36 ms·

Fairbuds: In-ear with replaceable batteries

380 points by pfooti 3y ago

skadamat 3y ago
These look pretty compelling. I'm looking forward to the iFixIt teardown
_yb2s 3y ago
Very cool! I am curious if it takes standard batteries, or something custom from them that will be unobtainable in a few years? I'm also curious if the noise cancelling is any good... I'm tired of being locked into overpriced low quality Bose products, but historically they have been the only ones with truly good noise cancelling. As I have ADHD I need really good noise cancelling to do my job in an open work environment. Lastly, I'm wondering what the deal is with the earbud tips, as I've found I often need a custom or weird sized one to get things to stay in my ear. The Bose ones generally work for me, as they come with a large array of sizes, but the photos make this look like just a single size. I'll keep an eye on these- if I can answer these 3 questions/issues I'll buy a set.
- blackeyeblitzar 3y ago
  I don’t think they’re standard batteries given the specialized form factor (size/shape/weight). On the spare parts page for the Fairbuds (https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/category/spare-parts-4?category=4&filters=141 https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/category/spare-parts-4?categ...) there is nothing mentioned about the battery specifications, so I assume it’s proprietary. That said, the parts are cheap - less than 10 euros for replacement earbud batteries is very reasonable. For earbud tips - you can get aftermarket replacements of many sizes and shapes for cheap. Look on Amazon or Alibaba, but some brands are more well known like Spinfit. As for active noise cancellation - my experience has been that anything outside of Bose or Sony is only OK at best. I doubt these are any better than the average set out there. But with the right aftermarket tips you can improve the quality of isolation on cheaper earbuds significantly. EDIT: others have pointed out that the batteries are indeed standardized.
  - Ringz 3y ago
    They have standard batteries: https://www.eemb.com/product-241 https://www.eemb.com/product-241
- morsch 3y ago
  I can't find this on the product webpage (why?!), but reportedly the battery is standard, it's a LIR1054. https://www.heise.de/news/Fairphone-Fairbuds-In-Ears-mit-Wechselakku-9678684.html https://www.heise.de/news/Fairphone-Fairbuds-In-Ears-mit-Wec...
- deleted 3y ago
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- pge 3y ago
  The battery looks like a standard hearing aid battery
  - ssl-3 3y ago
    Fantastic! The best part about hearing aid battery standards is that there are so many of them to pick from!
- mitthrowaway2 3y ago
  Do consumer standard lithium-ion batteries exist yet? (Aside from 18650s, which might barely count). It's 2024; how come companies like Sony, Panasonic, Energizer and Duracell haven't jumped on offering one or two standard replaceable lithium-ion cells, with integrated circuit protection and slim enough for modern consumer electronics, that people can buy off-the-shelf in drug stores? Many devices are still running on alkaline batteries these days, like smoke detectors and kitchen scales. It didn't take that long in the old days for standards like AA and AAA batteries to hit the market, and they didn't worry too much about applying them to new chemistries with differing voltages. And with efficient DC-DC converters that are cheap enough to introduce into consumer electronics, battery voltage hardly even matters that much nowadays.
  - criddell 3y ago
    Do these count: https://energizer.com/batteries/energizer-ultimate-lithium-batteries/ https://energizer.com/batteries/energizer-ultimate-lithium-b...
    - colinng 3y ago
      They’re really light and last a long time, but are not rechargeable.
      - criddell 3y ago
        I think you are moving the goalposts. The batteries I linked to are consumer standard lithium chemistry batteries that people can buy off-the-shelf in drug stores and be used in smoke detectors and kitchen scales.
        _yb2s 3y ago
        No we’re talking about rechargeable batteries here… disposable lithium are too expensive and wasteful for frequently used high drain devices. I love them for emergency equipment like spot trackers and emergency strobe lights
        3y ago
maxglute 3y ago
These look great, hope ANC performance competitive. Lack voice pass through though. Should have fairphone branded on the the case insetad of fairbud.
blackeyeblitzar 3y ago
Repairability is good and will reduce waste, but I am not sure this is going to actually attract customers unless they’re already fans of Fairphone for other reasons (like ethics or sustainability or privacy or independence from big companies or whatever). To attract new customers, they need something else to stand out from a very crowded space, where there are many good choices as far as sound quality, mic quality, noise cancellation, etc. I am skeptical that these will be any better than the competition on those facets. And keep in mind, 150 Euros means it is competing with everything from budget sub-50 products on Amazon to AirPods.
- j16sdiz 3y ago
  Do they need new customers? All they need are existing customers buy in these new product lines
- whazor 3y ago
  Assuming there is a maintainability premium, €150 seems too little for great earbuds. I got attached to my AirPods Max. They allow me to have meetings next to people who are also in meetings. Even if they are in the same meeting.
  - e12e 3y ago
    > have meetings next to people who are also in meetings. Even if they are in the same meeting. I know what you mean, but still had to laugh :)
  - dingnuts 3y ago
    I'm interested to hear how the AirPods solved the problem of everyone around me hearing me speak to my computer, definitely causing them annoyance and possibly violating my NDA, depending on where I am for that meeting.
- gwbas1c 3y ago
  > I am not sure this is going to actually attract customers What's worse is that if/when the market demands replaceable batteries, it's an easy feature for everyone else to clone.
nolongerthere 3y ago
I’m most curious about if the connection issues have been resolved for non-AirPod earbuds, I have AirPod pros that I’m looking to replace, but last time I looked at all the alternatives it was really annoying to switch between devices.
- talldayo 3y ago
  Multipoint Bluetooth (which these feature) covers my use case 95% of the time. The gist is that certain headphones can connect to 2 Bluetooth endpoints and switch between whichever one is actively sending audio. If you step away from your desktop and start playing something on your phone, it will grab the phone's input and take over from there. It's not a carbon-copy of Apple's approach, but I've had issues with iCloud switching too so I'm rather glad it's not. Plus, the Multipoint approach works with all my weird stuff like my Switch and smart TV.
  - lloeki 3y ago
    > The gist is that certain headphones can connect to 2 Bluetooth endpoints and switch between whichever one is actively sending audio I hate multipoint bluetooth. It only seems to work in the most basic of scenarios and nobody appears to have been testing the damn thing out of that in real life. Yes Bose I'm looking at you. Good <deity> that is stupid hellhole of having audio stolen from you because some audio happened to play on the second device because you (or an unattended browser autoupdate) (re)opened some youtube tab, or constant nags about "foo disconnected / foo connected" when at range limit, or you took a call on your computer and moved and got out of range and sure enough it swaps to your phone which decides "oh sure you probably want to enjoy some loud music" and helpfully proceeds to blow your eardrums. <Deity> forbids you have more than two regularly used devices in which case it's completely useless anyway. Meanwhile my Beyerdynamic is not multipoint, it merely remembers what it has been paired to (I'm up to six devices now) and just connects to the last one on power up. If I want to use them from another previous one I just pop in bluetooth quick settings and choose "connect to FreeBYRD" which disconnects them from the other one, y'know, like we used to do when there were actual wires plugged into actual physical plugs, which BT is a glorified copperless version of anyway.
AdmiralAsshat 3y ago
USB-C is a plus. No wireless charging is a bummer. Something built to last for ten years would be intriguing. I'm still using my Samsung Galaxy Buds+ from 2020 as my daily driver. I prefer the capsule case to the box design of later models, and all of the internals are still "good enough" that I haven't really felt the need to upgrade. Even the lack of ANC hasn't been a dealbreaker--the passive noise cancellation just from having a solid seal around the ear has been enough to happily use on a plane.
