Why I Swapped My iPhone for a Fairphone

Fairphone’s Rugged Charm and Lasting Power

Mar. 5, 2025 - Willem L. Middelkoop

While sitting in the train the guy in front of me surprised me, out of his fancy pants he pulled this well worn, patina rich, piece of tech. We're travelling first class and judging by his classy attire, this man is not of limited means. Like a well-raced Porsche, this thing has seen some action. Sunlight hitting the metal frame reveals a green hue, I recognise it to be an earlier generation Fairphone still going strong. This changed my view on smartphones, please read along.

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Using sanding paper to remove paint from the Fairphone

Wear as Trophy: Racing a Porsche or running a Fairphone, the scars tell the epic tale - racing on Zandvoort with my buddy Niels!

My Fairphone 5 in natural aluminium with the unLauncher on Google-Free /e/OS

Fairphone is powered by the same Dragonwing chip that is used in ships, cranes, drones and industrial plants

With deGoogled Android, my Fairphone's battery life is measured in days

Let tools be tools: let the aluminium be like a canvas depicting usage patterns

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