News
- The Fairphone Gen 6 Plus has landed, and it's available in the US too
- However, at $649.99 / £569, some tech fans are questioning its price
- The specs aren't special, but it's modular and sustainably produced
The Fairphone Gen 6 Plus has just launched, and the big news with this model is that, for the first time, a Fairphone is available in the US with Android fully intact (previously, Fairphones sold outside of Europe were only available in de-Googled configurations). But with this wider availability comes some increased scrutiny about the phone's price.
You see, Fairphones cost a lot for what you’re getting on paper, with the Fairphone Gen 6 Plus retailing for $649.99 / £569 (that's around AU$920, though it's not currently available in Australia). For that price, you get a 6.31-inch 120Hz OLED display, a mid-range Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chipset, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a microSD card slot, and a 4,415mAh battery with 30W wired charging, and no wireless charging.
The phone also has a 50MP main camera, a 13MP ultra-wide, and a 32MP selfie camera on the front. All of these specs are... fine, but mid-range at best, and rather worse than what you'll find on most other comparably priced phones.
But this isn’t most phones. The Fairphone Gen 6 Plus stands out in two main ways. First, it’s built to last, with a modular design that lets you swap out 12 parts yourself; it’s easy to repair or replace a worn-out battery, for instance. That, coupled with software updates until 2033, means, in theory, you won’t need to buy another phone for a long time.
The other notable element of Fairphone’s products is that they’re designed to be fair to the environment and the people making them, meaning things like higher wages, safer factories, and net-zero emissions targets.
Of course, these sustainable practices come at a cost.
A fairer world isn't cheap(Image credit: Future)As for whether this cost is worth it, smartphone fans are divided on the matter.
On our recent TikTok about the Fairphone 6 Gen Plus, one user argued that “comparing this phone to others by price is like comparing a $5 Walmart steak to a steak from a local ranch,” clarifying that, in this analogy, the other phones are the Walmart steak, as they’re “only this cheap because of the blood and the exploitation of the workers.”
@techradar ♬ original sound - TechRadarThis individual, then, is clearly in favor of paying what they see as a price that’s fair for the workers. But another commenter argued that “a similarly priced phone with way better specs will last you longer if you just take care of it,” so in their view, the longevity of this phone is a questionable selling point.
Other comments are similarly mixed, but more seem opposed to the price than in favor of it, with one going so far as to call it “dead on arrival,” adding that “this must be a joke at this price.”
But Fairphone has never been a mainstream brand — its products are not and never will be for everybody. If you believe the world should be fairer, and that workers should make a fair wage, then it’s a company worth supporting.
That’s my view, anyway — but then again, I say this while using an iPhone as my main device, so maybe I’m a hypocrite.
Personally, as a fan of the latest tech, I’d be more inclined to pay a premium for a Fairphone if it could offer specs to match the very best phones, but for a small brand with limited resources, I can understand why Fairphone is limiting itself to the mid-range market for now.
We're currently putting the Fairphone 6 Gen Plus through its paces, so stay tuned for our full review verdict in the coming weeks.
The Ninja Crispi Pro arrived in Australia only in June this year, and I immediately wanted it. You see, I'd been eyeing the standard Ninja Crispi for a while because the nonstick coating of the trays in my two-drawer air fryer was coming off. My research told me that it wasn't toxic, but I was still concerned.
So it was serendipitous that the larger Crispi Pro came along just when I was ready to ditch my old air fryer — and at a price that wasn't all that much more over the standard Crispi. For AU$399 RRP, it may not be 'cheap' but it sure is good value considering how well it's performed in the last couple of months I've had mine. So much so that I don't regret ditching my previous air fryer that was more versatile thanks to a steam functionality as well.
Right now, the Crispi Pro is going slightly cheaper as well, down to AU$322 on Amazon and at JB Hi-Fi, and available in four colour options.
Don't be fooled by Amazon's list price — Ninja released the Crispi Pro for AU$499 initially, but it's been available for AU$399 RRP since its June launch. Even though it's a small saving, it's absolutely worthwhile even at full price, not just because of the non-toxic glass containers, but also its overall performance.View Deal
I may not have done TechRadar's Ninja Crispi Pro review, but I wholeheartedly agree with its high star rating and, for me, it comes down to the glass containers more than the performance — all the best air fryers in Australia offer excellent cooking results, but few are as safe as glass.
