Major upgrades from the predecessor include a larger display, better camera with optical image stabilization, improved selfie camera, 5G support, IP54 dust and splash protection and MIL810G certification, USB-C port, bigger battery, 20W fast charging among other changes.

[7][better source needed] The Fairphone 4 is made with Fairtrade-certified gold, aluminum from Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard certified vendors, fair tungsten from Rwanda, recycled tin, rare earth minerals, and plastics.

The Fairphone 4 received mostly positive reviews praising its guarantee of software support until 2025 and up to 5 years of warranty and improvements over its predecessor.

However, the lack of a headphone jack was criticized, along with the occasional sluggish performance and the quality of the camera and fingerprint sensor.

[12][5][13][14] GrapheneOS criticized Fairphone 4 for being shipped with publicly available private keys for the firmware and stock operating system, causing security features such as verified boot and hardware keystore to break, and for not providing firmware updates on time.