Fairphone 4 finally comes to United States via company behind /e/OS

Fairphone is well-known for its mission to produce repairable smartphones built from ethically-sourced parts. The company has largely succeeded in this mission with one major caveat: Fairphone's devices have by and large only been available in Europe. This includes the Fairphone 4, which received a perfect 10/10 in repairability from iFixIt. However, the company behind the privacy-focused /e/OS is bringing the Fairphone 4 to the United States.

Murena, which develops /e/OS, is now selling the Murena Fairphone 4 in the USA. Murena has partnered with Fairphone before, selling a version of the Fairphone 3 pre-loaded with /e/OS.

Murena's flavor of Android, /e/OS, strips out Google services (which has come to be known as "de-Googled" Android) in an effort to better protect user privacy. It accomplishes this by either removing Google services or blocking services from sending user data to Google. For applications and tasks that require Google Services, /e/OS uses a compatibility layer. It also comes pre-installed with an app store that features free and open-source (FOSS) apps.

The Fairphone 4 itself is a fairly modest smartphone. It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G SoC and has either 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage or 8 GB RAM/256 GB storage. The phone has a 6.3-inch 2340x1080 display, a 25 MP selfie camera in a teardrop notch, and a dual-camera array (48 MP main, 48 MP wide angle) with a time-of-flight sensor on the back.

While these are relatively weak specs for a smartphone in 2023, the Fairphone 4's main claim to fame is its easy repairability and modularity. The back case can be removed without tools, and each component sits on a daughterboard that can be swapped out should it break. 

In our review, we praised the phone's ease of repair, fast USB-C port, and decent camera quality while drawing attention to its 5-year warranty (which the Murena Fairphone 4 will also support). However, we also noted the phone is bulky and is expensive for what it offers. 

This last point is also the case with the Murena Fairphone 4. Pricing starts at US$629.90 for a model with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Bumping the RAM and storage to 8 GB and 256 GB, respectively, shoots the price up to $699.90. While not prohibitively expensive, this price is definitely too high for the specs; consumers will likely purchase the Fairphone 4 for its fairly-sourced parts and repairability. 

While the Fairphone 4 is getting long in the tooth, it is good to see Murena bring the device to the United States. Folks in the USA interested in smartphone privacy and the right-to-repair movement have until now had to make due with devices that were difficult to fix; the Murena Fairphone 4 may be a godsend to this crowd.

The Murena Fairphone 4 is currently available for sale on Murena's webstore, although it is currently on backorder. 

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