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Someone else posted this here a while ago. https://www.fairphone.com/en/ I think it ticks most of your boxes.
If I hadn't just bought an S9 I would have gone for that, but as I only upgrade when something critical breaks it will hopefully be a while.

Personally, I'd shell out quite a bit of extra dough on a phone if I knew I could count of having repair options for longer than the warranty gives me.

Get a FairPhone. They sell replacement parts right on their website: https://www.fairphone.com/en/

It gets even worse. People want to be able to repair their phones so they last more than 2 years.

And Fairphone has arisen to meet that need.

I realize this looks like a shameless plug, what with me being an AC and all. I thought about proving my legitimacy by insulting the intelligence of the OP, but he didn't give me enough material to work with. So I will just have to hope you believe me when I say I am a satisfied customer.

I guess I do have an agenda in that I don't want them to go out of business, since I need them around to sell me the replacement parts, when the time comes....

I've uncomfortably used Apple phones for the last several years, but I'm done with that - replaceable batteries and expandable storage are on the required list for my next phone!

This is what you want because you won't get it from the big corps.

Bullshit. Claim it is the users fault and charge $149 to fix a problem that was a manufactures defect. Maybe that was the point but with your head so far up apples ass you could not get it.

$149 was a reasonable compromise, considering that the frequency of the problem did not strongly suggest an issue with Apple's CM's manufacturing process (except that it had to be RoHS, and thus REAL solder could not be used!), and it SURE wasn't a "Design Defect".

And other OEMs have had similar issues; but they don't generally make the news unless fires and explosions are involved, and because they aren't given a catchy, easily-searchable name like "Touch Disease", and so are almost impossible to search-for...

But here's one:

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers... ...and another...

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers... ...and another...

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers... ...and still more...

https://thedroidguy.com/2015/0... ...and even more...

https://us.community.samsung.c...

And now, on to the Digitizer:

https://www.fonepaw.com/androi...

http://www.droidforums.net/thr...

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers...

https://forum.fairphone.com/t/...

et cetera.

But as I said, without a catchy name and lots of press-coverage to draw attention of the masses, no one gives a shit.

Add me to the list - LG was the last to offer user-replaceable batteries. If I have to dick around with iOpeners and shit, I may as well get a Samsung Galaxy Note.
However, I might look into FairPhone Those have user-replaceable everything. FP 2 is not that exciting technically speaking, but the fact I can replace practically every component, is becoming very attractive.

However, the sad truth is that it looks like there is no business case anymore

I'm not so sure. Yesterday, a female coworker showed me her Fairphone, then proceeded to completely disassemble it, right in front of my eyes. I couldn't contain my enthousiasm, but it was very remarkable. She told me she bought the phone then a couple of months in, dropped it and broke the screen. She ordered a new screen and replaced it herself.

The Fairphone is an Android phone which you can disassemble with your fingernails and a small Phillips. So maybe it's not strictly and completely open source, but it's incredibly easy to repair and replace parts of it. The components are free of rare earth metals that were dug out by horrible exploitive companies. The only exploitation here is done on your data, by Google.

Meanwhile the Fairphone is a modular android phone, with end user replaceable parts that exists today.

.. it's still not the 10/10 of the Fairphone 2 (spare parts here).

Anyway, nice to see a small competition heating up on other areas than size or price.

.. it's still not the 10/10 of the Fairphone 2 (spare parts here).

Anyway, nice to see a small competition heating up on other areas than size or price.

I mean really, what products *can* you use if you start being philosophical/philanthropic in your buying decisions?

Fairphone

Have you considered the FairPhone 2?
If I were in the market for a smart phone, it would be likely top on my list because of the modular design (the ethical sourcing is a bonus).

I don't see anything about the other big cause of land-fill Android syndrome: software updates. Are they also going to update the phone to new OS versions for a decade or so?

Although they're no longer selling the Fairphone 1 they've recently finished a big operation to get hold of the licenses to allow them to make new software releases for it.

https://www.fairphone.com/2015/09/16/long-term-software-support-fairphone-1/

Some awareness that was apparently raised by the creation of this phone about conflict minerals in DR Congo. Awareness not apparently being which minerals, what wars, and what evidence there is that depriving DR Congo of business is going to help them.

Sigh. They're not depriving DRC of business:

Focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to buy from local initiatives, increase employment for small-scale miners and contribute to economic development and regional stability.

