Dutch social enterprise Fairphone is proud to announce the launch of its latest device, the Fairphone 5, its fairest, most high tech phone yet, packed with future-proof specs. Fairphone again shows how to make the latest consumer technology with its core values in place: a focus on designing products for both people and the planet. Launching with the tagline ‘Designed for you. Made fair’, the Fairphone 5 is made for people who appreciate iconic and premium design that is produced sustainably, driving positive change in the electronics industry.
Designed to enhance the user experience in every way possible, the Fairphone 5 is a premium smartphone with future-proof specifications. The sleek and robust Fairphone 5 showcases modern industrial design at its finest, courtesy of Fairphone’s continuing partnership with the Swedish design agency, Above. The Fairphone 5 is thinner and lighter than previous generations, with an increased IP rating compared to Fairphone 4, going from IP54 to IP55. This means the device is weatherproof, further improving its longevity. It comes with 8GB RAM, 256GB internal storage that is expandable up to 2TB, and clean Android 13 with zero bloatware.
The device features a premium triple 50 MP camera system with improved tuning and highend imaging algorithms to guarantee great pictures in all lighting conditions. Premium Sony image sensors provide an effortless professional photography experience to capture the world in beautiful detail. The Fairphone 5’s OLED screen provides stunning brightness and picture quality, a smooth experience thanks to the 90hz refresh rate, while caring for your eyes. Its 4200 mAh battery is not only replaceable but combines fast-charging with all-day power for user convenience, along with Eco Charge mode to make the battery last longer. The Fairphone 5 battery also holds its capacity for over 1000 full cycles for years to come
The Fairphone 5’s OLED screen provides stunning brightness and picture quality, a smooth experience thanks to the 90hz refresh rate, while caring for your eyes. Its 4200 mAh battery is not only replaceable but combines fast-charging with all-day power for user convenience, along with Eco Charge mode to make the battery last longer. The Fairphone 5 battery also holds its capacity for over 1000 full cycles for years to come.
What has set Fairphone apart from everyone else on the market is the company’s approach to modularity and repairability. With the Fairphone 5, the company takes it a step further: it has increased repairability with 10 spare parts, both wide and ultra wide cameras are available as individual modules, as are the SIM card slot and SD card slot. The additional spare parts have enhanced the Fairphone 5’s modularity, expanding the scope of DIY repair compared to Fairphone’s earlier models, while creating more space and streamlining the device. Supporting this is a five year warranty, which was introduced with Fairphone 4 and is now available to Fairphone 5 users.
In terms of software support, Fairphone guarantees at least five operating system upgrades after Android 13, allowing the Fairphone 5 to keep running smoothly and securely until at least 2031. This is made possible by the use of the Qualcomm® QCM6490 System-on-Chip (SoC) that offers premium tier features with 5G and support for Wi-Fi 6E, advanced camera features, and on-device AI and computing capabilities for a powerful performance. The chipset is designed for industrial grade hardware or devices with a longer lifetime and helps Fairphone provide longer than usual software support until 2028. After that, Fairphone commits to extend support until 2031 and is aiming for 2033, giving users a total of eight to ten years of software support.
The Fairphone 5 is one of the few smartphones developed with this chipset and leverages its features to bring unrivaled long-term software support. With this unparalleled roadmap, Fairphone is challenging the industry status quo by offering eight years of software support and security updates from the launch of an Android device. This is more than twice the standard support time other Android providers currently offer. Fairphone continues to prove to the industry that more sustainable solutions are possible. By offering longer-term software support, users can keep using their phones twice as long, lowering up to 50% of the environmental impact and resource use compared to a regular smartphone, which is supported for only around three years.
“With the Fairphone 5, we continue to push the boundaries of sustainability. Designing for sustainability always comes with trade-offs and yet despite these, we’ve made our best smartphone yet. We designed a thinner device, without compromising on repairability and durability. After multiple design studies, we were able to reduce the Fairphone 5’s thickness by 9% and ended up with a wellbalanced design that sits well in your hand and feels sturdy and premium. We also managed to go up a notch in terms of water and dust ingress protection with an IP55 rating. We continue to be unique in working with our suppliers to pay a living wage bonus to the people who make our phones and in an industry first, we have now started supporting living wages for the people who make some of our phone components. On top of all of this, we partnered with Qualcomm Technologies and made a unique choice to use a chipset created for enterprise grade hardware and will work together to achieve over eight years of software support while keeping a healthy balance between affordability and a great user experience. The Fairphone 5 is a smartphone that is transformative, bringing the mobile industry to new heights of sustainability and workers welfare.
Miquel Ballester, Co-Founder and Head of Product Management at Fairphone
As a B-Corp certified social enterprise, Fairphone works towards changing the system and influencing other electronics companies to become more sustainable by making its products with fairer materials and production processes. What truly sets Fairphone apart from other players in the smartphone market, is its focus on caring for people and planet. Fairphone not only focuses on the environmental impact of products, but also the social impact of the electronics supply chain. With the launch of the Fairphone 5, the company outdoes itself on impact and shows that even a small company can bring true change, making it an example for the rest of the industry to follow.
Since it launched in 2013, Fairphone has worked to transform the electronics sector into an industry that focuses on sustainable practices, caring for both people and planet. The world faces a growing electronic waste stream caused by the 1.4 billion mobile phones sold each year. The average phone has a short lifespan of around three years and only 15% of discarded phones are collected for recycling. This short-sighted attitude affects every segment of the industry and supply chain. In addition, mining these materials has a negative environmental impact. Extracting the necessary materials for a smartphone can also have serious social consequences, as it could be associated with child labour or dangerous working conditions. By establishing a market for ethical electronics, Fairphone is prompting the electronics industry to act more responsibly.
The Fairphone 5 is better than ever, but more importantly, it’s made with more fair and recycled materials and contributes to improving the lives of over 54,000 people in its manufacturing chain. We want to enable people to make sustainable choices without having to compromise on their user experience and the quality of their device. Imagine if the biggest companies in the industry were to shift their supply chains to even a fraction of fair sourced materials or implement even a few of our living wage initiatives? The impact would be enormous and our industry could change the world. Instead, it is lagging behind in its response to the big environmental and social challenges on the horizon. It’s time the industry steps up its effort and takes responsibility to make a real impact. Only then will we be able to make meaningful change in the electronics industry.
Miquel Ballester, Co-Founder and Head of Product Management at Fairphone
The Fairphone 5 will be ranged by more than 20 large operators in Europe. It will be available for pre-order on 30 August from Fairphone’s website and selected partners, at a suggested retail price of €699*.
