“Surprise” of the month: Fairphone 4 gets a perfect iFixit repairability score

The Fairphone 4 5G is an electronic waste neutral and sustainable phone, launched by the Dutch brand Fairphone back in October. Similar to its previous versions, the 4th generation managed to yet again up the bar in its niche market and set an example of what other phone manufacturers could achieve.

One of the main contributing factors to the Fairphone’s sustainability is its easily accessible hardware and a focus on user-friendly repairability. Its modular design on the inside allows for quick and hassle-free access to critical components. Those, and other features of the Fairphone 5G 4, are why—to no one’s surprise—it got a perfect 10/10 repairability score from the folks at iFixit.

iFixit points out that the easily accessible spare parts and instructions for repairs add a lot of bonus points here. For example, one could effortlessly replace the Fairphone 4’s screen with a new one. All you would need is a regular Phillips screwdriver and yourself to unscrew the eight screws that are holding it in, remove it, then reverse the process with a new one.

Another crucial part of the Fairphone 4 5G that can be replaced is none other than the battery itself, which iFixit notes is encased in a hard plastic shell for protection when it expands. You also won’t find any fragile and delicate cables for transferring the power from the battery, but rather a few contact points, which do the job without making repairs risky.

In fact, Fairphone 4 5G is so repair-friendly that you could start replacing parts without even going to Google or YouTube to find a tutorial for the process. Each part is clearly labeled, so all you have to do is a simple replacement. Add to that the long-term support for software updates, and it is no shocker why this bad boy is rated the bestest of boys for reparability.

iFixit finishes off with the fact that 10/10 does not mean that the FairPhone 4 5G has a perfect design, as that is not the case. However, it definitely is “leagues ahead of most other smartphone makers” out there.