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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.
Best part of it is transparent back cover. This way, everybody around can see how cool you are for building your own phone. Even if it is as complicated as putting together 6-part Duplo duck.
Ethical sources part only confirms diagnosis - it is targeted at holier-than-thou vegan hipsters, rather than on hacking/modding community.
What's your point, exactly? That since doing the right thing the wrong way has unintended consequences beyond our control, we should say fuck it and turn a blind eye?
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...
This would be a lot more exciting when some other manufacturers do the same thing in a compatible form factor. Then you'd get a handheld the same way you get a desktop: go buy just the right parts for your situation.
"A Fairphone screen, a Foomeister I motherboard, a used Sorny RadioNIC that I found on eBay, a Brand X battery and oops I guess I didn't even bother with a camera on this one. Oh well, I didn't need one here. Wait, I just remembered have a 5 year old one sitting in a drawer, let's just throw that in." Later: "Shit, it got obsolete: time for a Foomeister II+ board, which has enough RAM to run the newest release of Netbuntroid."
But the only way we'll get there, is if this sells well enough that other manufacturers see a market for the form factor. It's hard to be optimistic about that.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
If they play their cards right, pushing this as an open platform to attract third party module makers, this could be huge and bring a variety of "personalized" features to niche markets. This could be a little bit like the IBM PC in the early days, where companies or people with specific needs can buy a standard platform but then expand it with one specific module to cater to their needs. Imagine a big company that currently needs many of its employees to carry an expensive custom made device, and then could replace all of those devices for a fair phone with just a less expensive custom made module.
The point is not just that the phone is easier to repair. Fairphone included an interface that links with the back cover. This way the phone can be extended by changing the cover for one with, for example, an NFC chip.
The point of the Fairphone is that they strife to minimalise slave labor in the product and use materials that are better for the environment or can be recycled.
Also, if you can't open the phone: if it is broken, you have to replace it.
Fairphone tries to create a phone that is more durable and usable for a longer period of time (not just two years). If you want a better camera after two years, that is probably possible by replacing the camera module with a better one.
So they are trying to break the throw-away culture and improve the world a little bit :-)
And just how much do you think that "better camera" will be?
My Spidey Sense says that it will be about 2/3 the cost of replacing an entire "sealed" phone. For one thing, this is a VERY "niche" product; therefore the economies of scale (or lack thereof) will be working against the consumer that buys into this product. Second, the individual modules will have to cost more than the component-level parts they replace, if for no other reason than to pay for the mold design for the housings for each "module", and the cost of the ancillary components that will likely be replaced along with that camera, memory module, etc.
This sounds like something a 12 year old kid would dream up, not a serious product engineering team.
Having to use an external battery back totally defeats the purpose of having a small portable device. I would shoot myself if I bought a device that couldn't go a day of normal use without being able to pop in a battery freshly charged by an external charger. Right now I have a Galaxy S3 and I cycle between two batteries. Changing the battery is 10 seconds of inconvenience and then you have your fully pocket able device back again.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
"Unintended" doesn't mean "unexpected". In this case, the consequences may be unintended, but they shouldn't be unexpected, in particular after reading and thinking about the issues a bit.
If you receive more benefit from an act than it costs you, it ceases to be altruistic. Running around with a "Fairphone" that advertises to your peers what a wonderful person you are and that you can afford to spend way too much money on a clunky phone is probably not driven by altruism, but by social signaling, group conformity, and self promotion.
Purely objectively, Apple has the most closed combination of hardware, software and ecosystem of any mobile platform, and it always has had, and the trend is clearly further in that direction including with the battery issue we're discussing here. I'm not "dragging Apple into this". They dragged themselves into it by making themselves by some way the best example of my point.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.