True wireless earphones are fragile, easy to lose, and prone to battery failure. Given their size and cost, companies would rather you throw them away when they succumb to the inevitable. However, the Fairphone does come with a pair of earphones built in with easily replaceable batteries, as well as a replaceable battery in the charging case. And, look, if the engineers at this small Dutch company can solve this problem, then there will be no excuses for the armies of designers in the steel-and-glass cathedrals of Apple and Samsung.
Fairbuds are a pair of true wireless earphones that look similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Buds, with a controller on the outermost surface on both sides. Fairphone promises 6 hours of battery life on a single charge and 20 hours in the charging case. These headphones come with the usual feature list, including ANC, multipoint connectivity, and IP54 sweat and water resistance. As usual, the company wants to prove (at least on paper) that just because the devil has the best toys, you can still have fun while wearing a halo.
The Fairbuds are the company’s second product in the truly wireless earbuds space, following 2021’s apparently named True Wireless Stereo Earbuds. These products are made from fair trade gold and 30% recycled plastic, but are more part of the problem than the solution. At the time, I was giving the company grief for launching a product that was so inconsistent with its environmental goals. In retrospect, the rubbish name should have been a clue that these were just stopgaps. Since then, TWS has been ditched, and the company has released the Fairbuds XL, a pair of over-ear headphones that I quite like.
Fairphone says the Fairbuds here are made from 70% recycled and fair materials, while 100% of rare earth elements and tin are recycled. The company also claims to offer higher wages to factory workers compared with rival manufacturers and to work with suppliers to improve working conditions for those on the production line.
I think it’s unfair to say that Fairphone prioritizes repairability over look and feel, so these won’t be on the podium at the Beautiful Gadget Awards. I have a pair of AirPods Pro sitting on my desk next to the Fairbuds, and the difference between the two is almost comical. The Fairbuds’ case is about twice the size, and while the corners are rounded, it’ll still be an unwelcome presence in your jeans pocket. There’s not a lot of wasted space in the box, but the armchair designer in me always wanted to slim down this product.
There are other annoyances, such as the action button being on top of the charging tray, but the status light being located next to the USB-C port. This isn’t a huge issue, but you’ll want these installation and completion issues to be the focus of future second editions. But the annoying problem with these is that elegance is sacrificed for restorability, which is why you buy a pair.
I might need to clarify for those of you who will point to iFixit’s guide showing you how to replace the batteries in your AirPods and Galaxy Buds, it can be done. But when the guide requires you to use a heat gun, scalpel, vise, pry bar, and sol solvent, it’s not an easy job for anyone to do. I mean it when I say you can replace the battery on each Fairbud as easily as you could replace a cell phone battery from the ’90s.
In fact, my first try took 30 seconds because all you have to do is slide a small flat head screwdriver off the rubber gasket. Once you’re done, you just need to gently pry out the hinge bracket and the battery will slide out easily. Put in a new battery, slide the rubber gasket back into place (it will go back into place basically effortlessly if you’re gentle), and you’re done.
Likewise, the charging case has a replaceable battery and is held in place via a single Phillips-head screw. With a slight twist, the charging plate pops out to reveal the 500mAh battery underneath, and users can purchase replacement case, charging tray and charging case batteries. You can also buy earbuds, earbuds and earbud batteries from Fairphone’s online parts store.
You may only want or need to replace the battery every three to four years, so you won’t benefit from this flexibility every day. After reading a lot of online discussions, a rule of thumb is that most TWS headphones last two to three years before they start to have problems. Fairphone also offers a three-year warranty on the headphones, but I’d like to see a well-used pair last twice as long, assuming you don’t lose them in the drain or leave them behind in a taxi.
Unfortunately, I can’t praise the Fairbuds for their sound quality, which isn’t as strong as you’d hope. They’re not bad by any means, but the preset sound profiles lack the pizzazz you’ll hear in competitors. Whether you’re playing a gorgeous orchestral piece by Jerry Goldsmith or something more powerful like Korn, you’ll feel the sound is rougher and flatter than other products. It’s as if the top and bottom of the sound are chopped off to prevent everything from getting too out of hand.
I found the sound profiles in the Fairbuds app to be similarly lackluster, allowing users to choose between standard tuning, bass boost, or flat. No one felt any difference. There’s also a Studio option where you can adjust the tuning along eight specific frequency bands. This is where you can really improve the sound quality, but it’s more time and effort than I’m willing to invest on a regular basis.
At least the fundamentals are very good: I’ve been testing these for the better part of the past five days, and I haven’t felt the need to charge the case battery at all. Even with ANC turned on, I think I squeezed at least 20 hours out of these things, and I still had some juice left in the tank. The ANC itself offers the same background cancellation as other mid-range ANC earbuds.
One of Fairphone’s recurring tenets is that it doesn’t want to make a phone that will topple the big manufacturers. Its products are designed to appeal to people who want more ethical products and serve as a North Star for the wider technology industry. Many engineering issues surrounding durability, volume and ease of use remain. But Fairphone’s impact here should be to challenge its larger rivals to use its vast resources to build a pair of headphones that were destined for the trash can from the day they were born.
Fairbuds are making their European debut today by Fairphone and various retail partners across Europe. They’ll be priced at €149, and while there’s no word on this just yet, it’s likely we’ll see them make their way to the US at some point in the future.
