Google has been working on what many believe the only modular smartphone, but after seeing the great anticipation for Google’s Project Ara, other companies have begun developing modular smartphones as well. The first look for a new device, called the Fairphone 2, has been released today, and scheduled for release later this year. The name of the company behind the latest modular mobile device, is also called Fairphone. Based in Holland, the startup has it as a main goal to create a smartphone that is a whole lot “fairer” to the user. The Fairphone 2, is the first device completely designed by the company, but the second phone it will launch, as the original Fairphone’s design was provided by a factory.
Fairphone managed to create an astounding device in just a small year under development, although the smartphone is a bit bulkier than regular devices out today, the internal hardware is what makes the Fairphone 2 unique. The upcoming device’s specs are not only good, but they are able to compete with most flagships out in the market. With a full-HD 5-inch display, the extremely resistant 0.7mm Gorilla Glass 3, a powerful Snapdragon 801 processor with 2GB of RAM, an 8MP rear-facing camera, dual SIM slots, and the capability to expand the memory via MicroSD card; the Fairphone 2 is on a par with many of the high-end devices out today. But the beauty of this upcoming device is not the hardware that comes already built in, as every part of the device is modular and can be swapped without any major hassle. Pre-orders begin this summer with a release date set for this year as well, with a somewhat elevated price of €525.
Fairphone is not taking the same approach with its Fairphone 2 as Google is taking with Project Ara; as Fairphone’s main goal is to improve the longevity of the device whereas Google wants users to get a personalized smartphone to adjust to the customers’ different lifestyles. The Fairphone 2 will be a lot more durable than most smartphones, with each part being easily replaceable, it will be much simpler and cheaper to fix any broken or malfunctioning piece of hardware. Currently, one of the main issues with smartphones and other gadgets, is the fact that getting them repaired if something is not working right, costs a hefty amount of money, if the upcoming Fairphone 2 manages to be well-adopted by people, it will probably motivate bigger companies to create something similar to reach the users’ ever-changing needs, and with that reach the vision that Fairphone has, design a device to “change the way products are made”.
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