Today, ecology is part of everyone\’s life. We see advertisements highlighting environmentally friendly products. Newspapers and the Internet are full of articles about ecology, electric cars, environmental protection, and the need for waste separation. Yet, no one has ever come across an eco-friendly phone.
Of course, the production of smartphones also generates a lot of waste, consumes tons of materials, and releases many toxic substances and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The Dutch company Fairphone recognizes this and is trying to come up with a solution.
To this end, the company has introduced the third generation of its eco-friendly modular cell phone, the Fairphone 3. Not because its production has a low environmental impact, but because only individual modules can be replaced in case of damage or malfunction. The phone is divided into seven modules: the back cover, display, battery, rear photo module (12 Mpx), earphone for calls, and the bottom module contains the USB-C connector for charging and data transfer, microphone, and vibration motor. The last top module contains a 3.5mm headphone jack, a front camera (8MP), a proximity sensor and an automatic brightness sensor.
Due to its modular design, the phone is slightly thicker than current cell phones. At 10 mm thick, it is not very large. It is 159 mm tall and 72 mm wide, mainly due to the large bezels around the 5.65″ display (FHD+ resolution). However, this is also a concession to the modular design.
The phone\’s performance is handled by the lower mid-range Snapdragon 632 chipset. There is 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage on hand, expandable with a microSD card. The phone does not have a SIM card slot. Instead, the SIM card is inserted under the back cover next to the flashlight, as it was a few years ago. In addition, the new model offers dual-SIM functionality: LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, and Bluetooth5, plus the added benefit of NFC. Not forgetting the fingerprint reader.
On the software side, the smartphone offers Android 9, and the manufacturer also guarantees future software support for newer versions. Thus, this smartphone can also see the latest Adroid 10. A sympathetic note is that the manufacturer has left the phone\’s bootloader and root access open.
The company recognizes that it will probably not appeal to the millions of users who trade in their iPhones and Samsungs for greener alternatives. Each of us need only do a little something. Like buying this phone.
Let\’s see what the price tag of about 12,000 CZK looks like. Inside the package is a screwdriver and a protective cover to replace the individual modules. However, there is no charger or cable. This is because most people already have a charger and cable.
