**The Fairphone 2: A Fully-Modular Smartphone**

Hey guys, this is Austin. This is the Fairphone 2 and it's a fully-modular smartphone. What's different about this is unlike something like the Essential or the Moto Z, which is more about adding things to your phone to get more functionality, with the Fairphone, say something like the screen breaks or the camera is outdated. The idea is that you can literally just pop the screen out and put a new one in without having to throw away your phone.

**Opening Up the Fairphone 2**

Open this guy up and we see the Fairphone itself, which actually looks really cool. So the idea here is that you should be able to very, very easily swap parts out. So not only can we take out the battery, but there are actually a couple of tabs on the bottom. So if we flip these back, in theory, I've actually done this before, but we can just pop the screen right off. Seriously, I just unboxed the phone and took the screen out in like eight seconds.

**Accessing Other Modules**

With the screen gone, we can get access to several other modules. So up top here, we have the headphone jack as well as the front-facing camera. We have the main camera module here, and we also have the speaker as well as the micro USB cable on the back.

**The Seven Different Modules Available**

What's cool about the Fairphone is that there are seven different modules that you can buy. And so say something breaks or you just want to upgrade it, you can pretty much buy all of them on the Fairphone site.

**Taking a Closer Look at the Camera Module**

With just a couple of screws, we have the camera out of the phone. So what they're doing here is they actually have these little pins that are on the actual camera itself. And I assume that these are the same pins that go on all of the other different modules to connect things.

**The Core Module**

So this is what I believe they call the core module. So inside here is where you have stuff like the CPU, the radios, all that kind of stuff. But when you look at it like this, it's a cool package.

**Supporting Dual SIM Cards and MicroSD**

Once everything is put back together, you'll see that it does support dual SIM cards and microSD. So say if some part goes down, you can just swap it out, or in theory, upgrade it with something better when it comes out.

**The Cost of Replacing Parts**

And the parts themselves are actually not that expensive. So say you break the screen and you wanna replace it, it's only going to cost you about $100. Even something like the camera module is only going to cost you about $40 to get a replacement.

**The Idea Behind the Fairphone 2**

So what's a decent phone today, instead of throwing it away in a year or two when you're ready to upgrade to your next phone? Imagine instead where you throw in a new screen when something comes out, a better processor, bigger battery. All of that kind of stuff should in theory give you a lot more life out of the phone.

**The Risk**

Unfortunately all this relies on the idea that Fairphone is going to continue making modules and continuing supporting the Fairphone 2. That's obviously their idea, but until more stuff comes out, it's a little bit of a risk.

**Availability and Price**

Now only is it only available in Europe right now, but it's pretty hard to get your hands on. Once you do, it's not going to come cheap. This guy runs about 530 Euros, which in American dollars is like $592.74. That's pretty much in full flagship territory.

**What Would It Take for You to Buy a Modular Smartphone?**

So let me know in the comments below what would it take for you to buy a modular smartphone, Fairphone or otherwise?

