Murena Fairphone (Gen. 6) is now available in the US

The Fairphone (Gen. 6) a smartphone with a 6.3 inch, 120 Hz OLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. But what makes it stand out is that, like other products from Fairphone, it’s designed to last a long time.

It has a modular design that makes it easy to replace broken components. It comes with a 5 year warranty. And when Fairphone launched the phone this summer, the company promised to deliver software updates through at least 2033. But Fairphone is a Dutch company that primarily sells its phones in Europe. Customers in the US can’t buy phones from the company. But now you can buy a Fairphone (Gen. 6) from a different company.

The Murena Fairphone (Gen. 6) is now available in the US. In terms of hardware this model is pretty much identical to the version available in Europe. But instead of shipping with Fairphone’s version of Android, it comes with /e/OS pre-installed.

That’s a privacy-focused version of Android that’s been stripped of Google apps and services. While some folks will likely see that as a point in favor of the Murena version of the phone, it could also make the phone a little less convenient to use for folks that want a model that’s more tightly integrated with Google’s apps and ecosystem.

Another thing to keep in mind is that while the Fairphone (Gen. 6) sells for €599 (about $698) in Europe, the Murena Fairphone (Gen. 6) costs $899 for customers in the US. That’s a pretty significant markup for folks that may not are about funding the development of /e/OS.

It’s also a pretty hefty price for a phone with mid-range specs. But the cost might be a little more palatable if you really do plan to keep your phone for 5 or more years, because unlike most modern smartphones, this is a device that’s easy to open up and repair if anything breaks or wears down.

The phone’s 4415 mAh battery is user-replaceable, as are its USB 2.0 Type-C port, display, speakers, rear camera system (with a 50MP primary camera and 13MP ultrawide camera), and other components.

It also has a microSDXC card reader with support for up to 2TB of removable storage, but no headphone jack. The phone is rated IP55 for dust and water resistance.

And Murena says that the phone qualifies for Fairphone’s 5-year warranty for customers who purchase one by the end of 2027. The warranty will drop to 3 years for customers who buy the Fairphone (Gen. 6) starting in 2028 though.

Other features include a 32MP front-facing camera, support for WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and NFC, and dual-SIM 5G support (with one eSIM and one nano SIM). The phone has a fingerprint sensor and support for 30W fast charging.

Fairphone also says more than 50 percent of the materials used in the phone are “fair and recycled,” meaning that they’re manufactured using recycled materials to reduce the environmental and social impact of mining, and produced in factories that provide “living wages” to employees (I’m using quotation marks both because that’s an exact quote from Fairphone, and because what constitutes a living wage will vary from region to region).

While the price, software, and relatively limited availability will almost certainly make this a niche product for customers in the US, it’s nice to at least have an option of buying Fairphone’s latest smartphone in North America.

via Murena

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