barbazoo 3y ago
> Old batteries should never be the end of your earbuds. That's why we designed the Fairbuds with replaceable batteries - in the charging case and both buds! This is awesome. At first I thought they cheated and only made the case battery replaceable.
- nicoty 3y ago
  Would've been nicer if they made the batteries hot-swappable like on these: https://pqearbuds.com/products/longest-lasting-interchangeable-magnetic-attach-battery-wireless-earbuds https://pqearbuds.com/products/longest-lasting-interchangeab...
koinedad 3y ago
I really like the idea of this since I’ve been through a few pairs of AirPods. I’m not digging the shape as much but love the idea.
- bdcravens 3y ago
  I haven't replaced a pair of AirPods other than wanting upgraded models.
VyseofArcadia 3y ago
And of course they don't ship to the US. I'll be picking these up as soon as I can find a way to buy them. Maybe Murena will sell them soon, like they do the Fairphone.
segasaturn 3y ago
Notably Fairphone removed the headphone jack on their phones so that they could sell us these wireless earbuds. I appreciate that the battery is replacable on these buds, but not worth it imo! After all, wired earbuds don't even need batteries. :(
- nebalee 3y ago
  Wired USB-C earbuds exist.
  - user_7832 3y ago
    Batteries are just one of the many issues when headphone jacks are removed. (Also you can totally use wireless/usb-c headphones with phones with jacks, but that's something hopefully people realize.)
  - ssl-3 3y ago
    They do exist, but USC-C headphones include an entire USB sound card instead of -- you know -- just some headphone electromagnetic bits.
    - aeyes 3y ago
      So use any of the ~10$ USB-C to headphone dongles with your favorite headphones. For example the Apple or Google adapters work fine.
      - 8zah6q7 3y ago
        The Apple USB-C to 3.5 mm TRS adapter in particular is a great value. https://www.audioreviews.org/apple-audio-adapter-review/ https://www.audioreviews.org/apple-audio-adapter-review/
        edb_123 3y ago
        Except for the not-so-minor issue for us Android users: The default gain on Apples adapter is far too low for most proper headphones, and Android doesn't touch the gain and just relies on software-mixer for volume control. This results in a far too low volume. On Apple and Windows devices on the other hand, they are excellent.
k8svet 3y ago
How does "dual point" compare to "multipoint" advertised in some newer (even some decent/cheap) ones? I'm looking to "upgrade" but only because the batteries in my current pair are shot. It feels so bad to have things like this just go into a landfill when they're perfectly fine other than the battery. edit: oh, these are also 5x as expensive as the $30 earbuds I bought 2 years ago that have a really decent sound profile. Oooof. Sustainable, at a 5x premium? :/
- nulld3v 3y ago
  The "dual point" they advertise is identical to "multipoint" offered by other earbuds on the market. Pretty much all earbuds that advertise "multipoint" only support max 2 devices.
  - salad-tycoon 3y ago
    Do you know what the experience is like with multipoint for Apple phones and laptops? I played the “buy AirPod with apple care and request new ones at the end of warranty” game and apple sent me replacements where the case and pods batteries died within a month or so. I’m not really looking to spend, overtime, 250 bucks every 3 years on AirPods and seeing Anker space a40s are $40 with this multipoint feature and 10ths of battery life I am tempted to run away from apple or any ear phones above $100 but when Bluetooth is bad, it can be really bad.
    - nulld3v 2y ago
      I think it works fine? Multipoint is mainly controlled on the earbud side, what audio sources you have usually doesn't matter. The only issue I've come across though is many earbuds will only play one audio source at a time. Which is annoying but further hampered by some audio sources that will emit an imperceptible audio signal even when they aren't playing any sound, causing the earbuds to never switch away from that device.
- The_Colonel 3y ago
  There are many other aspects of good headphones than just sound quality. Like your cheap ones certainly don't have ANC which can be a dealbreaker. Other important things are responsive touch control, good set of microphones, app with equalizer, ear detection, wearing comfort... For my main use case (podcasts), the sound quality is actually the least important aspect of headphones.
ivandenysov 3y ago
I'm comparing these to my galaxy buds plus, which I bough because of theoretically replaceable batteries: - pro: 10 EUR for a pair of replacement batteries for the earbuds vs ~20 EUR for a pair of VARTA batteries with shipping from Germany - pro: 13 EUR for a new battery for the case. I need to go to aliexpress to find a replacement battery for the galaxy buds plus case - pro: replacement process seems to be way easier because it was designed to be replaceable unlike galaxy buds plus - pro: lighter than the buds: ~5g vs 6.3g - pro: ANC - con: more expensive. I paid half the price for the buds. But that was in 2020 money. - con: they are bigger: 28.7 x 24.6 x 21mm vs 17.5 x 22.5 x 19.2mm
- stronglikedan 3y ago
  Considering every new generation of Samsung buds (along the same product line) sounds magnitudes better than the last, I don't see why I would ever need to replace a battery. The batteries in my buds plus lasted me until buds pro were released, and my buds pro batteries lasted me until buds2 pro were released, so I have no reason to doubt my buds2 pro batteries will degrade before buds3 pros come out. And of course they will be the best sounding buds on the market so I'll buy them, because why even own buds if not for the sound quality.
  - deleted 3y ago
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  - morsch 3y ago
    If every release has improved SQ by that much, the first iteration must have sounded just awful.
  - The_Colonel 3y ago
    No offense, but you sound like the perfect consumerist. I'm pretty sure you're going to hit diminishing returns pretty soon, esp. if your claim that every new gen is "magnitudes better" than the old one is true. Personally, I was completely happy with the sound quality of my first TWS (FreeBuds 3). The only reason I felt I needed new ones was a failing battery in one of the buds.
  - 3y ago
thereddaikon 3y ago
I can't wear earbuds that stick inside your ear canal. They just don't fit me and are extremely uncomfortable. I have two pair of galaxy buds live for this reason. I've even swapped the batteries on both pair to keep them going as well. I'm not switching until someone comes out with a better alternative.
- thih9 3y ago
  Same. In my case I’m very happy that airpods are a thing, I’m not considering airpods pro for that reason.
  - ProfessorLayton 3y ago
    I'm the opposite, I can't use regular airpods since they won't stay in my ears, but airpods pro do so just fine. I think it's just one of those cases where multiple types will be necessary due to physical differences in ears.
    - thereddaikon 3y ago
      Definitely true. People are shaped different so there's room for more than one type on the market. I just wish there was more options for me other than the galaxy live and the original airpods.
    - ryukafalz 3y ago
      Yep, I'm the same way. I wish I could since they seem more comfortable in some ways, but they just fall right out!
- Izkata 3y ago
  Within the past year, on Amazon there was a rather sudden influx of earbuds in a variety of designs that wrap around or clip onto the ear instead of going in it. The key term to search for is "open-ear" earbuds.
- andrepew 3y ago
  I'm the same and fixed the issue by getting some custom eartips made. They aren't cheap but have made my AirPods Pro usable. On-ear headphones hurt my earlobes and over-ear headphones make my head get hot so I can't seem to find happiness anywhere. The custom eartips I think have gotten me the closest though!
ponorin 3y ago
So they finally seemed to have come up with their original design after 3 years of selling non-repairable TWS earbuds, great. I genuinely appreciate that they are trying to give users more sustainable options. Perhaps they can walk back the decision to remove the headphone jack as well so that people can use wired headphones directly which doesn't use battery in the first place.
- orthecreedence 3y ago
