The tinted transparent back panel is solidly secured, of course. The panel won't be ever popping off on its own. But it's still incredibly easy to remove. Inside the Fairphone 5, immediately, we have the world's easiest battery removal of all time. This 4,200 milliamp hour square can be taken out and replaced in about 10 seconds. And replacements will only cost about $40 bucks. Europe just passed some new legislation that every smartphone needs to have a user replaceable battery by 2027, which I'm a huge fan of. Fairphone is just a year ahead of the curve. To swap out any of the rest of the modular components, a screwdriver is required. Luckily the seven Phillips screws on the top and the 5 screws on the bottom are all the same size. There is a little bonus flap to preliminary unplug the single ribbon cable before removing the top plastics. This ribbon looks to control the flash as well as the time of flight sensor next to the two rear camera lenses.You might have noticed a strange shape in the center of the phone. This might look like sticker residue or a Rorschach inkblot test, but in fact it's actually a map silhouette of the DRC where a lot of mining and justice occurs. It's a reminder for the lengths that Fairphone has gone to bring awareness to conflict materials like cobalt, and Fairphone's commitment to only get materials from sustainable sources. Underneath the bottom plastics we have a loudspeaker, which doesn't have any foam balls. Circular vibrator. Each of these parts, however, are individually available for purchase. The bottom plastics, for instance, cost $35 dollars which is pretty reasonable.Since the Fairphone 5 has an IP rating 5.5, it also has some waterproofing mesh over the speaker opening. We also find the easiest charging port removal of all time, it has a black rubber ring. And each replacement 30 watt USB-C port is available for $25 directly from Fairphone. We have a modular earpiece speaker. A modular front facing 50 megapixel selfie camera which doesn't have OIS. A module 50 megapixel wide angle camera with no OIS. And a 50 megapixel modular main camera which does have OIS. Again, all individually listed for sale with the whole goal of keeping your phone alive for as long as possible, reducing e-waste. I'll leave the photo quality to other reviewers. But so far this Fairphone 5 is the most repairable smartphone on the planet. If, of course, the screen can actually be removed and replaced with just 8 more screws. And look at that, no heat, no glue, just a modular 6.5 inch OLED with a Lego-style ribbon connector.With even amatuer level screwdriver abilities, the Fairphone 5 display can be fixed and replaced by anyone within 10 minutes. Replacement screens will only cost $100 bucks. Fairphone seems to be extremely reasonable with all of their replacement part pricing. Now one thing I didn't quite understand is that here under the battery it says the SIM card and micro SD card slot are located on the motherboard. But so far I'm not seeing them. If we take a quick peek behind them we see a cool copper vapor chamber, as well as a teal thermal pad that takes the place of thermal paste. Removing the motherboard, of course, isn't part of any of the standard repair procedures, this is just us exploring. Turns out I am, in fact, not smarter than a smartphone and the SIM and expandable SD card slot are also located on the back plastics. The Fairphone 5 is upgradable to a mind blowing 2 terabytes of storage. Jerry has never been so pleased.Now that we're done with the disassembly, let's put everything back together so we can kill it with a durability test. Because at the moment this Fairphone 5 sounds far too good to be true. Fairphone is a B Corp. which means a benefit corporation, same as my Not-A-Wheelchair wheelchair company. A B Corp has the end goal of not only being successful, but also transparent about being an overall benefit to society. With living wages paid to the people assembling the phone and using certified cobalt suppliers and fair lithium mining, along with recycled aluminum tin and steel, and a 100% recycled plastic back, it's all topped off with a commitment to recycle as many, if not more, phones than they sell. Fairphone has taken the Boy Scout “leave no trace” mantra to the next level.Myself, on the other hand, let's see what traces we can leave on this screen. Our Mohs scale of hardness can differentiate between plastic, which scratches at 2 or 3, glass, which scratches at a 5 or 6. And sapphire, which scratches at an 8 or 9. And judging by those scratches we see at a level 6, with deeper grooves at a level 7, this Fairphone 5 is using Gorilla Glass 5. Underneath that protective layer of glass is the front facing 50 megapixel selfie camera. The top earpiece slit does have metal mesh inside, but nothing that will be coming out on its own. The phone is slightly thicker than an average flagship, but I think it's a worthwhile tradeoff for how easy it is to fix. The recycled aluminum body is anodized. The power button doubles as a fingerprint scanner right where it should be. And both the individual volume buttons are made from metal and are not removable. The top of the phone is bare, minus a microphone hole, and the left side of the smart phone has quite a bit more metal, along with a little recess for where we're able to grab the plastic back and pull it away from the body.The bottom of the phone has our lower stereo speaker and our 30 watt USB-C port. As far as cameras go, we have our 50 megapixel wide angle lens up top. 50 megapixel main camera right below it. And the tinted time of flight sensor in the top right, all protected with glass. As for the transparent back panel, Fairphone has unobtrusively debossed their logo into the surface. It comes in blue, matte black, or transparent, and y'all already know which one's my favorite. The ability to see the inner workings of a smart phone without taking it apart will always have a very, very special place in my heart. Like I mentioned earlier, the smartphone screen is a 6.5 inch P OLED panel, which lasts for about 20 seconds before turning white and mostly recovering. Not too shabby.Fairphone has been making devices for the past 10 years, so this isn't their first rodeo. And the expertise is showing by their prime placement of the fingerprint reader, right on top of the power button. After setting my print and scratching it up a bit more just for kicks and giggles...even with all that extra damage, the Fairphone 5 is still able to unlock itself the majority of the time. Thumbs up for that.Finally, with so many user removable parts and a suspicious lack of glue whatsoever, there may be doubts about the overall durability of this newest Fairphone. Turns out, however, that even after a full complete disassembly, the Fairphone 5 is still more rigidly solid than most glued shut smartphones we see today. With 0 flex from the front and 0 flex from the back, the Fairphone 5 is a solid block of repairable perfection that deserves every ounce of praise it receives. All for $750 bucks. The Fairphone 5 passes my durability test. However, the biggest problem with this phone is that it's not available here in the USA. It can only be preordered across Europe starting today, but has no official plans to be coming our direction. Perfection is so close, yet so far away. Hit that subscribe button to stay updated if you haven't already. It's free. And thanks a ton for watching. I'll see you around.smrat phone
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