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The world’s first commercially available modular smartphone, Fairphone 2, has just gotten a pair of wooden 3D printed accessories, in the form of an amplifier and nightstand.
Promoted by its Dutch developer as an ethical smartphone, Fairphone 2 is supposed to prevent users from throwing money out the window when trying to stay in touch with the latest developments in the world of mobile devices. Their solution is to provide a backbone to which users can add modules and change them as they see fit. Of course, such a revolutionary device deserves to be used in tandem with some equally revolutionary accessories, and the amplifier and nightstand that were 3D printed using wood filaments definitely match that title.
To make the 3D printed accessories, Fairphone collaborated with 3D Hubs, an online 3D printing service platform that’s also headquartered in the Netherlands. Here’s what 3D Hubs had to say about this partnership:
“To help kick off the launch of the Fairphone 2, we’ve teamed up with Fairphone to introduce a new collection of 3D printable accessories for Fairphone owners. These accessories will add additional functionality and style to your Fairphone 2.
Instead of being mass-produced like most other smartphone accessories, these accessories are 3D printed on demand, preventing both unnecessary transport and overproduction. Even better, the designs are printed using a unique material made from recycled wood fibers and bioplastic PLA.”
The recycled wood fibers mentioned above are in fact called ColorFabb woodFill, and are supposed to take the smartphone’s sustainability to a whole new level. Not only will Fairphone 2 reduce the amount of waste that’s typically generated by people who are constantly upgrading their smartphone, but so will the accessories designed for this device.
“Designed by professional industrial designer Alan Nguyen and printed using woodFill 3D printing filament, the Fairphone 2 Nightstand is the ideal charging and resting spot for your device during twilight hours,” added 3D Hubs on their website.
Below is a video of how the Fairphone 2 was designed.
The wooden 3D printed Fairphone 2 nightstand is available on the manufacturer’s website for €19.50 (approximately $21.40), while the Fairphone 2 amplifier is a tad more expensive, as it costs €26.50 (around $29). Much like the modular smartphone itself, the 3D printed accessories are only available in Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Norway. We can only hope that the company is planning to sell its products globally.
The only other culprit, besides the smartphone’s limited availability, is that the Fairphone 2 costs €529.38 ($580), which is a bit of a steep price, considering the outdated specs. The manufacturer should have launched the product with better components, if it wanted people to even consider buying it. This way, they’ll have to think of upgrading it right after making the purchase, which is definitely not the way to go in the rapidly evolving industry that is mobile tech.
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Chances are that you’ve got your phone right near you (or you’re reading this on your phone). Take a minute and flip your phone over. Look at the back, the sides, the details. What’s your phone made of? How’s it assembled? Can you pull it apart? Access the battery? Or the bluetooth module? Chances are you can’t. Phones nowadays are getting slimmer as the insides get smaller and cramped together to make your product sleek. What’s under your phone chassis is a mystery, most parts are glued together so as to avoid screws, because they eat space. As a result, your phone is a block. An un-recyclable block that goes to a landfill after your screen cracks, or you drop it in water.
The Fairphone changes all that. Built to last, the Fairphone has a design that allows it to be pulled apart, fixed, and reassembled. Fairphone has also been known to rely on a pro-nature ecosystem, making good use of materials and resources, and also being actively involved in protecting labor-welfare. This is the only guilt-free, socially/ecologically responsible phone out there. A green clean, smart-machine.!
Nearly three years after ethical smartphone company Fairphone launched its Fairphone 2 handset, the Dutch social enterprise has announced it's now compatible with Android 7.1.2, aka Nougat. This might seem like old news, given that most smartphones a...
Any ethical, non-🍏 📱 recommendations?
It all started with a WhatsApp message from my friend, an environmental campaigner who runs a large government sustainability project. She's the most ethical person I know and has always worked hard to push me,...
Greenpeace has made a tradition out of raking companies over the coals when their environmental practices fall short of its standards, and that's truer than ever in the activist group's latest electronics report card. The organization didn't list any...
Fairphone has announced that it will no longer be supporting the Fairphone 1, which first hit the market in 2013. That means the company won't be supplying spare parts for the phone any longer and has ceased developing the Android software update.
Greenpeace likes to keep tabs on tech companies, highlighting where they're going wrong when it comes to clean technology and how they can improve. Earlier this year, the organization released its report on how the IT sector consumes energy and they...
Most smartphones are doomed to the scrap heap several years after they're new, because glued and soldered parts make them too pricey to repair. With the modular Fairphone 2 handset, on the other hand, you can replace the screen in a minute without to...
Energy bills tend to spike in the wintertime, but this incredible UK home costs just $2 a month to run. The secret? Tons of insulation and a massive set of rooftop solar panels. We also spotted a futuristic Russian dome home that's able to withstand...
Fairphone is a slightly different kind of smartphone manufacturer. It's not out to make the prettiest or the most powerful handsets, but the most ethically responsible. The company bankrolled its first device through a pre-order program, and went o...
