Most electronics are bought once, used until they slow down or stop, and then replaced. The replacement is usually treated as a fact of life rather than a cost. But multiply the device price by the number of times you buy it and divide by the years of use, and the category starts to look expensive in a way that single-price labels obscure.
Two manufacturers have built their business models around a different premise. The Framework Laptop 13 AMD and the Fairphone 6 are the only laptop and the only smartphone respectively to have received a perfect 10 out of 10 repairability score from iFixit. Both sell spare parts at open prices to anyone who wants them. Both publish full repair guides. Both are designed so that the owner, not a manufacturer’s service centre, holds the upgrade path.
This piece sets out what that means in practice, what it costs, and where the EU Right to Repair Directive entering force on 31 July 2026 changes the calculation for buyers across the bloc.
What “repairable” means as a hardware specification
Repairability is a hardware architecture, not a marketing claim. The iFixit score measures it directly: whether screws replace adhesive, whether disassembly is documented, whether connectors are standardised, and whether spare parts are sold to anyone. A device scoring 10 out of 10 meets all four criteria. Most consumer electronics score between 3 and 6. The two products covered here are exceptions.
The practical result is that the device functions as a maintainable asset rather than a disposable one. A failing battery costs EUR 40 or EUR 79, not EUR 1,200 or EUR 1,400. A cracked display costs EUR 90, not a third of the device price. The repair is done at home, in an hour, without voiding a warranty that was already running out.
The case for owning your tools rather than cycling through them is made in more detail in the piece on this site about the subscription trap.
Framework Laptop 13 AMD
The current Framework Laptop 13 AMD is the Pro configuration, launched in April 2026 with AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors. The DIY Edition (no pre-installed memory, storage, or operating system) starts at EUR 1,579 with the Ryzen AI 7 350. Add 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD and the configured cost reaches approximately EUR 1,700.
The modular architecture is the core of the proposition. The 61Wh battery (EUR 79) swaps with a single screwdriver. The display, keyboard, and USB expansion card slots are all user-replaceable. The mainboard, which carries the processor, can be swapped for a newer generation as Framework releases them. Framework has shipped mainboard upgrades to Laptop 13 owners since 2021 and has committed publicly to continuing the practice. The chassis you buy in 2026 should accept a faster processor when one is released in 2028 or 2029.
iFixit re-reviewed the Framework Laptop 13 line in April 2026 and confirmed the 10 out of 10 score, noting the design has become easier to service with each generation.
One honest limit: Framework offers a one-year limited warranty on the laptop as a unit. This is shorter than the five years Fairphone offers on its phone. Individual spare parts carry their own warranties when purchased separately, but the factory coverage for the device itself is thinner than some buyers will want.
The standalone Framework Laptop article on this site covers the full specification and performance in detail.
Fairphone 6
The Fairphone 6 costs EUR 599 in the EU (Android 15, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, microSD expandable). The /e/OS degoogled version from Murena is EUR 599. The device carries a five-year manufacturer warranty and a commitment to eight major Android version upgrades. Software support to Android 23 is the practical result.
The repair architecture is the distinguishing feature. The Fairphone 6 has 12 modular components, all sold by Fairphone and by iFixit at published prices:
- Battery: EUR 39.95
- Display: EUR 89.95
- USB-C port: EUR 19.95
- Main camera (50MP Sony Lytia 700C): EUR 69.95
- Ultra-wide camera: EUR 39.95
- Front camera: EUR 34.95
- Loudspeaker: EUR 24.95
- Back covers: EUR 9.95 to EUR 14.95
iFixit’s teardown, published in July 2025, found no adhesive anywhere in the assembly. Every component is secured by screws and cables. The battery, a soft-pouch design, is held by five screws. The display lifts out once four screws are removed. iFixit awarded a 10 out of 10 score and noted that Fairphone 2 through Fairphone 6 are the only smartphones ever to receive that rating.
