A Phone That Lasts a Decade? Sounds Too Good to Be True

DOESN’T IT SEEM like the second you buy a phone, the brand announces a new improved version with a better camera and battery? Or that any phone you try to use long enough to amortize its cost slows to an excruciating pace until finally, with a gasp, it stops supporting software updates? 

Fairphone, a Dutch company, aims to ease these frustrations. It designed its Fairphone 5, released in August, to last at least eight years, with Android security updates and software support promised through 2031. This exceeds the equivalent offers for the Apple iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones. And like previous releases from Fairphone, the newest model employs a “modular” design. Its 10 main parts, including the battery, USB port, glass screen and three camera lenses, can be removed, repaired and replaced in-house—as in your house—using only the small screwdriver that comes with the phone. No need to buy an entire new phone.