Yes, I agree it is a lot of money, which can make it hard/impossible for many people to buy.
However, I think there is a valid reason for this. In this case it is us the consumers that pay the price, whereas in other phones it might be a lower price for the consumer, but a higher for workers and people in the production chain as well as the environment, and a rather hefty one sometimes.
Hopefully, this could be reduced if Fairphone gains traction, without increasing the price for people and environment.
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More superficial observations … 
Judging from the photo of the new case(s) …
… and comparing it with the out of stock (old) battery …
https://shop.fairphone.com/media/catalog/product/cache/3/image/560x/602f0fa2c1f0d1ba5e241f914e856ff9/b/a/battery_3.jpg
… it seems that both the FAIRHONE lettering on the battery disappeared and the lift here symbol changed on the battery. I would also suspect that “Change is in your hands” is printed on the (new) battery and not into the inside of the new case.
Watson?
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Perhaps even the #LineageOS version for the Fairphone 2 will get better, as the released code could as well be used to polish it further :). I’m a little sad that LoS wasn’t chosen as the base OS.
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I agree with PotentialBuyer,
I’m using an old 2008 samsung (non smartphone) since december because my old smartphone broke down, I was watching the fairphone site all this time for news about a new model but the only news I got in 4 months is about new cover…
I would really like to purchase a fairphone but, as said by PotentialBuyer, the hardware is old right now, and in the next five year to come will be osbolete I think…
I hope to hear some news about new model (maybe with entry level soc too).
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Well 5 hours before you posted this, you posted pictures with the answer in another thread:
So one may say that you are your own
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Are we talking about a Google-certified Android 7.1?
Because a non-certified Android 7.1 for the Fairphone 2 exists since October 2017 – in the form of Lineage OS.
A Google certification is crucial as there are reports of apps (especially banking apps, but also some games) which refuse to run on systems without certification (for example rooted systems or custom ROMs). Even Google nags its users on non-certified systems to go through a registration process.
But if that update is really Google-certified – I will show the greatest respect for Fairphone and will prefer Fairphone over another brands if I need a new smartphone. But as of now, my Fairphone 2 from January of 2016 is still good for a couple of years.
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Wow! That’s great news! What a nice surprise!
I also love the transparent covers.
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Well, it’s plain and simple:
Fairphone rocks!
Admittedly, I would not have placed any money on a bet for that development. Once more it’s true, that life is full of surprises or expect the unexpected 
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Bert is right: The fairphone rocks!
Even more important to me:
Fairphone, the company, listened to their customers!
The transparent case was a unique selling point to me (in addition to the fairness aspect, the modular approach to the hardware and the support for open sourced, non-googlefied operation). The transparency is perfectly in line with both, the fairness and the ability to mess with what’s inside. It also worked as a communication spark on all kinds of nerd talk.
My back cover started to develop little cracks on the corners because of the classical drops in the rest room. I was a little dismayed to notice the slim case line did not include a transparent option. So I held back purchasing a replacement and decided to wait until parts would come off.
Official commitment to longevity can be counted as listening to customers, too. Remember the upset, when support for the fairphone1 was dropped? Although there were comprehensible reasons given and no official promises were broken, many customers felt a bit of a let-down.
I notice, Fairphone had listened to their customers before. Back when it transpired that the fairphone2 would be delivered with google enabled and no simple way to root, there were voices who expressed their disappointment. In what I see as a response the fairphone also got the option to easily convert to google-less android with root access that can be activated by a simple click. To me, this alone is a unique selling point that warrants a few extra bucks…
TL;DR: I am very happy to see both, the transparent case and an update to android 7 soon 
!
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I must not compair with other phones in that price range. https://consumer.huawei.com/de/phones/p10-plus/specs/
I’ll expect 7.1 . . .
This is great news, thank you. My only complaint regarding Android 7.1 is that if I knew it earlier, I would’ve more likely bought a FP2 for my gf instead of a budget phone. But that’s hindsight 20/20.
As for the case, I very much liked the original translucent case as well (as well as they grey, less transparent one) but I’m also happy with the indigo blue slim case. In contrast to the old cases, the build quality of the slim cases is excellent.
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Yes! Great news! Thanks!
I ordered a transparent case to replace my broken one…
And, forgive me if I missed something (maybe it’s obvious…), but the upgrade to 7.1 will concern fairphone OS and fairphone open OS, right?
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Apart from the price range itself not being comparable in this case (694€ at Conrad vs 530€ for a FP2), Huawei only upgrades their high-end phones for 2 years:
This is not true for the lower-end phones. These often don’t receive any upgrades.
At least Huawei seams to be fast with security updates (article from July 2016):
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Well, I have no insider info and therefore rely on guesswork based on my experience so far:
FP Open is often a few days later in being updated, but it was always updated.
Therefore I would say you can rest assured. FPOOS will be upgraded to 7.1 as well.
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Sorry I found it here for EUR499
https://www.gsmshop.at/mobiltelefone/huawei-p10-plus-128gb-schwarz/a-85921/?ReferrerID=9.00
@Stephan_Mussil Oh wow, almost 200€ difference is astonishing. 
I do agree that a smartphone that is sold today should have the latest OS version on it. Though as others said before, security updates are much more important and Fairphone has proved that they are exceptionally fast in providing them.
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A lifespan of 5 years…from 2015 would be 2020 not 2023. I think there are good chances for FP2 to life and perform well until then, there are only ~ two more years to go.
Realistically I would say …of release. Some users have their FP2 since beginning for ~ 3 years now, so other potential customers who have missed this period of time may have only two more years to come. But therefore FP cannot be held responsible for. It leaves the moment of purchase up to the customer and as always, technical changes are reserved. So it´s just with any other product. Someone may buy it sometime later risking to get a phased-out model as a new model is just before its launch. There won´t be “the final” model. I think it´s nonsense to wait and skip models for awaiting a newer model without any clear proof when this will come. Because of this there are actually “potential” customers out there having missed the FP2 movement for 3 years now. And that´s what they get for just waiting.
I have never took a close look at any other smartphone before FP2 as I have seen how other users I know done in the past years. Whether their almost fresh phone was replaced after being dropped/damaged and the repair would be too expensive, or the non-replacable battery was worn out or their neighbour/best friend, colleague showed up with a better phone which features they missed. After some time their drawers filled up with unused phones not being too old yet.
Ridiculous to join into such a movement of wasting. Many of them don´t have bad feelings at all about it.
FP2 just came out as I was willing to spent some money on a “smart” device.
The great difference when paying this higher price is a “repairable” phone, not a crappy throw-away phone that still cost money whether when purchased or when having to take a two years phone contract.
This is an interesting point that you mention. Users want to have this certification to run e.g. banking apps. But again they don´t want to have the remaining Google stuff along with the OS… This clearly shows how odd some users expectations are. Now how in this world anyone could meet both of them with only one product. Therefore I would prefer something multiboot like just a it is easily done with a conventional computer.
Actually this is FP, a tiny company not even close to the league of any big player. I don´t see the least sense in any comparison.
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