Slashdot Mirror
Hands-On With the Fairphone 2 Modular Android Smartphone (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In just a couple of months, the world's first consumer-ready modular smartphone will start shipping. It's called the Fairphone 2, and it will run Android 5.1. Ars Technica got hands-on time with the device, and they say it works surprisingly well. It's a bit thicker than most modern phones, but that's the trade-off for being able to swap out components. "The smartphone consists of seven major building blocks: the back cover, removable battery, display assembly, main chassis, receiver module, rear camera module, and speaker module. Positioned this way, the components that break most often, like the screen, are isolated for better repairability. In addition to swappable blocks, you can even change things inside the modules: for example, a mic or a speaker. They are press-fit, not glued, and can be extracted with simple tools."
Assembly and disassembly is pretty straightforward, as well: "The modules are held together by Phillips screws marked with blue circles. All screws are the same, so you won't have to remember which one goes where. It's quite hard to make a mistake in the assembling process, however Fairphone promises to release additional manuals and video instructions in collaboration with iFixit." The company also thinks it's important to get the phone's materials and components from ethical sources.
Assembly and disassembly is pretty straightforward, as well: "The modules are held together by Phillips screws marked with blue circles. All screws are the same, so you won't have to remember which one goes where. It's quite hard to make a mistake in the assembling process, however Fairphone promises to release additional manuals and video instructions in collaboration with iFixit." The company also thinks it's important to get the phone's materials and components from ethical sources.
Personally, I'd find it attractive just for having a removable (and therefore also replaceable) battery, which is something a lot of the recent generation of smartphones don't have. Batteries for mobile devices degrade over time.
There may be potential privacy/security advantages to this sort of modular system as well, which for some people could be significant. For example, my company normally won't surrender an electronic device that could have had sensitive data stored on it. If such a device breaks and can't be repaired without losing custody of it, it's securely destroyed and replaced. This more often affects things like hard drives, and therefore creates a bias towards business-grade suppliers who understand the restriction and won't expect a dead drive to be returned. However, a mobile device where say a broken screen or failed battery could be replaced without having to give up the whole phone complete with potential access credentials to a company VPN or sensitive customer data could also be more attractive for the same reason.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
People would do well to remember what can happen when trying to avoid "conflict materials". See this article from The Guardian.
A lot of these so-called "fair trade" efforts are marketing gimmicks and come from the "let them eat cake" school of thinking of rich and naive Westerners.