Glass is also remarkably easy to clean — just chuck it in the dishwasher without even having to think about it or soak it in the sink if you have caked-in food on the sides and a light scrubbing will have it sparkling again.
I also appreciate the bigger container's massive 5.7L capacity, something that most two-drawer air fryers don't offer (for context, you get about 4L to 4.5L at most in the average dual-basket models). You don't have to worry about picking the smallest chicken to roast, for example, and can make fries or wedges for up to 10 people.
(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)The smaller 2.3L container is fine for making dishes for a single person, but I would be careful with what I put in there. Chicken drumsticks, for example, have a little height to them and when I tried cooking two in the smaller container, the raw and cooked results scraped against the rubber gasket around the top heating element of the appliance every time I took the container out or replaced it on the modular stand.
Sitting higher within the machine also means that the food is close to the heating element on the top of the appliance, so if the food you're cooking splutters, you'll need to ensure you clean the heating element after each use to prevent burns and subsequent deterioration in performance.
However, 'flatter' foods like a fillet of fish, fries or some vegetables for roasting is fine in the smaller basket.
Ninja also has a 3.2L container as well, but you'll need to buy that separately. Personally, I'd have preferred the 3.2L and 5.7L dishes to be the default options, with the 2.3L being the additional purchase, but that's not a complaint in any way; it's a reflection of my own needs.
Karen Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureThe fact that all the containers come with airtight lids is also a tick in my books. Got leftovers? Leave them in the container, cover and pop in the fridge, then just reheat in the air fryer itself. That's less cleaning up!
Despite the two containers, the Crispi Pro doesn't take up too much space on the kitchen counter. In fact, its footprint is about half that of my previous dual-basket air fryer, and most of us would be able to stow away a small glass container in a drawer or cabinet. And I now no longer worry about black bits contaminating my food.
If you're keen on an air fryer upgrade, I'd highly recommend the Ninja Crispi Pro but, if you don't need to feed an army, even the standard Ninja Crispi is a good option (it just has smaller containers).
- NATO is planning to fortify the border with Russia and its allies with a network of sensors and drones, with AI assistance
- The Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative will track threats along the NATO borders with Russia and Belarus
- The strategy mirrors the steps taken by Ukraine to bolster its defenses against Russian aggression
NATO’s concerns about its border with Russia and Belarus have grown into plans to deploy sensors and drones along 3,500 kilometers, with an AI element to assist in threat detection and tracking.
Known as the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative, the AI will be used to control fleets of drones, but the AI’s role in the kill chain will not involve decision-making.
Instead, human operators will be given the final say on whether a drone can strike a target.
Millions of dronesThe plans follow a similar approach in Ukraine, where the borders with Russia and Belarus are closely observed by AI-managed drones. But the move towards AI looks set to evolve the procedural kill chain into a kill web, where information provided by drones and sensors with AI oversight is provided to a human operator for a decision.
The Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative (EFDI) is a fully fledged operation, complete with a data backbone, for which US Army Maj. Ben Schiff is the product manager. The EFDI Data Backbone is described as a “digital ‘nervous system’” for the project, which connects not just the sensors and drones but also satellites and the information systems of NATO members.
Automation of the drones is mainly concerned with the “boring” jobs, like hovering over target areas to detect incursions. But the drones don’t attack unprompted. Instead, this is brought to the human operative for the final decision.
“So the humans are deciding what the drone does, but they don't necessarily need to take the action of flying it because we don't have a million pilots,” said Schiff. “We can't fly a million drones at the same time.”
The kill webTraditionally, drone strikes have been overseen by a procedural kill chain, whereby information is assessed by a remote operator ahead of a decision being made to attack a target. The EFDI program is unifying data to progress NATO’s approach from a kill chain to “kill web.” This means the information accumulated on the target – from drones but also sensors and satellites, as well as member country information – can be quickly passed to operators. But the devices assembling the data need to be able to work together.
Maj. Matt Blubaugh, a spokesperson for US Army Europe and Africa, says "The value of a drone, sensor, or other capability is not determined solely by its individual performance [but] its effectiveness depends on how well it integrates into the broader operational ecosystem."
The model has already been proved in combat, such as taking out an Iranian Shahed drone in Kuwait.
Now that AI has quickly become embedded in global enterprise operations, it has the ability to impact everything from data analysis to decision-making and even security.
Most conversations, however, focus on AI capability, power, productivity, and accuracy, but leave out one major issue.