  I don't really consider new devices that don't have headphone jacks. This wireless-everything craze is so obnoxious.
  - hinkley 3y ago
    I don't think we've cracked the design yet for no wire between the device and the earphones. I have the Shure BT2 set and I would list my relationship as "I tolerate them". It dangles, and if I wear a coat with a metal zipper it has connection issues when my phone is in my pocket. I'm not convinced the new separate ones are better. Behind the head may still be the better option, and sliding them down around your neck when you need to be social ticks a lot of checkboxes for me as well.
    - kuchenbecker 3y ago
      I feel like me and everyone I know exclusively use wireless but the Internet would have me believe I'm weird.
      - hinkley 3y ago
        There’s something about having two independent Bluetooth headphones that makes them much more than twice as likely to get lost. And I suspect that part of it is having both ears blocked and thus needing to take one out much more frequently. Also there are a disproportionate number of tech people who have ADHD, and multiple small objects do not just have a high probability of getting lost, they have a virtual guarantee of doing so. Multiple times before they are lost forever.
markhahn 3y ago
wake me when the firmware is replaceable too.
lawlessone 3y ago
This is better than a phone I think which requires constant updates and support.
summm 3y ago
> Codec: SBC & AAC No LC3? No LE Audio? So, still HFP/SBC telephony with crappy microphone quality and in mono? For that price, in 2024?
- blackbeans 3y ago
  It's their first iteration and I applaud their effort. It takes at least a year to develop something like this and the sales quantities will be lower compared to the big brands, so the price is understandable. You seem to belong to group of consumers that wants to compromise lifespan and sustainability in favor of features and price. That's fine, but it simply means you are not their target audience for this product.
  - abdullahkhalids 3y ago
    Isn't more advanced codecs just software? The hardware support should be there, given its bluetooth 5.3. Is it just a case of them not licensing the advanced codecs?
    - petsfed 3y ago
      Think about the device that is performing the decoding. At its core, It's an ultra-low-power microcontroller, and the low-power requirements to hit the battery life specification while maintaining audio quality may or may not allow the kind of software abstractions that make these codecs "just software". Once you've licensed the codec, you then have to implement it on the micro's architecture, in a way that's actually performant. Which in turn may or may not require actual Assembly work.
      - abdullahkhalids 3y ago
        Thanks for explaining.
      - rale00 3y ago
        You wouldn't be implementing anything in software. The hardware would have decoding built in, so it's really just a question of choosing a bluetooth audio soc with the codecs you want and paying the licensing fees.
ebiester 3y ago
I think the key differentiator here for audiophiles is that they are allowing EQ from their app. I think if Resolve, Crinacle or similar gets their hands on it (though Crin has his own competition in the wired space) and creates a good EQ profile and it's competitive, I think this could carve out an important niche.
- dsr_ 3y ago
  It's not clear to me whether they allow arbitrary equalization of enough points (say, 10 parametric or 40+ fixed bands) or just a selection among their presets. Anyone know?
WheatMillington 3y ago
I've never had airbuds for long enough that the battery degraded before I lost or broke the buds. I'm not sure this is solving much of a real problem.
- plufz 3y ago
  Maybe not for you, definitely for me.
- aidenn0 3y ago
  People are different. I don't do the "true wireless" thing at all because I would lose them in under a month. My wife just upgraded her Airpods from late 2017 only because the battery life had degraded to about 20 minutes.
INTPenis 3y ago
Maybe I'm crazy here but I think it would be better to have a recycling process for earbuds than trying to develop ones with replaceable batteries. It just seems like a lot of overhead for something nobody is going to use in practice.
- samtheprogram 3y ago
  I have two pairs of perfectly good wireless headphones I don’t use anymore because the batteries are screwed. No replacement method, it’s just ewaste. Basically $200+ destroyed. I have since bought a phone with a headphone jack and stopped buying wireless headphones. Old generation, wired Bose in-ear go for under $50 on eBay. Sound quality is better too. The wire interfering with my jacket took some getting used to again. EDIT: oh yeah, the batteries don’t die while you’re using wired headphones, either. No more 1-ear’ing so there’s always a bud with battery.
- ipsum2 3y ago
  I'd use them. I got my Airpods Pro v1 replaced once already because of the battery life. The v2 has no significant benefits to shell out $250 after only using the v1s for 2 years.
- markstos 3y ago
  Recycling e-waste starts with de-manufacturing. The same features that make tech repairable are the same details that make them recyclable. One of the first steps to recycle an earbud would be to remove the battery and handle that separately from the plastic and metal.
- samatman 3y ago
  Apple will recycle any of their products, earbuds included. They also sell refurbished AirPods. With the right tools and process, it's just a bit of time, solder, and fresh adhesive. Impractical to do at home, but at scale, it can be done.
  - omnimus 3y ago
    It has always been green washing. Apple agresively fights any repair laws and spare parts laws. Their claims about recycling are there just for show just for the eco crowd. Most people will feel good thinking the products wont end up in waste but they all buy new anyway.
robocat 3y ago
They look like custom batteries. Why did they not use a standard battery like a 18350 or 16340 for the case? Other advantages too (easy to find alternative chargers and can keep a charged spare). I presume size constraints would make it difficult to find a commodity battery size for the earbuds?
- deleted 3y ago
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nutrie 3y ago
I just don't get how they're still around. I'd never spend EUR 700 for an android phone. It's sad, but iOS is so much better.
- rvense 3y ago
  I've got one a 3+, had a 2 for six or so years before. It's an adequate phone, does what I need. I'm far from a heavy phone user, though, so it's not so important to me that I could've got better specs for the same money elsewhere, I'd rather companies have Fairphone's focus than Samsung's focus, so I chose to buy from them. (I also quite like that they only have one model so it's easy to decide which one to get)
- lock-the-spock 3y ago
  I guess you miss the selling point(s) as you see the phone only as its final product and the direct benefits to you. That has never been the ambition. Here's why I bought Fairphones for my family: * Fair supply chains. This was their original selling point and is still an incredible unique feature. They changed cobalt and copper supply chains and established tracing mechanisms that now other manufacturers can also use. * Self-repairable. I switched two screens so far, probably not a huge cost difference to the neighbourhood dirty phone repair shop, but I feel better about it. * Social enterprise, giving back to the community * Nice to know my funds go mostly to a good cause and everyone in the supply and production chain is treated well (they even pay a premium to manufacturers so workers at the assembly line get paid a fair wage). I am well aware it's not the best phone. It's rather clunky, camera used to be weak (got much better with the latest update), and I had some small issues. But overall a solid phone, I support a de kind of ecosystem that really improves things down the line and I don't need to feed Sony or Apple execs money.
  - nutrie 3y ago
