The Fairphone 2 reappears with replaceable custom covers

The Fairphone 2 - the phone designed to be kind to the environment as well as your wallet - has relaunched with a new selection of colourful back covers you can choose yourself, and which add less heft to the back of the phone.

The phone is built with two major aims in mind: sourcing materials for it in an ethical way, and making it easy to upgrade and repair for users (which means fewer phones in your local landfill). It got a perfect 10 score over at iFixit.

It has been tricky to get hold of a Fairphone 2 in recent months but now it's back with a fresh look. There's a slimmer case available which comes in "coral" red, indigo, turquoise and white. The regular black and transparent cases are still available too.

Price and specs

You can pre-order a new, unlocked Fairphone 2 today for the rather arbitrary sounding price of €529.38 (roughly £470, US$580 or AU$760). That's not a bargain basement price but you do get a handset that's more eco-conscious than its rivals.

The rest of the specs remain unchanged. Inside you get a Snapdragon 801 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of on-board storage, an 8MP rear-facing camera, and a 2,420mAh battery to keep the device running.

The new colours and availability (deliveries are promised by Christmas) make the Fairphone 2 worth another look for those who want a phone they know they can repair themselves, and which hasn't cost the earth in its production.

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.