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Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

theguardian.com

71–80 of 239 posts

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#71

I like the concept of repairability, but these headphones are honestly quite boring. “Fair” cannot be the only selling point. Offer something interesting and compelling.

It's good as a starting point though. It inspires similar ideas to hit the market and gives consumers a taste of sustainability.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#74

I stopped reading at “Vegan Leather”. Can we call it what it is? Plastic.

Why dont we call leather what it is - chemically treated skin Because we're allowed to put words to new uses Language is open-source

I know what leather is.

I’ve no idea what “vegan leather” is. Plastic, some sort of plant material, something else?

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#75
post #51
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WH-1000XM5 => $400 Bose QC45 => $279 Fairbuds XL => 249€ ($272 if I convert right now) It's cheaper than two of the most popular headphones, how is there a "too high sustainability tax" ?!?

But what's the sound quality like? If they're in the price range of $300-400 premium headphones, but perform like $100 headphones, that's still a "tax".

The price on noise canceling headphones is usually an indication of how good they do NC.

The vast amount of Bluetooth NC headphones sound like their 100$ wired counterpart.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#77
One of the problems with headphones is that the cups tend to deteriorate over time - maybe sweat or the oil from the skin or something reacts with it and it starts to peel. After a few years, the cups are no longer available for that model and so you end up having to buy a new one.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#78
post #71

I like the concept of repairability, but these headphones are honestly quite boring. “Fair” cannot be the only selling point. Offer something interesting and compelling.

It's good as a starting point though. It inspires similar ideas to hit the market and gives consumers a taste of sustainability.

Absolutely! I guess I am not the target market. I’ve had the same Bose headphones for four years and other than an easy earpad replacement, nothing has broken. I can’t imagine needing to replace the battery.

This seems somewhat like a solution looking for a problem.

Probably the price surcharge for these headphones would be better spent on right-to-repair lobbying or even spent at ifixit.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#79
post #77

One of the problems with headphones is that the cups tend to deteriorate over time - maybe sweat or the oil from the skin or something reacts with it and it starts to peel. After a few years, the cups are no longer available for that model and so you end up having to buy a new one.

I haven't had that issue, but if you know that you do, in this case you can buy the cups separately. After trying it out for a few weeks or months to make sure it's a keeper, just order another pair of cups?

I got the impression that they've had phone parts in stock for a very long time, but of course that's relative to the average phone age and I don't know how many years you'd be expecting. In this case, though, if you already know what you'll need ahead of time... that's a cheap thing to just keep in a drawer. Can't go out of stock if you already have them and thereby double the other parts' longevity.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#80
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why dont we call leather what it is - chemically treated skin Because we're allowed to put words to new uses Language is open-source

I know what leather is. I’ve no idea what “vegan leather” is. Plastic, some sort of plant material, something else?

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