    I don't. Here's why: * Fair supply chains: After many years of working in Quality Control and Quality Assurance, Supplier Quality Management (I've been on both ends with this one) and related fields (lead auditor, product safety, material safety) for companies large and small, I can safely say that "fair supply chains" is just a marketing fairy tale. Without going too deep into this rabbit hole: A) You only have so many suppliers. If they don't comply, and unless their performance and/or behavior significantly affects your reputation, contrary to the common belief, you don't just go to somebody else. You give them another opportunity. If they keep failing, you change your evaluation specs, wait a year, and repeat. This becomes a thousand times more of an issue once you include China and generally other countries outside the US and Europe (there are exceptions) into the equation. B) Good luck auditing suppliers in China. C) Good luck finding experienced auditors. They are incredibly rare and expensive. You cannot outsource it either. D) The auditing process is expensive. That's why even the largest companies in toy manufacturing do not audit their supply chains end-to-end. Instead, you have your direct suppliers sign documents binding them to cascade your rules downstream. What happens when you find out they don't? See A. Should I go on?
opeon 3y ago
Advocate of the devil, but I've never replaced my earbuds / headphones because of the battery life. Usually one of them gets lost, or actually crushed and breaks.
- voxgen 3y ago
  I've had 2 sets of AirPods die because of the batteries aging and losing their ability to hold a charge. Though to be fair, their microphones failed much earlier then their batteries, and noise cancelling gets some really annoying failure modes when the microphone has issues. I should have replaced them sooner. I also should find a brand that doesn't have consistent manufacturing quality issues...
  - code_runner 3y ago
    microphones have failed for me in the past as well, though to be fair, apple gave me a free repair for one issue on their end.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  I have not yet had this issue because the ANC has improved enough with each generation that I wanted to move up before the batteries became unusable in my old pair. But I could see this changing in the future, as ANC levels out. Also, it's easier to avoid losing AirPods these days thanks to Find My, which can also now find in-case AirPods.
wbkang 3y ago
Sony WF-1000XM3,4 had fairly easily replaceable batteries, but they regressed with the latest XM5. iFixedIt covered it here https://www.ifixit.com/News/79140/sony-just-nerfed-their-most-repairable-earbud-line https://www.ifixit.com/News/79140/sony-just-nerfed-their-mos... I am still using the XM3 - both the earbud and case batteries are repleacable.
- Fnoord 3y ago
  I have owned WF-1000XM3, 4, and (currently) 5. I got the 5 with discount as replacement for the 4 since the battery of one earbud was dead due to a firmware bug. The noise cancelling gets slightly better each iteration. There's another thing the 3 and 4 are better at than the 5: easier to get out of the charging case. Also, while you could replace the batteries in each of these versions, the IP rating would be in practice regressed.
allenap 3y ago
Small thing / pet peeve: the website sets language based on my location rather than on what my browser is telling it is my language of choice in every single HTTP request.
carom 3y ago
If these had pass-through audio I would buy them instantly.
DowsingSpoon 3y ago
What’s “fair” about these ear buds? Is that a statement of quality? Because, if so then that’s not a strong selling point. “Meet the world's most repairable premium earbuds.” Okay, if you’re going to lead with This as your flagship feature… well, that says to me they must be complete garbage. Is this a joke?
rgmerk 3y ago
Personally, I treat wireless earbuds as essentially disposable items. Even if they're mechanically reliable, they fall out on a ride/run, they fill up with earwax, and are otherwise way too vulnerable to invest hundreds of dollars on. The sound quality of $30 Bluetooth earbuds from no-name vendors is plenty good enough in the terrible acoustic environments I use them. If you want good sound quality, no earbud is ever going to come close to a good set of full-size headphones, so I'd prefer to invest money in those instead. Yeah, active noise cancellation would be nice but I imagine that the next generation of cheapie earbuds will have that too. While I get the desire for reducing environmental impact, the total mass of these earbuds is so small that it hardly seems worrying about in terms of the millions of tons of crap that goes into landfill every year.
- aloisklink 3y ago
  You should try the Moondrop Space Travel, you can buy them for USD 24.99 on Amazon. - Moondrop is a pretty well known brand in the ChiFi (Chinese Hi-Fi) space. - They support AAC so they even have good audio quality on Apple/iPhone devices (most cheap earbuds only use cheap Android codecs). - Normally, their latency is pretty high, but they do have a low-latency mode in case you ever want to play games + take a call. - It's Bluetooth 5.3 and communicates directly to each earbud (e.g. if you want, you can only use one at a time). - And, they have active noise cancellation that's surprisingly good (in fact, it's amazing for $25!). IMO, the main downsides are: - Their app is meant to be horrible (I didn't even bother to install it). Not a big deal, unless you want to play around with EQ, customizing what the touch controls do, or upgrade the firmware. - There's no way to control the volume via touch controls (although maybe the app allows you to change this) - Even though it supports Bluetooth 5.3, I don't think it supports Bluetooth LE Audio and the LC3 codec. These earbuds are probably completely uneconomical to recycle, but at least at $25, they probably didn't have too much of an environmental impact when they were created (assuming that the cost of the item is roughly correlated with the environmental impact of the item).
beefnugs 3y ago
Here is an earbuds public service announcement : remember to clean them with alcohol on a regular basis. (inner ear pimples can be painful) Worth buying a little cleaning kit with small cleaning sticks and some pipe-clean like brushes. Also watch out if there is a fabric or glued cover on the sound hole: alcohol will probably dissolve the glue (these aren't really designed to last long or be cleaned) Its usually fine to just let the rubber hold it, or use a tiny amount of RTV silicon to glue it back in place.
rldjbpin 3y ago
they've managed to hit a good starting price but it still feels positioned like their phones. for context: you can get better sounding non-anc tws for a third of the price, or good budget anc options under 100 usd. i have been personally using a pair of jabra (non-anc) for more than past couple years that i bought for under 40 usd on discount. if they sell individual headphone for those who lost an individual piece for a fair price, perhaps there is a niche for them in terms of value. otherwise the one-off just buy a new pair for competing offerings are very close alternatives.
mancerayder 3y ago
The bigger problem for me isn't that I'm listening for 6 hours nonstop and the battery runs out. It's Bluetooth and the seeming lack of sleep on the devices when they're not playing anything. What happens is after a commute, I'll leave the earbuds in my pocket but the Android phone stays connected and they drain overnight. This might be because of the noise canceling staying on. Either way I have to remember to turn off Bluetooth on the phone, because who's going to manually unpair and repair. And the earbuds have no light on them in one case (Ankers) and no obvious way to turn them off without listening to a chime (Shures). I'd like to just blame Bluetooth out of spite, but it seems perhaps a limitation of the drivers of those devices.
- PoignardAzur 3y ago
  I've never had this problem, because from the very first time I got wireless earbuds I got into the habit of taking the case with me whenever I take the earbuds. So if I want to take the earbuds off I just put them into the case out of muscle memory. The other benefit of doing this is it's a lot harder to lose them.
  - mancerayder 3y ago
    Then don't get the pricey Shures, with their giant case that doesn't fit in a pocket (unless you want to seem happy to see someone).
seesaw 3y ago
I have recently become a fan of bone conducting head phones. These go behind the ears. Sound quality is good for listening to podcasts while walking. No wires. You can still hear the road noise, which is important when you are walking outside. It also feels more sanitary.
citizenpaul 3y ago
I wish I could look at things like this without cynacism anymore. I just dont see any value here. The biggest issue witb earbuds to me and i suspect many others. Is that earbuds are easy to drop/lose/break. The nature of the product exposes it to water,sun,body fluid. Ill have long replaced them before i need a new battery due to degredation. Wireless earbuds are a massivly oveesaturated market and you can get comparable earbuds for <$20. I suspect this is fair co losing its way and engaging in blatent greenwashing.

