex on a classic smartphone: it would discourage many experienced handymen.
Guaranteed sustainable
The parts of the Fairphone 4 are sold at a reasonable price: 80 euros for the screen or rear cameras, 30 euros for the battery, 15 euros for the USB-C connector. As in the past, it is likely that some parts will experience occasional stockouts over the next few years.
Most key parts are replaceable, but not all. Fairphone, for example, does not sell replacement buttons or substitute processors. Of an average power, the latter should offer the smartphone menus a correct fluidity for at least four or five years before Android becomes too heavy for its shoulders. On the software side, Fairphone guarantees software updates until 2025, and maybe even 2027.
The Fairphone 4 is guaranteed for five years (be careful to register on the Internet). The warranty covers “Only manufacturing defects”, according to the company, which excludes, for example, normal battery wear.
Expensive because responsible
With its price of 580 euros, the Fairphone has increased since the release of the first model to 310 euros in 2014. This price increase is justified by the much more modern equipment of this new vintage, but it emphasizes more bluntly the gap it suffers from competing mobiles with equivalent performance. According to our estimates, these are about half the cost.
Fairphone tries to select raw material suppliers by favoring mines which are not in war zone
The Dutch brand justifies the price difference by promoting its ecological approach – a mobile is recycled for each Fairphone 4 sold – and socially responsible. To manufacture the parts for its smartphone, Fairphone tries to select raw material suppliers by favoring mines that are not in a war zone. He chooses committed companies in a responsible approach, making efforts to increase wages, reduce risks on production sites or even fight against child labor.
Fairphone states that “56% of Fairphone’s eight priority materials, such as cobalt, copper, gold or aluminum, were sourced fairly in 2020, up from 25% in 2018.” By 2023, the ambition is to include six new materials in this list and to reach a fair share of origin of 70%. What does the term “fair” mean? Simply that a producer selected by Fairphone has agreed to make efforts in the right direction, as a spokesperson for the company explains:
“Mines must demonstrate progress and comply with OECD sustainability requirements: this is the first step. But whenever possible, we take a holistic approach by working with communities and NGOs outside the mines to help children go to school, for example. “
The Dutch company tries to push for continuous improvement among its partners, sometimes walking on eggshells. By the way, she hopes to influence other companies in the sector by showing them that improvement is possible. For the moment, Fairphone’s market share is modest: the brand sold around 100,000 units worldwide in 2020, in a market that has sold more than a billion. But according to the company, its sales have been growing steadily since 2014.
In conclusion
This new Fairphone has a weak point: it is uncomfortable and slow to operate with one hand. A very penalizing problem for some, but minor for others. The latter will not have the impression of making a sacrifice by living daily with the Fairphone 4 because it is a versatile smartphone, equipped with a pleasant screen, taking very correct photos – a feat for such a small on-board company. in such an ambitious adventure.
But one point could hold back potential future buyers: the price of the Fairphone 4 is almost twice as high as that of a mobile with comparable performance. Over the years, however, we can hope to amortize a good part of the additional cost: we are indeed more likely to keep a Fairphone longer, thanks to its five-year warranty – against two for a classic mobile – and its simplified repair.
In addition, we can consider this additional cost as a personal investment in the well-being of some of the workers involved in the manufacture of the mobile.
The Fairphone 4 is better for you if:
– you donate money to good causes;
– you are concerned about the carbon footprint of your mobile;
– you are worried about the fate of the workers who manufacture your devices;
– you rarely need to operate your smartphone with one hand.
The Fairphone 4 is rather not for you if:
– you are passionate about innovation and you like to change your mobile;
– you need to shoot good photos in dark places;
– you are not at all a handyman, neither are your relatives.