More importantly, by avoiding conflict minerals, what is being sacrificed to make this phone: you don't get something for nothing.

Probably money - it's not a cheap phone. It gives people a chance to vote with their dollars / Euros, etc.

I know I know, I should just "know". But I don't, and I'm not going to google it and deal with all the hipster shit either, I want facts and primary sources that at least try not to sound like Sally Struthers. That's awareness.

Not that you should "just know", but you should click the link to TFA (no need to even Google it) before spewing uninformed ad hominems and sounding stupid.

It's the new hip thing to remain wilfully ignorant and smug.

A phone is a phone.

And a car is a car, food is food, blah blah blah.

Exactly like that.

https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fairphone-Hi-P-Social-Assessment-Program.pdf

TAOS identified several issues regarding daily health and safety operations on the workfloor. The emergency evacuation routes, fire safety and necessary preventative measures were not all compliant as prescribed in applicable national and international regulations. For example, some exit doors did not swing outward (to allow for easier exit) and others were missing exit signs. Workers handling heat guns for small repairs were not wearing the required safety carbon masks. Also, insulated gloves and one area where chemicals are used had no eye wash station nor in some cases were there posted explanatory posters of material safety data sheets (MSDS). On the other hand, the assessment brought up systemic challenges that are recurring in the electronics industry. Most notable to us from the sample records of May to September 2014 show that working hours exceeded 60 hours per week when production schedules were tight and there was a reported instance when some workers worked 28 days without a day off in July 2014. In addition to that, the workforce composition shows that an excessive portion of workers is not directly hired by Hi-P but are agency workers that are recruited by labor agencies.

Working with labor agencies assumes that agency workers don’t benefit fully from the employment relationship. Hi-P has less control to provide agency workers with continuous job security since the employment relationship is held by the agency.

After reviewing payroll records and interviews with workers, TAOS confirmed that workers are compensated at monthly rates and that the base wage, at RMB 1530, complies with the local minimum wage requirement. Take-home wages, which are comprised of the base wage, a performance bonus, overtime wage, job subsidy, as well as meal and night shift allowances, are higher and range between 2700 and 3700/month. This is after deduction of a social insurance contribution. Overtime is compensated according to labor law and both agency workers – who are paid through agencies – and direct-hire workers are provided with the legally mandated benefits including social insurance and paid leave and holidays.

The last point to highlight is the critical issue of genuine and effective worker representation. The facility has a Worker Representative Congress (WRC), suggestion boxes and an open-membership labor union, but the interviews indicate that workers feel that the issues they raise are not always acted upon by management in a satisfactory way to workers. Also, not all workers that are recruited by labor agencies say to have been properly informed about the option to join the site’s labor union.

Partnership improvement and worker empowerment

We take the above-mentioned findings seriously and they require strong commitment and follow-up monitoring both by Hi-P and Fairphone. For most of the issues, especially those relating to daily operations and health and safety, Hi-P worked with TAOS following the weeks after the assessment to create a list of actions to address them. Many of the issues mentioned above have by now been addressed by Hi-P. Fairphone will follow-up on these actions and update the status of each issue with accompanying sources for verification in the Improvement Plan.

Following up on the first assessment, Fairphone team members, most often our project manager Mulan, are regularly on-site to monitor progress. Lastly, TAOS will make additional unannounced follow-up visits to validate the status over the course of our partnership.

Unfortunately I don't see them succeeding commercially. It's not possible to do fairly what your competitors do by cheating. How could they possibly match the prices per specs of the likes of Samsung but pay more for their inputs? Not possible without government intervention to level the playing field for companies who refuse to use the fruits of exploitation.

They indeed don't/can't compete on price. Nevertheless, until now they're doing pretty well. Keep in mind this is already the second iteration of the Fairphone (they sold about 100k Fairphone 1's), and that the Fairphone 2 required a lot more upfront capital to design and manufacture than the first one (they designed more themselves, are doing larger production runs with more expensive components, ...). This means that their business model is, or at least until now has been, financially sustainable and they are growing (they did start with some subsidies and incubator capital, but then again, which business does not). And that is actually the point they are trying to prove: that there is a market for products where the focus is not just on features and price, but also on sustainability in the broadest sense of the word.

Their main goal is not to make or sell phones. Their goal is to change the electronics industry from the inside out by setting an example. I.e., it's the opposite of all of the hipster nonsense being spouted here by probably largely the same people that are whining all the time that their living standard is threatened by cheap H-1Bs. At least the Fairphone people are actually doing things, such as setting up worker representation committees in the factories they use.