The Fairphone 6 is not a camera-first device. At EUR 599 it competes with Samsung Galaxy A-series and Google Pixel A-series, both of which produce stronger images in low light. If photography is the primary criterion, the Fairphone 6 is not the right choice. If longevity, repairability, and total cost of ownership are the criteria, it is the clearest answer at its price point.
The Fairphone 6 article on this site covers the full specification in detail.
The parts-pairing ban, from 31 July 2026
The EU Right to Repair Directive enters force across all member states on 31 July 2026. Three elements matter most for hardware buyers.
First, the directive prohibits software-based parts pairing without valid technical justification. Parts pairing is the practice of programming a device to limit functionality when it detects a replacement component the manufacturer has not authenticated. A replacement battery that triggers persistent warnings, a display swap that disables biometric unlock, a camera module that loses features after an independent repair: these have been standard in consumer electronics. Under the directive, they require a valid technical reason or they are prohibited.
Second, manufacturers of covered products, including smartphones and tablets, must make spare parts and technical information available for repair at reasonable prices throughout the device’s support period.
Third, consumers who choose repair over replacement within the statutory guarantee window receive a one-year extension to their legal guarantee. This reduces the financial risk of repair relative to replacement, which is the dominant reason most people replace rather than repair.
Framework and Fairphone were designed for a world where this directive exists. Buyers of other devices are being brought into that world from the outside.
The broader argument about right to repair as an asset case rather than an environmental one is made in this piece on this site.
Cost per year: the arithmetic
For the Fairphone 6: buy at EUR 599, replace the battery at around year three (EUR 40), and the device runs to at least year six under full software support. Over six years, total outlay is approximately EUR 640, or EUR 107 per year. A EUR 599 phone replaced every three years costs EUR 200 per year. Owning a Fairphone 6 for six years costs approximately EUR 559 less than cycling through two alternatives at the same purchase price.
For the Framework Laptop 13 AMD: buy the DIY Edition at EUR 1,579, add 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD (approximately EUR 120), replace the battery at year four (EUR 79). Total outlay over seven years: approximately EUR 1,780. A MacBook Air M5 13-inch with 16GB and 512GB of storage costs EUR 1,399 in Germany. Buy two over the same seven years: EUR 2,798. The Framework is approximately EUR 1,000 cheaper over the period. A mainboard upgrade, priced separately in the Framework marketplace, can extend the useful life of the chassis further without replacing the display, keyboard, battery, or ports.
The Framework costs more on day one. That premium is recovered by year four and inverted after that.
Recommendation by use case
The Fairphone 6 is the clearer of the two recommendations. EUR 599 for a phone with a 10 out of 10 repairability score, five-year warranty, and eight years of software support is a straightforward value proposition at its price point. The battery is replaceable for EUR 40. The display is replaceable for EUR 90. The total cost over six years undercuts any equivalent-price phone by several hundred euros. The only buyer who should look elsewhere is someone for whom low-light photography is the primary use case: the Pixel A and Samsung A series are stronger there.
The Framework Laptop 13 AMD is the right buy for Linux users, power users who want modular port configuration, and anyone planning to own a machine for longer than four years. It is not the right buy if you want the thinnest 13-inch option, Apple ecosystem integration, or a unit that arrives ready to use out of the box without adding components. The EUR 300 premium over a comparably configured MacBook Air M5 is real on day one. It is recovered by year four and produces material savings after that.
Both products sit on the bounded-supply side of a cost curve where most of what they compete with is getting cheaper. The engineering required to make a device genuinely repairable, the logistics of small-volume spare parts supply chains, and the warranty commitments that back them up are not free and are not getting cheaper. The directive entering force in July will push the broader market toward repair, which tends to raise the premium on devices already built for it.
The time to own either of these is before the wider market reprices them accordingly.
Where to buy
Framework Laptop 13 AMD: frame.work
Fairphone 6: fairphone.com
Links above are direct manufacturer links. Affiliate routes for Framework and Fairphone are pending programme confirmation; no commission is currently earned from this guide.