Fairphone’s wireless earbuds have easily replaceable batteries. We should all buy them

There’s no denying the benefit of popping one of the best wireless earbuds into your ears. With superb sound, active noise cancellation, and all manner of clever features on offer, there’s never been a better time to snap up new headphones. But it’s not all roses.

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Oh, you lost one of your earphones down the crevice of an overzealous escalator? Guess you’ll have to buy a new pair. Your battery lasts way less than it used to? Time to hit up Amazon and order a fresh set. And while I suppose there’s nothing wrong with flinging barrels of lighter fuel into the mercilessly roaring flames of capitalism (something that my own impulse online purchases greatly contribute to), I know that there’s a better way.

Enter Fairphone and its new Fairbuds — a pair of noise-cancelling wireless earbuds that let you quickly and easily replace all manner of parts (including both case and individual earbud batteries), ensuring years of faithful service without needlessly contributing to the ever-increasing piles of e-waste.

It’s an absolutely brilliant (and sorely needed) move, and I both wish and hope that other manufacturers will follow suit. They probably won’t, of course — I don’t imagine shareholders want to discourage consumers from regularly parting with their cash for new devices — but it’s a bold and brilliant gesture nonetheless.

Beyond replaceable batteries for both the charging case and buds themselves, you can also repair or exchange either earbud, as well as swapping out other parts like the silicon tips, rings, and even the charging case’s outer shell. There’s also a two-year warranty as standard, which bumps up to three years if you register them online.

Specs-wise, you’re looking at six hours of standalone use per charge, or 20 hours with the case. The buds pack the power of 11mm titanium-coated drivers, and feature active noise cancellation along with IP54 sweat and water resistance. Paired with an app which lets you tweak your sound settings, it seems to offer the whole package, with multi-point Bluetooth connectivity thrown in to boot.

While I can’t pass any judgement on the sound quality, I’d like to see the Fairbuds fly off shelves regardless, to help encourage others to follow suit. We need more products like this to succeed, if there’s any hope of tipping the scales in the right direction — Fairphone’s existing Fairbuds True Wireless Stereo Earbuds (which launched in 2021) had some replaceable parts, but the battery wasn’t one of them, making this latest iteration particularly exciting. 

If you’re keen to have a firmer grasp on your earbuds’ destiny, you can grab the Fairbuds in Europe for €149, with a hopefully imminent US launch in the near future.

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Esat Dedezade Contributor

About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.