Fairphone 4 Teardown: If Only Apple Made Phones Like This…

For years now, Fairphone has been making very repairable smartphones. They always receive top marks on our repairability scale, and they are, in many ways, a beacon to the rest of the industry-an example of how to design a truly repairable smartphone. In this video, Taylor tears down the Fairphone 4, to see how the latest Fairphone with more features than ever stacks up against its repairable predecessors.

While the Fairphone 4 might be super repairable, the same can't be said for the earbuds it ships with! Check out the full teardown on our site!

Chapters!
00:00 Intro
01:11 Removing Back Cover
01:32 Removing Battery
01:41 Battery Design
02:12 Micro SD Card Slot
02:35 Rear Camera and Speaker Removal
03:15 Removing Lower Antenna Bracket And Modular USB-c Port
03:38 MotherBoard Removal
03:58 Display Removal
04:24 Final Thoughts and Score

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[backyardaviator]

If youre gonna Ask me: Fairphone Should hire the Engineers Who designed the LG V20, these guys Practically made the most user Friendly & Repairable Smartphone to Date while still being up to Industry Standards & Has more stuff than you would Expect on a Modern phone nowadays such as the HP Jack paired with a powerful ESS Sabre Quad DAC chip

[nolandionne]

Absolutely yes, I would purchase a set of Fairphone 4 devices for my spouse and myself if they were available in the States with our current carrier. I’m excited about the recent news that Apple will be releasing OEM parts and repair guides soon, but I have greater respect for Fairphone as a holistic exercise in repairability, ethical sourcing, and anti-planned obsolescence.

[VynZography]

As someone who builds things for a living, I am very pleased with this design. The only reason other manufactures DON'T design like this is to deliberately hinder repairability. Shame on them and well done Fairphone. I also want the headphone jack back tho 😉

[johnshepard]

I had a fairphone 2 and i kept it like 7 years. It still works but is kinda slow. Now i have a Fairphone 3, and i'm pretty happy with it.

[venugopals]

Great approach. I greatly appreciate Framework and FairPhone for bring the Right to repairability possible.


Eagerly waiting for these two devices to available in India.

[devnol]

Last time I clicked on an ifixit video this fast iPhones were still repairable

[CSab-uijt]

I'm skeptical of them removing the jack, especially since they sell €100 wireless earbuds now. And it doesn't look like they sell any replacement batteries or parts for the earbuds, while also highly encouraging you to purchase them instead of dongling the headphones you already had.

[allthingstechandgadgets]

Thanks for the upload. Still rocking my Samsung S10 with removable storage. Yeah, it is a shame that mobile phone companies have basically all moved away from removable batteries now. Around 9 years ago phones did still have removable batteries. From memory the Samsung S5 was the last phone that I owned with removable battery. Just think if phones still had removable batteries today, I reckon a lot more people would still be holding onto their phones.

[NPzed]

Would love to see a USA version available! (or maybe a swapable radio/antennas for compatibility if even possible)

[ChaosPootato]

I love the idea of it. Too bad about the audio jack, it's definitely still relevant although quite bulky by modern standards

[nathanp]

If Fairphone released the 4 in the USA I'd be super tempted. I'd almost definitely go for it if it also had a 3.5mm jack. Such a bummer that it doesn't.

[jedics]

The only deal breaker for me is its size like every other phone, its just impractically large for one handed use and getting it in and out of your pocket 50 times a day. It reminds me of the Samsung S2 era (perfect sized phone by the way) where the back comes off and battery, storage and sim are easily removed, making the soft case the actual back of the phone is a great idea to. I can't wait until big tech gets forced to make devices serviceable again, our society needs a return to sanity over profit in general if we are going to remain a viable species on earth.

[wr]

A couple of comments:
The Fairphone is not water resistent - a result of the modular design and decision for easy repairability.
I remember well these times when you had to have spare batteries with you to make it through the day. And part of their issues was corroded pins - yes, exactly those pins you where so happy to see again.
I had several phones, from Blackberry (the best to write on), over different Samsung phones as well as others with failing parts from battery over charging ports and front glasses as well as backside covers.All without them falling or been treaded badly. And all where broken and replaced within 3 years - also because of software update issues.
My iPhone 6 I have now for more than 6 years. After 4, 5 years I changed the battery. Nothing else broke. I will get a new one next spring and it will be an iPhone again. The only reason is that even though I get constantly safety updates some apps are not running on the OS anymore.
The one thing I am much on your side is that exchangeable batteries and memory extensions are the most needed things to be added.
But only if it does not jeopardize the safety of the OS (infection by memory card) or less water proof resistance because of making these changes happen.
I agree that Apple could and should be improving on repairability. If they would the iPhone would be even better with it total ecosystem and easy to use approach. Apple will have to change for certain as sustainability is important. But honestly I feel better having used my iPhone for such a long time than I had when I had to get new phones every 2-3 years.
But that is only my thoughts 😌

[Pomacat]

It would sure be a consideration if sold in the US

[sysierius]

I'll just mention the Samsung galaxy xcover lineup.
They have:
Headphone jack
Replaceable battery
storage expansion
Water resistant

[gammaboost]

While I never really knew much about this phone at first, I actually think this could be a really great device and may be something I would buy. I don't really care too much about specs as long as it works, it's speedy, has good battery life and is up to date. However, I still need to see some reviews about it.

And while I do live in Australia, Amazon seems to be able to ship the phone from the UK and I think that it is compatible with our network frequencies. I'm not so sure that the seller is trustworthy, and it only appears to have 2 reviews, and the phone has none. Amazon says it costs $1, 201 AUD (a little more than an iPhone 13 mini) but sadly it would arrive after Christmas.

[kawaiidere]

Definately thinking of buying one when my current phone dies. I want a user replaceable battery because its so hot in Texas and a micro SD so I have more space for music and games

[bluenight]

Wait when did Sd card reader stop becoming standard, I thought they still where?!?!

[vladventura]

The funny thing is that when my s10+ broke, I saw the fairphone and what pushed me away from it was the missing 3.5 port. Because I didn't want to deal with more usb port issues, I went with an LG v60 thinq, which has been good to me so far.

[TheSupertecnology]

As a concept, every iteration can be just described as a huge leap from the last. Hopefully one day such a design will be as capable as a flagship and still if not more serviceable.