This Cheap, Repairable Smartphone Is Okay, and Maybe That’s the Point

The new Teracube 2e is a sustainable smartphone and a glimpse of a better future for accessories

The Teracube 2e, after a long trip to my mailbox from China, arrived in a simple, unadorned cardboard box. Photos courtesy of the author

Imagine the cheapest possible smartphone you can buy that’s brand new. Given that low barrier, what would you be able to do with it? Would the experience be frustrating or simply average? Would you gain some benefits with that minimalist sheen that you might not find otherwise?

I found myself pondering these questions around the Teracube 2e, a device promoted on Indiegogo as a sustainable, repairable device. When I found it, the lowest available price on Indiegogo was $99; currently, the suggested price is $200. At either price, the Teracube 2e is cheap enough to be considered a commodity.

But it has something that most phones in its price range do not have: a focus on reusability. Teracube isn’t the only player in this specific market — Fairphone has been at it for nearly a decade now and goes even further. But what makes Teracube stand out is that the company is attempting to do something similar at a lower price point, potentially winning over consumers who see the old Patagonia slogan “buy less” more as a way of life than a catchy phrase.

I think the device lives up to the company’s goals. The Teracube 2e is wrapped in plastic, rather than the glass of most modern phones, that can be easily removed from the case. It has an accessible battery and SIM and SD card slots and little to no glue in sight.

The device is good enough for the average person who doesn’t get excited about phones, offering simple utility without going over the top. Given the power-sipping components — a relatively low-end MediaTek Helio A25 processor, 4 gigabytes of RAM, and a 6.1-inch 720p IPS display — the 4000mAh battery can literally last for days without shutting down. And a few years from now, when that battery is finally spent, it’s not aggressively glued down to the device and can be easily replaced, ensuring a long-term future, if so desired.

The road to Teracube is lined with accessories

Inside the Teracube 2e box is close to nothing: a card with a note on it, some minimal manuals, a…