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SpecEagle review · Fairphone

Fairphone 2 review: A fully user-repairable modular smartphone with replaceable cameras.

SpecEagle Editorial·Dec 2015·$580
Overall
46/100
Class rank
#1 of 1
Tier
Mid-range
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

A truly modular smartphone — and seven years of updates.

Fairphone 2 was the most repairable phone of its era — every module (display, camera, USB port, speaker, microphone) was user-replaceable with a screwdriver. Fairphone supported it for seven years of software updates, an industry record.

01Display

64/100

64/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2015.

TypeIPS LCD, replaceable module
Size5.0 inches
Resolution1,920 × 1,080 px (FHD)

02Camera

54/100

54/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2015.

Main8 MP (replaceable module, later 12 MP upgrade)
Selfie2 MP
Video1080p

03Performance

60/100

60/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2015.

ChipsetSnapdragon 801 (28 nm)
RAM2 GB
Storage32 GB · microSD

04Battery

56/100

56/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2015.

Capacity2,420 mAh (removable)
Standby~ 270 hours

05Build

78/100

78/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2015.

06Value

62/100

62/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2015.

What works
  • Fully modular — user-replaceable screen, camera, speaker, USB port.
  • Seven years of software updates (record).
  • Fair-trade gold and conflict-free minerals.
  • Removable battery + microSD.
What doesn't
  • Modest hardware for the price.
  • 2,420 mAh battery.
  • Mono speaker.
  • Thick 11 mm.

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 1-phone cohort of mid-range devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .