9mo ago

Fairphone Fairbuds launch with replaceable batteries, titanium drivers and ANC

www.notebookcheck.net Fairphone Fairbuds launch with replaceable batteries, titanium drivers and ANC

With completely wireless earbuds, the rule is: when the battery fails, they have to be disposed of. Not so with the Fairbuds, that allow you to replace batteries in just a few seconds. Combined with a repairable design, the earbuds should therefore have an extremely long lifetime.

You're viewing a single thread.

373 comments

The comments on this post are entirelly missing the point. Jesus christ lemmy. Yes, we know you like 3.5 mm jacks. That is not the point. The point is that FairPhone launched earphones with ANC with replaceable batteries. This is good!
- We're allowed to want both.
  
  Yes we are and that's okay we're not against headphone jacks, it's just that this post right here is about wireless earbuds
  
  I think part of the conversation is about how they got rid of the headphone jack shortly before releasing these. While it is good that these exist, it seems like they exist as a result of a popular anti-consumer business choice that people don't like, and is thus tied to that choice.
  
  I did not think people would perceive it like that, and didn't realize the jack was phased out before bluetooth ear buds were a thing, as I myself had a phone with a headphone jack until at least a couple years later, and by the time I got a phone without a headphone jack, I didn't need it anymore.
  I for one have been very happy with wireless headphones because with my job, the wires would get caught on stuff too easily, or I had to run the wires through my shirt, and they barely had enough slack for me to turn my head while my phone was in my pocket. (and btw the job I have is that's unsupervised where I can have an ear bud in while working)
- Not when they're twice the price is decent Sonys
  
  You can get a decent pair of sonys for €150? The conversion rate must be better than I thought!
  
  Even the $300+ pairs are hardly ‘decent’. The sound signature is all over the place & overly bassy.
  
  Can you replace the battery at the Sonys?
  
  Yes. I just replaced the ones in my wife's Sony earphones by following a step by step guide on ifixit. Cost me $15 for the batteries including shipping, and they're not even any sort of exotic type or size.
  Edit: okay just read the article. Guess these are a lot more convenient to replace than the Sony ones.
  
  That's the point. If you have devices where parts can be replaced easily and, ideally, inexpensively, I'm happy to spend a little more money.And support the project.
  
  That isn't the point, the cost is.
  
  My hot take: does it matter? How often do people actually need to replace earbud batteries? I'm guessing it's almost never.
  
  If you don't have a chance, or it's made difficult by the design, few people will do it.But if it's easy, maybe more people will do it. Show people a better alternative and some will take it. If the path is good, more will take it. That's how you change the world.
  
  Every 2-3 years in my experience, I'm on my 5th or 6th wireless headset in the last decade, and most of those were replaced because the battery life went to shit. And I've tried multiple brands with no material differences in overall life, but I also use mine throughout the day every day and regularly wear them until I'm forced to charge them.
  
  Every earbud I had broke at least once during their warranty period. My linkbuds S recently broke the third time. Only one of my issues was battery related, but its still nice to have the option to use them after the warranty ends.
- Yes, it is good, but this step forward is only the result of an arguably bigger step backward, which is why people are bringing it up.
- Well, my point is that we wouldn't need wireless headphones if Fairphone still had a headphone jack
  
  I don't think that would fit on the earbuds.
  
  Not to mention we already had repairable wired headphones that we can't use now if we get a fairphone.
- Counterpoints:
  Good IEM-s don't really need ANC. If the silicone tip doesn't isolate enough you can use foam tips that basically function like hearing protection earplugs.
  No battery is even better than replaceable battery.
  Wired IEM-s never get obsolete. At worst you'll need to replace the silicone tips from time to time, or the cable and today even 20€ Chinese IEM-s have replaceable cables. With good care wired IEM-s can last decades.
  
  If you don't think you need ANC you've never experienced good ANC, even the best passive noise isolation won't quiet down the sound of a full cafeteria or bus.
  No wired iems will never be obsolete, but I will just be leaving them at my desk where the downsides over wireless are less.
  
  I've used passive noise isolation earbuds that work better than any ANC. This one time I took them off after a long flight, only to realize that a toddler was crying behind me.
  Edit: lol at the downvotes! https://maxrockearbuds.com/
  
  I think it would be fair to doubt your point, could you share which earbuds you were using and how you were using them? I think the disagreement here will also stem from the fact that IEMs + playing music is pretty great "active noise cancellation" in itself.
  When I listen to a podcast on my IEMs I hear quite a lot of the outside world, when I do the same with ANC headphones on I hear much less.
  
  Not the same guy, but I don't have trouble blocking outside noise with Etymotic ER3SE earbuds. They do go insanely deep into my ear though.
  
  Mine also get quite buried, like earplugs. And they're still comfortable.
  And damn, yours must be really nice at that price!
  
  I got them on sale for around $110. They might be expensive for wired earbuds, but still cheaper than nice wireless earbuds, including the Fairbuds this post is about. Also, the cables are replaceable in case they ever get damaged.
  
  Oh, that sounds fantastic!
  
  Fair enough. I've updated my original answer.
  
  Yeah, idk why people are downvoting you so hard. There are some seriously good passive noise cancellation buds out there. Kind of insane when you actually try them.
  
  ANC makes the baby crying more pronounced & that’s more annoying than the rumble of a bus. +1 to passive noise cancelation on silicone tips. A bit more in general gets thru, but the it isn’t amplifying voices & other loud sounds. Brains are pretty good at turning out the rabble of a cafeteria or transportation.
  
  So you basically said there's no need for fair wired headphones because cheap 20€ chinese wired ones perfectly serve that market?
  Even better that fairphone builds true wireless earbuds with all those fair features, because there is no alternative there already.
  
  That's a strawman and you know it. OP basically said that we want 3.5mm jacks.
  
  On true wireless earbuds? How?
  
  No, no. We want 3.5mm jacks for wired earphones. Whether there is a fairphone version of wired earphones or not is irrelevant.
  
  The whole thread is about earbuds?! Where do jacks on phones come in all of a sudden?
  
  Then why are you commenting on this "irrelevant" sub-thread?
  
  The post is about true wireless earbuds The comment is about how lemmy makes it about jacks and wired earphones for no reason The counter point is that wired earphones last decades I said that the market for them is already satisfied, while those are the first fair true wireless ones, which is great
  Now how is it irrelevant? I seriously don't understand what the problem is, and I also don't know what kind of strawman I apparently made

373 comments