Fairbuds are Fairphone's proof that we could make better tiny gadgets | Hacker News Reader

Fairbuds are Fairphone's proof that we could make better tiny gadgets

arstechnica.com

35 pointsthunderbong14 comments

Fairbuds: In-ear with replaceable batteries - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39981550 - April 2024 (265 comments)

It's always commendable to see repairable and disassemblable devices, but $160 for something that's just gonna randomly fall out of your ear and get lost in two weeks is a bit steep.

Call me old fashioned, but nothing beats the price/performance of cheap wired earbuds for like $7 that are so cheap they are basically consumables. Wireless is just trading the hassle of wires with the hassle of charging and the pain of bluetooth.

Yes I think I would have to call you old fashioned here. I’ve had my Apple Air Pods for years and have never had one fall out of my ear except when stupidly trying to put on / remove a shirt while wearing them. No issue running or anything like that. The Air Pod case does have a silly issue that if you drop it they will fly approximately 300 feet in opposite directions, but I don’t think that’s relevant to your point. All other things considered charging them is definitely an inconvenience but I am responsible enough to do so as needed. In my opinion there are many other conveniences gained. I think the wireless earbud form factor is here to stay.

Maybe something to do with ear shape? I have tried all three of the latex caps and they constantly fall out for me :(

Yup, just to echo this sentiment, I've had the Sony WF-SP800N for 4 years now. All of this anecdotal of course. They've fallen from my ear under intense workouts, I've dropped them with & without the case more times than I can count because I'm clumsy. They still work like Day 1, they're far more functional than having a flimsy wire dangle around.

And I guess it depends on your usage; people who use their headphones for 10 minutes a day probably don't care much about any of this. My earbuds stay plugged like half the day, every day. 7$ wired ones will get you abysmal audio quality, and even if you chip in for better, wires still break trivially - you won't even have to try. I've changed more of those in my life than shirts - meanwhile the wireless buds have lasted 4 years.

Now I'm looking to buy new ones, maybe try to get into that multipoint pairing action, that could be useful. I often find myself in situations were it'd be useful to receive audio from more than one source.

While I somewhat agree and I use cheap wired earbuds as well, this consumables part annoys me a lot as well. These just don't last even a year for me and are unrepairable. There has to be a better way.

A happy middle ground is buying a pair of IEMs and a Bluetooth dac/amp.

For $50 each you get earphones that should last you a lifetime and have above average audio quality. With the benefit of IEMs being you can replace the cable as needed.

>> something that's just gonna randomly fall out of your ear and get lost in two weeks is a bit steep

I've been using AirPod's for about 5 years. Never lost one. Never had them fall out. Yours is a very out of date hot take. If people were constantly replacing these at $75 per ear I doubt they'd have the ubiquity they do.

I have a pair of noname Bluetooth headphones with the wrap around your ear thing, and that works really well. I prefer the wireless aspect because I use it for exercise and hate having the phone dangling from the other end. The around the ear bit is useful to stop it falling out - I've never found earbuds that stay in my ears without staying completely still.

They have over the ear versions, take a peak at those! I actually don't mind little ear bud things as long as I'm not exercising.

I think you might be old fashioned here

My Airpods Pro are incredibly good at staying in, even when running and I've had them for 3+ years

I wish someone would buy you a pair so you can understand how good they are

You're not old fashioned, that's the only sane take on headphones. AirPods are a complete and utter ripoff, and if any other company had introduced the product it would've been a flop.

I've never lost my Sony buds but the battery in one doesn't charge anymore

Call me new fashioned, but nothing beats the price/performance of cheap wireless earbuds for like $19 that are so cheap they are basically consumables. Wired is just trading the hassle of batteries with the hassle of wires.

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