Fairphone 6 review

Introduction 🔗

I thought it would be interesting about doing a review on the Fairphone 6, since it's pretty difficult to judge it from the outside.

I'll talk about my experience as a tinkerer. However, I'll judge longevity and freedom of use very seriously.

I'll start with the issues, before talking about the good things about the phone.

The issues 🔗

The cost 🔗

I'll start harsh: the cost is high. The phone costs 549,00€ (without shipping).

Its cost is even higher with Murena /e/OS: 599,00€ (without shipping).

At this price point, it is very much possible to not only get a high-end phone, but also an "almost" repair-friendly phone.

The accessories are also very expensive:

• 24,95€ for the screen protector.
• 27,95€ for the case with the ring.

I didn't buy the case-wallet, because its price is absurdly high (44,95€) while having a big hole in the middle.

Knowing that the phone is also non-upgradable like a framework laptop, you are not investing on the phone. You're buying a phone like any other.

The parts are also super-expensive:

• 39,95€ for the battery.
• 89,95€ for the screen.
• 19,95€ for the USB-C port.
• 44,95€ for the front camera.
• ...

In comparison, you can buy the whole charging board, speakers (top and bottom), volume buttons, SIM tray, for 20€ (for the Poco F3).

Basically, if you never break your phone, there is no reason to buy this phone.

USB 2.0 on the USB-C port 🔗

Meaning, no desktop mode, slow transfers, no external display, ...

This sucks hard as a drone pilot who want to use OpenIPC on their phone.

No jack port 🔗

I don't use the jack port, but if you do, you'll have to buy an adapter.

The quality of the accessories 🔗

The build quality is excellent. It doesn't feel cheap... but among the two accessories, all of them had an issue.

• The screen protector causes touch failures.
• The ring-case is actually not unconfortable: the "ring" isn't big enough.

Custom ROMs availability 🔗

Custom ROMs allow longer lives for the phone. By buying a Fairphone, the hardware being very much non-standard, custom ROMs developers aren't excited to build upon the Fairphone ecosystem.

Here's the list of ROMs available as of today:

• Standard Android OS
• Murena /e/OS
• LineageOS (very recently, which is great!)

Not a lot of choice (though, with LineageOS now available, we're pretty much assured for long term support).

I'm using Murena /e/OS right now, but wished LineageOS was available sooner.

Play Integrity 🔗

Using a degoogled phone, means we are not just ignoring Google, we are fighting against it.

Any application using Play Integrity will not be able to run on the phone.

The most a**hole being Revolut. Luckily, you've got Wise, which seems to have better ethics.

Boursorama used also to fail running on the phone, but they fixed it.

Google Maps API 🔗

With microG, some applications that aren't Google Maps fails to run properly on the phone:

• Citymapper
• Transit

They both shows weird bugs like the path not rendering, or the app simply crashing.

This is because both applications use the Google Maps API, and microG tries to emulate it.

Find my phone 🔗

Obviously, since we are not using Google, we can't use the Find my phone feature.

If you bought a Pebblebee, this won't work.

The heat spots 🔗

Charging the phone will cause heat spots, causing touch issues.

Murena e/OS bloatware and non-standard design 🔗

I'm gonna be real: I don't like Murena e/OS at all.

Here's a list of bloat installed:

• Magic Earth: Not open-source, not better than either OsmAnd and Google Maps.
• BlissLauncher: An ugly launcher.
• /e/ Mail: An outdated fork of K-9 Mail.
• /e/ Notes: A useless note taking app.
• /e/ Tasks: A useless task manager.
• /e/ Drive: A file manager requiring a Murena account (which is not free).
• Music: Default music app from LineageOS.
• With more to come:
  • Murena Meet
  • Murena Vault
  • Murena Passwords
  • Murena Sign

The only bloat I tolerated:

• /e/ Browser, a fork of Cromite. Which I only use it for some SPAs, otherwise I use Fennec.
• App Lounge, the replacement for the play store. Which I actually loved it. I usually used F-Droid.

