Fairphone Gen 6 is here with a modular design that gives you even more freedom

Fairphone has made a name for itself over the years thanks to its repairable designs, long update policies, and sustainable approach to smartphone manufacturing. We’ve been expecting a new phone for a while now, and the company has finally peeled the curtain back on the Fairphone Gen 6.

The Fairphone Gen 6 continues to offer a repairable design. The device features 12 replaceable parts, including the battery, screen, camera, and USB port. However, Fairphone is also taking cues from Nothing’s CMF Phone line by offering accessories that attach to the back of the phone via two screws. These accessories include finger loops, card holders, and lanyards. The company didn’t rule out additional accessories when we asked about future add-ons.

Fairphone also told us that the “measurements and specifics of the device” will be available for free if people want to make their own accessories. This theoretically opens the door to community creations and third-party add-ons.

Another new feature this time is Fairphone Moments. This is a dedicated, lime-colored hardware switch that lets you quickly enable/disable a minimalist phone experience. Fairphone says this minimalistic phone mode restricts you to five apps, although you can customize which apps appear in this mode. Thankfully, the company told us you can easily remap this switch in the settings menu. The switch can currently be mapped to features like airplane mode or flashlight functionality.

Fairphone Moments is an interesting idea, but the manufacturer confirmed to Android Authority that this feature won’t come to older models. That’s a shame, as it seems like something that can be accomplished with a quick settings toggle.

“The idea with the design of Moments is that it’s tethered to hardware,” the company explained in a statement. “This turns it into a holistic experience that is easy to access and is not just an ‘added feature’.”

Otherwise, the Fairphone Gen 6 looks like a sensible follow-up to the Fairphone 5 in terms of pure specs. The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, which should be a major upgrade over the previous model’s QCM6490 processor. The device also has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. And yes, you can expand storage via a microSD card slot. Fairphone also offers a 6.31-inch 120Hz OLED screen (1,116 x 2,484, LTPO, Gorilla Glass 7i) compared to the Fairphone 5’s 6.46-inch 90Hz OLED panel.

The Fairphone Gen 6 keeps ticking thanks to a removable, 4,415mAh battery. Fairphone says this enables “almost” two days of usage, although it almost goes without saying that this depends on your actual usage.

In terms of photography, the Fairphone Gen 6 brings fewer megapixels than the Fairphone 5. The rear cameras consist of a 50MP main shooter (LYTIA 700C) and a 13MP ultrawide camera, while a 32MP camera handles selfies and video calls. This differs substantially from the previous phone’s 50MP+50MP rear camera pairing and 50MP selfie shooter, suggesting a hardware downgrade.

Other notable features include an IP55 rating, a side fingerprint scanner, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 6E, and Android 15.

Speaking of software, Fairphone also stands out from the pack thanks to its impressive update commitment. The company says the Fairphone Gen 6 will get “at least” six Android upgrades and security updates until 2033. Furthermore, the device comes with a five-year warranty.

In any event, the Fairphone Gen 6 costs €599 (~$695) for the sole 8GB/256GB model. That makes it €100 (~$116) cheaper than the Fairphone 5’s launch price. The phone is available via Fairphone’s website and retail/operator partners in Europe and the UK.