The Fairphone 6 might just be the most interesting Android phone you can buy today, but probably not for the reasons you expect. In a year marked by increasing reliance on AI, cloud services, and privacy concerns over data handling, Murena’s Fairphone 6 stands alone.
The Fairphone 6 offers seemingly everything for the person who wants a unique phone this year and is tired of all the negative technology trends. It has built-in security for blocking apps and web trackers, a way to hide your IP from snooping advertisers and companies like Meta and Google, a privacy switch on the side that can disable microphones and cameras on a whim — or just enable an ultra-minimalist mode for when you need to unplug — and it’s impressively repairable, with 14 components you can easily swap out yourself.
It’s the anti-smartphone in so many ways, and it may just be the phone you need to upgrade to if you’re worried about your digital privacy and want to ensure you’ve got a phone that not only gets eight years of software updates (yes, eight!), but also one that’s impressively easy to repair.
Redefining privacy and value
The sixth-generation Fairphone is a mid-range Android 15 or Android 16-powered phone that’s designed to be sustainable and repairable at its core. I list both OS’s because Fairphone sells two models: one with a fairly bare-bones version of Android that comes with all the usual Google apps and services, and the more privacy-focused Murena /e/os version that I’m focusing on here.
The minimalist plastic build features two obvious screws on the back for easy disassembly, which reveals a battery that can be easily removed and replaced. That design also allows for the removal and replacement of 14 main components that Fairphone sells for reasonable prices. Fairphone also sells several accessories, like cases and screen protectors, so you don’t have to worry about having a hard time finding the right fit.
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The phone runs Murena’s /e/os, a privacy-centric fork of Android that receives monthly security updates for the first three years, then bi-monthly until June 2033, when support officially ends. The /e/os operating system strips out all the Google tracking bits, including Google Play Services and any of the usual Google apps that are preinstalled on other Android phones.
But don’t worry, the App Lounge built into /e/os contains common Android apps, open-source apps, and progressive web apps, which means your favorite apps are almost certainly available right away. The key here is that this app store doesn’t rely on Google’s tracking to serve you apps; it doesn’t even require you to sign into an account, if you don’t want to!
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Alternatively, the Fairphone 6 runs an extremely minimalist version of Google Play Services, so you don’t have to jump through hoops to use standard Google apps. Just sign in to your Google account, and it keeps your data siloed to those specific apps, instead of having OS-wide tracking or integration features as a normal Android build does.
The core of the visible software privacy filters is right on the (very iOS-inspired) home screen. Swipe over to the leftmost panel, which contains a list of widgets, and tap on Advanced Privacy to get started.
From here, you can see which apps are trying to track your personal data, as well as a list of controls you can use to keep things as private as possible. By default, most of these advanced features are turned off for compatibility reasons, but a quick tap of any of the three categories can change that.
I recommend that every Fairphone user enable the feature that prevents app trackers and ads. I’ve seen no evidence that it breaks apps, even those that usually punish users when ads are blocked, since it seems to be smart enough not to block ads on these kinds of services. Everywhere else, though, it does an impressively good job of blocking ads, and there’s zero configuration. You just turn it on, and it works.
The other two categories — Geolocation and real IP address — are likely a little more niche, but are nevertheless important for folks worried about online privacy. Geolocation allows you to fake your location, including a “random plausible location” option or a specific location you can pick from a map. The IP address section lets you fully mask your public IP, so websites can’t guess where you are based on that alone.
All of these settings — ads, geolocation, and IP — are super granular and can be configured per app, although the default setting applies to all apps on the phone, so configuration is only required if you want to dive deeper.
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My other favorite key feature of this phone is controlled by that bright yellow switch on the right side. By default, this switch immediately disables all camera and microphone access, so you can join meetings and toggle it off without worrying about being unmuted.
But while this is a great default option, I actually preferred to change this switch to Fairphone Moments, a new /e/os feature that instantly makes the phone minimalist. It reminds me of the NXTPAPER key on the TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro, a great feature more phones need.
Murena /e/OS is currently quite a bit behind on Android updates, as the phone still runs Android 15 as of this June 2026 review. Android 16 is in the works, but it’s entirely likely the phone will remain at least one version behind for the foreseeable future. It’s slated for eight total OS updates, likely meaning this phone will see Android 23 as its last version.
Even being a version behind, eight years of OS and security updates is simply unheard of for any phone, regardless of whether it’s Android or iOS. That helps pivot the value proposition quite a bit, especially considering the repairability of this phone compared to nearly unrepairable phones like the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Of course, the $749 price puts it just under flagship phones like the OnePlus 15 and cheaper semi-flagship models like the Google Pixel 10 and Nothing Phone 3. Despite the similar price, its specs are quite a bit worse than those of the other phones in every way. It’s got a slower processor, significantly worse cameras, and a smaller battery capacity.
And while the AMOLED display looks pretty good in a very OLED way, it’s a bad choice for people who are sensitive to PWM dimming.
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I’d love to paint the specs in a better light, especially given the absurd price increases we’ve seen on technology this year, but this isn’t a phone you’re going to buy if you’re looking for the best performance or camera quality. You’re buying it for the privacy, the long-term support, and the repairability.
Which brings me to the final point: this isn’t a phone for everyone, but it is a phone that excels in what it aims to do best. There’s no other phone on the market quite like the Fairphone 6, and if those three categories are the most important to you, this could be the dream phone you’ve been waiting for.
The anti-smartphone
The Murena Fairphone 6 is a great phone for anyone who values privacy and wants out of the Google ecosystem. It’s also super repairable and hsa long software support, which adds a ton of value.