While everyone is focused on what happens as AI is implemented, very few are asking what happens when access to AI capability suddenly disappears.
A prominent example of this is the debate around Anthropic restoring access to its Fable and Mythos AI models, which primarily revolved around compliance timelines and export control mechanics.
Yet, few have questioned why so many organizations discovered that one external decision, out of their control, removed a business-critical capability seemingly overnight. In short, AI access disruptions are a symptom of a much larger operational resilience issue, and expose an overlooked governance gap around dependency.
As organizations integrate AI deeper into their business operations, they need to shift their focus from exploring whether AI is secure enough right now to start asking whether their organizations can even continue operating if or when those very AI services become unavailable.
Security does not equal resilienceThese little discussed topics bring up an important point that security and resilience are not synonymous.
Security prevents and protects systems from compromise. This keeps attackers from gaining access, reduces the number of vulnerabilities, and defends against malicious entities - all crucial elements of security operations. Resilience is the ability to continue business operations when systems, services, or data become unavailable, regardless of the cause.
We tend to associate resilience with situations such as cyberattacks or IT infrastructure failures. AI has changed the threat landscape for organizations, how they work with AI, and protect themselves from it. Organizations must now increasingly plan for disrupted access to critical tools and functions caused by geopolitical decisions, regulations, or changes made by technology providers themselves.
A service doesn't have to be hacked to become unavailable. A policy decision on the other side of the world can have the exact same operational effect. We saw exactly that with Anthropic.
With this in mind, resilience has to be built into how the enterprise operates and include any new AI infrastructure, so business continuity is ensured even through policy interference.
AI Creates a New Kind of Vendor DependencyWhere traditional software dependency usually involves a single or small amount of vendors, enterprise AI often depends on an interconnected ecosystem that organizations do not own or control. Every additional layer in the AI ecosystem represents a dependency, and therefore a potential point of failure.
This creates four risk factors that leadership needs to be mindful of:
Data sovereignty: Enterprise data may be processed under legal jurisdictions the organization doesn't control, with limited visibility into who can access it or whether it feeds future model training
Model sovereignty: Organizations often have little to no control over model availability, feature capabilities and changes, or access decisions, leaving them exposed if a provider suddenly decides to restrict access or withdraw capabilities.
Infrastructure dependency: Much of today’s enterprise AI ecosystem relies on a small handful of cloud providers operating under specific national jurisdictions.
AI supply chain risks: An interconnected system of foundation models, cloud platforms, and software vendors means disruption at even one layer can quickly cascade across the wider technology stack.
These factors increasingly depend on geopolitics rather than technology.
AI Governance is a Boardroom IssueThe reality is that a vendor contract alone cannot guarantee uninterrupted access to the tools and platforms that an enterprise has invested in. But governance frameworks haven’t truly evolved to account for this issue. Only newly emerging frameworks like NIS2 and DORA recognize that resilience must go beyond fending off cybersecurity threats.
Best practice for an organization as they approach vendor contracts and governance frameworks of their own is to understand where dependencies lie across suppliers and develop contingency plans that allow them to operate smoothly through eras of disruption.
Whether the dependency is within an AI platform, ITSM solution, a CRM, or another business critical technology, organizations should assess how they would continue operating if access changed overnight. AI should be subjected to the same scrutiny as any other critical third-party vendors.
Begin Resilience Frameworks Before the Next DisruptionOn top of this, boards should be cautious about accepting AI capability claims at face value. Organizations should require evidence that vendor claims deliver measurable outcomes.
While AI can quickly identify an overwhelming amount of potential vulnerabilities, discovery alone does not improve resilience. Human expertise here remains essential to validate findings, prioritize fixes based on order of immediate business impact and ensure resources are focused where true risk exists.
The biggest lesson from recent AI disruption is how many organizations have underestimated their dependence on technologies they don’t have assured control over. And with renewed conversation from U.S. legislators around a potential AI “kill switch,” this has to be top of mind.
Business leaders must recognize that with all the opportunity AI unlocks, the risk of vendor dependency is close to follow. If I were head of technology at a major enterprise today, I would ensure teams across the entire technology and security departments understand where critical AI capabilities originate, the dependencies that exist across the supply chain, and how operations can remain resilient if access changed overnight.
Ultimately, the future of successful enterprise AI use will be determined by organizations baking governance and resilience strategies into business plans so that through commercial, political, and operational disruptions, business can continue as securely as usual.
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