European sustainable smartphone model Fairphone is dipping a toe within the US market by making its flagship repairable handset available for purchase there for the primary time by way of one other collaboration with e/OS, a French privacy-focused not-for-profit open supply OS maker that provides a “deGoogled” cell working system.
The Dutch moral electronics social enterprise stays targeted on promoting modular equipment in its dwelling area. However saying a pilot to promote one in all its smartphone fashions within the US at the moment — particularly the Murena Fairphone 4 with /e/OS — it mentioned it’s eager to be taught extra concerning the market the place it’s seen some curiosity in its gadgets.
The Fairphone 4 was first launched in Europe again in September 2021. And whereas, at a look, it may possibly appear to be a reasonably typical (barely chunky) Android smartphone its superpower is that it’s modular by design — that means it’s repairable and upgradeable with out the necessity to purchase an entire new handset.
Commenting on the pilot in an announcement, outgoing CEO Eva Gouwens mentioned: “We all know primarily based on suggestions we now have acquired that there are a lot of individuals concerned with Fairphone within the US. Nonetheless, at present our predominant focus is on the European market. This collaboration with e/OS/ is a superb alternative for us to pilot promoting gadgets within the US market with a long-standing associate and be taught extra concerning the American market.”
Fairphone’s mission is all about boosting gadget longevity to shrink environmental impression, slightly than monetizing obsolescence to maintain shoppers shopping for extra new stuff. It’s also very targeted on equity round working situations — therefore the moral side — requiring its manufacturing companions to decide to a residing wage program, as an example.
The Fairphone 4 usually runs Google’s Android OS — the handset mannequin ran Android 11 out-of-the-box at launch — however the model of the flagship 5G smartphone that’s been made accessible to US consumers is totally deGoogled. (e/OS is a fork of Android that’s stripped of proprietary Google companies in a bid to lock down consumer privateness.)
The non-de-Googled Android model of the Fairphone 4 (Picture credit: Fairphone)
Gaël Duval, Murena CEO and /e/OS founder, mentioned the not-for-profit it excited to supply Fairphone’s gadget to the US market. “We’re excited to deliver high-quality sustainable telephones with superior privateness options to the USA. With the inclusion of our pro-privacy working system /e/OS, we’re proud to supply customers a tool that not solely lasts longer but additionally protects individuals’s private information. At Murena, we’re satisfied that that is the right mixture for a extra moral telephone,” he mentioned in an announcement.
Native pricing for the Fairphone 4 on the Murena on-line store is listed as between $629.90 and $699.90 (delivery inside per week) — though Fairphone’s RRP are set just a little decrease: $599 for the 6GB/128GB model and $679 for the 8GB/256GB variant.
Only one wrinkle: It’s solely being really helpful to be used with T-Cell and MVNOs primarily based on the T-Cell community within the US, with the pair warning that utilizing Fairphone 4 with different US carriers is “not really helpful”.
It will likely be fascinating to see how a lot US curiosity there’s in an iPhone and (Google) Android various that packs sustainable and moral smarts.
Whereas Apple has been dipping a toe into repairability — possible with an eye fixed on ‘proper to restore’ rules coming down the pipe — its hermetically sealed gadgets usually rating terribly for repairability. Whereas Fairphone’s modular-by-design equipment, with screwdriver included, is the unrivalled king of the hill on this entrance.
