Fairphone has unveiled the Fairphone 4, retaining all the great aspects of its predecessors, but packages them in a more modern design with more powerful components.
According to Fairphone, the Fairphone 4 has a 100% recycled plastic back panel and a Fairtrade-certified aluminium frame, along with cobalt and lithium that the company promises will be sustainably sourced in the future.
The smartphone industry is considered one of the significant contributors to environmental and human rights issues. The industry is criticised for generating electronic waste, massive CO2 emissions, devastating sourcing practices, and harsh working conditions.
To resolve these issues with a scalable solution, Bas van Abel founded Fairphone in 2013.
The key Fairphone feature is the modular components, which make repairs easy with just a screwdriver. Inside the phone, you’ll find eight easily replaceable parts: the display, the USB-C port, selfie camera, ear speaker, main camera array, loudspeaker, battery, and the rubberized back.
If you break anything, all of these parts will be available for sale on Fairphone.com. The only “non-commercial spare part” is the core module, which features the SoC, storage, RAM, device frame, and fingerprint reader.
“No part of Fairphone 4 is glued shut, so you can choose to easily repair it yourself with a standard screwdriver,” says the company.
The Fairphone 4 no longer comes with a 3.5mm audio jack. Fairphone says it made this decision to be able to offer an official IP rating for dust and water resistance, which was absent in the previous models.
At the heart of the Fairphone is the Snapdragon 750G, which Fairphone complements with 6 GB or 8 GB of RAM. It is worth noting that Fairphone sells two configurations; 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage or 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. Additionally, the device has a 3,905 mAh battery, a 6.3-inch display that resolves at 1080p and IP54 certification.
Fairphone has included a 48 MP primary camera, a 48 MP ultra-wide, and a 25 MP selfie camera. Only the primary camera support OIS but both rear-facing cameras are aided by a ToF sensor. Fairphone has not disclosed what sensors it has sourced though, apart from a Sony IMX576 for the selfie camera.
Fairphone 4 has a nanoSIM slot but also eSIM support to be able to have two lines on the same phone. The pre-installed operating system is Android 11, and in Fairphone they ensure the update to Android 12 and Android 13 but they also hope to support Android 14 and Android 15 in the future.
The Fairphone 4 is available in Grey, Green and Speckled Green. All configurations come with Android 11, at least two OS updates and five years of warranty. The Fairphone 4 is available to pre-order now and starts at £499 in the UK. Fairphone sells the 8 GB RAM/256 GB of storage variant for £569.
Fairphone 4 Specifications
Design
- Type Bar
- Dimensions162 x 75.5 x 10.5 mm
- Weight 225 Grams
- Waterproof IP54, dust and splash protection
Display
- Display Type IPS LCD
- Size 6.3 inches
- Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels
- Display Colours 16M Colours
- Pixel Density 409 ppi (pixels per inch)
- Touch Screen Capacitive touchscreen
- Display Protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Hardware
- CPU Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G
- GPU Adreno 619
- RAM (Memory) 6 GB, 8 GB
- Internal Storage 128 GB, 256 GB
- Memory Card Slot microSDXC
- Sensors Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
Software
- Operating System Android 11
- User Interface Yes
Camera
- Rear Camera 48 MP (wide) + 48 MP (ultrawide) + TOF 3D (depth)
- Image 2160p
- Video 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS
- Flash Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR, panorama
- Front Camera 25 MP (wide)
Network
- SIM Nano SIM
- Dual SIM Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
Connectivity
- Wi-fi WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Beidou, A-GPS, 5G, NFC, Bluetooth 5.1 + LE
- USB USB Type-C 3.0, USB On-The-Go, DisplayPort
- GPS Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
- NFC Yes
- Wireless Charging No
- Headphone Jack No
Battery
- Capacity Li-Ion 3905 mAh + Fast charging 20W, 50% in 30 min (advertised)
- Placement Removable
Media
- Video Playback Yes
- Video Out Yes
- FM Radio No
- Ring Tones Yes
- Loudspeaker Yes
- Handsfree Yes
Data
- 4G LTE1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 18, 19, 20, 28, 32, 38, 40, 41, 71
- 5G NR Bands1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 41, 71, 77, 78 SA/NSA/Sub6
- SpeedHSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (4CA) Cat18 1200/150 Mbps, 5G 2.3 Gbps DL
