Inside the world's most repairable phone

If you can’t open it, do you really own it? Ten years ago, this was the question that nudged Dutch designer Bas van Abel towards developing the world’s very first Fairphone. “One day my son came to me with a broken Nintendo,” he remembers. While trying to diagnose the problem, he found that the device was fitted with special screws that made it more difficult to open. “That really pissed me off — to have to throw away something I knew I could still fix.”

Bas created Fairphone not long after, based on the desire to see more electronics that are ethically sourced, long-lasting and easy to repair. By 2014, the company had launched the first iteration of their flagship product: a modular mobile phone made using recycled and conflict-free components.

Since then, Bas has cemented himself as one of the most disruptive thinkers in an industry that’s responsible for the fastest-growing waste stream in the world. Here, we talk to Bas about how he first fell in love with repair, why circularity matters in tech, and what it means to give people “true ownership” over their products.

Hi Bas! Can you tell us more about Fairphone’s mission and vision?
The idea behind Fairphone was to make a smartphone that was as fair as possible — and by ‘fair’, we mean good for both people and the environment. To do this, we focus on certain areas in the supply chain, but also on the design of the phone.

For example, we avoid the use of any conflict minerals in our phones. We use recycled materials. We have programmes in the gold, cobalt, and lithium mines that we work with, to advocate for fair trade practices and better labour conditions. We make phones that you can use for a very long time, focusing on longevity. We also have programmes that focus on recycling and the reuse of old phones.

How did the idea first come about?
Well, I’ve always been a tinkerer. I’m one of those guys: if you give me a computer, I’ll end up cracking it open to see what’s inside. And so one day, my son came to me with a broken Nintendo. So I set out to fix it. I took my screwdriver and started trying to take the screws out one by one. After a while, I saw metal dust coming out of the device, and I knew at that point that I wasn’t getting in anymore. I realised that they had used special screws in the device to make it more difficult for people to open. That really pissed me off — to have to throw away something I knew I could still fix.

“For me, true ownership is not just about possessing an object. ”

It made me think: why can’t I go into a product that I own, I bought, and is mine? For me, true ownership is not just about possessing an object. It’s not the economic ownership that’s important. It’s really the relationship that you can have with a product. And I believe repairability and accessibility are important elements of that relationship.

You know, there’s this saying that’s popular in the maker scene which goes: “If you can’t open it, you don’t own it.” And I truly believe that. Because if you can open a product, you can see how it’s made. You can repair it, you can understand the technology it uses. And the more you understand things, the easier it is to change them.

Why focus on the mobile phone?
I think there’s a beautiful paradox to the mobile phone. It’s interesting how connected we are with this device. It’s so important to us. It connects us with everyone, and we use it every day. But how much do we actually know about it? About the people who made it? What it is made of? Or where it ends up once we’re done with it? I think that we don’t ask these questions about technology — specifically not about the mobile phones we use — because they’re black boxes. This is a problem because people are becoming alienated from the products they use. As designers, we need to change that.

How has this shaped the way you define and approach circularity at Fairphone?
The circularity principles behind Fairphone are very simple. It starts with knowing that the most sustainable phone is the one you already own. Because if you can use your phone for twice as long, you only need to produce half the amount of phones, and you only make half the amount of electronic waste. It’s a super simple calculation, but one that has the most positive impact on the environment.

“People are becoming alienated from the products they use. As designers, we need to change that. ”

On average, most phones are tossed away after only two years of use. To solve this problem, Fairphone makes phones that people can easily repair themselves. We start by making sure that we use replaceable batteries. I think that should be the starting point for every phone on the market. Then, through our modular design, we make it very easy for Fairphone users to repair or replace broken components. The screen, for example, is designed to be completely detachable. It takes just a little effort for a customer to replace the screen themselves, and it’s even cheaper than bringing it to a repair shop.

We also pay special attention to the design of small components like the USB connector, making sure they are isolated from the more expensive parts of the phone. This way, you can replace them when they break, without having to buy a whole new phone. On top of that, the modular design also allows people to replace specific parts with new and improved editions. We launched a new camera, for example, with the Fairphone 3. But we made it possible for people who already had an older Fairphone model to simply swap out the camera on their existing phone. That saves a lot of waste and CO2 emissions.

How do other strategies — like recycling — fit in?
If you look at recycling within the technology industry, most of the time it’s nothing more than putting it in the oven, burning it, and getting the minerals out to use them again. So what you really want to focus on is actually keeping the product in use for as long as possible. Even so, designing for longevity is just the beginning. Because you can design yourself silly, but you will never end up having a more circular economy without changing all the other things that you can’t see. Like the business model that your company is built on. The supply chain that you use. The way you source your materials.

I think as a designer, if you really want to make circular products, 99% of your work should be focused on the stuff you don’t see. Because in the end, the stuff you don’t see determines the stuff you do see.

“As designers, we need to focus on the full system and not just the product.”

Any other advice for designers working on circularity?
As designers, we need to focus on the full system and not just the product. We have to ask: What systems are our products connected to? How are the products made? And how can we, as designers, have an influence on that? Can we use the product as an entry point to uncover the world behind them? Can we use that to increase the ownership that people feel over their products? There’s a storytelling aspect here that’s very important.

Another key element to circularity is also legislation. Legislation makes things possible, but it can also stand in the way. So one of the things that we’ve done with Fairphone, is to write letters to to the EU to ask them to get mobile phones into their eco-design directives. So I was really happy to see that this was included in the recent Green Deal, which forces electronic manufacturers and smartphone manufacturers to keep spare parts for their products for at least five years, and to make it easy for people to replace their batteries. All of this helps to create a deeper understanding between people and their products, and to show people what ‘fair’ really means.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

All photos courtesy of Fairphone.