Fairphone or Murena: which phone for de-Googling?

This match hides a trap: Murena sells Fairphones. The two brands aren’t opposed, they don’t play on the same floor. Fairphone builds a phone designed to last and be repaired, but it doesn’t arrive de-Googled in your mailbox. Murena, for its part, sells phones stripped of Google thanks to preinstalled /e/OS, and its flagship model is precisely a Fairphone 6. So the real question isn’t naming a winner, it’s choosing your priority: ethical hardware, or Google-free software.

The match in one table

Criterion	Fairphone	Murena
Line of business	Maker of a modular, repairable phone	Seller of de-Googled phones running /e/OS
Google-free at purchase	No; de-Googled version via Murena	Yes, /e/OS preinstalled across the range
Models	Fairphone 6 (€599)	Murena Fairphone 6 (€599), CMF Phone 1, SHIFTphone 8
Repairability	Twelve replaceable parts with a single screwdriver	Depends on the model, highest on the Murena Fairphone 6
Warranty and support	Five-year warranty, eight years of updates	Depends on the device you choose
Main limitation	Performance sometimes behind at the same price	Strong dependence on Murena services

What Fairphone does better

The hardware, without rival. Fairphone makes the only smartphones designed to last and to be repaired easily. The Fairphone 6, released in June 2025, comes apart with a single screwdriver: twelve replaceable parts. A part breaks? You replace it, instead of replacing the phone. Add a five-year warranty and eight years of updates: enough to keep it for a very long time.

The commitment goes beyond repair. Fair materials, a more ethical manufacturing chain: the €599 pays for that standard, not for the spec sheet. Fair warning, at the same price, performance sometimes lags behind, and you’ll find fewer cases and accessories. Which leaves the point that concerns us here: out of the box, a Fairphone is not de-Googled. The hardware is exemplary, the software still needs dealing with.

What Murena does better

The exit from Google, with no tinkering. Murena preinstalls /e/OS, an Android cleaned of Google services, on all its phones. Nothing to flash, nothing to unlock: you buy a device that already starts without Google. The /e/OS profile details what this system changes day to day, and I’ve compared /e/OS and GrapheneOS if the choice of system is still on your mind.

The 2025 range covers three budgets: the Murena Fairphone 6 at €599, the CMF Phone 1 as an affordable entry-level option, the SHIFTphone 8 from a sustainable German brand. Each model includes the Murena Cloud, which syncs contacts, calendar and files. Two reservations: the choice of devices remains limited, and the whole thing depends heavily on Murena services. You trade one ecosystem for another, a more respectful one, but an ecosystem all the same.

Verdict

Choose Fairphone if hardware ethics come first: a repairable phone, guaranteed for five years, that you plan to use to the very end. The Google question can be handled later, since the device is compatible with certain privacy-respecting custom ROMs.

Choose Murena if your priority is living without Google from the first boot. It’s the shortest path to a successful exit from Android without touching a command line.

Why choose at all, though? The Murena Fairphone 6 brings the two together: the same modular, repairable phone, sold with /e/OS, at the same price of €599. It’s the rare match where you can tick both boxes at once. The detailed profiles: Fairphone and Murena Smartphones, with the rest of the more ethical smartphones.