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The Fairphone 3 Plus sets a new standard for sustainable smartphones.
Written by Andrew Marchant, Marketing Manager | Privacy, Money-Saving and Parenting Advice
Last updated on 26 March 2026
Fairphone is the undisputed king of ethical smartphone manufacturing. As much as Apple will claim that they are an ethical company, Fairphone walks the walk as well as talks the talk, and leaves all their competitors in the dust. Why is this? Because Fairphone integrates sustainability across all stages of the product cycle. We will be explaining this in more detail below, and explaining what the new features of the Fairphone 3 Plus are.
Image credit: Fairphone
Fairphone has created what it has labelled as its most sustainable smartphone yet with the Fairphone 3 Plus. It is made of 40% recycled plastics, uses fairer materials and Fairphone pays a living wage to the factory workers that manufacture the devices. As it has been emphasised often that the way the smartphone industry currently impacts the environment is unsustainable, there has been an outcry among environmentalists for a smartphone which adheres to the circular economy. Fairphone once again have succeeded at this with the Fairphone 3 Plus.
Image credit: Fairphone
The Fairphone 3 Plus comes with a 16MP selfie camera lens and a 48MP rear camera lens (which are a step up from the Fairphone 3), a larger sensor, higher definition video, a fingerprint scanner and an overall faster performance. The specs are not much to shout about with the LCD touchscreen and other rudimentary features, but this has never been the main selling point for Fairphone devices. This is a smartphone for people who want to prioritise sustainability, which means that they can overlook to some extent the fact that this device is basic. This may not be an issue anyway, as many consumers do not mind not having all the most modern features on their smartphones.
Image credit: Fairphone
A unique feature of the Fairphone 3 Plus is that users can upgrade their Fairphone 3 (the Fairphone 3 Plus’ predecessor) to have the modular components of the Fairphone 3 Plus so that there is no need for Fairphone users to buy the new Fairphone 3 Plus handset. All users need to do is upgrade their Fairphone 3 handsets to have the new parts, which saves a lot of money and keeps the Fairphone smartphones in circulation rather than disposed of on a landfill site. Fairphone outline the steps to upgrading to the Fairphone 3 Plus as updating your Fairphone 3 to Android 10, switching it off and then unscrewing the internal components, then replacing it with the new Fairphone 3 Plus.
Image credit: Fairphone
Cover image credit: Fairphone
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