Fairphone 5 earns an ideal repairability rating from iFixit

December 9, 2023

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What you must know

The Fairphone 5 is the newest smartphone from Fairphone, an organization that designs with repairability in thoughts.
Regardless of splitting the telephone’s predominant board into two components, the Fairphone 5 nonetheless earned an ideal repairability rating from iFixit.
There are new enhancements to the Fairphone design, too, like individually-replaceable cameras.

iFixit has launched its repairability rating for the brand new Fairphone 5, and to nobody’s shock, it carried out excellently. However past that, the Fairphone 5 earned an ideal rating, which is solely extraordinary for any telephone made by an organization aside from Fairphone.

iFixit creates restore guides for merchandise, championing right-to-repair legal guidelines and giving the finest smartphones their very own repairability rating. It gave your complete iPhone 15 sequence a “do-not-recommend” rating of 4 out of 10 and gave the Pixel 8 Professional a six. Amidst smartphones with dwindling repairability choices, Fairphone takes the alternative method.

The flagship function of the Fairphone 5 is the again plastic cowl that may be snapped off with none instruments required. Then, there’s the battery, which will be swapped out for a brand new one simply by popping it misplaced. It is just like the outdated telephones we used to see within the flip or slide kind components however on a contemporary system.

The internals of the Fairphone 5. — (Picture credit score: iFixit)

However all that has been the norm for Fairphone, so what’s new? It begins with a brand new digital camera module that’s each higher and simpler to restore. Every digital camera lens within the sensor can now get replaced individually. Beforehand, if a digital camera sensor broke on the Fairphone 4, your complete system wanted to get replaced.

Fairphone additionally cut up up the principle board on the Fairphone 5, favoring a setup of a motherboard and a daughter board. This has been the norm with some current flagships, because it permits OEMs to slot in greater batteries. Based on iFixit, that is exactly the explanation why Fairphone selected this structure.

It is spectacular that the Fairphone 5 earned an ideal repairability rating as a result of the split-board structure didn’t hinder consumer repairs. iFixit discovered that whereas there are new warning labels contained in the Fairphone, they don’t seem to be there to cease you from disassembling your system. They’re current so {that a} consumer repairing their telephone will not by chance make a mistake whereas disconnecting elements that injury their system.

iFixit additionally notes that regardless of the spit boards do not have an effect on repairability in any respect, declaring that the Core Module (i.e., the principle board) was by no means out there on the market on the Fairphone 4. That is primarily as a result of worldwide laws relating to IMEI numbers on mobile gadgets would make supplying substitute boards — which might have their very own IMEIs — extraordinarily troublesome.

The primary impediment to the Fairphone 5’s repairability is the fingerprint sensor since it isn’t offered as a substitute half. As we have seen with previous Apple merchandise, you could find secondhand components for repairs through donor telephones. However they are going to be a lot tougher to supply on a tool as area of interest because the Fairphone.

The Fairphone 5 is solely an anomaly, and with a ten/10 repairability rating, it may be the smartphone for right-to-repair fans. Sadly, you cannot get it within the US.

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