The Fairphone 6 coming to the US means I’ll be spending $900 and I ain’t even mad about it

The Fairphone 6 is heading to the U.S. and Canada (mostly), and it’s the first Fairphone to be officially released in North America. I’ve long said that this is something I wanted to see, and when it happens, I’m on board. Now I get to spend $909, but I’m finally getting what I’ve been wanting for years.

If you’re like me and excited over the news, make sure you know a few things about it before you start clicking things at Murena’s website.

It’s $200 more than the model offered for most of the world. 😬

It’s not going to work on many 3G networks in North America.

The version being sold in North America is running the /e/OS operating system.

It’s not going to work on Verizon because of the lack of band 66, and not very well on AT&T (or Rogers) because not many mid-band networks are supported. It’s good to go for T-Mobile’s network, so if you’re team pink or use an MVNO, you’re set. There is zero support for mmWave networks in case you were wondering.

With that out of the way (sorry to rain on anyone’s parade), let’s talk about the reason I’m willing to pry open my wallet and order one: I love what Fairphone is doing and what it’s trying to do to this greedy, horrible industry.

You shouldn’t be shopping for a Fairphone because of its specs. They’re decidedly average and mid-range, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s (Gen 3). The only thing flagship about the Fairphone 6 is its price: $899 before shipping.

But if you want to support a company that consistently does the right thing at the right times, this is the phone for you. The company behind it all actually seems to care about both the people involved in making it and the people buying it.

We make a big fuss when Google or Samsung offers a phone that’s not impossible to repair, but their offerings pale when compared to the Fairphone. One screwdriver can change most of the parts that would potentially break or go bad, which means you can take advantage of years of support. I know this because I’ve completely disassembled several Fairphones, and they worked when I put them back together. Often that’s not the case. R.I.P. LG G2, G3, and G4.

Fairphone knows that the people who make building a phone possible need to be compensated. The company pushes for fair wages when it signs contracts, stays away from the shady side of rare-earth material mining, and uses recycled parts every time it can. The only reason an old Fairphone ends up in a landfill is that one of us was too lazy to send it back for complete recycling.

Finally, it honestly seems like the company wants me to use and enjoy its products as much as it wants to sell me a new one. All Fairphone phones have been supported for years longer than anyone thought possible. Parts are super easy to replace and cheap to purchase. The company makes it possible for you to keep using what you bought for years. That matters to me; the decision to buy a new phone shouldn’t be forced upon you because a manufacturer simply decided to stop supporting a product.

Of course, this adds up, and the phone is expensive as all get out. Paying $899 for this phone would be crazy if it came from Google, Apple, or Samsung. I could also be wrong, and the company is really good at setting a trap for folks like me who want to see the mobile industry shaken up and dumped on its head. I don’t think Fairphone or Murena or the /e Foundation is trying to scam me, though.

I trust them because everything they have shown me deserves their trust. I’m happy to spend more and buy exactly what I’ve been wanting for years.