Unfortunately I don't see them succeeding commercially. It's not possible to do fairly what your competitors do by cheating. How could they possibly match the prices per specs of the likes of Samsung but pay more for their inputs? Not possible without government intervention to level the playing field for companies who refuse to use the fruits of exploitation.

They indeed don't/can't compete on price. Nevertheless, until now they're doing pretty well. Keep in mind this is already the second iteration of the Fairphone (they sold about 100k Fairphone 1's), and that the Fairphone 2 required a lot more upfront capital to design and manufacture than the first one (they designed more themselves, are doing larger production runs with more expensive components, ...). This means that their business model is, or at least until now has been, financially sustainable and they are growing (they did start with some subsidies and incubator capital, but then again, which business does not). And that is actually the point they are trying to prove: that there is a market for products where the focus is not just on features and price, but also on sustainability in the broadest sense of the word.

Their main goal is not to make or sell phones. Their goal is to change the electronics industry from the inside out by setting an example. I.e., it's the opposite of all of the hipster nonsense being spouted here by probably largely the same people that are whining all the time that their living standard is threatened by cheap H-1Bs. At least the Fairphone people are actually doing things, such as setting up worker representation committees in the factories they use.

in my opinion, taking away the ability to earn at least a little money is only going to hurt the mostly innocent bystanders.

It looks like they're still putting money into poverty stricken areas:

Promoting conflict-free tungsten exports from Rwanda

Conflict-free tin from the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) possesses 80 percent of the world’s coltan supply. Many of the mines there have been controlled by rebels who extort money from the miners, leading tantalum to be classified as a conflict mineral.

Starting with the production of the Fairphone 1, we worked with Solutions for Hope to source conflict-free tantalum from the DRC.

It appears they've made an honest effort to source things intelligently.

Reading these comments (not the one I'm replying to) bitching, moaning, and whining about "hipsters" getting a "feel good" from stupidly being duped through the entire process, I'm pretty fucking disgusted with Slashdot today.

Will it run Replicant (or another fully-open set of code)?

AOSP initialy,

Sailfish is being worked on.

https://www.fairphone.com/2015/09/23/opening-up-fairphone-to-the-community-open-source-fairphone-2/

The fairphone 2 has an interrnal USB connecter on the back for TOH like extensions. DVL, who made the keyboard TOH for the Jolla is working on add-ons for the Fairphone 2.

https://forum.fairphone.com/t/fairphone-2-hardware-extensions/11457

Because manufacturing doesn't work that way. Their Chinese supplier makes their phone. The supplier supplies the electronics and the raw materials. It isn't like Fairphone sends them a shipment of tungsten saying "hey use this to make our phone".

Citation needed, again.

How the fuck do you know how their setup works? You haven't provided a single link to support your bullshit; you probably haven't even looked at their site.

Put up a link or shut up. Fairphone has put up claims, feel free to debunk them if you have anything other than bullshit:

Starting with the production of the Fairphone 1, we worked with Solutions for Hope to source conflict-free tantalum from the DRC. They established a closed-pipe supply chain (including mines, smelters and manufacturers) to provide greater transparency and supply conflict-free minerals from regions experiencing ongoing conflict. For the Fairphone 2, we will continue to support buying tantalum through Solutions for Hope. This initiative uses a mass balance model of traceability, which means that conflict-free tantalum from the DRC is mixed with conflict-free tantalum from other sources at the smelter. The resulting blend will be used in the capacitors in our latest phone.

It is just a bunch of hipsters with a gimmick.

No, it's a bunch of whiny, cynical assholes bitching because someone is making an effort to provide consumers choice - a choice that whiny, cynical assholes don't want to look into in the slightest, never mind a choice they'd make.

Fine, if you don't want one no one cares. But just because someone shat in your cereal, don't have a whinefest about someone else making an effort.

A further initiative these guys are taking that I fully endorse: and end to the so-called "land-fill Android" syndrome:

Extending the lifespan of your mobile phone

we’d like to encourage you to keep your existing mobile as long as it works. If you do buy Fairphone, we’re selling spare parts and offering repair tutorials to help make your phone useful for as long as possible, plus adding features like dual SIM to make the phones more attractive on the secondhand marketplace. We’re also working with partners to set up projects in Ghana to improve local waste collection efforts and transport discarded phones to Europe for safe recycling. Finally, our Take Back Program helps ensure that your old mobile phone is reused or properly recycled.

