solid sustainable phone?

February 7, 2024 11:53 PM

my reliable 4+ year old iphone XR is now burning when I turn it on and I need to replace it today urgently but am overwhelmed by choices. I would rather stay iOS for ease but could switch if the option was better. The fairphone 4/5 are only available in my country by 3rd party retailers for a 10% mark-up, but that would be my preferred choice all other things equal. I don't need a better camera or blazing speed, just a reliable smartphone. Please advise before I make an expensive mistake!
posted by dorothyisunderwood to Shopping (7 answers total)

Best answer: I would buy a new iPhone. They're great, you're familiar with them, and also, once you do get one, you are free from mobile phone analysis paralysis.
posted by zippy at 12:22 AM on February 8 [4 favorites]

Best answer: There's two parts to this: how long will the hardware last, and how long will the software last? maybe also what happens to the old phone.

Used iphones and a couple of the more expensive brands of android phones (google pixel, samsung galaxy) have some resale value. There's more chance that some parts of a broken old phone could be recycled if it is one of these more popular models with resale value, which might arguably make using one more sustainable.

Phone software doesn't "rot" but over time more and more software security vulnerabilities are discovered that need to be patched. if these flaws are not patched the risk of being hacked etc increases over time. apple has quite a good track record of releasing security patches for iphone software for years and years, even for older models. on the android side, google has a pretty good track record for supporting security fixes for pixel phones, and samsung is making a reasonable effort. the years of security patch support is measured from the date when the phone is released, not when you buy it. So if you buy a new budget android phone that was released 1 year ago from some random android manufacturer, there's a pretty good chance you might only get 1 year of security update coverage even if the hardware could last for 3 or 4 years.

there's some data about phone software support at endoflife.date:

https://endoflife.date/iphone

https://endoflife.date/pixel

https://endoflife.date/samsung-mobile

https://endoflife.date/fairphone

The Fairphone 4 is noted as having 2 years 7 months of security updates remaining, so that one probably isn't a great choice.


i recently went through the exercise of finding a new android phone with a low cost-per-year-of-software-updates (which is definitely not the same as focusing on sustainability). my shortlist was:

Motorola moto g14
Samsung Galaxy A05s
Samsung galaxy A15 5G

The moto g14 was top of the list because it is so cheap, but it only had about 2.5 years of software support, and it seemed a bit gross from a sustainability perspective buying a new phone that would only be supported for 2.5 years. So i bought one of the those two cheap samsung galaxy models, both of which should have software support from samsung for at least the next 3.75 years.
posted by are-coral-made at 12:33 AM on February 8 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I’d stay with iOS, since it’s a familiar environment for you, and you seem to like it. As you noted, you’ve gotten four years out of your current phone, which speaks to the longevity of most iPhones. My 6s (which still works flawlessly) recently got a security update, for instance. Longevity is, in its own way, a form of environmental responsibility.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:53 AM on February 8 [2 favorites]

Best answer: When you say “turn it on” do you mean fresh from recharging? What kind of charging cable are you using (wired? wireless? How old?)? You might want to try a different charger before replacing the phone if you haven’t already, or otherwise troubleshooting… if it’s a problem that could be solved, keeping the phone you have would be the most sustainable option.
posted by Kriesa at 3:43 AM on February 8 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Fairphone is a lovely idea, but it won't last you as long as a solidly built iPhone. It will slow down quicker, and probably fall apart quicker. So the idea that it is sustainable is questionable.

Get your phone fixed. That's way more 'sustainable'. Or....

Go and buy a 2nd hand iPhone from a year or two ago, or buy a phone from Apple's refurbished store. The phone already exists in the world. Buying it is a way to extend its lifespan. Rather than buy a new Fairphone, buy an old iPhone which will last you a lot longer.

Then make sure you recycle your current phone responsibly. Give it to Apple, and they will do it for you. You might even get a tiny bit in exchange for a refurbished phone.

This is the way
posted by 0bvious at 4:55 AM on February 8 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I'd take the XR to a repair shop if it was otherwise sufficient for you.
posted by Akke at 4:57 AM on February 8 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: It started randomly burning again this morning and is now malfunctioning badly so I bit the bullet and got a new iPhone. Where I live the amortised price of a typical lifespan of a phone weirdly makes the secondhand ones more expensive than the newest retail model on sale (yes I have a spreadsheet for this). I will drop my old phone off for recycling.

Thank you for helping me make a big decision fast with minimal agony!
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:54 PM on February 8 [3 favorites]