380 points by pfooti 3y ago

These look pretty compelling. I'm looking forward to the iFixIt teardown

Very cool! I am curious if it takes standard batteries, or something custom from them that will be unobtainable in a few years? I'm also curious if the noise cancelling is any good... I'm tired of being locked into overpriced low quality Bose products, but historically they have been the only ones with truly good noise cancelling. As I have ADHD I need really good noise cancelling to do my job in an open work environment. Lastly, I'm wondering what the deal is with the earbud tips, as I've found I often need a custom or weird sized one to get things to stay in my ear. The Bose ones generally work for me, as they come with a large array of sizes, but the photos make this look like just a single size. I'll keep an eye on these- if I can answer these 3 questions/issues I'll buy a set.

blackeyeblitzar 3y ago
I don’t think they’re standard batteries given the specialized form factor (size/shape/weight). On the spare parts page for the Fairbuds (https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/category/spare-parts-4?category=4&filters=141 https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/category/spare-parts-4?categ...) there is nothing mentioned about the battery specifications, so I assume it’s proprietary. That said, the parts are cheap - less than 10 euros for replacement earbud batteries is very reasonable. For earbud tips - you can get aftermarket replacements of many sizes and shapes for cheap. Look on Amazon or Alibaba, but some brands are more well known like Spinfit. As for active noise cancellation - my experience has been that anything outside of Bose or Sony is only OK at best. I doubt these are any better than the average set out there. But with the right aftermarket tips you can improve the quality of isolation on cheaper earbuds significantly. EDIT: others have pointed out that the batteries are indeed standardized.
- Ringz 3y ago
  They have standard batteries: https://www.eemb.com/product-241 https://www.eemb.com/product-241
morsch 3y ago
I can't find this on the product webpage (why?!), but reportedly the battery is standard, it's a LIR1054. https://www.heise.de/news/Fairphone-Fairbuds-In-Ears-mit-Wechselakku-9678684.html https://www.heise.de/news/Fairphone-Fairbuds-In-Ears-mit-Wec...
deleted 3y ago
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pge 3y ago
The battery looks like a standard hearing aid battery
- ssl-3 3y ago
  Fantastic! The best part about hearing aid battery standards is that there are so many of them to pick from!
mitthrowaway2 3y ago
Do consumer standard lithium-ion batteries exist yet? (Aside from 18650s, which might barely count). It's 2024; how come companies like Sony, Panasonic, Energizer and Duracell haven't jumped on offering one or two standard replaceable lithium-ion cells, with integrated circuit protection and slim enough for modern consumer electronics, that people can buy off-the-shelf in drug stores? Many devices are still running on alkaline batteries these days, like smoke detectors and kitchen scales. It didn't take that long in the old days for standards like AA and AAA batteries to hit the market, and they didn't worry too much about applying them to new chemistries with differing voltages. And with efficient DC-DC converters that are cheap enough to introduce into consumer electronics, battery voltage hardly even matters that much nowadays.
- criddell 3y ago
  Do these count: https://energizer.com/batteries/energizer-ultimate-lithium-batteries/ https://energizer.com/batteries/energizer-ultimate-lithium-b...
  - colinng 3y ago
    They’re really light and last a long time, but are not rechargeable.
    - criddell 3y ago
      I think you are moving the goalposts. The batteries I linked to are consumer standard lithium chemistry batteries that people can buy off-the-shelf in drug stores and be used in smoke detectors and kitchen scales.
      - _yb2s 3y ago
        No we’re talking about rechargeable batteries here… disposable lithium are too expensive and wasteful for frequently used high drain devices. I love them for emergency equipment like spot trackers and emergency strobe lights
      - 3y ago

maxglute 3y ago

These look great, hope ANC performance competitive. Lack voice pass through though. Should have fairphone branded on the the case insetad of fairbud.

blackeyeblitzar 3y ago

Repairability is good and will reduce waste, but I am not sure this is going to actually attract customers unless they’re already fans of Fairphone for other reasons (like ethics or sustainability or privacy or independence from big companies or whatever). To attract new customers, they need something else to stand out from a very crowded space, where there are many good choices as far as sound quality, mic quality, noise cancellation, etc. I am skeptical that these will be any better than the competition on those facets. And keep in mind, 150 Euros means it is competing with everything from budget sub-50 products on Amazon to AirPods.

j16sdiz 3y ago
Do they need new customers? All they need are existing customers buy in these new product lines
whazor 3y ago
Assuming there is a maintainability premium, €150 seems too little for great earbuds. I got attached to my AirPods Max. They allow me to have meetings next to people who are also in meetings. Even if they are in the same meeting.
- e12e 3y ago
  > have meetings next to people who are also in meetings. Even if they are in the same meeting. I know what you mean, but still had to laugh :)
- dingnuts 3y ago
  I'm interested to hear how the AirPods solved the problem of everyone around me hearing me speak to my computer, definitely causing them annoyance and possibly violating my NDA, depending on where I am for that meeting.
gwbas1c 3y ago
> I am not sure this is going to actually attract customers What's worse is that if/when the market demands replaceable batteries, it's an easy feature for everyone else to clone.

nolongerthere 3y ago

I’m most curious about if the connection issues have been resolved for non-AirPod earbuds, I have AirPod pros that I’m looking to replace, but last time I looked at all the alternatives it was really annoying to switch between devices.

talldayo 3y ago
Multipoint Bluetooth (which these feature) covers my use case 95% of the time. The gist is that certain headphones can connect to 2 Bluetooth endpoints and switch between whichever one is actively sending audio. If you step away from your desktop and start playing something on your phone, it will grab the phone's input and take over from there. It's not a carbon-copy of Apple's approach, but I've had issues with iCloud switching too so I'm rather glad it's not. Plus, the Multipoint approach works with all my weird stuff like my Switch and smart TV.
- lloeki 3y ago
  > The gist is that certain headphones can connect to 2 Bluetooth endpoints and switch between whichever one is actively sending audio I hate multipoint bluetooth. It only seems to work in the most basic of scenarios and nobody appears to have been testing the damn thing out of that in real life. Yes Bose I'm looking at you. Good <deity> that is stupid hellhole of having audio stolen from you because some audio happened to play on the second device because you (or an unattended browser autoupdate) (re)opened some youtube tab, or constant nags about "foo disconnected / foo connected" when at range limit, or you took a call on your computer and moved and got out of range and sure enough it swaps to your phone which decides "oh sure you probably want to enjoy some loud music" and helpfully proceeds to blow your eardrums. <Deity> forbids you have more than two regularly used devices in which case it's completely useless anyway. Meanwhile my Beyerdynamic is not multipoint, it merely remembers what it has been paired to (I'm up to six devices now) and just connects to the last one on power up. If I want to use them from another previous one I just pop in bluetooth quick settings and choose "connect to FreeBYRD" which disconnects them from the other one, y'know, like we used to do when there were actual wires plugged into actual physical plugs, which BT is a glorified copperless version of anyway.