That's pretty great really. What's not to like about that?

The entire thing is a joke.

[Citation Needed]

The difference is that their suppliers say "sure, we only use tungsten from Colorado, not from the Congo". And the hipsters fly home happy.

Ya know, there's a bunch of links right there in the fucking article explaining how they try to ensure their products are sourced ethically.

Something the large manufacturers often took heat for not doing enough of.

Oh dear, seems they're not alone, all publicly listed companies in the USA are required by law to report:

The mining and trading of tungsten has been associated with financing local armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and adjoining countries. For this reason, tungsten is identified by a US law – the Dodd Frank Act – as a conflict mineral. Companies that are publicly listed in the US have to report on their use of the minerals tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold and the measures taken to prevent supporting conflict in the African Great Lakes Region.

I mean, they are giving people a chance to put their money where their mouths are:

Why focus on sourcing tungsten from Rwanda? In short, we want to transform and improve sourcing from the African Great Lakes Region.

I see no problem with this in an initial TFA.

You don't care how much fuckery is used to produce your electronics, good for you, be proud of being a douche. Buy something else.

But I find it commendable that someone's at least trying to do business in a "win-win" manner.

Finally, for the record, the tungsten is sourced from Rwanda.

The entire thing is a joke.

[Citation Needed]

The difference is that their suppliers say "sure, we only use tungsten from Colorado, not from the Congo". And the hipsters fly home happy.

Ya know, there's a bunch of links right there in the fucking article explaining how they try to ensure their products are sourced ethically.

Something the large manufacturers often took heat for not doing enough of.

Oh dear, seems they're not alone, all publicly listed companies in the USA are required by law to report:

The mining and trading of tungsten has been associated with financing local armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and adjoining countries. For this reason, tungsten is identified by a US law – the Dodd Frank Act – as a conflict mineral. Companies that are publicly listed in the US have to report on their use of the minerals tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold and the measures taken to prevent supporting conflict in the African Great Lakes Region.

I mean, they are giving people a chance to put their money where their mouths are:

Why focus on sourcing tungsten from Rwanda? In short, we want to transform and improve sourcing from the African Great Lakes Region.

I see no problem with this in an initial TFA.

You don't care how much fuckery is used to produce your electronics, good for you, be proud of being a douche. Buy something else.

But I find it commendable that someone's at least trying to do business in a "win-win" manner.

Finally, for the record, the tungsten is sourced from Rwanda.

Only Fairphone.

So why not mention of the fairtrade 2?

https://www.fairphone.com/2015/11/18/guest-blog-ifixit-on-fairphone-2-the-first-truly-smart-smartphone/

If one believes what they say on their site (which, from what you say, you don't; that's fair enough, it's all written in marketingese so I have my doubts too), then they're more or less doing what you suggest: continuing to do business with the DRC, but trying to do it in a "fair trade" way (i.e. directly with the producers on the ground) so as to subvert the structures that make conflict materials problematic:

https://www.fairphone.com/road...
Passed in 2010, the Dodd Frank Act addresses tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold (3Ts and G) sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and surrounding high-risk areas. At Fairphone, we want to focus on sourcing conflict-free minerals, which is why we’re going straight to the conflict zone: the DRC. While conflict-free minerals are certainly available from other countries, our goal is to work directly where we can contribute to alternatives to current mining practices, empowering workers and improving the livelihoods of the local population. We want to become a vehicle for change in the regions that need it most.

If you read the blog, you see that the WHOLE MAIN POINT of the modularity is to extend the life cycle of the phone.

By making it either easy to fix (FairPhone 1) or even modular (TFA's FairPhone 2)
- it makes it much more easy to repair
- much more easy to refurbish.

Thus there's a higher chance that, once you want to buy some other new phone, your old phone can be repaired/refurbished/dismantled for spares to refurbish other phone, and will find its way eventually into the hands of someone in a developing country instead of into a landfill.

Even if it is as complicated as putting together 6-part Duplo duck.

That's the whole point of the module. That even the dumbest end-users could be able to sevice the phone.
The previous one used screws and required a tiny bit more dexterity to fix.

Ethical sources part only confirms diagnosis

...was conflict-free minerals all the way back at the time of their first phone. That's what FairPhone was founded for.

