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Comment by ksec | Hacker News Reader

I am surprised the vast majority of the 280 comments seems to be about bluetooth connection, fitting, sound quality and not a mention about TCO ( Total Cost of Ownership ).

May be I am cheap, but I cant get myself to buy another Wireless Earphone again with non -replaceable battery. They are basically consumables. And Apple expect you to buy a new pair every 1-2 years. And even if you dont use it much the battery will still deteriorate after 2 years.

I dont know about current M1 MacBook, EarPod and HomePod, but Apple has a history of speaker being relatively easier blown out. But even then they last 4 - 5 years.

Again may be I am cheap. I expect these things to last a decade. I have often dream of a Wireless earphone where the long end part is a screwable battery.

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Eh. Wired headphones in theory should have a longer lifespan and a lower TCO than wired headphones, but that's not the experience I've had. The weakest link in headphones is the cord, back when I was in High School I would buy Skullcandy headphones (those $10 ones from TJMaxx or Marshalls) in bulk, because the average lifespan of a pair was less than a month before the cord broke.

Had I just bought wired headphone every month for $10. At the end of 2 years I would have spent $240, which is right around the price of Airpods Pro's.

I will say though the one killer feature for me in Airpods is the handoff functionality. I'm an iOS developer so I work on a Mac all day long. It's so nice to be able to switch off from one Macbook for a meeting to my iPhone with little to no effort.

Uh...you get what you pay for. I have Sennheisers that are still good 7 years later. I have Audio Technicas that have also lasted just as long. They just didn't cost $10, more like 100-500. But even my "low-end" headphones (which I use far often) are fine years later.

It's a bit disingenuous to compare $10 cans with $240 Airpods. What is this? Reddit?

I bought a pair of AKG k171's a while ago. They've taken everything without issue. The insulation on the cable got damaged a bit too much for my tastes after a few years, so I bought a new one. Nothing wrong with that investment, It's been through approximately 4 replacement cables and one or two sets of ear pads/foam.

I'm still getting my moneys worth 15 years later!

I've had only two pairs of wired headphones for the last 8 years. And both still work! I just changed from pale blue pair to dark red ones.

So while I appreciate your anecdote, I also think it doesn't apply to me and should not in any way influence my purchases.

I never had a wired in-ear earphone that lasted more than 2 years. My guess is 90% didn’t pass the one year mark. I use it while commuting, going to the supermarket, cleaning the house, etc.

Any recommendation of a wired in-ear earphone that could last a decade?

Not new ones, but I have a pair of original Sony Fontopias that came with a high end walkman around 20 years ago. They're built to last and incredibly comfortable with good audio quality. Unfortunately I dont think they made them that well for long. The equivalent headphones from only 5 years later were terrible in comparison.

Edit: I just looked them up. MDR-E484. They seem to be classics that sell for hundreds of dollars used! I never realised they were so sought after!

I find it's always the cables that go. Thus buying a set with a removable cable sent me from 6 months to 5 years with a pair of Shure se215's. There's many more options today, as (removable)wired IEM's seem to be abit of a growing niche.

Great tip! It is hard to find removable wired IEM around here, but just found a local e-commerce representative for Shure so just bought exactly a Shire SE 215!

Back in HS I would go through Skullcandy headphones like candy, I would find a place that had them on sale and buy 5-10 pairs at once. Average lifespan with a high school kid taking care of them was like 2-4 weeks.

Many of my friends had their parents get them really nice headphones (Bose, Beats by Dre, etc), I always stuck to the cheap ones because I never had to think about taking care of them. They all broke, I'd toss them out and open up a new pair.

I got Sennheiser 300 S earphones at least a year and a half ago and they don't show any signs of deteriorating. They cost 50 euro, double what standard throwaway earphones cost here from any old shop. Yes they're not an audiophile's wet dream or anything, but they sound way better than the throwaways. Great amount of bass and top end, with a little more top end than bass but not at all tinny or noticeable in any way. To buy anything good to last nowadays you have to go a bit higher than the standard. That's just the world we live in, and wired are the same.

Sennheiser HD 650 has user replaceable cord. The Sennheisers I have has lasted two decades.

They're not in-ear though.

For me "being cheap" is a derogatory term used by those that have some interest in making you buy more expensive variants when you don't need them. Many "cheap" people are reasonable folks that make purchases for a defined value for money, not just what the marketing departments dictate.

As you said, headphones are basically a commodity. But when the press reports cases of people having anxiety about losing airpods, for me it's a clear sign something went wrong.

I use my airpods 4+ hours a day, I've had two or three pairs of the original airpods, and I'm on my second pair of the pros. Every time I've broken them, I immediately buy a new pair because they're so useful and convenient.

I do all of my work calls using them, I use them if I have to make a phone call, I use them for listening to music while working, I use them (the right side only for safety) while riding my bike, I listen to podcasts while doing chores, I connect them to my PC for playing video games, and I use them to listen to a sleep podcast when I go to sleep.

If you consider AirPods to be environmentally safe to recycle, which is not unreasonable given that Apple will take them back and promises to recycle the parts, the only downside to a disposable device like this is cost. Two years of using AirPods means you pay about $0,25 a day of use.

Most users use them every day and are very happy with them. I think it is pretty reasonable to pay that kind of money for being happy.

> And even if you dont use it much the battery will still deteriorate after 2 years.

I bought some Sony over-the-ear noise cancelling headphones 3-4 years ago. I only tend to use them when flying (only a few times a year). I have an old pair of original AirPods (2016) I use as backups. I haven't noticed any deterioration. I'm sure there is some, but a majority of the aging is due to use.

There are wireless headphones with a good TCO. I have a Logitech headset that cost me $80 or so. Changed the battery two times over the last 7 years. Each battery was like $12. Battery replacement was trivial.

If you want a modular and replaceable system, I use KZ headphones with their Bluetooth adapters. If the battery of the adapter dies you can buy a new pair for 20$, and you can meanwhile use cables.

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