If you guys still naively think that our blue-collar workers are treated fairly, you may want to check the news on one of the Apple‘s suppliers Catcher Technology. See link here. This is one of the many horrible stories that is still happening to the Chinese workers in the electronics factory. Very often, you heard of workers being forced to work overtime and worse, working on toxic electronic components without proper protecting gears.
Things need to change and this is the vision that Bas Van Abel embraces. He started Fairphone in Jan 2013 with sustainability and workers’ welfare in mind. To do that, the objective is to involve all stakeholders in the creation of our products, from users, material miners and suppliers to factory workers.
By having a more transparent and sustainable value chain, Fairphone aims to build a product that has longer longevity while promoting better working conditions for the workers.
Without further ado, let’s take a quick look at some key features:
It comes with Android OS which means you can access to all the Apps in the Play stores which are the same to what other big players like Samsung and HTC are offering.
With Dual SIM, it makes switching of SIM card easy. Such feature are not common among other established brand and this could appeal to businesses who travel frequently.
Overview of the specification:
- Dimensions: 126 x 63.5 x 10 mm
- Weight: 163 g (including the battery)
- MediaTek 6589 chipset: 1.2Ghz quad-core for faster processing
- Android OS (4.2.2 Jelly Bean)
- 16GB storage memory (MicroSD card slot to add up to an extra 64GB) and 1GB of system memory.
- Dragontrail glass: Durable and scratch-resistant
- Screen: 4.3 inches of touch screen qHD goodness (960×540 pixels)
- Rear camera: 8 megapixel with a LED flash, stablisation and autofocus
- Front camera: 1.3 megapixel
- Dual SIM
Let’s hear what others are saying.
A simple smartphone with clean interface makes the phone easy to use. As the video briefly mentioned, Fairphone provides “fix-your-own-phone” guide. iFIXIT has also announced the partnership with Fairphone in Apr 2014 to offer owners on self-repair guides.
The phone is selling at €310. You can also order accessories at their website.