Gear News of the Week: Fairphone lands in the US and WhatsApp finally comes to the Apple Watch
Only smartphone The manufacturer with a 10/10 iFixit repairability score is finally bringing its products to the US, but it’s not starting with its phones. Netherlands-based Fairphone announced this week that it will expand into the US with repairable headphones on its Fairbuds XL. It will be available on Amazon later this month.
Fairphone says it will achieve 61% revenue growth in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, although this is likely to be attributed to the launch of The Fairphone (Gen 6) – the company doesn’t launch a new phone every year. In 2024, more than 100,000 devices were sold, including phones and audio products.
Right-to-repair laws exist throughout the United States, and Fairphone smartphones are among the easiest to repair. The company manufactures a screwdriver, sells spare parts for years, and provides long-term software support. Its devices may not be the flashiest or most powerful, but they are a more sustainable solution and also ensure fair mining practices and wages for workers in its supply chain.
Bringing your smartphone to the US is a bit more complicated than headphones, as it requires carrier certifications, but Fairphone tells WIRED that it’s in “advanced discussions” with select retailers and carriers.
WhatsApp comes to Apple Watch
Courtesy of Meta
It looks like Meta is trying to finally bring its apps to other platforms. A few months ago, it launched an Instagram app for the iPad. Now we are getting WhatsApp on Apple Watch. Instead of just echoing your notifications and sending basic replies, you can now read full messages on Apple Watch, record and send voice messages, see who’s calling, send emoji reactions to messages, and see more chat history on the screen.
It syncs with your iPhone, so you don’t need to set it up as a companion device. You can’t call or even reply to the watch itself. You can see who calls and reject. It also doesn’t seem like you can add the WhatsApp app as a complication.
Motorola’s cheapest phone now has 5G
It’s a little earlier than usual, but Motorola’s latest budget phones are here: the Moto G 2026 and Moto G Play 2026. They look similar and don’t differ much from the design language Motorola used on its Moto G 2025 devices. Notably, the Moto G Play supports 5G, making it one of the cheapest phones with 5G at $170.
Both phones have a 6.7-inch 120Hz LCD display, large 5200 mAh batteries, and IP52 water resistance. They use MediaTek’s Dimensity 6300 processor with 4GB of RAM, but differ in storage size, the Moto G with 128GB of internal storage and the Play with 64GB (both expandable via microSD). Cameras are another place where the two phones differ, with a 50-megapixel primary sensor on the Moto G and a 32-megapixel sensor on the Play. Yes, they still have headphone jacks.
Motorola says the Moto G Play will be available on November 13th at Motorola, Best Buy and Amazon for $170, and the $200 Moto G will be available on December 11th first at Motorola’s website and then at Best Buy and Amazon on January 15th.
Canon’s R6 III Goes More Pro
Courtesy of Canon
Canon has unveiled its long-awaited new full-frame mirrorless camera, the EOS R6 Mark III. The R6 III has a new 32.5MP sensor (the same sensor in the EOS C50 cinema camera) as well as the company’s latest Digic X processor.