AdmiralAsshat 3y ago

USB-C is a plus. No wireless charging is a bummer. Something built to last for ten years would be intriguing. I'm still using my Samsung Galaxy Buds+ from 2020 as my daily driver. I prefer the capsule case to the box design of later models, and all of the internals are still "good enough" that I haven't really felt the need to upgrade. Even the lack of ANC hasn't been a dealbreaker--the passive noise cancellation just from having a solid seal around the ear has been enough to happily use on a plane.

barbazoo 3y ago

> Old batteries should never be the end of your earbuds. That's why we designed the Fairbuds with replaceable batteries - in the charging case and both buds! This is awesome. At first I thought they cheated and only made the case battery replaceable.

nicoty 3y ago
Would've been nicer if they made the batteries hot-swappable like on these: https://pqearbuds.com/products/longest-lasting-interchangeable-magnetic-attach-battery-wireless-earbuds https://pqearbuds.com/products/longest-lasting-interchangeab...

koinedad 3y ago

I really like the idea of this since I’ve been through a few pairs of AirPods. I’m not digging the shape as much but love the idea.

bdcravens 3y ago
I haven't replaced a pair of AirPods other than wanting upgraded models.

VyseofArcadia 3y ago

And of course they don't ship to the US. I'll be picking these up as soon as I can find a way to buy them. Maybe Murena will sell them soon, like they do the Fairphone.

segasaturn 3y ago

Notably Fairphone removed the headphone jack on their phones so that they could sell us these wireless earbuds. I appreciate that the battery is replacable on these buds, but not worth it imo! After all, wired earbuds don't even need batteries. :(

nebalee 3y ago
Wired USB-C earbuds exist.
- user_7832 3y ago
  Batteries are just one of the many issues when headphone jacks are removed. (Also you can totally use wireless/usb-c headphones with phones with jacks, but that's something hopefully people realize.)
- ssl-3 3y ago
  They do exist, but USC-C headphones include an entire USB sound card instead of -- you know -- just some headphone electromagnetic bits.
  - aeyes 3y ago
    So use any of the ~10$ USB-C to headphone dongles with your favorite headphones. For example the Apple or Google adapters work fine.
    - 8zah6q7 3y ago
      The Apple USB-C to 3.5 mm TRS adapter in particular is a great value. https://www.audioreviews.org/apple-audio-adapter-review/ https://www.audioreviews.org/apple-audio-adapter-review/
      - edb_123 3y ago
        Except for the not-so-minor issue for us Android users: The default gain on Apples adapter is far too low for most proper headphones, and Android doesn't touch the gain and just relies on software-mixer for volume control. This results in a far too low volume. On Apple and Windows devices on the other hand, they are excellent.

k8svet 3y ago

How does "dual point" compare to "multipoint" advertised in some newer (even some decent/cheap) ones? I'm looking to "upgrade" but only because the batteries in my current pair are shot. It feels so bad to have things like this just go into a landfill when they're perfectly fine other than the battery. edit: oh, these are also 5x as expensive as the $30 earbuds I bought 2 years ago that have a really decent sound profile. Oooof. Sustainable, at a 5x premium? :/

nulld3v 3y ago
The "dual point" they advertise is identical to "multipoint" offered by other earbuds on the market. Pretty much all earbuds that advertise "multipoint" only support max 2 devices.
- salad-tycoon 3y ago
  Do you know what the experience is like with multipoint for Apple phones and laptops? I played the “buy AirPod with apple care and request new ones at the end of warranty” game and apple sent me replacements where the case and pods batteries died within a month or so. I’m not really looking to spend, overtime, 250 bucks every 3 years on AirPods and seeing Anker space a40s are $40 with this multipoint feature and 10ths of battery life I am tempted to run away from apple or any ear phones above $100 but when Bluetooth is bad, it can be really bad.
  - nulld3v 2y ago
    I think it works fine? Multipoint is mainly controlled on the earbud side, what audio sources you have usually doesn't matter. The only issue I've come across though is many earbuds will only play one audio source at a time. Which is annoying but further hampered by some audio sources that will emit an imperceptible audio signal even when they aren't playing any sound, causing the earbuds to never switch away from that device.
The_Colonel 3y ago
There are many other aspects of good headphones than just sound quality. Like your cheap ones certainly don't have ANC which can be a dealbreaker. Other important things are responsive touch control, good set of microphones, app with equalizer, ear detection, wearing comfort... For my main use case (podcasts), the sound quality is actually the least important aspect of headphones.

ivandenysov 3y ago

I'm comparing these to my galaxy buds plus, which I bough because of theoretically replaceable batteries: - pro: 10 EUR for a pair of replacement batteries for the earbuds vs ~20 EUR for a pair of VARTA batteries with shipping from Germany - pro: 13 EUR for a new battery for the case. I need to go to aliexpress to find a replacement battery for the galaxy buds plus case - pro: replacement process seems to be way easier because it was designed to be replaceable unlike galaxy buds plus - pro: lighter than the buds: ~5g vs 6.3g - pro: ANC - con: more expensive. I paid half the price for the buds. But that was in 2020 money. - con: they are bigger: 28.7 x 24.6 x 21mm vs 17.5 x 22.5 x 19.2mm

stronglikedan 3y ago
Considering every new generation of Samsung buds (along the same product line) sounds magnitudes better than the last, I don't see why I would ever need to replace a battery. The batteries in my buds plus lasted me until buds pro were released, and my buds pro batteries lasted me until buds2 pro were released, so I have no reason to doubt my buds2 pro batteries will degrade before buds3 pros come out. And of course they will be the best sounding buds on the market so I'll buy them, because why even own buds if not for the sound quality.
- deleted 3y ago
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- morsch 3y ago
  If every release has improved SQ by that much, the first iteration must have sounded just awful.
- The_Colonel 3y ago
  No offense, but you sound like the perfect consumerist. I'm pretty sure you're going to hit diminishing returns pretty soon, esp. if your claim that every new gen is "magnitudes better" than the old one is true. Personally, I was completely happy with the sound quality of my first TWS (FreeBuds 3). The only reason I felt I needed new ones was a failing battery in one of the buds.
- 3y ago

thereddaikon 3y ago

I can't wear earbuds that stick inside your ear canal. They just don't fit me and are extremely uncomfortable. I have two pair of galaxy buds live for this reason. I've even swapped the batteries on both pair to keep them going as well. I'm not switching until someone comes out with a better alternative.

thih9 3y ago
Same. In my case I’m very happy that airpods are a thing, I’m not considering airpods pro for that reason.
- ProfessorLayton 3y ago
  I'm the opposite, I can't use regular airpods since they won't stay in my ears, but airpods pro do so just fine. I think it's just one of those cases where multiple types will be necessary due to physical differences in ears.
  - thereddaikon 3y ago
    Definitely true. People are shaped different so there's room for more than one type on the market. I just wish there was more options for me other than the galaxy live and the original airpods.
  - ryukafalz 3y ago
    Yep, I'm the same way. I wish I could since they seem more comfortable in some ways, but they just fall right out!
Izkata 3y ago
Within the past year, on Amazon there was a rather sudden influx of earbuds in a variety of designs that wrap around or clip onto the ear instead of going in it. The key term to search for is "open-ear" earbuds.
andrepew 3y ago
I'm the same and fixed the issue by getting some custom eartips made. They aren't cheap but have made my AirPods Pro usable. On-ear headphones hurt my earlobes and over-ear headphones make my head get hot so I can't seem to find happiness anywhere. The custom eartips I think have gotten me the closest though!

