Fairphone 4 review: The repairable, ethical 5G phone that promised support into 2027.
The conscience phone, first generation of 5G.
Fairphone 4 was the proof that a fully repairable, ethically sourced phone could still do 5G and last for years — with a swappable battery and support promised into 2027. On raw specs the 60 Hz LCD and 750G were ordinary even in 2021; as with every Fairphone, the values are the product and the benchmarks come second.
01Display
60/10060/100 is one of the weaker display results among mid-range phones of 2021 — 16 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
02Camera
64/10064/100 trails the 67-point cohort average for mid-range phones of 2021.
03Performance
60/10060/100 is one of the weaker performance results among mid-range phones of 2021 — 6 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
04Battery
68/10068/100 is one of the weaker battery results among mid-range phones of 2021 — 9 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
05Build
86/100At 86/100 this is one of the strongest build showings among mid-range phones of 2021 — 13 points above the cohort average.
06Value
58/10058/100 is one of the weaker value results among mid-range phones of 2021 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
- Fully DIY-repairable with a swappable battery.
- Ethical, fair-labour, recycled-material supply chain.
- 5-year warranty, support targeted to 2027.
- 5G with dual 48 MP cameras.
- 60 Hz LCD and Snapdragon 750G feel dated for $649.
- Heavy 225 g, single speaker, no jack.
- 20 W charging, no charger in box.
- You pay for ethics, not specs.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 105-phone cohort of mid-range devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .