These Innovative Earbuds Are Designed to Be Easily Repairable
If the battery dies, replace the battery—that's it.
Fairphone, an Amsterdam-based phone company that aims for sustainable and ethical business practices, has unveiled the Fairbuds, a pair of noise-canceling wireless earbuds. Just like the company's Fairphone 5, which is built to be easily repairable, the Fairbuds are designed to be easy to repair. Sadly, that kind of thing is pretty rare in the tech world, but it's a much more consumer- and planet-friendly practice that will hopefully become more widespread in the future.
On its website, Fairphone sells individual components of the Fairbuds (like the ear tips, batteries, and pieces of the charging case) so that users can fix or replace their earbuds if something is lost or broken rather than buy an entirely new pair. Having a replaceable battery means the earbuds can last much longer and in turn, lead to less e-waste in landfills. And if a small tech company based in the Netherlands can make a pair of earbuds with a replaceable battery, then there isn't any reason that tech giants such as Samsung or Apple couldn't do the same.
Most of these electronics companies would rather you buy a new device rather than fix it yourself, because it's ultimately more profitable, and that's what they're most concerned with. This has led to a number of states in the U.S. putting forth "Right to Repair" laws to force these tech companies to make it easier for consumers to be able to fix their devices themselves. In fact, one of these laws just passed in Oregon, following in the footsteps of states like New York, Minnesota, and California.
Fairphone says you should get around six hours of listening time with an additional 20 hours from the charging case. To continue with Fairphone's sustainability efforts, the Fairbuds are made from 70% recycled and fair trade materials, and 100% recycled rare earth elements. The Fairbuds come with Active Noise Canceling (ANC) to help block out any exterior noise, titanium-coated 11mm premium drivers to produce good sound and Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint connection support. The earbuds also have IP54 water and sweat resistance and come with a three-year warranty.
The Fairbuds are available now from the company's website for €149 (around $162) and come in two colors, black and white. The company currently ships the Fairbuds only to countries in Europe and the U.K.