In 2013, a Dutch startup brought into the spotlight the importance of using ethically sourced materials and promoting product longevity, unveiling the concept of the Fairphone. Fast forwarding to its fifth generation, Fairphone 5 presents an impressive list of features including OLED display, 50-MP cameras, and fast charging. The Fairphone 5's creation was brought to life alongside Swedish design studio Above, its design reflecting the core principles of ethical sourcing and repair friendliness. The phone is assembled with over 70% of its 14 essential materials, including tungsten, lithium, gold, aluminum, tin, nickel, copper, and plastics, coming from recycled or fair-mined sources, or operations compliant with responsible production through "Fairphone and partners' impact projects".

The assembly of this pocket-sized device followed ethical practices prioritizing safe and fair working conditions meeting certification standards. Similar to its predecessors, Fairphone has committed to the responsible recycling of e-waste by matching the weight of its sold devices with the disposed waste. Additionally, there's an initiative to recover and repair defunct handsets for a second life. Making a mark with its robustness, it is built to resist IP55 standard weather conditions, endure 1.8m (6 ft) drop tests, and acquire the MIL-STD-810H durability certification.

The Fairphone 5 apart from being slimmer and lighter than its former versions, also possesses a 90-Hz OLED display which spans 6.46 inches diagonally. The display screen, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 is replaceable and is capable of displaying visuals at 1,224 x 2,700 pixels and 20:9 aspect, 880 nits of peak brightness. Another feature highlights a 50-MP hole-punch selfie camera, supporting 4K video at 30 frames per second. Inside, it houses a Qualcomm QCM6490 chipset, selected specifically due to its superior long-term software support, with Fairphone pledging to five OS upgrades and security updates till at least 2031.

Solidifying its commitment to durability, Fairphone states that "By offering longer-term software support, users can keep using their phones twice as long, lowering up to 50% of the environmental impact and resource use compared to a regular smartphone". The phone comes with an octa-core SoC, offering integrated graphics, 5G mobile internet, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, AI computing capabilities and more. It runs on a bloat-free version of Android 13, 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM, and 256 GB of UFS-2.2 storage which can be expanded to 2 TB via microSD.

In addition to these notable features, the back panel comprises of two 50-megapixel cameras, promising an effortless professional photography experience, courtesy of Sony sensors and high-end imaging algorithms. The Fairphone 5 is powered by the "fairest smartphone battery on the market" with a capacity of 4,200-mAh battery, guaranteeing up to 12 hours of call duration per charge and a half-charge within 30 minutes with 30-W fast-charging. Currently priced at €699 and expected to ship from mid-September, the latest Fairphone is not foreseen to hit the US markets anytime soon.