Exclusive: Here's our first look at the Fairphone 5

It’s been almost two years since we saw the launch of the Fairphone 4. Like other Fairphones, that device focused on sustainability as its main selling point, including the promise of a five-year warranty and the ambition to offer Android upgrades for a whopping five years. Of course, hardware needs to be upgraded every once in a while, which means a Fairphone 5 was inevitable.

Now, Android Authority has exclusive renders of what to expect from the Fairphone 5. These renders are official, as in they come from Fairphone itself via a trusted source (thank you, Kibbeling!).

We have an image gallery of the new phone below. However, the most notable differences this time around are a revamped display, a slightly reconfigured rear camera module, a shifted position for the SIM and microSD card trays, and two new colorways.

Let’s start with the display. The Fairphone 4 had a waterdrop notch display, but the Fairphone 5 gets a modern makeover by introducing a selfie camera cutout. This instantly makes the phone less dated, which will be a welcome change for fans.

On the back, the rear camera module looks mostly the same. The main difference here is that the flash module trims down from an oval shape to a circle. This adds a degree of uniformity to the module as now all elements are circular. As far as the rest of the module, it looks like things are mostly the same with two lenses (a primary and ultrawide) along with a third circle for the time-of-flight sensor. It is unlikely the Fairphone 5 will end up being one of the best camera phones you can get, but at least there or no superfluous sensors.

Inside, the microSD card slot and the SIM card slot have moved. They are still underneath the battery but are now towards the top of the device rather than on the side.

Finally, there are three colorways. The first is the usual black, which every Fairphone has had. In addition to this, we have a light blue and a nifty new transparent model. These two new colorways replace the green and Speckled Green models from the Fairphone 4.

Fairphone 5 leaked renders

This collection of renders also confirms certain returning features. First, as with every Fairphone, this year’s model will feature an easily replaceable battery. Likewise, there’s no adhesive anywhere in the phone, so you’ll also be able to order replacement parts to fix the phone yourself should anything go wrong.

Unfortunately, these renders don’t give us an idea of what to expect as far as Fairphone 5 specs go. We don’t know if the processor is getting a significant upgrade, for example. The Fairphone 4 came with the Snapdragon 750G, but we don’t know if the new model will get something in the 7-series again or jump up to an 8-series. We also are in the dark on RAM, internal storage, battery capacity, etc. However, it is very likely specs across the board will be equal to or better than what we saw in the Fairphone 4. For the record, the Fairphone 4 had 6/8GB of RAM, 128/256GB of storage, a 3,905mAh battery, NFC support, and a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display.

Given that we’re seeing this leak now, we’re likely to see the Fairphone 5 launch in an official capacity in the next few weeks or months. Stay tuned for more info!