The modular Fairphone 4 is now available in the US, but there’s a big catch

Officially launched on the market more than two years ago, the modular Fairphone 4 is finally making its US debut, albeit in a slightly different form. Unlike the original model that runs on Android 12, the version that’s now available for purchase in the US is powered by a privacy-focused Android-based /e/ operating system.

The phone is launched in the US in partnership with Murena, a company that specializes in “de-Googling” Android smartphones. As such, customers can only buy this version of the modular Fairphone 4 from Murena’s website. Currently, the 6/128GB model sells for $599, while the 8/256GB variant costs $679. Those who buy either of the two versions by the end of the year will receive 5 years of extended warranty period thanks to a special offer.

Customers who buy Murena’s Fairphone 4 will only get 3 years of extended warranty period, which is still good considering that many phones are only covered for up to 2 years of warranty (at no additional cost).

On paper, the modular Fairphone 4 looks like your average mid-range smartphone. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor, coupled with either 6 or 8GB RAM and 128 or 256GB storage (expandable up to 2GB via microSD).

Also, the modular phone sports a 6.3-inch FHD+ display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, a dual camera setup that features two 48-megapixel sensors, and a secondary 25-megapixel selfie snapper. It runs on a 3,905 mAh battery that should offer up to 13 hours of talk time or up to 200 hours of standby time.

The Fairphone 4 comes with 5G and dual-SIM support but lacks headphones jack. It has an iFixit repairability score of 10 out of 10, which makes sense considering its modular design.

Keep in mind that this particular version of the Fairphone 4 skips all the Google apps in favor of a slew of Murena Cloud apps such as email, calendar, and cloud storage. The phone also comes pre-installed with a dedicated app store that offers users privacy ratings of each app to make it easier to monitor if and how their online activity is tracked (via The Verge).