The news is that the 2nd one is modular to make it even easier to fix. (Whereas with the previous, they just made sure that the ODM used screws instead, and then partnered with iFixit to release fixing guide).

it is targeted at holier-than-thou vegan hipsters, rather than on hacking/modding community.

The modularity (now even easier to repair or refurbish instead of throwing away !) and the material source, indeed are.

On the other end, the pogo pins that you see on page 2 are certainly targeting the hacking/modding comunity, just as the Jolla's "The Other Half" did for the Jolla hacking community.

(BTW: Jolla's Sailfish OS seems to be coming to the FairPhone 2 too)

So what is the point of this? It looks far less modular than Project Ara

The difference is that Project Ara is still a vague project between Google, Motorola and a few others.
Whereas FairPhone2 is a phone that is currently shipping (despite some delays compared to the initially planned time schedule) and already in the hand of the first lucky few (e.g.: the community at Jolla has a few phones to try porting Sailfish OS on them).

I see little benefit over other commercial phones, especially when something breaks on a typical iPhone you can just go to an Apple store and have it repaired / swapped quite cheaply / free depending on the fault.

Except that, this being Apple, the experience of the few friend who have iPhones tells me that 4 months later they're already out of stock of spares, and (because there's still 20 months mandatory warranty to go, according to the law) they'll try to sell you the next model as replacement with a very strong rebate.

Meanwhile FairPhone1 (this phone's predecessor) can not only get fixed at any phone repair shop, you can even replace parts yourself at home (FairPhone company has collaborated with ifixit to make tutorial so end users can swap parts, and they've made sure with their ODM that the phone is serviceable by the end user). I've been there, I've replaced the screen of the phone for a girl I know.

FairPhone2 simply pushes this "End-User serviceability" even further, using modules.
- They garantee 5 year supply of spares or upgrades.
- They made it even more user-friendly by using modules

Also, unlike any other brand of phones, there's the whole fair-trade business (that was the main reason FairPhone began in the first place).
- tracking source, to guarantee conflict-free material
- also guanrateeing employee welfare at the chineese manufacture plant.
Add to that the ecologic aspects:
- phones are designed with a though about their lifecycle from the very beginning.
- the design is easily fixable (FairPhone1) modular (FairePhone 2) to avoid phone getting thrown away in the garbage when they could be fixed
- the devices are designed with a long life in mind so they can be repurposed/refurbished (e.g.: and still be used in developing nations once they're out of fashion here)
- they have partnerships for the recylcing of old phones.
These are the core business of FairPhone. The openness, choice of OS / software / etc. only came afterward. (And that's why it's only getting talked, about now)

It's not necessarily a phone with the latest and best shiny, unlike Samsung's.
But it's a phone with an interesting and unique feature set (upgradeability, easy repair, fair trade, choice of OS, etc.) that isn't easily available now (Project Ara is still at the "project" phase, iPhone are a nightmare requiring hot air guns to repair, installing your choice of OS usually requires hacking/rooting the phone, etc).

So what is the point of this? It looks far less modular than Project Ara

The difference is that Project Ara is still a vague project between Google, Motorola and a few others.
Whereas FairPhone2 is a phone that is currently shipping (despite some delays compared to the initially planned time schedule) and already in the hand of the first lucky few (e.g.: the community at Jolla has a few phones to try porting Sailfish OS on them).

I see little benefit over other commercial phones, especially when something breaks on a typical iPhone you can just go to an Apple store and have it repaired / swapped quite cheaply / free depending on the fault.

Except that, this being Apple, the experience of the few friend who have iPhones tells me that 4 months later they're already out of stock of spares, and (because there's still 20 months mandatory warranty to go, according to the law) they'll try to sell you the next model as replacement with a very strong rebate.

Meanwhile FairPhone1 (this phone's predecessor) can not only get fixed at any phone repair shop, you can even replace parts yourself at home (FairPhone company has collaborated with ifixit to make tutorial so end users can swap parts, and they've made sure with their ODM that the phone is serviceable by the end user). I've been there, I've replaced the screen of the phone for a girl I know.