ponorin 3y ago

So they finally seemed to have come up with their original design after 3 years of selling non-repairable TWS earbuds, great. I genuinely appreciate that they are trying to give users more sustainable options. Perhaps they can walk back the decision to remove the headphone jack as well so that people can use wired headphones directly which doesn't use battery in the first place.

orthecreedence 3y ago
I don't really consider new devices that don't have headphone jacks. This wireless-everything craze is so obnoxious.
- hinkley 3y ago
  I don't think we've cracked the design yet for no wire between the device and the earphones. I have the Shure BT2 set and I would list my relationship as "I tolerate them". It dangles, and if I wear a coat with a metal zipper it has connection issues when my phone is in my pocket. I'm not convinced the new separate ones are better. Behind the head may still be the better option, and sliding them down around your neck when you need to be social ticks a lot of checkboxes for me as well.
  - kuchenbecker 3y ago
    I feel like me and everyone I know exclusively use wireless but the Internet would have me believe I'm weird.
    - hinkley 3y ago
      There’s something about having two independent Bluetooth headphones that makes them much more than twice as likely to get lost. And I suspect that part of it is having both ears blocked and thus needing to take one out much more frequently. Also there are a disproportionate number of tech people who have ADHD, and multiple small objects do not just have a high probability of getting lost, they have a virtual guarantee of doing so. Multiple times before they are lost forever.

markhahn 3y ago

wake me when the firmware is replaceable too.

lawlessone 3y ago

This is better than a phone I think which requires constant updates and support.

summm 3y ago

> Codec: SBC & AAC No LC3? No LE Audio? So, still HFP/SBC telephony with crappy microphone quality and in mono? For that price, in 2024?

blackbeans 3y ago
It's their first iteration and I applaud their effort. It takes at least a year to develop something like this and the sales quantities will be lower compared to the big brands, so the price is understandable. You seem to belong to group of consumers that wants to compromise lifespan and sustainability in favor of features and price. That's fine, but it simply means you are not their target audience for this product.
- abdullahkhalids 3y ago
  Isn't more advanced codecs just software? The hardware support should be there, given its bluetooth 5.3. Is it just a case of them not licensing the advanced codecs?
  - petsfed 3y ago
    Think about the device that is performing the decoding. At its core, It's an ultra-low-power microcontroller, and the low-power requirements to hit the battery life specification while maintaining audio quality may or may not allow the kind of software abstractions that make these codecs "just software". Once you've licensed the codec, you then have to implement it on the micro's architecture, in a way that's actually performant. Which in turn may or may not require actual Assembly work.
    - abdullahkhalids 3y ago
      Thanks for explaining.
    - rale00 3y ago
      You wouldn't be implementing anything in software. The hardware would have decoding built in, so it's really just a question of choosing a bluetooth audio soc with the codecs you want and paying the licensing fees.

ebiester 3y ago

I think the key differentiator here for audiophiles is that they are allowing EQ from their app. I think if Resolve, Crinacle or similar gets their hands on it (though Crin has his own competition in the wired space) and creates a good EQ profile and it's competitive, I think this could carve out an important niche.

dsr_ 3y ago
It's not clear to me whether they allow arbitrary equalization of enough points (say, 10 parametric or 40+ fixed bands) or just a selection among their presets. Anyone know?

WheatMillington 3y ago

I've never had airbuds for long enough that the battery degraded before I lost or broke the buds. I'm not sure this is solving much of a real problem.

plufz 3y ago
Maybe not for you, definitely for me.
aidenn0 3y ago
People are different. I don't do the "true wireless" thing at all because I would lose them in under a month. My wife just upgraded her Airpods from late 2017 only because the battery life had degraded to about 20 minutes.

INTPenis 3y ago

Maybe I'm crazy here but I think it would be better to have a recycling process for earbuds than trying to develop ones with replaceable batteries. It just seems like a lot of overhead for something nobody is going to use in practice.

samtheprogram 3y ago
I have two pairs of perfectly good wireless headphones I don’t use anymore because the batteries are screwed. No replacement method, it’s just ewaste. Basically $200+ destroyed. I have since bought a phone with a headphone jack and stopped buying wireless headphones. Old generation, wired Bose in-ear go for under $50 on eBay. Sound quality is better too. The wire interfering with my jacket took some getting used to again. EDIT: oh yeah, the batteries don’t die while you’re using wired headphones, either. No more 1-ear’ing so there’s always a bud with battery.
ipsum2 3y ago
I'd use them. I got my Airpods Pro v1 replaced once already because of the battery life. The v2 has no significant benefits to shell out $250 after only using the v1s for 2 years.
markstos 3y ago
Recycling e-waste starts with de-manufacturing. The same features that make tech repairable are the same details that make them recyclable. One of the first steps to recycle an earbud would be to remove the battery and handle that separately from the plastic and metal.
samatman 3y ago
Apple will recycle any of their products, earbuds included. They also sell refurbished AirPods. With the right tools and process, it's just a bit of time, solder, and fresh adhesive. Impractical to do at home, but at scale, it can be done.
- omnimus 3y ago
  It has always been green washing. Apple agresively fights any repair laws and spare parts laws. Their claims about recycling are there just for show just for the eco crowd. Most people will feel good thinking the products wont end up in waste but they all buy new anyway.

robocat 3y ago

They look like custom batteries. Why did they not use a standard battery like a 18350 or 16340 for the case? Other advantages too (easy to find alternative chargers and can keep a charged spare). I presume size constraints would make it difficult to find a commodity battery size for the earbuds?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

nutrie 3y ago

I just don't get how they're still around. I'd never spend EUR 700 for an android phone. It's sad, but iOS is so much better.

rvense 3y ago
I've got one a 3+, had a 2 for six or so years before. It's an adequate phone, does what I need. I'm far from a heavy phone user, though, so it's not so important to me that I could've got better specs for the same money elsewhere, I'd rather companies have Fairphone's focus than Samsung's focus, so I chose to buy from them. (I also quite like that they only have one model so it's easy to decide which one to get)
lock-the-spock 3y ago
I guess you miss the selling point(s) as you see the phone only as its final product and the direct benefits to you. That has never been the ambition. Here's why I bought Fairphones for my family: * Fair supply chains. This was their original selling point and is still an incredible unique feature. They changed cobalt and copper supply chains and established tracing mechanisms that now other manufacturers can also use. * Self-repairable. I switched two screens so far, probably not a huge cost difference to the neighbourhood dirty phone repair shop, but I feel better about it. * Social enterprise, giving back to the community * Nice to know my funds go mostly to a good cause and everyone in the supply and production chain is treated well (they even pay a premium to manufacturers so workers at the assembly line get paid a fair wage). I am well aware it's not the best phone. It's rather clunky, camera used to be weak (got much better with the latest update), and I had some small issues. But overall a solid phone, I support a de kind of ecosystem that really improves things down the line and I don't need to feed Sony or Apple execs money.
- nutrie 3y ago
  I don't. Here's why: * Fair supply chains: After many years of working in Quality Control and Quality Assurance, Supplier Quality Management (I've been on both ends with this one) and related fields (lead auditor, product safety, material safety) for companies large and small, I can safely say that "fair supply chains" is just a marketing fairy tale. Without going too deep into this rabbit hole: A) You only have so many suppliers. If they don't comply, and unless their performance and/or behavior significantly affects your reputation, contrary to the common belief, you don't just go to somebody else. You give them another opportunity. If they keep failing, you change your evaluation specs, wait a year, and repeat. This becomes a thousand times more of an issue once you include China and generally other countries outside the US and Europe (there are exceptions) into the equation. B) Good luck auditing suppliers in China. C) Good luck finding experienced auditors. They are incredibly rare and expensive. You cannot outsource it either. D) The auditing process is expensive. That's why even the largest companies in toy manufacturing do not audit their supply chains end-to-end. Instead, you have your direct suppliers sign documents binding them to cascade your rules downstream. What happens when you find out they don't? See A. Should I go on?

