Fairphone continues to push boundaries and lead the Android ecosystem relating to system updates. The corporate announced it’s transport Android 10 for the Fairphone 2, a six-year-old gadget that initially shipped with Android 5.
Six years of main updates is exceptional within the Android market. Most Android corporations cost iPhone-level costs however do not supply iPhone-level help, which is six years of main updates. One of the best you will get from extra mainstream Android OEMs like Google and Samsung are three years of main OS updates. Fairphone is a dramatically smaller firm than its competitors, however it’s wiping the ground with them relating to updates.
For Fairphone, transport Android updates for this lengthy has meant going outdoors the normal update support structure. The Fairphone 2 makes use of a Snapdragon 801 SoC, and Qualcomm solely supported that chip as much as Android 6. With out Qualcomm’s assist, Fairphone needed to enlist the assistance of the Lineage OS Android group to get the telephone up to date. The distinction between Fairphone and an aftermarket ROM is that Fairphone continues to be passing all of Google’s CTS checks and formally licensing the Play Retailer, which is a big enterprise.
As for timing, the corporate says the beta program of Android 10 for Fairphone 2 is up and operating here, and it ought to hit a last launch in “early 2022.” Fairphone can also be beginning Android 11 beta testing for the Fairphone 3 and three+ this week. The one damaging factor you possibly can say is that releasing 2019’s Android 10 in 2022 is fairly sluggish, however it’s exhausting to criticize the corporate an excessive amount of when each different Android OEM would have deserted customers by now.
Plenty of corporations give lip service to the thought of lowering e-waste however cease when it impacts their bottomline. Together with Apple, Fairphone is the one different smartphone firm that places its cash the place its mouth is and gives long-term smartphone help. Whereas Apple is a multi-trillion-dollar firm with all of the sources on this planet, Fairphone proves any OEM can supply long-term help if it needs to; they simply do not need to make investments the money and time to make it occur.