Like Google, Murena is shoving bloatware in the phone. I do appreciate some features like the privacy settings and anti-tracking, but I wished they wouldn't include anything that requires their services.

The good things 🔗

The bulkiness doesn't require a case 🔗

With a phone this bulky, you actually don't need an additional case. Actually, the case is pretty thick: around 2 mm thick.

Because of this, it is not necessary to buy a case. The phone being easily repairable, you actually don't mind that much of the missing protection.

(sorry, can make a photo of my phone, using my phone, but please believe it)

The SD card 🔗

There is one. Meaning, easy migration from one phone to another.

The design of the case 🔗

Among their phones, only the Fairphone 6 has such a unique design.

De-googling works 🔗

I can finally tell it's possible to de-google your phone:

• You can still install Youtube, Google Photos, Google Maps and Google Translate.
• The /e/ Browser is actually way better than Google Chrome (but, I would still recommend Fennec and a Firefox account for syncing).
• Gemini shut up.
• Google Keyboard stop lagging.

By the way, I recommend the FUTO keyboard, because there is Japanese support.

Murena Advanced Privacy is excellent 🔗

Knowing all the trackers is blocked for free, makes you truly free.

You can also hide your IP for free using TOR. Truly great.

Easy boootloader unlock, easy root 🔗

Like old phones, the Fairphone is pretty easy to unlock bootloader and root. Using APatch, you can at least preserve the basic integrity.

Here's the guide to unlock the bootloader: https://www.fairphone.com/fr/bootloader-unlocking-code-for-fairphone

There is also a guide to re-lock the bootloader (with high risks of bricking the phone): https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/10492476238865-How-to-unlock-and-re-lock-the-bootloader

The switch gimmick 🔗

There is a switch on the side of the phone. Normally, it is used to enable the Fairphone Moments. But, I use it to enable the camera flash.

Actually, let me reiterate: I LOVE THAT SWITCH GIMMICK! I DON'T NEED TO TURN ON MY PHONE TO ENABLE THE FLASH AT NIGHT!

Truly awesome. Seems weird, but I think I used this feature more than I used the camera itself.

The fingerprint reader on the power button 🔗

So, reviewers are pretty divided on this feature. Because you can inadvertently unlock the phone.

Honestly, I pretty like this feature because I just have to hold the phone to unlock it. To avoid the issue above, you can enable "Double tab on the status back to lock". It's less comfortable, though.

The ethics 🔗

The Fairphone is not only European, but also holds sustainable values:

• Made with more than 50% fair and recycled materials.
• Made by workers in a safe environment.
• Lowest carbon footprint as possible.

Well, it's just words based on an article, but it alleviates my mind a bit.

Conclusion 🔗

Before I finish this review, you can notice I didn't talk about the camera or the performance. The reason is simple: I don't judge "high quality" camera or SOCs.

However, as a previous avid mobile gamer, I can tell you its hardware is below today's average. Here's my conclusion about this phone, there is only one reason to buy it: you value ethics more than your money.

Everything from hardware to software, is subpar to a modded or manually de-googled phone.

But, I don't regret it. Like I said in the introduction, I judge longevity and freedom of use very seriously. I believe the phone ecosystem right now is filled with bloated phones, and unsustainable phones. My bet is that a repairable phone like the Fairphone 6 will beat every phone out there in terms of longevity.

My last phone was the Pocophone F1, which was a flagship-killer. It was not only performant, but also repairable: I replaced the battery of my old phone, and replaced the charging port, and it's still working. But having tried to repair the Xiaomi Poco F3, I can tell you the build quality and the repairability is no more there.

I believe we also reached the point where phones are not only performant, but can do already excellent photos. It's no more about the specs, it's about being free. By allowing freedom, we allow the Android ecosystem to transcend above Google's limits.

Any way, would I recommend the Fairphone to a friend? Probably not. Maybe get the Xiaomi Poco F8 Ultra if you value repairability AND performance.