Latest news with #repairable
Android Authority
17-07-2025
- Android Authority
Pixel Watch 4 upgrades could include a repair-friendly design and new emergency tools
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority TL;DR With the Pixel Watch 4, Google may finally introduce a new construction that's more conducive to hardware repairs. A new Breathing Emergencies tool could detect with your oxygen levels fall too low. Google may also bring satellite support to the Pixel Watch 4 for communication during emergencies. When you're thinking about picking up a premium smartwatch, durability is a major concern. After all, a good watch can easily go for as much as a phone itself, and while you may have a few options in terms of 'cases' and screen protectors, there's little denying that a watch is just a whole lot more exposed than your phone is — and that much more vulnerable to accidents. But while you may prioritize models with big, durable bezels and scratch-resistant sapphire crystals, what about the flip side of the coin: a watch that's easy to repair once the damage actually happens? Normally we wouldn't think of Pixel Watch models as being particularly serviceable, but according to a new report from Android Headlines, the Pixel Watch 4 is shaping up to be the most repairable iteration by a long shot. So far, the Pixel Watch's construction has basically been an impenetrable glass-and-metal puck, a smoothly weathered stone with no obvious point of entry. If you've ever had the misfortune for your Pixel Watch's glue to fail and the back to pop off, you'll both know that there isn't really much you can do in there anyway, and that getting it back together is a job better left for Google. A more serviceable Pixel Watch sounds great, but we don't get a ton of specifics here about how these improvements are supposed to work. The site only reports that the hardware's being designed with reparability in mind. As if that weren't enough, Android Headlines also follows up this reparability news with a report about some new emergency features that we can hope to expect from the Pixel Watch 4. For one, Google could bring satellite connectivity to the Pixel Watch series with Emergency Satellite Communications on the Watch 4. For the moment, that label is all we have to go on, without any details about how the service might operate, but that still sounds like great news that should place Google's smartwatches on more even footing with Apple's. The other new emergency feature tipped to land with the Pixel Watch 4 is supposedly a new Breathing Emergencies alert. Using the wearable's SpO2 sensor, this would give you a heads-up when your measured blood oxygen levels fall below a certain limit. Just yesterday, Google confirmed an August 20 date for its next Made by Google event, where we're set to meet the Pixel 10 series, maybe some new Pixel Buds, and almost certainly the Pixel Watch 4. With just a month to go, how many more leaks will arrive before this smartwatch officially shows us what it can do? Keep breathing, and check back with Android Authority for coverage of all the new rumors as they land. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- The Guardian
Framework Laptop 12 review: fun, flexible and repairable
The modular and repairable PC maker Framework's latest machine moves into the notoriously difficult to fix 2-in-1 category with a fun 12in laptop with a touchscreen and a 360-degree hinge. The new machine still supports the company's innovative expansion cards for swapping the different ports in the side, which are cross-compatible with the Framework 13 and 16 among others. And you can still open it up to replace the memory, storage and internal components with a few simple screws. The Framework 12 is available in either DIY form, starting at £499 (€569/$549/A$909), or more conventional prebuilt models starting at £749. It sits under the £799-and-up Laptop 13 and £1,399 Laptop 16 as the company's most compact and affordable model. Where the Laptop 13 is a premium-looking machine, the Laptop 12 is unmistakably chunky and rugged with over-moulded plastic parts for shock protection. It is designed to meet the MIL-STD-810 standard common to rugged electronics. It looks and feels as if it could take a beating, not like a flimsy DIY kit you put together yourself. The glossy 12.2in screen is bright and relatively sharp. But it is highly reflective, has large black bezels around it and has a relatively narrow colour gamut, which means colours look a little muted. It's decent enough for productivity but not great for photo editing. The touchscreen rotates all the way back on to the bottom of the machine to turn it into a tablet or it can be folded like a tent or parallel to the keyboard. The screen supports the use of a wide range of first and third-party styluses for drawing or notes, which could make it handy in the classroom. A selection of fun colours are available for the DIY version, further enhancing its college appeal. The 1080p webcam at the top is decent, although it won't rival a Surface, and it has a physical privacy switch alongside the mics. The stereo speakers are loud and distortion-free but lack bass and a little clarity, sounding a little hollow compared with the best on the market. At 1.3kg the Laptop 12 isn't featherweight but it is nice and compact, easy to fit in bags or on small desks. The generous mechanical trackpad is precise and works well. But the laptop lacks any form of biometrics, with no fingerprint or face recognition, forcing you to enter a pin or password every time you open the laptop or to use secure apps such as password managers, which gets old fast. Screen: 12.2in LCD 1920x1200 (60Hz; 186PPI) Processor: Intel Core i3 or i5 (U-series, 13th gen) RAM: 8 or 16GB (up to 48GB) Storage: 512GB (up to 2TB) Operating system: Windows 11 or Linux Camera: 1080p front-facing Connectivity: wifi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, headphones + choice of 4 ports: USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, DisplayPort, ethernet, microSD, SD Dimensions: 287 x 213.9 x 18.5mm Weight: 1.3kg The Laptop 12 comes with a choice of two Intel 13-generation U-series processors, which are lower-power chips from a few years ago. As tested with the mid-range i5-1334U it won't win any raw performance awards but was generally up to the task of more than basic computing. It feels responsive in day-to-day tasks but struggles a bit in longer, processor-heavy jobs such as converting video. The older chip means the battery life is a little on the short side for 2025, lasting about seven to eight hours of light office-based work using browsers, word processors, note-taking apps and email. Use more demanding apps and the battery life shrinks by a few hours. The battery takes about 100 minutes to fully charge using a 60W or greater USB-C power adaptor. The port selection is entirely customisable with a fixed headphone jack and four slots for expansion cards, which are available in a choice of USB-A and USB-C, DisplayPort and HDMI, microSD and SD card readers, or ethernet. Other cards can add up to 1TB of storage and the USB-C cards are available in a range of solid or translucent colours to make things even brighter. It is an excellent system but note the Laptop 12 supports only USB 3.2 Gen 2, not the faster USB4/Thunderbolt common on new machines. Framework rates the battery to maintain at least 80% of its original capacity for at least 1,000 full charge cycles. It can easily be replaced along with all the rest of the components, including the RAM and SSD. Framework sells replacement parts and upgrades through its marketplace but also supports third-party parts. The laptop contains recycled plastic in many components. The DIY edition of the Framework 12 starts at £499 (€569/$549/A$909) with pre-built systems starting at £749 (€849/$799/A$1,369) with Windows 11. For comparison, the DIY Framework 13 costs from £799 and the DIY Framework 16 costs from £1,399 . Similarly specced 2-in-1 Windows machines start at about £500. Like previous Framework machines, the Laptop 12 demonstrates that repairable, upgradable and adaptable computers are possible, work well and can be used by more than just the tech savvy. It manages to be fun in a way most mid-range PCs just aren't. The keyboard is solid, the trackpad good and the speakers loud. The modular ports are a killer feature that every PC should embrace, while being able to repair or upgrade it easily is still so unusual. The touchscreen is bright but unremarkable, the lack of any biometrics is irritating, and the older processor, while still decently fast for everyday tasks, means the battery life isn't long by modern standards. Its biggest problem is cost, as it is about £150-£200 more expensive than similarly specced but closed and locked-down machines. Unless you already have spare storage and RAM lying around, that's the price you have to pay for the open and modular machine. Pros: swappable ports, repairable and upgradeable, fun and durable design, compact, lots of colour choices, solid keyboard and trackpad, solid performance for everyday tasks. Cons: battery life short of best, screen is bright but a little lacklustre, no biometrics, expensive, older processor, wait time for purchases.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Yahoo
Fairphone 6 lands a perfect 10 for repairability
Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products. Dutch company Fairphone continues to lead the charge on consumer- and planet-friendly electronics, proving that a great phone doesn't have to be impossible to repair or environmentally unsustainable. The Fairphone 6 has just been released, coming two years after the last generation of the phone built to last. The folks over at iFixit wasted no time in conducting a teardown of this new entry to see how it stacks up against previous generations. The Fairphone 6 scored a perfect 10 out of 10, like every generation of Fairphone bar the very first. Fairphones are modular, and have been designed with easy repair in mind, but there is one change from the previous generations that makes things harder. Whereas the last few Fairphones have used hard batteries that could be flipped out with your fingernail, the new handset packs a soft-pouch cell that's thinner than its predecessors. That's slimmed the phone down, but it does mean the battery is now held in place with five screws. It's the same with every other component on the handset, since none of the components are held in with glue. The lack of adhesives does account for the phone's IP 55 rating, which is lower than the rest of the industry. But given you can't exactly get Samsung to send you a video guide telling you how to open your phone with nothing more than a T5 Torx screwdriver, so there's give and take. iFixit is quick to point out that the Fairphone 6 isn't a bleeding-edge smartphone, nor is it intended to be. It's designed from the ground up to be as sustainable and repair-friendly as possible, and this means some trade-offs compared with flagship devices. The Fairphone 6's use of USB 2.0, a less pixel-dense screen, and only 8GB of RAM are all necessary design choices when built with longer life cycles in mind. Nevertheless, this almost certainly won't affect the day-to-day use of the handset for most consumers, and owning a device you can truly repair yourself just might be worth it.