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hey guys, this is Austin.This is the Fairphone 2 and itis a fully-modular smartphone.What's different about thisis unlike something likethe Essential or the Moto Z, whichis more about adding things to your phoneto get more functionality,with the Fairphone,say something like the screen breaksor the camera is outdated.The idea is that youcan literally just popthe screen out and put a new one inwithout having to throw away your phone.Open this guy up and wesee the Fairphone itself,which actually looks really cool.So the idea here is that you shouldbe able to very, veryeasily swap parts out.So not only can we take out the battery,but there are actually a coupleof tabs on the bottom.So if we flip these back, in theory,I've actually done this before,but we can just pop the screen right off.Seriously, I just unboxed the phoneand took the screen outin like eight seconds.With the screen gone, we can get accessto several other modules.So up top here, we have the headphone jackas well as the front-facing camera.We have the main camera module here,and we also have the speaker as wellas the micro USB cable on the back.So what's cool about the Fairphoneis that there are seven different modulesthat you can buy.And so say somethingbreaks or you just wantto upgrade it, you can pretty much buy allof them on the Fairphone site.This might be the first time that I'vecompletely taken a phone apart beforeI've even finished the unboxing.So with just a couple of screws,we have the camera out of the phone.So what they're doinghere is they actually havethese little pins that areon the actual camera itself.And I assume that these are the same pinsthat go on all of the other differentmodules to connect things.So that, I believe, is theFairphone fully broken-down.So this is what I believethey call the core module.So inside here is where you have stufflike the CPU, the radios,all that kind of stuff.But when you look at it like this,it's a cool package.Once everything is put back together,you'll find that not only does it support dual SIM cards,but also a microSD up to 64GB.So the thing with the Fairphoneis, it's not a flagship.It's reasonably decently-specced,but don't expect too much.The real novelty here is the factthat you can really just takethe whole thing, tear it apart,put it back together, and youhave a working smartphone.And we are up and running.So, the first thing that jumps outto me about the fully-assembled Fairphoneis that it's a little bit chunky.This is definitely not the mostslim smartphone in the world.But of course, most smartphonesare nowhere near this easy to get into,so you do have some tradeoffs.Inside, this is rockingspecs straight out of 2014.So it's rocking a quad-coreSnapdragon 801 processorwith two gigabytes of RAM, as wellas 32 gigabytes of storage.This isn't that bad, but when you takea look at the benchmarks,it's definitely wellbehind a more modern flagship.Keep in mind thoughthat the Snapdragon 801was super high-end in 2014.Yes, that might not mean awhole lot three years later,but this is still going to perform justas well, if not better, thana lot of budget phones today.To be fair, the screen is pretty decent.So it is a five-inch panelwith a 1920 by 1080 resolution.It definitely won't shameany current flagships,but considering that most of the specsof this phone are from2014, it's actually kindof similar to the HTCOne M8 in that regard.Good, but definitely a coupleof years behind the times.It also has a 2,420 milliamp hour battery.That's fairly small fora smartphone these days.Now, I get it that the Fairphoneis definitely not meantto be a spec monster.The real benefit here isthe fact that it's modular.But, you're definitely giving upa fair few specs to get there.- (chuckling), fair few specs.- Eeeeey!(laughing)This guy's also rockingan eight megapixel camera.So if we line up Mr. Bolidohere, it doesn't look bad.It might not be the most punchy imagein the world, but again, 2014 specsare kind of a trend with this guy.We also have 1080p video.It looks decent, butagain, the camera hereis really nothing to bethat impressed about.Most importantly, we havea super-high resolutiontwo megapixel front-facing camerafor that awesome selfie action.Okay, well that actually looksa little bit crunchy, butyou can take it apart.The real advantage ofusing the Fairphone 2though is absolutely that modularity.So it does bring it a lotcloser to something like a PC.Say if some part goes down,you can just swap it out,or in theory, upgradeit with something betterwhen it comes out.And the parts themselves areactually not that expensive.So say you break the screenand you wanna replace it,it's only going to cost you about $100.Even something like the camera moduleis only going to cost you about $40to get a replacement.So it's not exactly like you're goingto break the camera very easily,but one of the bigdraws of the Fairphone 2is that in theory, asnew and better thingslike cameras come out, it's goingto be fairly simple to just throwa new one in your phone.And that's really where the ideaof the Fairphone 2 starts makinga lot more sense.So what's a decent phone today,instead of throwing it away ina year or two when you're readyto upgrade to your next phone,imagine instead where you throwin a new screen when something comes out,a better processor, bigger battery.All of that kind of stuff should in theorygive you a lot more life out of the phone.Unfortunately all this relies on the ideathat Fairphone is going to continuemaking modules and continuesupporting the Fairphone 2.That's obviously their idea, but untilmore stuff comes out, it's a littlebit of a risk.And that brings us around to oneof the bigger downsidesof the Fairphone 2.Now only is it only availablein Europe right now,but it's pretty hard to get your hands on.Once you do, it's not going to come cheap.This guy runs about 530 Euros,which in American dollars is like, 600?Actually, let me do thattranslation real quick,I didn't even think about.-The answer is $592.74.- I'm gonna pretend I knew that.That's pretty much infull flagship territory.While the phone is cool and there'sa lot of advantages, it's hardto justify that kind of price for it.To be fair, a lot of people on Twitterare really curious about the ideaof a modular smartphone.So, let me know in the comments below.What would it take for you to buya modular smartphone,Fairphone or otherwise?Let me know in the comments belowand I will catch you in the next one.