Recently the release of the cellphone Fairphone 3 was announced. The press covered it, well meaning in times where sustainability and fairness get attention and clicks.

In several articles in the standard media the authors were being nice. Nice gadget, the FP3, especially the feature that you can do some repair jobs yourself. For the replacement of, for example, the microphone or the display the owner does not need to pay for costly repairs in shady phone shops. Instead, you just need a screwdriver – how cool is that, some reviewers thought (our great-grandparents, if there are any left, might wonder, though, what is so special about repairing goods you own). The articles had an air of organic lifestyle and do-it-yourself (and trimmed beards), fitting fine in times of ocean plastic garment and hipster city gardening.

However, the conclusion of the major online media was almost always the same: The phone would be rather pricey and not be equipped with the latest technology.

Fairphone seems to suffer a similar fate as Greta Thunberg: Feeling sympathy for it already gives you a warm notion of being on the right track. However, of course you do not need to change your lifestyle, i.e. switch to a Fairphone from your i-Phone when going to the shop. Just like you do not need to quit taking the plane. In the future, you will, of course. Some day when it is convenient. But for the moment we deserve our holiday in exotic places, our style, we worked hard for it. Look at my Facebook timeline, I liked Greta, I liked the Fairphone; and go on as you have done before.

High price and not the latest technology.

Is that the point?

When people buy new items for half the price via ebay, you are likely to hear the joke that it had probably fallen from a truck. It is interesting one does not hear something similar when somebody returns from one of those glitzy Apple-stores with the latest i-Phone. Or receiving the order with the new Samsung device. In 2017, Greenpeace published a Guide to Greener Electronics. One of the criteria to look at was the source of the raw materials of the products, especially whether or not they come from conflict areas and if circular use of materials is part of the business plan. Apple received a C in this category, Samsung a D. For the lifestyle product or a budget device, you can throw away your gadget when the battery is not functioning anymore. Besides, children will mine the cobalt and third world countries will be frauded exploiting their tin and gold reserves. Ask Glencore.

Fairphone says they apply their best efforts not to use conflict metals in their product. They pay the price that the raw materials and fair labour are actually worth. They have made recycling one of their core business principles. They have been awarded an A-, by far the best grade any manufacturer received in the Guide to Greener Electronics in the category “Resource Consumption”. No mention of that in the reviews of the FP3. No question if the Fairphone approach should be the standard in consumer electronics. That we as a society should collectively ignore any device and company that does not comply with this policy: no child labour, no conflict materials, circular economy. And pay the price that this standard costs. That this is the real deal.

Instead, the reviews conclude with the “old” technology of the Fairphone.

We were able to call and surf the internet with the 2018 Android system (which is built in the FP3), were we not? We did take decent photos with a 12-megapixel camera then, did we not? Why do we have to suggest to the people that this is not sufficient any more in 2019?

Spoiler alert: the Samsung and Apple phones highly praised today will be laughed at by the same reviewers in a year´s time. Outdated.

But go on, all you people, buy a new phone with ever newer technology you do not need in ever shorter periods of time. Keep the economy going. And just share a Greta-video for your good conscience before you turn on the flying mode of your fancy phone when taking the plane to your all-inclusive beach holiday. You deserve it.

October 2019