Remember Fairphone? It’s been a while since we last heard about the company. There was that teardown analysis that showed it’s a real, modular phone. The device was announced as a sustainable smartphone soon after it was sighted on Bluetooth SIG. There is no new Fairphone yet but the brand’s team-up with /e/ practically brings Fairphone 4. But no, we’re not calling it that. Fairphone 3 has just been de-Googled by /e/, promising a sustainable phone that is also privacy-conscious.
The Fairphone 3 has been welcomed to /e/’s line of deGoogled smartphones. It’s aptly named the /e/-Fairphone 3. We’re excited to know how this one is different from the other Android phones we know.
The deGoogled Fairphone 3 is practically a brand-new phone according to /e/ (@e_mydata). It’s a sustainable mobile device that “cares for people and the planet”. It comes with an “an OS and apps that care for your privacy”.
The modular phone features a 3000mAh battery. Other parts are modular too which means you can replace or repair them. All you need is a screwdriver and you can repair yourself. The phone is also unlocked on GSM networks so there’s no need for carrier exclusivity.
/e/OS is basically Android but has been “deGoogled” already and is more secure. It is Android without Google as some parts of the code have been removed. Specifically, these are pieces that send a user’s data to remote servers.
It can run most Android apps and it comes with an embedded app store that lets you access over 60,000 free apps. /e/ says it doesn’t scan data in the phone or cloud space. Collecting a phone owner’s activity and tracking location are some of the things /e/ also promises not to do.
The phone features a 5.5-inch screen with a 2160 x 1080 resolution and an 18:9 aspect ratio. It runs on 4GB of RAM and the 3000mAh battery. It has a 64GB expandable storage via a microSD card slot (400GB max), 8MP selfie camera, 12MP rear shooter, Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi, NFC, USB-C, and a 3.5mm stereo. The phone connects to 2G,3G, and 4G LTE only–no 5G. You can now buy the /e/OS Fairphone 3 HERE for 479,90€ ($520).
