this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2026
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Which smartphone has the best balance between all these? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk
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In hindsight, I should've added a few more..

Repairability/sustainability: Easy to repair, sustainably produced.

Ethics: Anti-Big Tech (no Apple, no Samsung etc.), good workers' rights and supply chain. Preferably European.

Privacy: Speaks for itself. Privacy or anonymity, measures that foster it rather than feed data to others.

I feel like Fairphone would hit the Repairability and likely also Ethics (since it's a certified B corporation), but for Privacy, it'd be a Google Pixel with GrapheneOS... but it's Google, and given the CLOUD Act...

Maybe I could add accessibility there too, interface customisation (I like the iOS interface ways, but still, it's Apple), but that's a separate category.

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[โ€“] baguette@piefed.social 50 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

The 'Fair' in Fairphone relates to their practice to produce the phone as fairtrade as they can. Mind, it is not perfect and I believe they don't state that it is fully fairtrade either. This often gets confused that it is fair of them to make it repairable.

[โ€“] Dave@lemmy.nz 27 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I remember when Fairphone firat came out, they talked a bit about their work. Their conclusion was that it was simply not possible to create a phone that had all parts from ethical sources, so picked some specific things to focus on that were high impact and achievable at scale.

It's likely the most ethical phone you can buy, but that is mostly due to how bad most phones are.

[โ€“] baguette@piefed.social 5 points 1 week ago

Yes, I think it is nearly phrased the same in the link somewhere. I guess they also have to consider that it doesn't get much more expensive than it currently is. If I remember correctly they also want to be an example for other brands, and lead the way for other brands to choose more ethical materials.

[โ€“] BigTwerp@feddit.uk 7 points 1 week ago

This is true, I would say it is currently the most ethical smartphone you can buy today, though. If you get it with e.os installed it is also more privacy focussed as well but as a heads up e.os doesn't work with some banking apps.

[โ€“] DmMacniel@feddit.org 32 points 1 week ago (2 children)

You can install postmarketOS, Ubuntu Touch, /e/OS and the like on the Fairphone so no Google shit unless you want it.

[โ€“] Valthorn@feddit.nu 29 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Fairphone even sells the gen 6 with the option to have /e/OS pre-installed.

[โ€“] Honytawk@feddit.nl 2 points 1 week ago

They also did with Fairphone 4 and 5

[โ€“] persona_non_gravitas@piefed.social 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

PostmarketOS on Fairphone is afaik FAR from ready for daily driver status. 100% for UBPorts Ubuntu Touch (on gen5 or gen4) though. Also iodรฉOS in addition to /e/.

[โ€“] FlowerFan@piefed.blahaj.zone 8 points 1 week ago

Yes it is. Tried it on the 5, doesn't have speaker drivers, makes it fairly unusable. Alarm clocks, for example, are almost useless if they only work with your headphones.

[โ€“] Paddy66@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 week ago (7 children)

A Fairphone with e/OS/ on it.

[โ€“] timestatic@feddit.org 5 points 1 week ago

Preferably directly from the company Murena, as they develop /e/OS. Don't have to sideload and lock the bootloader or do anything, and devs gotta eat!

[โ€“] gusgalarnyk@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (5 children)

That's what I went with. It satisfies all three for me better than any other option on the market.

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[โ€“] sol@feddit.uk 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

For those categories, it's gotta be Fairphone. Definitely wins in the ethics and repairability categories, and with /e/ I think it would be a decent contender in the privacy bracket.

A second hand Pixel with GrapheneOS might also be a contender. I think buying second hand is a decent ethical choice and GrapheneOS is probably as good as it gets for privacy. Not very repairable though.

[โ€“] marius@feddit.org 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It's a bummer that /e/ does not support the fairphone moments feature

[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 20 hours ago

What's that moments feature?

[โ€“] mapu@slrpnk.net 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Fairphone /e/OS version hits all three

[โ€“] klairman@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I agree, the only (big) problem is that many bank apps don't work there.

[โ€“] gusgalarnyk@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Mine do, and every single bank app I've ever used works there as well. Admittedly that's three, but like 2 big and 1 small makes these claims feel antiquated.

[โ€“] klairman@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I could fine this post and actually you are right, the compatibility is much better now.

[โ€“] timestatic@feddit.org 13 points 1 week ago

Buy a Fairphone from Murena, the company behind /e/OS. That way you buy a mostly fair produced phone thats ethical. It's the most repairable there is and /e/OS is a deGoogled custom rom with many privacy features on top.

[โ€“] eldain@feddit.nl 11 points 1 week ago

Jolla seems to be still around: https://commerce.jolla.com/products/jolla-phone-preorder

[โ€“] mapto@feddit.bg 11 points 1 week ago

There's also https://www.shift.eco/, but I don't think it beats the Fairphone.

[โ€“] atro_city@fedia.io 6 points 1 week ago

Fairphone

[โ€“] meldrik@lemmy.wtf 6 points 1 week ago

Jolla from Finland.

[โ€“] es_eskaliert@feddit.org 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Maybe the Volla Phone also?

[โ€“] Ashiette@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Zero (at home) reparability. Their customer service makes it expensive af to repair a unit.

I'm uncertain about the ethical part.

[โ€“] ZkhqrD5o@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Fairphone.

[โ€“] Luffy879@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

and given the CLOUD Act...

I bought my pixel from a local store. Please elaborate about the cloud act

[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Basically, the CLOUD act states that if a tech corporation has main residency in the US, it needs to provide a backdoor for espionage services, no matter even if data's stored elsewhere.

[โ€“] Luffy879@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago

Ill need to read into that, but AFAIK it refers to their cloud Servers, not the actual phones

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