Pre-orders open for the Fairphone 2, full specs revealed
And why this is an important piece of hardware for gamers with a conscience
Many of the resources needed to create components for high end technology are called "rare earth minerals", which are found in very few places around the world. Most of them happen to be located in developing nations, and gathered by people in working conditions that are appalling. In this situation these materials are often called "conflict minerals".
We're talking about terrible dictators using armed soldiers to force children to clamber down unsafe holes in the ground to scrape out Tantalum (a vital component of mobiles), and using the funds received from selling the materials to continue a genocide that they're currently waging.
In a lot of ways, you and I are supporting these dictators by buying mobile phones from companies that use the minerals from these awful sources.
Enter Fairphone.
Fairphone is an initiative I really really love.
It's a company that is currently making the equivalent of a Fairtrade smartphone, where buyers can understand the whole process of where materials for the device are sourced, and how the phone is made. And if you read the paragraphs above, hopefully you should be thinking, like I do, that these are very important issues indeed.
Fairphone has just opened pre-orders on its new device, the Fairphone 2.
Now you might be worried that a device made in these socially conscious conditions would be made of hemp and good intentions, but the device Fairphone put out last year - which sold 60,000 units - was awesome, a serious piece of kit, and Fairphone 2 looks to be even better.
In terms of specs it's at the lower end of top tier, which will be more than enough to smash the pants off of any current game you care to chuck at it.
It runs Android Lollipop on a Snapdragon 801, Quad-Core 2.26 GHz Qualcomm Krait 400, with a Qualcomm Adreno 330 GPU 578 Mhz for its GPU. There's 2 GB of LPDDR3 RAM running at 931 Mhz, plus 32GB eMMC5 flash storage with the option for more via Micro SD.
The screen is 5 inches, made of Gorilla Glass 3, and pumps out a resolution of 1080 x 1920 at 446 ppi, plus there's an 8MP camera with CMOS Sensor and flash on the rear, a 2MP cam with CMOS Sensor on the front, and all the usual connectivity niceties (4G, WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Radio, and Dual-SIM).
The phone will also have custom accessories available, plus spare parts and a modular build system for increased mechanical longevity and inexpensive repairs should the worst happen.
You can pre-order the device now and receive the limited edition first run of the second model, by heading on over to this website.
Fairphone 2 will cost you roughly €525 / £370 / $570, will likely start shipping in November, and by voting with your dollar you'll be sending a very strong message to any unethical tech companies around the world still faffing about with conflict minerals.
