2015’s Fairphone 2 will officially be unsupported from March 2023

Damien Wilde | Jan 10 2023 - 4:33 am PT

At a time when Android OEMs are steadily increasing device support windows, it’s impressive to see that a device from 2015 is only now hitting the end-of-life phase. The device in question is the Fairphone 2, which is set to be unsupported from March 2023.

The Dutch team behind Fairphone 2 has confirmed in an announcement post that after March 2023 they will “no long deliver software updates.” Given that by 2023 standards, this Qualcomm Snapdragon 801-powered device is almost rock bottom of the power charts. Offering support for seven years is Apple-level and more impressive as the company behind Fairphone 2 aims to be the most sustainable smartphone maker.

This is an incredibly bittersweet moment: the Fairphone 2 has far surpassed our initial hopes to offer three to five years of software support, but in an ideal world, we would be able to support our devices indefinitely. The Fairphone 2 makes it clear how far we have come, and how far we still have to go.

After launching with Android 5.1 Lollipop all the way back in 2015, it’s almost a miracle that updates have been forthcoming all the way to Android 10 in any form. This OTA eventually arrived back in March 2022.

2015’s Fairphone 2 gets Android 10, rounding out 7 years of software support

Fairphone has also confirmed that anyone still rocking the device will get one last Android 10 update at some point in March 2023. It’s also important to note that using your phone after this date comes with some risks. The team even suggests looking into sideloading or flashing Lineage OS if you insist on running it as your “main” handset.

To help you make the transition to another device, the company is offering a €50 voucher that can be put toward anything on the Fairphone web shop so long as you recycle the Fairphone 2 and return it before March 31, 2023. That’s pretty fair if you ask us.