Here is one who will be entitled to a well-deserved retirement. Launched in October 2015, the Fairphone 2 will receive its latest system update next March. Seven and a half years of updates, needless to say, this is a record for an Android smartphone.
Fairphone, the small Dutch manufacturer that has made durability its specialty, did not expect to maintain this model for so long. The Fairphone 2 had been sold with a promise of three to five years of updates. But by making efforts, the manufacturer has managed to push this limit.
Effort was really needed, because the Android industry sector does not expect such longevity. The main difficulty came from the end of support for the Snapdragon 801 by Qualcomm in 2018. Fairphone then relied on LineageOSthe main fork of Android, to continue hardware support and thus extend updates. The Fairphone 2 was “stuck” on Android 10 when the current version is 13, but still receiving improvements and fixes, which is better than nothing.
In the Android universe, only the Nvidia Shield TV, the first version of which dates back to 2015, can boast of similar longevity. The recent trend is for longer software tracking among Android manufacturers (three to four major updates of the system), but especially for high-end terminals. And the iPhone then? Released the same year as the Fairphone 2, the iPhone 6s is not entitled to iOS 16, but it recently received a security update on iOS 15 and it is expected that these fixes will be offered for a while yet.
The end of Fairphone 2 system updates does not completely mark the end of life of the device. As the Dutch manufacturer explains to its customers, the smartphone will still work after its final update in March, however it will not be necessary to wait for a fix to a possible bug in the system after this date. It is especially at the level of security that a problem will arise, because there will be no more patches and sensitive apps (such as those of banks) will gradually become incompatible, considering the device as obsolete.
The longevity of a product is not only measured by its follow-up software, the availability of spare parts is also crucial. On this point, Fairphone announces that it still has limited stock of spare parts. The manufacturer is not very clear on the following: either these parts will be marketed until the stock is exhausted, or they will be as long as there is a number ” sufficient “ of active users.
For those die-hards who still use a Fairphone 2, the manufacturer offers several second-life options: continue to use the device at your own risk; install an alternative system (LineageOS, /e/OS…) for an even longer follow-up; use it exclusively offline for various purposes; or even have it recycled.
Those who choose the latter option can get a €50 voucher from the Fairphone store if they register their device for the return program before April 1. In comparison, for an iPhone 6s returned today, Apple offer… 0 €.
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