TL;DR
The Fairphone 4 will skip Android 14 and jump straight to Android 15 in early November.
According to the company, development sped up after last year’s Qualcomm-related delay.
The update will roll out in batches, bringing the 2021 phone in line with its successors.
Fairphone 4 owners have waited a long time for their next big software update, and in return for that patience, they’re getting more than they expected. The company has confirmed that it’s skipping Android 14 entirely and going straight to Android 15, with the rollout planned for early November.
The announcement comes from a Fairphone employee on the company’s Community Forum, who said development has “sped up” enough to make the jump possible. The update will roll out in batches, so don’t worry if it doesn’t appear on your phone right away.
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That’s a big turnaround from last year, when Fairphone delayed Android 14 due to technical issues that required help from Qualcomm. At the time, the update was pushed into 2025, but this new plan effectively leapfrogs that version. The jump gets the four-year-old Fairphone 4 back on track and in line with the newer Fairphone 5 and Gen 6, which both already run Android 15.
The Fairphone 4 launched back in 2021, with official support promised through at least 2027. It was the company’s first phone to reach the US, which replaces Google’s software with its own privacy-focused version of Android called /e/OS. As promising as the Android 15 news is, given its history, Fairphone 4 owners may wait until they actually see the update on their screens to believe it fully.
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