opeon 3y ago

Advocate of the devil, but I've never replaced my earbuds / headphones because of the battery life. Usually one of them gets lost, or actually crushed and breaks.

voxgen 3y ago
I've had 2 sets of AirPods die because of the batteries aging and losing their ability to hold a charge. Though to be fair, their microphones failed much earlier then their batteries, and noise cancelling gets some really annoying failure modes when the microphone has issues. I should have replaced them sooner. I also should find a brand that doesn't have consistent manufacturing quality issues...
- code_runner 3y ago
  microphones have failed for me in the past as well, though to be fair, apple gave me a free repair for one issue on their end.
gnicholas 3y ago
I have not yet had this issue because the ANC has improved enough with each generation that I wanted to move up before the batteries became unusable in my old pair. But I could see this changing in the future, as ANC levels out. Also, it's easier to avoid losing AirPods these days thanks to Find My, which can also now find in-case AirPods.

wbkang 3y ago

Sony WF-1000XM3,4 had fairly easily replaceable batteries, but they regressed with the latest XM5. iFixedIt covered it here https://www.ifixit.com/News/79140/sony-just-nerfed-their-most-repairable-earbud-line https://www.ifixit.com/News/79140/sony-just-nerfed-their-mos... I am still using the XM3 - both the earbud and case batteries are repleacable.

Fnoord 3y ago
I have owned WF-1000XM3, 4, and (currently) 5. I got the 5 with discount as replacement for the 4 since the battery of one earbud was dead due to a firmware bug. The noise cancelling gets slightly better each iteration. There's another thing the 3 and 4 are better at than the 5: easier to get out of the charging case. Also, while you could replace the batteries in each of these versions, the IP rating would be in practice regressed.

allenap 3y ago

Small thing / pet peeve: the website sets language based on my location rather than on what my browser is telling it is my language of choice in every single HTTP request.

carom 3y ago

If these had pass-through audio I would buy them instantly.

DowsingSpoon 3y ago

What’s “fair” about these ear buds? Is that a statement of quality? Because, if so then that’s not a strong selling point. “Meet the world's most repairable premium earbuds.” Okay, if you’re going to lead with This as your flagship feature… well, that says to me they must be complete garbage. Is this a joke?

rgmerk 3y ago

Personally, I treat wireless earbuds as essentially disposable items. Even if they're mechanically reliable, they fall out on a ride/run, they fill up with earwax, and are otherwise way too vulnerable to invest hundreds of dollars on. The sound quality of $30 Bluetooth earbuds from no-name vendors is plenty good enough in the terrible acoustic environments I use them. If you want good sound quality, no earbud is ever going to come close to a good set of full-size headphones, so I'd prefer to invest money in those instead. Yeah, active noise cancellation would be nice but I imagine that the next generation of cheapie earbuds will have that too. While I get the desire for reducing environmental impact, the total mass of these earbuds is so small that it hardly seems worrying about in terms of the millions of tons of crap that goes into landfill every year.

aloisklink 3y ago
You should try the Moondrop Space Travel, you can buy them for USD 24.99 on Amazon. - Moondrop is a pretty well known brand in the ChiFi (Chinese Hi-Fi) space. - They support AAC so they even have good audio quality on Apple/iPhone devices (most cheap earbuds only use cheap Android codecs). - Normally, their latency is pretty high, but they do have a low-latency mode in case you ever want to play games + take a call. - It's Bluetooth 5.3 and communicates directly to each earbud (e.g. if you want, you can only use one at a time). - And, they have active noise cancellation that's surprisingly good (in fact, it's amazing for $25!). IMO, the main downsides are: - Their app is meant to be horrible (I didn't even bother to install it). Not a big deal, unless you want to play around with EQ, customizing what the touch controls do, or upgrade the firmware. - There's no way to control the volume via touch controls (although maybe the app allows you to change this) - Even though it supports Bluetooth 5.3, I don't think it supports Bluetooth LE Audio and the LC3 codec. These earbuds are probably completely uneconomical to recycle, but at least at $25, they probably didn't have too much of an environmental impact when they were created (assuming that the cost of the item is roughly correlated with the environmental impact of the item).

beefnugs 3y ago

Here is an earbuds public service announcement : remember to clean them with alcohol on a regular basis. (inner ear pimples can be painful) Worth buying a little cleaning kit with small cleaning sticks and some pipe-clean like brushes. Also watch out if there is a fabric or glued cover on the sound hole: alcohol will probably dissolve the glue (these aren't really designed to last long or be cleaned) Its usually fine to just let the rubber hold it, or use a tiny amount of RTV silicon to glue it back in place.

rldjbpin 3y ago

they've managed to hit a good starting price but it still feels positioned like their phones. for context: you can get better sounding non-anc tws for a third of the price, or good budget anc options under 100 usd. i have been personally using a pair of jabra (non-anc) for more than past couple years that i bought for under 40 usd on discount. if they sell individual headphone for those who lost an individual piece for a fair price, perhaps there is a niche for them in terms of value. otherwise the one-off just buy a new pair for competing offerings are very close alternatives.

mancerayder 3y ago

The bigger problem for me isn't that I'm listening for 6 hours nonstop and the battery runs out. It's Bluetooth and the seeming lack of sleep on the devices when they're not playing anything. What happens is after a commute, I'll leave the earbuds in my pocket but the Android phone stays connected and they drain overnight. This might be because of the noise canceling staying on. Either way I have to remember to turn off Bluetooth on the phone, because who's going to manually unpair and repair. And the earbuds have no light on them in one case (Ankers) and no obvious way to turn them off without listening to a chime (Shures). I'd like to just blame Bluetooth out of spite, but it seems perhaps a limitation of the drivers of those devices.

PoignardAzur 3y ago
I've never had this problem, because from the very first time I got wireless earbuds I got into the habit of taking the case with me whenever I take the earbuds. So if I want to take the earbuds off I just put them into the case out of muscle memory. The other benefit of doing this is it's a lot harder to lose them.
- mancerayder 3y ago
  Then don't get the pricey Shures, with their giant case that doesn't fit in a pocket (unless you want to seem happy to see someone).

seesaw 3y ago

I have recently become a fan of bone conducting head phones. These go behind the ears. Sound quality is good for listening to podcasts while walking. No wires. You can still hear the road noise, which is important when you are walking outside. It also feels more sanitary.

citizenpaul 3y ago

I wish I could look at things like this without cynacism anymore. I just dont see any value here. The biggest issue witb earbuds to me and i suspect many others. Is that earbuds are easy to drop/lose/break. The nature of the product exposes it to water,sun,body fluid. Ill have long replaced them before i need a new battery due to degredation. Wireless earbuds are a massivly oveesaturated market and you can get comparable earbuds for <$20. I suspect this is fair co losing its way and engaging in blatent greenwashing.