Fairphone launches modular Gen 6+ in the US, promising lower price and longer lifespan

Fairphone, the environmentally focused Dutch smartphone firm, has begun selling its Gen 6+ model directly to American customers through a new online store, pricing the device at $650 versus the iPhone 17 range that starts at $799. The handset is built on a modular architecture that lets owners swap twelve components, from the battery to the camera modules, using a supplied Torx T5 screwdriver. It ships with a five-year warranty and software updates guaranteed until 2033, and boasts a two-day battery endurance and 12 GB of RAM, though its chipset is slower than that of the Google Pixel 10a, which sells for $428.

Fairphone currently serves roughly 45,000 to 50,000 users in the Netherlands, a tiny slice of the market compared with Apple’s 1.56 billion customers. U.S. tech enthusiasts have expressed both enthusiasm for the sustainable design and skepticism based on earlier speaker and microphone problems. The launch marks the company’s first direct entry into the American market, potentially expanding its niche user base.