FairPhone2 simply pushes this "End-User serviceability" even further, using modules.
- They garantee 5 year supply of spares or upgrades.
- They made it even more user-friendly by using modules

Also, unlike any other brand of phones, there's the whole fair-trade business (that was the main reason FairPhone began in the first place).
- tracking source, to guarantee conflict-free material
- also guanrateeing employee welfare at the chineese manufacture plant.
Add to that the ecologic aspects:
- phones are designed with a though about their lifecycle from the very beginning.
- the design is easily fixable (FairPhone1) modular (FairePhone 2) to avoid phone getting thrown away in the garbage when they could be fixed
- the devices are designed with a long life in mind so they can be repurposed/refurbished (e.g.: and still be used in developing nations once they're out of fashion here)
- they have partnerships for the recylcing of old phones.
These are the core business of FairPhone. The openness, choice of OS / software / etc. only came afterward. (And that's why it's only getting talked, about now)

It's not necessarily a phone with the latest and best shiny, unlike Samsung's.
But it's a phone with an interesting and unique feature set (upgradeability, easy repair, fair trade, choice of OS, etc.) that isn't easily available now (Project Ara is still at the "project" phase, iPhone are a nightmare requiring hot air guns to repair, installing your choice of OS usually requires hacking/rooting the phone, etc).

So what is the point of this? It looks far less modular than Project Ara

The difference is that Project Ara is still a vague project between Google, Motorola and a few others.
Whereas FairPhone2 is a phone that is currently shipping (despite some delays compared to the initially planned time schedule) and already in the hand of the first lucky few (e.g.: the community at Jolla has a few phones to try porting Sailfish OS on them).

I see little benefit over other commercial phones, especially when something breaks on a typical iPhone you can just go to an Apple store and have it repaired / swapped quite cheaply / free depending on the fault.

Except that, this being Apple, the experience of the few friend who have iPhones tells me that 4 months later they're already out of stock of spares, and (because there's still 20 months mandatory warranty to go, according to the law) they'll try to sell you the next model as replacement with a very strong rebate.

Meanwhile FairPhone1 (this phone's predecessor) can not only get fixed at any phone repair shop, you can even replace parts yourself at home (FairPhone company has collaborated with ifixit to make tutorial so end users can swap parts, and they've made sure with their ODM that the phone is serviceable by the end user). I've been there, I've replaced the screen of the phone for a girl I know.

FairPhone2 simply pushes this "End-User serviceability" even further, using modules.
- They garantee 5 year supply of spares or upgrades.
- They made it even more user-friendly by using modules

Also, unlike any other brand of phones, there's the whole fair-trade business (that was the main reason FairPhone began in the first place).
- tracking source, to guarantee conflict-free material
- also guanrateeing employee welfare at the chineese manufacture plant.
Add to that the ecologic aspects:
- phones are designed with a though about their lifecycle from the very beginning.
- the design is easily fixable (FairPhone1) modular (FairePhone 2) to avoid phone getting thrown away in the garbage when they could be fixed
- the devices are designed with a long life in mind so they can be repurposed/refurbished (e.g.: and still be used in developing nations once they're out of fashion here)
- they have partnerships for the recylcing of old phones.
These are the core business of FairPhone. The openness, choice of OS / software / etc. only came afterward. (And that's why it's only getting talked, about now)

It's not necessarily a phone with the latest and best shiny, unlike Samsung's.
But it's a phone with an interesting and unique feature set (upgradeability, easy repair, fair trade, choice of OS, etc.) that isn't easily available now (Project Ara is still at the "project" phase, iPhone are a nightmare requiring hot air guns to repair, installing your choice of OS usually requires hacking/rooting the phone, etc).

Ho{p}efully Cyanogen will fix this issue.

FairPhone is doing whatever they can to help Cyanogen.

Up until recently, the main blocker is that the ODM (Original Device Manufacturer) that FairPhone contracted to produce their phone 1, had in turn licensed MediaTek as the chipset provider for the phone. And MediaTek hasn't publicly released nothing beyond what the GPL forces them.
They've release the linux kernel source, but not the android OS itself (it's a permissive license, thus MediaTek can modify it and not release the modified source) and neither the binary proprietary drivers.
These drivers only work up to Android 4.2, the kernel used by more recent Android release can't work with them. Thus you can only get Cyanogen up to the corresponding version.

Recently fairphone has managed to obtain the necessary code and license from all the hardware partners, including MediaTek.

Ho{p}efully Cyanogen will fix this issue.

FairPhone is doing whatever they can to help Cyanogen.

Up until recently, the main blocker is that the ODM (Original Device Manufacturer) that FairPhone contracted to produce their phone 1, had in turn licensed MediaTek as the chipset provider for the phone. And MediaTek hasn't publicly released nothing beyond what the GPL forces them.
They've release the linux kernel source, but not the android OS itself (it's a permissive license, thus MediaTek can modify it and not release the modified source) and neither the binary proprietary drivers.
These drivers only work up to Android 4.2, the kernel used by more recent Android release can't work with them. Thus you can only get Cyanogen up to the corresponding version.

