The Fairphone 2 is a

touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...

-based,

dual-SIM Some mobile phones support use of two SIM cards, described as dual SIM operation. When a second SIM card is installed, the phone either allows users to switch between two separate mobile network services manually, has hardware support for keeping ...

smartphone designed to be easily repaired by the user. First released in December 2015, it was the first

modular smartphone A modular smartphone is a smartphone made using components that can be independently upgraded or replaced as modules. This aims to reduce electronic waste, lower repair costs and increase user comfort. The most important component is the main boar ...

available for purchase and has since received both hardware improvements and major software updates, initially shipping with Android 5 "Lollipop" and running Android 10 "Queen Cake" as of November 2021. Production ceased in 2018. It is the second phone from the

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ca ...

Fairphone Fairphone is a Dutch electronics manufacturer that designs and produces smartphones with the goal of having a lower environmental footprint and better social impact than is common in the industry. In particular, the company aims to minimize the u ...

and the first one completely designed by it. The phone is ethically sourced, using conflict-free minerals,

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 ...

gold and recycled materials. It was assembled in audited factories with good working conditions.

Design

Hardware choice

The phone is designed to have a higher life expectancy (5 years) than other phones. The main challenge with the Fairphone 1 was a

system on a chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...

(SoC) Mediatek MT6589 that was not widely used and thus did not receive long-term software support from its manufacturer. For the Fairphone 2, Fairphone chose the widely used Snapdragon 801 platform (a high-end, early 2014 platform); the popularity of this SoC should help maintain the LTS of Fairphone 2. Fairphone deliberately did not include recent innovations like

wireless charging Inductive charging (also known as wireless charging or cordless charging) is a type of wireless power transfer. It uses electromagnetic induction to provide electricity to portable devices. Inductive charging is also used in vehicles, power too ...

USB-C USB-C (properly known as USB Type-C) is a 24-pin USB connector system with a rotationally symmetrical connector. The designation C refers only to the connector's physical configuration or form factor and should not be confused with the conne ...

ports, ensuring a lower price and fewer compatibility issues. However, the modular design of the phone allows the Fairphone team to develop newer modules with updated components. Newer versions of the modular design contains cameras. Also, the back of the Fairphone 2 is equipped with a USB pin-out and charging input, allowing aftermarket back covers with extended capabilities.

Ethical considerations

The phone is designed to have a lower environmental impact than comparable mass-market smartphones, with an expected lifespan of 5 years. The modular design allows components to be replaced individually. Many electronic devices contain

conflict minerals The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has a history of conflict, where various armies, rebel groups, and outside actors have profited from mining while contributing to violence and exploitation during wars in the region. The four mai ...

(

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...

tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that is ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

) from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC), used by armies and rebel groups to fund war in the country. Therefore some manufacturers avoid all materials from the DRC, but this reduces employment opportunities in the country. The Fairphone 2

supply chain In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, acti ...

is audited to ensure that these materials come from mines that do not fund armed groups, while supporting local communities in the DRC (where possible) in order to provide an alternative to conflict mines. The tantalum and tin ores are sourced from conflict-free mines in the DRC, the tungsten is from Rwanda, and the gold is from a

-certified mine in Peru. In addition, the phone includes recycled plastic, copper, and tungsten. The Fairphone 2 is assembled by Hi-P in

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, in a factory which has been audited to ensure that it meets high standards for working conditions and for the environment.

Modular design

The Fairphone 2 is the first modular smartphone available to the general public. The modular, repairable design is designed to increase longevity, with an additional focus on increasing the recyclability of the product. The phone components are designed to be replaceable, with the end user only needing to use a screwdriver to replace components of the phone. In addition, it is possible to replace individual components within each module. The phone received a 10/10 score for smartphone repairability from iFixit, the highest score that was ever given to a phone. The phone consists of 7 removable parts; the main chassis, the battery, the display assembly, the rear camera module, the top module (

selfie A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social media, via social networking services such as ...

camera, headphones, speaker, sensors), the bottom module (loudspeaker, vibration, microphone and charging port), and the back protective cover. Except for an updated slim case design, the first module set to be upgraded was the cameras, with a new rear camera module (with a dual LED flash and 12

megapixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the smal ...

camera) and top module (with a 5 megapixel camera) in September 2017.

Software

Costs

The phone was primarily funded through pre-orders, and is mostly being sold directly, though in some markets the phone is available through resellers such as

The Phone Co-op The Phone Co-op was an independant consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom until 2018, when facing serious financial difficulties, it transfered itself into a sister society, where it remains today. It provides landline, mobile telephone a ...

in the UK. The pre-order campaign started on 16 July 2015 and ended on 30 September 2015, with 17,418 phones pre-ordered (the objective was 15,000). Just as they did for the Fairphone 1, Fairphone released details about costs for the Fairphone 2, sold for an average price of €525. Despite its relatively high price compared to many phones (a similarly equipped "normal" phone cost about US$402–500), the margin on each phone sold is only €9, principally due to low sales volume and higher manufacturing costs than most phones. The price also funds a wide range of Fairphone's goals to make the phone more ethical, including recycling programs and partnerships for reduced usage of "blood minerals".

Sales

On 16 July 2015, pre-orders for Fairphone 2 became available. To order the components needed to assemble the first devices, as well as to generate the revenue needed to ensure continuous production, Fairphone initiated a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

campaign by setting a goal to achieve 15,000 pre-orders by the end of September. The goal was finally exceeded, reaching a total of 17,418 pre-orders before the pre-order period ended on 30 September. Production started in December 2015, with the aim of shipping all phones ordered during the crowdfunding campaign during that month. However, issues in ramping up production caused a delay. The last pre-ordered device was shipped on 8 February 2016. On 26 May 2016, Fairphone reported that their milestone of selling 40,000 of the Fairphone 2 had been reached, and that all phones ordered before that date had been shipped.

Footnotes

References

External links

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Video of the Fairphone 2 being disassembled and reassembled
{{Portal bar, Companies, Telecommunication, Netherlands, Society Fair trade brands Android (operating system) devices Ubuntu Touch devices Smartphones Modular smartphones Mobile phones with user-replaceable battery Mobile phones introduced in 2015