Fairphone 4 is a smartphone designed and marketed by Fairphone. It succeeds the
Fairphone 3+. It was announced on September 30, 2021, and available for order from October 25, 2021.
Major upgrades from the predecessor include bigger display, better camera with optical image stablization, improved selfie camera, 5G support, IP54 dust and splash protection and MIL810G certification, USB-C port, bigger battery, 20W fast charging among other changes.
It comes with
Android 11 “Red Velvet Cake” with promised 2 major Android updates (Android 12 “Snow Cone” and Android 13 “Tiramisu”) and up to 5 years of warranty.
Materials
The Fairphone 4 is made with
Fairtrade
A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, As ...
-certified gold, aluminium from Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard certified vendors, fair tungsten from Rwanda, recycled tin, rare earth minerals and plastics.
Modular design
The phone's modular design—it is constructed out of seven modules—makes it easier to repair than most smartphones. The rear of the phone can be removed without using tools. Having removed the rear, the battery can be lifted out and replaced. Using a regular Phillips #00 screwdriver, the display is easily removed and the modules are held in using only
press fit
An interference fit, also known as a pressed fit or friction fit is a form of fastening between two ''tight'' fitting mating parts that produces a joint which is held together by friction after the parts are pushed together.
Depending on the am ...
sockets.
Operating systems
CalyxOS 4.2.7, Android 13 is available for the Fairphone 4, as of December 2022. In April 2022,
CalyxOS
CalyxOS is an operating system for smartphones based on Android with mostly free and open-source software. It is produced by the Calyx Institute as part of its mission to "defend online privacy, security and accessibility."
CalyxOS preserves th ...
provided "test builds" of Android 12L.
/e/ supports Fairphone 4, but Ron Amadeo at Ars Technica in April 2020 warned, "they'll most likely be on an old version of Android".
Reception
The Fairphone 4 received mostly positive reviews praising its guarantee of software support until 2025 and up to 5 years of warranty as well as improvements over its predecessor. However, the lack of a headphone jack was criticized along with the occasional sluggish performance and the quality of the camera and fingerprint sensor.
See also
*
Fairphone 1
The Fairphone 1 is a touchscreen-based, slate-sized smartphone designed and manufactured by Fairphone. It was released running Android 4.2.2 "Jelly Bean", with the ''Fairphone OS'' skin. It was the first phone from the social enterprise Fairpho ...
*
Fairphone 2
The Fairphone 2 is a touchscreen-based, dual-SIM smartphone designed to be easily repaired by the user. First released in December 2015, it was the first modular smartphone available for purchase and has since received both hardware improvement ...
*
Fairphone 3
The Fairphone 3 and 3+ are touchscreen-based smartphones made by Fairphone. The phone has a modular, repairable design and is "constructed out of responsibly-sourced, conflict-free, and recycled materials where possible". It went on sale on Se ...
*
Fairphone 3+
References
{{reflist
Fair trade brands
Modular smartphones
Android (operating system) devices
Mobile phones introduced in 2021
Mobile phones with user-replaceable battery