Fairbuds from Fairphone: Repairable wireless earbuds designed to last

[Shawn Knight]

What just happened? Fairphone, the Dutch electronics maker best known for its line of eco-friendly and ethically made smartphones by the same name, is getting into the wearables game. The handset maker has launched Fairbuds, a set of true wireless earbuds that'll serve as the company's second audio product following the Fairbuds XL over-ear wireless headphones introduced around the same time last year.

Fairphone said that in a market where it feels like most offerings are designed to be disposable, its Fairbuds are meant to last. The buds feature a total of seven spare parts that can easily be exchanged including the batteries in the earpieces and the modular charging case. You can also replace entire buds should you happen to lose one or it stops working after the warranty expires.

Spec-wise, the buds feature titanium-coated 11mm drivers as well as active noise cancelling with wind noise reduction powered by an array of six onboard microphones. You also get dual-point Bluetooth connectivity so you can pair the buds to multiple devices simultaneously and with the dedicated app for Android or iOS, access to an eight-band equalizer and multiple presets.

Optionally, you can control playback directly from the buds thanks to capacitive touch controls. They also feature auto play and pause; take the buds out of your ears and the music will pause, and start back once you refit them.

Battery life is rated at up to 26 hours of total playback (six hours for the earbuds plus an additional 20 hours from the charging case), and each purchase comes with three ear tip options. The buds carry an IP54 rating against the elements as well.

Fairbuds come backed by a three-year warranty and are available to purchase from today in your choice of black or white priced at 149 euros (about $162) plus shipping. There's also a 14-day trial period; if you aren't totally satisfied, simply send them back for a full refund.

Should you prefer full-sized headphones, the Fairbuds XL are still available as well.

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Fairbuds from Fairphone: Repairable wireless earbuds designed to last

 

[SirDigby]

This is great, I love the concept of the Fairphone but I worry that it always looks underpowered for me as I use my phone a heck of a lot, this is a great product to apply the same philosophy to.

 

[NumberNine]

In theory you could stock up on the parts and maintain the earbuds for a very long time, but that battery has a shelf life. Who makes the battery pack? Is it a standard pack widely used or only available from the OEM? Will they be sold 5 years from now? 10 years?

 

[nismo91]

Yeah this is really good because earphones, no matter wired or wireless always prone to early failure. I've been using wired earphones for nearly 20 years now and I lost count how many I've disposed because they stopped working on one side because of the cable. last year I've bought a nicer earphone with detachable wires so that's safe for now.

but as for two of my bluetooth earbuds, I know for a fact that there's little I can do to "fix" them. I could order replacement battery online (it's mostly LIR1254) but resealing them after battery replacement isn't easy. the fairbuds is also probably using the same battery but since it's detachable fixing them would be really easy.

in short I just miss having "user-replaceable batteries" in tech products. I hope some other companies would follow suit.