When you buy a smartphone from Fairphone, you choose sustainability over performance. The Fairphone 5 isn’t the fastest or prettiest, but it can last well beyond 2030.

Fairphone is an outsider in the smartphone industry. The Dutch company’s goal is to produce the most “honest” smartphone possible. Fairphone wants consumers to abandon the idea that smartphones are disposable and is designing its phones to last as long as possible. Until recently there was also a subscription that allowed you to rent smartphones for a monthly price, but this service has recently been discontinued.

The latest generation of Fairphone 5 receives updates for up to eight years and the manufacturer also recommends (self-)repairs. Additionally, you can extend the warranty to five years. Is that enough to shine a light on the business world?

Nothing to hide

This smartphone is not afraid to reveal its soul. The plastic back panel is easy to remove (and luckily click back on). You can also simply remove the battery from the case; other components can be removed using a screwdriver. You can view technical manuals via the My Fairphone app.

Please note: Repairing a smartphone yourself requires a steady hand. If this is not the case, we recommend that you seek the help of an authorized repair company.

Update champion

The best feature is without a doubt the update policy. The manufacturer promises to support this device until at least 2031. No Android manufacturer does better, not even Google and Samsung, which offer up to seven years of support for their latest top models. Another plus point of the software is that Fairphone keeps it “clean”: with the exception of one proprietary app, it only installs Google system applications on your phone. It is not yet known when the upgrade to Android 14 will be rolled out.

Sharp image but not very clear

The Fairphone 5’s display measures 6.46 inches. This is currently on the sweet place between big and unwieldy big. There’s room for 1,224 x 2700, which is a high number considering the screen size. The image is sharp, but the clarity could be better. In our tests, we measured a peak brightness of 535 nits, while many budget devices easily reach 750 to even 900 nits. Bright sunlight may affect the readability of the screen.

A maximum refresh rate of 90 Hz is completely unacceptable for a device that costs just under 699 euros. 120 Hz is the norm these days, even in lower price ranges.

Boxing in the middle class

Fairphone has installed a Qualcomm processor in the device, more precisely a QCM6490, and an Adreno 643 takes care of the graphical operations. You get 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. It’s not the most attractive processor in the Qualcomm family, but it does what it’s supposed to do. The device is not lightning fast, but it is reliable.

The device’s benchmarks are comparable to mid-range devices from other Android brands. In the following graphics we show the CPU and GPU values ​​next to the Samsung Galaxy A55 and A35, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro+ and the Google Pixel 7a. The Fairphone 5 costs up to three hundred euros more than the devices mentioned above.

battery is empty

The case has space for a 4,200 mAh battery. Our tests show that he is not in the best shape. The Fairphone 5 died much faster than other devices. In the video test, Fairphones gave up twice as quickly as Samsung devices. The difference to Xiaomi is also noticeable, whose devices are not known for long battery life.

The speed at which the Fairphone 5 charges is also somewhat disappointing. The device supports 30W charging. That’s faster than the Samsung devices and the Google Pixel 7a, but much slower than what Xiaomi and OnePlus can offer at a cheaper price.

Not a perfect camera duet

On paper, the Fairphone 5 has a dual 50 MP camera (f/1.9, f/1.22). The number of megapixels doesn’t always tell the whole story. The manufacturer wants to give the impression that both cameras are at eye level, but appearances are deceptive. The wide-angle camera is significantly less sharp, lawns in particular look very strange and the images are bathed in a yellowish glow. The zoom functions are very limited and the images are hardly usable. Click on the photos to view them in full resolution.

Sustainability above all

Buying a Fairphone 5 is a conscious decision. The brand stands for sustainability by ensuring that you can enjoy your device for as long as possible. The ease with which parts can be replaced and/or repaired and the extensive support are the key points of the device. For fast performance and top specs, don’t turn to Fairphone.

The price of 699 euros (including VAT) sounds high at first glance for a device that does no better than a 400 euro smartphone, but it has to be viewed differently. Before the Fairphone 5 becomes unusable, you have to replace the inexpensive smartphone with a new device once or twice.

The Fairphone 5 is available in three colors: black, blue and transparent. The basic model has 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage (not expandable) and costs 699 euros including VAT. In Belgium there is a two-year warranty on the device. By registering the device with Fairphone you can extend this to five years.

Android update policy: Fairphone offers eight operating system updates (up to Android 21) and eight years of security updates. The support period begins with the launch on August 30, 2023 with Android 13.