Fairphone has officially introduced its latest eco-conscious flagship, the Fairphone 6 (formally called “The Fairphone”), and while it’s now more modular and easier to repair than ever before, what truly stands out is its surprising shift in design—it looks noticeably more conventional than any Fairphone before it.
And that’s a good thing.
With this latest model, Fairphone has moved away from the rounded edges that characterized the Fairphone 4 and 5. Instead, it has embraced sleek flat sides, taking a design cue from popular flagships like the iPhone 16e and Samsung Galaxy S25. The familiar triple-lens camera setup is still present, but this time, each lens sits independently—no longer housed in a raised module—much like the minimalist floating lens design we've seen from Apple and Samsung.
Now, that’s not to say Fairphone is copying the competition. After all, flat edges and separated camera lenses aren’t exclusive to any one brand. But it’s clear that with the Fairphone 6, the company is embracing a more refined, mature design language—one that appeals to users looking for a balance between sustainability and style.
I write this piece as an iPhone fan. I like the clean, industrial look of Apple’s iPhones – or more specifically, the iPhone 4, iPhone 5, and everything after the iPhone 12 – and I recently praised Google for leaning into the iPhone aesthetic with the Google Pixel 9 Pro, which is by all accounts the best Pixel phone to date.
Yes, design is subjective, and we know that certain types of consumers find this ongoing trend of smartphone design conformity boring. But the numbers don’t lie. If iPhones are the most popular phones in the world, it makes sense for rival manufacturers to make their phones more iPhone-like. Heck, Samsung did it with the Galaxy S24, and that phone went on to sell better than the Galaxy S23.
As a company, Fairphone’s USP is its sustainable approach to smartphone manufacturing, and its products are designed to last longer than those from rival brands. But sustainability comes at a cost for both maker and buyer.
£499 (around $680 / AU$1,049) for the Fairphone 6 is already a tough sell when the best cheap phones are more enticing options than ever. So, I can understand why Fairphone has pivoted to a more familiar, run-of-the-mill, but arguably more premium-looking design with its latest handset.
