Trust, right to repair, and how it affects you

Originally published on What’s the Best

When you buy a bit of tech, no matter the price, you want it to last. The lifespan of your device can be impacted by its purpose, size, components, and the demands you put it under. While some items are constantly upgraded and improved, others hit the nail on the head straight away. For example, headphones like the Koss Porta Pros from 1987 are still regarded as great headphones and have seen a new surge in popularity in recent times – despite not seeing an update in design or internals for decades. However, this kind of longevity is mostly discouraged in areas such as the mobile phone and laptop industries, even if the consumer doesn't know it. This is where the right to repair comes in.

Warranty practice and the right to repair have been topics of discussion within the tech community for some years now, but many don't know where to start when it comes to these issues. We will break it down for you, so you can make the most informed buying decision possible when it comes to the tech you want to keep and maintain.

Warranty

Warranty refers to a period of time in which certain damage or faults are repaired by the manufacturer for free. What is covered under warranty depends on how the fault or damage occurred. If you bought a TV and the screen started flickering a week after use, that would be a valid cause for warranty as it was through normal use that the issue occurred. However, if you were moving the TV, dropped it and the screen cracked, that would not be covered under warranty as it was self-inflicted damage.

Keep in mind the cost of the product when it comes to liability for the manufacturer, for example, if a £200 laptop stopped working after a year or two, it's more understandable than if a £2,000 laptop broke after a few months. The key idea of this is the “reasonable amount of time” a product works as intended, since if it fails within a short time frame it could indicate that the product was faulty to begin with, and therefore eligible for replacement.

The mechanics around warranty repair services are in-depth, hard to understand, and full of legal jargon. For example, Apple products come with a two-year warranty from the point of purchase, but you can upgrade it by purchasing Apple Care. Apple also recommends that you take your product to an Apple Store, where they will repair or replace your device. Though offering a self-repair scheme, it's still recommended by Apple to bring in your device for them to fix, and subconsciously urged when the parts on offer through the official scheme are at a very bloated price. This is in comparison to similar kits from iFixit which can be half the price for the same parts. In a recent interview Apple stated that they are moving towards "device longevity" rather than repairability, which may not bode well for future iPhone home repairs, and companies like iFixit may suffer as a result.

iFixit came into prevalence about a decade ago and have since been a great resource for anyone who may want to repair their tech, supplying the tools and parts needed. In addition, it has great walkthrough guides, videos, and even rate tech on how repairable it is if you want to know prior to buying. The company also often inform users on any updates to right to repair laws, ensuring the consumer can be as informed as possible.

There are companies that try to sneak around warranty laws. Recently ASUS was caught using shady practices (via PC Mag). In once instance, it attempted to prevent the consumer from claiming warranty repair on a ROG Ally's joystick by claiming a small nick in the plastic showed it was customer damage. In another incident, it quoted repair costs higher than the product cost new. These practices have been used for years thanks to slow legistlation changes to push the consumers to buy new replacements instead. Not only is this bad for the customer's wallet, but also the envioronment as it adds to waste.

These practices incentivise consumers to simply buy a new product, and has been a hot topic of discussion in the right to repair community. But what is the right to repair, and why should the average consumer know about it?

Right to repair

Right to repair refers to the right for consumers to be able to repair, modify and maintain their devices as they see fit. This stretches beyond just tech, and into areas such as the automotive community. They encourage consumers to try to repair and maintain their devices before looking to just purchase a new one. The benefits are financial for the consumer who saves money, but also environmental by helping to reduce waste.

In addition, the right to repair offers users the chance to even improve upon the products they purchase, such as replacing a hard drive with an SSD when it starts to slow with age. Currently, many tech manufacturers would see this as meddling in the internals and refuse to repair it.

On paper, it's a flawless idea having the option to modify your products, however, many users who aren't tech-proficient might find the idea of repairing a phone or laptop daunting. The rise in companies such as iFixit corroborates the rise in right to repair campaigning.

Right to repair is gaining traction in Europe especially, the EU recently adopting the Right To Repair Directive, and if the campaign maintains the reach they've found in the last five years, more of this legislation will be coming. In the meantime, the best thing you can do is keep up to date on your device's warranty period, and should something go wrong, save a penny (and the planet) by looking to self-repair.

Great repairable tech

Below we've listed a range of products with companies that support the right to repair, and also act as great sustainable tech products. Have a look and see if any of them catch your eye:

Fairphone 5

Regularly topping the lists for most sustainable smartphones, the Fairphone 5 offers more than any other smartphone on the market in this department. Already constructed from sustainable, recyclable and conflict-free materials, with great quality components, this phone is made to be repaired.

The modular design is so individual sections can be replaced as they need to be, no longer will a cracked screen, fried charging port or tired battery mean the end of your phone. Fairphone supply the new module, as well as guides on how to install them. No intense technical know-how required, the design allows for a user-friendly installation experience.

Not only will this save you money from having to take it somewhere to be replaced, but being able to maintain a phone for as long as possible allows you to save money and resist the temptation of endless upgrades. Fairphone intend for this phone to last, officially supporting the device through security updates, for at least 8 years, surpassing most phone companies by at least 3 years. Their warranty polity is another thing to go beyond other phone companies, allowing you 5 years of warranty support should a problem arise that you can't fix from home.

If you want to find out more, read our review of the Fairphone 5.

Framework Laptop

Framework have a similar idea to Fairphone regarding modular construction and home repairability, but go a step further and allowing you to customise your laptop components from checkout and beyond. Their configuration tool allows you to decide from the get-go how much memory or storage you might want, how many ports, what kind of internals, the type of keyboard, even the OS is up to you.

They offer options for different CPUs (Intel or Ryzen) across their 13 and 16 inch models, the latter including the option for a dedicated GPU module. Laptops are notoriously hard to modify by the end-user thanks to their tight internals and often proprietary components, Framework allows the user to decide if they perhaps need more storage later on, or another USB-C port.

They offer repair guides in addition to spare parts, from screws all the way up to new motherboard/CPU installs. Once again, the power is in your hands when it comes to repair, no need to pay for a repair or send it off to someone. All the better that you'll want to keep this laptop around for years to come if you can always maintain it.

Meze Classic 99

A stylish and bassy headphone, with repairability at the heart. Meze are well known now for their high-end sound at affordable audiophile prices, the Classic 99s acting as their flagship model. The founder of Meze intended to replicate the same feeling and design of his Fender Stratocaster, which is what lead to the construction of the ear-cups to be made from wood. Each pair of headphones is unique in this way, different grains and textures hammer home the uniqueness and renewability of the headphones.

That renewability goes deeper, with the company designing it with sustainability in mind from the start. Every part of the headphones, from the ear pads, to the self-adjusting headband, to the driver, every part is serviceable or replaceable by the end user. Even the cable can be detached easily at any point, should you want to replace it with a balanced cable option or maybe if the cable should break, it makes replacing it as easy as plugging and going.

Not only are these some best-selling affordable audiophile headphones, but the company stand behind it and make sure you're able to make the best of them, no matter what might happen down the road.