Super-extended support for Fairphones

Fairphone 2, 2015. © Fairphone.

We’ve frequently mentioned the Dutch company Fairphone, whose philosophy and concept we really appreciate: making Android phones that are durable, and easy and inexpensive to repair. The company is now pushing the existing boundaries of the Android ecosystem even further: it has just announced the delivery of Android 10 for the Fairphone 2, a six-year-old device that was originally equipped with Android 5. Six years’ worth of major updates is unheard of in the Android market. As Ron Amadeo notes in Ars Technica, most Android phone manufacturers are happy to charge prices comparable to the iPhone, but without the support – in this case, six years of major updates. The best that key players like Samsung and Google offer is three years of major operating system updates. If a small company can rival the multi-billionaire in Cupertino, one wonders what is holding the others back (though we have an inkling: giving precedence to profits over the needs of customers).

Android 10 for Fairphone 2 is currently in beta and the final version is promised for early 2022. Fairphone is also starting to beta test Android 11 for the Fairphone 3 and 3+ this week.

⇨ Ars Technica, Ron Amadeo, “Fairphone beats the entire Android ecosystem with six years of support.”

2021-11-24