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Fairphone

Fairphone builds modular phones you can repair with a screwdriver, and publishes where the materials came from. It exists to make an argument about how the rest of the industry works.

No reviews yet Amsterdam, Netherlands Founded 2013

About Fairphone

Fairphone makes phones that come apart. A screen, a battery, a camera module or a charging port can be replaced by the owner with an ordinary screwdriver and a part ordered from the company, at a point when most manufacturers had glued their devices shut and routed every repair through a service centre. The repairability is only half of it. The company publishes detail on where the materials in its phones come from, and works on fairer mining for tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold, on factory conditions, and on recycled and fair-trade inputs. It also runs the obvious corollary: long software support, so a phone that can be repaired is also worth repairing. It is small - by a very wide margin the smallest manufacturer in this directory - and that is close to the point. Fairphone was founded in January 2013 in Amsterdam by Bas van Abel and Tessa Wernink, out of a campaign about conflict minerals in electronics rather than out of a hardware business, and its purpose is to demonstrate that phones can be built differently. It also sells headphones and earbuds on the same terms.

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Frequently asked questions

What makes a Fairphone different?
It comes apart. The screen, battery, camera and charging port can be replaced by the owner with an ordinary screwdriver and a part ordered from the company, and the software is supported for far longer than is usual.
What does the "fair" refer to?
The supply chain. The company works on fairer mining for materials such as tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold, on factory conditions, and on recycled and fair-trade inputs, and publishes detail on where things come from.
Does it make anything besides phones?
Headphones and earbuds, on the same basis - including earbuds with user-replaceable batteries, which is unusual in a category normally discarded when the battery fails.
When was Fairphone founded, and where is it based?
Founded in January 2013 in Amsterdam by Bas van Abel and Tessa Wernink, out of a campaign about conflict minerals in electronics.