Fairphone available for pre-order in Europe

There is a smartphone out there which is supposed to appeal to environmentalists. The device is called Fairphone and it originates in the Netherlands. The team behind this phone wants to manufacture it as soon as possible. Which is why they have decided to already make it available for pre-order in Europe (which started this month on the 21st and will end on June 14). The total number of pre-orders that the dual-SIM Fairphone is expected to see is 5000.

The handset the team behind it will start working on if everything goes as planned has some very appealing specs. Here’s a look at them. The touchscreen, for one, will be 4.3 inches and of a qHD nature. The resolution is going to be 960 x 540 pixels. The operating system is planned to be Android 4.2. The phone’s processor is an MTK6589M 1.2 GHz quad-core affair. As for number of cameras: you will get two; one of them is a 1.3MP that will be on the device’s front while the other is an 8MP one and it sits on the back.

As far as memory goes, you are offered 16 GB of internal space and 1 GB of RAM. If the 16 GB are not enough, you can make use of the phone’s microSD card slot. There is no pair of headphones to go with this device. But there is a gyroscope (which was included at consumers’ request).

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The price of the Fairphone is €325.00, which is about $420 (plus VAT). In case you want a charger to go with this model, you need to pay €7.50 more.

But how about the “environmentalist” part of the deal? The materials that the phone is made of respect the environment. The price of the pre-ordered Fairphone will be used to help manufacture it from recycled materials. And the suppliers who will offer the materials won’t work in illegal conditions. Also, costs for the manufacturing process are transparent.

So far, 2396 Fairphone devices have been sold. After the goal is reached, the first Fairphone is going to be available for purchase in the autumn of 2013.