Ask HN: Are you sick of throw away Bluetooth head/earphones? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Are you sick of throw away Bluetooth head/earphones?

12 pointswg014 comments

Because I'm. No matter at what price point you purchase - These headphones or any battery operated gadgets are meant to be thrown away.

Imagine a fully working headphone with diaphragm and electronics perfectly fine but you have to throw the whole thing because it won't last minute because of an aging battery.

And the impact of this wasteful greedy manufacturing on climate change cannot be overstated.

And I don't know why all the hollow climate change talk is so shallow on action and regulations?

What can be done about it? Also, any headphones that let you replace batteries?

I don't need extensive water proofing. Just give me back old reliable 3.5mm jack

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I don't like bluetooth earphones, for the same reasons you stated.

A couple of months ago, when shopping around for a new smartphone for my son, I made a point of considering only models that have the 3.5mm jack. It's getting very difficult to find newer models. I am not an Apple fan so I considered only Android-based phones.

Ironically, I also don't like any of the wired earphones I have used in the last 10 years. They all seem to break within a year or two.

Several months ago my latest set of wired earphones broke down, and I gave up and bought a bluetooth set, a JBL model with a wire connecting the earphones, so it's a bit like wired earphones. I don't like them either, the sound quality is off for some reason, and I don't like having to charge them, but the battery life is pretty much as advertised. We'll see how they'll hold up. I still feel kinda dirty for buying them. At least I'm still with my 6-year-old phone with the 3.5 mm jack.

These headphones or any battery operated gadgets are meant to be thrown away.

I've only tried bluetooth headphones once and I regretted it. They didn't fit right and the little mp3 player was a bit finicky getting the two to pair. I can only assume the batteries are cheap and have a low charge cycle rating if any rating at all so I expect I will reach your conclusion sooner than later. So to answer your question, yes I am already sick of them. Not a total loss as I wont buy anything without a headphone jack.

I've since gone back to my cheap old school wired headphones and they are good enough for walking and jogging. If I need headphones at home I have some mid-cost-range wired over-ear headphones that sound decent. Not as good as my old Bose wired qc-15's but I am retired and no longer need to tune out the bull-pens. Most of the time I just rock the house with some old Cerwin-Vega's I bought from a coworker 26 years ago.

I have Airpod Pros since over 3 years. This is longer than most wired headphones I had. I throw away a lot more plastic from excessive packaging from the supermarket. It’s nothing compared to how much equipment offices underuse and overreplace.

You’re not wrong, but you’re also focusing on a really small part of a huge mess.

> Just give me back old reliable 3.5mm jack

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MNHF2AM/A/earpods-with-35...

> What can be done about it? Also, any headphones that let you replace batteries?

One thing you can do is getting something like the UTWS1 from FiiO [1], which is then connected to any IEM that has an MMCX connector. This is not cheap, and is probably not going to give you the best battery life and/or sound quality, but when the battery dies or you get tired of it you still have a perfectly functional set of headphones.

[1] https://www.fiio.com/utws1

I really want wired old-fashioned headphones to come back

Are they really gone though? Aren’t IEM still available for every budget?

In my experience, some of these headphones last really long time.

Two of my headphones are over 6 years old. One of them is Bose QC35 which I love. The other one was "cheaper" $100 headphone, it has horrible multiple devices bluetooth connection switching. I figured I will use it as a rough-n-tough/workout/in-bed headphone until it dies. It is still going strong. I kind of hate having two headphones but this one is in pretty rough shape, so not worth selling or even giving it away.

Bose was pretty expensive, I am hoping to get 10 years out of it. If it dies before 10 years, I will be slightly disappointed but probably would still consider it a great purchase.

I only buy cheaper Bluetooth earphones.

I use them when I exercise, and I don't want to pay a lot for something I am going to sweat all over, and probably lose.

This is why I also need the earbuds that are connected by that big brace around the back...I would loose an Airpod in a week...

I have the Sony XM3-1000H. I got it because of the noise-cancelling features when I go to my coworking space, or just want a bit of extra quiet. But my preferred headphones are the Sennheiser HD-6XX. And for focused listening, I have a pair of Hifiman Sundara, which cost as much as the Sony. The point is, I bought bluetooth headphones because they fit my purpose. But simple and wired is always my favorite aspect for headphones (I had a pair that I replaced the headphone cable thrice).

I tend to buy quality bluetooth headsets that cost around $150 or so, I had two (one from Plantronics, another from V-Moda) that I bought five years ago that are still going strong.

Both of them had some of the plastic on the side of the band break in the last two months, in both cases I made a makeshift repair with black duct tape that looks a little ugly but could keep them going for another few years. I feel like I've already gotten my money's worth.

Basically - issue with the batteries is also that if you don't use the gadgets or not so frequently, batteries will deteriote.

Just plain old chemistry.

I bought my Bose qc35 4-5 years ago used. Still running fine and I’d probably replace the battery if needed. I did go through a pair of ear pads but otherwise still going strong. Before that I had some cheaper phones that failed at the interface to the headphone cable so it’s not like corded is immune to failure

Fairphone launched headphones recently maybe you could look into that if money is not issue

Marshall are also relatively good

My first marshall lasted for 18-24 months of 16 hours of daily (ab)use, battery was not an issue, just wear and tear because I've never been careful with them

For me, no. It doesnt make sense to buy the cheapest version of something I use everyday.

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