Framework, Fairphone and the Repairable Tech Worth Buying

Battery and charging

The 4,415mAh battery is the headline repairability feature — it's user-replaceable, which is almost unheard of on a modern smartphone. When the cell inevitably degrades after a few years, you swap it yourself in minutes rather than paying a service centre or, worse, replacing the whole phone. Charging is 30W wired. There's no wireless charging, and Fairphone has been upfront about why: it has previously cited the lower energy efficiency of wireless charging, choosing instead to focus on the removable battery and 30W wired charging. Whether that trade sits well with you is personal, but the reasoning is at least coherent.

Cameras

The rear camera system pairs a 50MP main sensor — a Sony Lytia 700C — with a 13MP secondary lens, and there's a 32MP front camera. The Lytia 700C is a capable modern sensor, and in good light the Fairphone 6 produces pleasing, natural-looking shots. It won't out-shoot a £1,000 flagship in tricky low light, but for everyday photography it's genuinely good, and a clear step up from earlier Fairphones.

Durability and connectivity

You get an IP55 rating for dust and moisture — enough to shrug off rain and splashes, though not a phone to take swimming — and Fairphone says it passes multiple military-grade drop tests, helped by that scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 7i. Connectivity covers 5G and Wi-Fi 6E, plus a fingerprint reader, NFC and Bluetooth 5.4 LE. It's a thoroughly modern spec sheet.

How They Stack Up: Repairable vs Conventional

Numbers on a page only tell part of the story, so here's how the two hero devices compare against conventional, non-repairable rivals in the same broad category.

The pattern is clear. In raw spec terms the repairable options are broadly competitive rather than category-leading — you give up a little on things like water resistance and wireless charging on the phone, and pay a premium on the laptop. What you get back is a device you can keep alive and current for far longer. That's the whole game.

The Long-Term Money Argument

This is where repairable tech earns its keep, and it's worth thinking about carefully because it runs counter to how most of us instinctively judge value. We look at the sticker price and compare. But the number that actually matters is cost per year of ownership.

Consider the phone. A sealed handset's usable life is typically capped by its battery — once the cell fades to the point where it won't see out a day, most people replace the entire device. With the Fairphone 6, you fit a fresh 4,415mAh battery yourself for a small parts cost and carry on. Crack the screen? That's one of the 12 replaceable parts, not a write-off. Stretch two years of use to five, and the effective annual cost roughly halves.

The laptop story is even stronger because of upgrades. Buy a Framework Laptop 13 with modest memory today, then add a second SO-DIMM to reach 64GB when DRAM prices ease. Fill the M.2 2280 slot with a 2TB drive when you need it. On the Laptop 16, swap the graphics module rather than the whole machine. And across the range, a future mainboard swap can give you a new processor generation without a new chassis, keyboard, screen or battery. Each of those interventions is a fraction of the cost of a new device.

Verdict and Ratings

Taking the range as a whole, here's how I'd score the 2026 repairable line-up. The scores reflect both what these devices do today and, importantly, the long-term value they unlock.

The Fairphone 6's user-replaceable battery and 12 serviceable parts earn it a near-perfect repairability score.

Who Should Buy What

Frequently Asked Questions

Repairable tech has quietly grown up. What started as a niche for enthusiasts is now a mature, credible alternative to the sealed, disposable devices that dominate the shelves — and one that, over the years you'll own it, tends to cost you less. If you've been on the fence, 2026 is a very good time to jump.