I wrote about ethical cell phones (/smartphones /mobiles /or just phones) back in 2017, attempting to cover a complex topic in a short space of time. The idea was to mimic a typical consumer who doesn’t have time to do a PhD’s worth of research before making a purchase. One approach was to simply search multiple ethical guides and see if there was a trend. There was, and it looked like this:

Fairphone > LG > iPhone > Samsung

That trend still appears to hold, or it would do if LG still made phones (LG’s evil twin, Samsung, won that war).

When my LG phone died in 2021, I decided on a Motorola phone (made by Lenovo) as a replacement. Like LG, Motorola makes decent midrange Android phones and deserves a C grade on the ethical scale (3/5 Green Stars), in between Fairphone and Samsung.

When my trusty Moto G Stylus gave up the ghost last month, I decided to try and do a bit better. I narrowed it down to two options that seem to be universally agreed as the most ethical choices: I could buy a Fairphone or I could buy a refurbished phone. Here’s a summary of my experience…

Fairphone is still the best choice

There’s almost no dispute that Fairphone is the most ethical manufacturer of cell phones. That’s down to Fairphone’s mission to source ethical raw materials and also to the phone’s repairability.

Back in 2017, or even in 2021, Fairphone wasn’t a great value proposition – a mediocre phone at a fairly high price – but the latest versions, Fairphone 5 and Fairphone 6+ are getting much better reviews. The Fairphone 6+ is also the first Fairphone to be sold directly in the US, retailing for $650.

The Fairphone is designed to be used for about a decade, with a 5-year warranty and software support until 2033. 12 parts are sold at affordable prices (a replacement battery costs only $40) and are designed to be replaced by the owner, requiring only the screwdriver that’s supplied with the phone. The longevity of the Fairphone, coupled with the ease of repair and low cost of replacement parts, make the price tag seem more reasonable.

Phone repairability is key to sustainability

The ease and cost of repairing a phone are major factors deciding whether it will last beyond 3 or 4 years. The high repairability of the Fairphone is reflected in a perfect score (10/10) on iFixit, which provides resources for fixing smartphones and other electronics. Recent iPhone models earned decent scores (7/10) from iFixit, while Google Pixels received mediocre scores (5/10) and Samsung phones were all subpar (3/10 to 5/10).

The higher repairability of iPhones is one of the reasons that consumers hold onto iPhones longer than most Android phones. Another reason, of course, is that they cost an arm and a leg!

But the good news for everyone, whatever your preferred brand of brain-poison, is that professional phone refurbishers have created more attractive markets and value propositions for used phones.

Becoming comfortable with used phones

People are becoming more comfortable with the idea of a used phone – whether refurbished, open-box, or even a direct person-to-person sale. Used iPhones now account for 12% of all iPhone purchases, a market share that has quadrupled in the last decade.

My first concern was security – am I at risk of being spied on via software hiding in my new phone? This is highly unlikely – to install something that evades a factory reset requires a high level of skill and offers little payoff. More importantly, a phone refurbisher would be quickly identified, prosecuted, and shut down if caught doing this. The most important security consideration when buying a refurbished phone is to check the reputation of the seller.

Trusting phone marketplaces and refurbishers

There are two levels to this: the marketplace where you buy the phone and the actual company that refurbished the phone you’re thinking of buying. The major marketplaces – eBay, Back Market and Reebelo – all offer similar guarantees with each purchase: a one-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee. These should be standard and free.

A friend had recommended Back Market to me and at first I thought that they did the refurbishing themselves. This isn’t the case – Back Market works with many different companies that supply refurbished phones, just like eBay. So, just like you would on eBay, check who refurbished it and look at their rating. On eBay this is simply the seller, while it’s less obvious on Back Market (it’s listed just under the Add to Cart button) and on Reebelo (it’s in the shipping section).

I ended up buying a 2024 Motorola phone on eBay. The seller on eBay (Ztronix, Zswireless llc., based in Dallas, TX) received 99.5% positive feedback on the basis of 39,000 items sold over 5 years. Zswireless also sells phones on Back Market with a rating of 4.4/5 based on 7 months of history.

More tips for buying a used phone

• Locked phones are cheaper. The phone I ended up buying on eBay was locked to my phone carrier and much cheaper ($100) as a result. Besides saving money, buying a locked phone earns you karma as you’re taking a hard-to-sell phone off the market.
• Older models may have perks. Buying an older model may seem like a drawback, but actually you may benefit by not having to endure all the hard-sell AI BS.
• Screen for charities on eBay. When you search for specific items on eBay you can filter the results by selecting “benefits charity.” The selection of phones will be small, but you may get lucky.
• Consider open-box items. Refurbished phones have been thoroughly cleaned but if you still don’t like the idea of a used phone then consider an open-box or even a new-in-box (older model) phone.
• Consider the operating system. If you’d like to avoid Google and various apps invading your privacy then consider the open source version of Android: /e/OS. You can buy a range of phones pre-loaded with this operating system on Murena, from refurbished phones (e.g., Pixels) and the latest Fairphone, to other options like the Shiftphone (only available in Europe).

Conclusion

In the end I decided to buy a 2024 Motorola phone (for $100) on eBay and I’m happy with that decision. As far as I could tell, the phone had never been used – it was basically an open box phone that had been replaced by newer models. It was also just as easy to set up as any new phone I’ve bought directly from my carrier.

So it was a very smooth experience from start to finish and I highly recommend it. The best ethical alternative, for anyone not comfortable with a refurbished phone, is to buy a new Fairphone.

Another interesting thing about this experience was that I lived for a week with no phone. This was by choice – I opted for regular USPS mail for my eBay delivery. It was actually a great experience and ironically I kept up with all email that week because my time wasn’t sucked into a random news feed. I highly recommend trying it!

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