The Verge
04-07-2025
- The Verge
Fairphone 6 gets a 10/10 on repairability
The new Fairphone 6 is smaller and more modular than older models in the series, but it's just as repairable. The phone picked up a perfect score in iFixit's teardown test, despite no longer offering tool-free battery replacements. It helps that the only tool you do need — throughout the phone — is a T5 Torx screwdriver, and only seven screws sit between you and a battery swap. Fairphone itself has shown you can get from shutdown to reboot with a new cell in just two minutes, so it's still a simple swap. The company says that the screws are required for the slimmer soft-pouch battery. The only glue throughout is found on the phone's mainboard, which is just about the only repair Fairphone doesn't recommend you make yourself: almost everything else, from the USB-C port to the individual camera sensors, can be replaced with minimal effort. Replacement parts will be available from Fairphone and iFixit, and the phone's replaceable backplate also enables a line of swappable accessories similar to those found on the CMF Phone Pro 2. iFixit also rated the phone highly for its IP55 rating — not the best around, but impressive for a phone sealed with screws rather than glue — and for the company's longterm support. Fairphone is guaranteeing seven years of Android OS updates and eight years of security patches, with a five-year warranty and a loyalty program that rewards you for hanging onto your phone and repairing it. Despite the high score, iFixit acknowledges that you do compromise on specs by opting for the Fairphone 6. Its dual rear camera is fairly basic, and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7S Gen 3 chipset is no powerhouse. Even the USB port is limited to sluggish USB 2.0, though the 6.3-inch 10-120Hz LTPO OLED display is more impressive. This isn't the first Fairphone to fare so well. Every model since the Fairphone 2 has received a 10/10 in iFixit's teardown tests, a score that no other phone has ever managed. The Fairphone 6 is available now in Europe for €599 (around $705), from Fairphone and other retailers. It costs considerably more in the US, at $899, where it's only available from Murena and ships running /e/OS, Murena's privacy-focused and de-Googled take on Android. It's available to preorder now, and ships in August.
The Verge
25-06-2025
- The Verge
The smaller Fairphone 6 introduces swappable accessories
Fairphone has announced its latest repairable smartphone, nearly two years after introducing the last upgrade. The new Fairphone 6 is smaller and 9 percent lighter than its predecessor, but it includes a larger 4,415mAh battery — easily replaceable by removing just seven screws — that will power the phone for up to 53 hours on a full charge. It's also more modular than previous versions, with new accessories like a card holder and finger loop that can be attached to the back of the phone. The Fairphone 6 is available now through the company's online store and other European retailers for €599 (around $696). There are black, green, and white color options. But as with previous versions dating back to the Fairphone 3, the new model will only be available in the US through Murena, and delivery is expected sometime in August. Instead of running standard Android, the Murena version of the Fairphone 6 will feature a privacy-focused and de-Googled version of Android that the company calls /e/OS. It's available for preorder now for $899. The Fairphone 6 has a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 mobile processor, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage that's expandable up to 2TB using an SDXC card. It also features a 6.31-inch LTPO OLED display that's slightly smaller than the Fairphone 5's 6.46-inch screen, but with a refresh rate boosted from 90Hz to 120Hz. On the back, you'll find a 50MP main camera and a 13MP ultrawide camera, while the front has a 32MP hole-punch camera for selfies and video calls. That's a significant step down from the Fairphone 5, which used 50MP sensors on all three of its cameras. The Fairphone 6's physical design is similar to the previous model, although the lenses on the back are no longer located on a small camera bump and instead sit directly on the back panel. That panel is more modular now, allowing the lower section to be removed using just two screws and replaced with alternatives that add more functionality, like a wallet for holding cards or a finger loop for more securely holding the phone with one hand. The idea is similar to the swappable accessories Nothing offers for its CMF Phone 1 and Phone Pro 2, but how useful it will actually be depends on how many accessories Fairphone makes available. Repairability is still a priority for Fairphone, and its new phone carries forward the same modular design of past versions. The modular aspect lets you access and swap 12 different parts — including the screen, battery, and USB port — using just a single standard screwdriver instead of specialized tools. To further extend the Fairphone 6's lifespan, the company includes a five-year warranty and promises eight years of software support through 2033. But the downside to not having everything inside the phone being glued in place and sealed tight is that the Fairphone 6 still has a limited IP55 rating for dust and water resistance. It can get splashed or even blasted with a jet of water, but it won't survive an accidental submersion. Aside from performance improvements and the new modular accessories, Fairphone seems to be staying the course with its latest smartphone, but it is introducing one additional new feature on the software side: Fairphone Moments. Activated through a physical switch on the phone's side, it will let you 'toggle between a full-featured smartphone and a minimalist experience.' We don't know exactly what Fairphone Moments will be minimizing, but since the company describes it as being 'a mindful way to engage with technology, putting owners in control, not their notifications,' it sounds like an alternate mode that reduces distractions so you can focus on specific tasks.
