The point is; he wants a Framework-like approach to modularity and feature set. That means a phone that’s good enough to actually holds its own without retreating to being “ethical” or “modular.”

Fairphone is just the worst deal you can get even if you consider the ethical side of it. This is because rescuing an old phone gives you a much better experience for less than half the cost and keeping tech from the landfill is a lot more ecologically friendly as the work and sourcing was already done regardless of you purchasing the device.