Recently fairphone has managed to obtain the necessary code and license from all the hardware partners, including MediaTek.

I really hope that they learned their mistake with the second version.

Seems like they've learned.
(And are also working on the FairPhone1 situation - They've managed to bargain licenses from MediaTek)

I really hope that they learned their mistake with the second version.

Seems like they've learned.
(And are also working on the FairPhone1 situation - They've managed to bargain licenses from MediaTek)

What about the part of the phone that is guaranteed to go bad (can't be patched for security vulnerabilities) after a few years?

TL;DR: don't be afraid security *will* be patched over the next years.

With the previous phones (where Fairphone company didn't have had that much access for the software part of the device) the Fairphone company has actively sought to help CyanogenMod.

Now for the FairPhone2, to quote page 2 :

As a next step we're working on giving users the choice in the operating systems that they want to use, instead of being limited to one that the manufacturer has pre-selected. We're talking to alternative OS vendors such as Jolla, Ubuntu, and Firefox,” she added.

Yup, this time arround, enabling the user to install whatever they want is one of the main point of the device.

More details on Fairphone's blog.

What about the part of the phone that is guaranteed to go bad (can't be patched for security vulnerabilities) after a few years?

TL;DR: don't be afraid security *will* be patched over the next years.

With the previous phones (where Fairphone company didn't have had that much access for the software part of the device) the Fairphone company has actively sought to help CyanogenMod.

Now for the FairPhone2, to quote page 2 :

As a next step we're working on giving users the choice in the operating systems that they want to use, instead of being limited to one that the manufacturer has pre-selected. We're talking to alternative OS vendors such as Jolla, Ubuntu, and Firefox,” she added.

Yup, this time arround, enabling the user to install whatever they want is one of the main point of the device.

More details on Fairphone's blog.

Fairphone's website specifically mentions sourcing minerals from Congo and the US law that the guardian refers to.

whether these guys are part of the problem or the solution, I'll let you be the judge.

https://www.fairphone.com/road...

Separating out everything into modules is going to be hard. Even PCs which have no space/weight constraints are not fully modular. Much harder for a phone where things like the CPU and RAM are typically soldered on top of each other.

But you can take a more modest goal of making the major components replaceable, repairable and upgradable, for example, https://www.fairphone.com/2015...

I'm hoping tablet and laptop versions soon follow so I can mix and match more modules over time. and I'll get multiples of them, too. it just makes sense to be able to repair them year after year, instead of buying another bloatware crap machine.

You should definitely check out the FairPhone 2.

Ease of repair has been one of the main argument for FairPhone 1 & 2.
For the second model, they are currently going to a a modular design to make it even more easy to fix, and to give the possibility to swap module in the future for added features.

The "fair" part of FairPhone isn't of too much concern for me. What is of much interest is the fact that it is extremely easily repairable and expandable (down to the level of replacing ports, sockets, the microphone etc.) with nothing more than a screwdriver!
This phone, if it gets funded, will have a number of different, easily replaceable, batteries.

Main issues are mining, manufacturing, life cycle and social entrepreneurship. https://www.fairphone.com/road...

A chunk of the extra cost comes from small volume production. But anyway they are transparent about all the costs https://www.fairphone.com/proj...

http://www.fairphone.com/ is another option.

So I have a question. If I wanted to buy a smartphone that wasn't made by teenagers handling dangerous chemicals on 16 hour shifts for pennies an hour, what brand phone would I buy, and how much could I expect to pay for it?

Does there even exist such a smartphone?

probably as good as it gets: http://www.fairphone.com/

Fairphone.

http://www.fairphone.com/

May not be perfect yet, but at least they're trying.

What's ridiculous is thinking Android users don't have a choice when it comes to ethics... http://www.fairphone.com/

Well, sure. You can buy a phone with a high price, low specs, and long shipping times. 20,000 people have done so far.

Do you have a solution to the problem to propose?

Fairphone for starters:

http://www.fairphone.com/

What's ridiculous is thinking Android users don't have a choice when it comes to ethics... http://www.fairphone.com/

At least it is something. And while you're reading that page I'd like to remind you of Apple's position as the both the largest and /richest/ smartphone vendor.