The Fairphone (Gen 6+) Review: Finally in the US

Wired Products

Summary

The Fairphone Gen 6+ smartphone is reviewed as a repairable and sustainable option now available in the US, offering adequate performance with some trade-offs in camera and battery life.

With affordable replacement parts, a five-year warranty, and updates through 2033, the Fairphone proves sustainability doesn’t mean major compromise.
Original Article
View Cached Full Text

Cached at: 09/09/26, 12:14 PM

# It’s Time to Switch to the Smartphone You Can Actually Fix Source: [https://www.wired.com/review/the-fairphone-gen-6-plus/](https://www.wired.com/review/the-fairphone-gen-6-plus/) The 6\.3\-inch AMOLED,[120\-Hz screen](https://www.wired.com/story/high-refresh-rate-explained/)is more than adequate\. It’s colorful, sharp, and bright enough to read in sunlight\. Fairphone’s adaptive brightness mode can be a little aggressive, so I often manually adjusted the brightness slider, but I don’t have much else to complain about\. Battery life from the 4,415\-mAh cell isn’t impressive, but it won’t have you running to a wall outlet all the time either\. I typically ended most days with around 20 percent by bedtime; that’s with around five to six hours of screen\-on time\. It’s a shame there’s no wireless charging, but that’s a nice\-to\-have, not necessarily a deal\-breaker\. Oddly, the phone doesn’t come with a USB\-C cable \(the lack of a charging block is[standard across phones these days](https://www.wired.com/story/apple-iphone-no-charger-gallium-nitride/)\), but the idea is that you probably have one lying around in a drawer\. Less[e\-waste](https://www.wired.com/story/e-waste-recycling-cant-keep-up-precious-metals/)\! The dual\-camera system, powered by a 50\-MP main and a 13\-MP ultrawide, is solid\. No, Fairphone can’t really compete with the big tech giants like Google, Apple, and Samsung on this front\. Low\-light scenes suffer the most, with details lost in shadows—stay very still to avoid a blurry image\. Photos from the 32\-MP selfie camera can also look a little soft\. Still, it’s not so poor that you won’t use it\. You’ll get perfectly adequate results, but if you rely*heavily*on your smartphone’s camera for video and photos, you may want to look elsewhere\. --- - ![Image may contain Cinema Urban City Road Street Person Car Transportation Vehicle Architecture and Building](https://media.wired.com/photos/6aa09c9b78f0d25216739f19/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/Fairphone%2520(Gen.%25206+)%2520main%2520camera%2520SOURCE%2520Julian%2520Chokkattu.jpg) - ![Image may contain Architecture Building Urban and City](https://media.wired.com/photos/6aa09c9a9179f8c8e6be65c6/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/Fairphone%2520(Gen.%25206+)%2520main%2520camera%2520SOURCE%2520Julian%2520Chokkattu(1).jpg) - ![Image may contain Urban City Road Street Architecture Building Cityscape Car Transportation Vehicle and Person](https://media.wired.com/photos/6aa09c9b08d55d07bbf0d9ad/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/Fairphone%2520(Gen.%25206+)%2520main%2520camera%2520SOURCE%2520Julian%2520Chokkattu(2).jpg) Photograph: Julian Chokkattu Main camera --- Fairphone doesn’t meddle too much with the base[Android 16](https://www.wired.com/story/android-16-features-release-date-how-to-download/)software, except for Fairphone Moments, which is tied to the yellow switch on the right edge of the phone\. Flick the switch, and the phone’s interface goes minimal, only offering access to a handful of apps\. You can create your own Moments—up to five apps—to help you focus on the task at hand\. For example, if you’re driving, you can flick the switch and have it only let you access Google Maps, Spotify, and Phone\. It’s a neat system, though its practicality completely depends on your willpower to use it\.

Similar Articles

The Fairphone 6 Plus is the midrange phone we desperately needed

The Verge

The Fairphone 6 Plus is a repairable, ethically sourced midrange Android phone now available in the US, offering 12 user-replaceable parts and a near-stock experience. It represents a milestone for the brand by delivering typical midrange performance without major sustainability compromises.