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Comment by macNchz | Hacker News Reader

I think it’s maybe close to a wash between non-replaceable batteries in wireless headphones dying and cords failing, in my experience at least. The ideal case IMO is over-ear headphones that have a replaceable cord—I have some 14 year old Bose QCs and some newer Beyerdynamics, both of which I’ve replaced the cord on.

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Have batteries actually ever FAILED in wireless headphones? Sure, they degrade and charge becomes lower, but I've never had them outright fail. A headphone that lasts my 2-3 hours of commute/daily use is completely useable, even if it's original charge lasted 5 hours.

Cables do fail though, completely. They become unusable.

In my entire life time of using headphones/earbuds since school with the PSP, ALL wired options have failed after 1-2 years for purely mechanical cable reasons. Not a single wireless failed for electronic reasons. The did fail for me dropping them and stepping on them reasons, though.

My sennheiser earbuds are now down to 15 minutes of battery life. Less if it's a cold day. Sure, they're not completely dead yet, but they're effectively useless. And it's not like I can easily replace the batteries. Most wired earbuds or headphones at a similar price point have replaceable cables.

Shure sells wireless earbuds where the BT / battery sits outside the earbud itself and can be user-replaced. You can even attach them to good ol' 3.5 mm cables! And, since the connector on the earbud is standard, you can actually attach either other-brand earbuds or other-brand BT adapters. Other brands probably have something similar.

I have a pair or Shure IEMs I bought as wired over a decade ago. I've converted them to a lighting cable when I bought my iphone 7, then switched to BT when that cable failed.

Sure, the IEMs are bigger than airpods or similar models, but I find it's a good compromise. I wouldn't go back to wired headphones while at work, and certainly not while on the go.

My daughter had to replace the LiPo battery in her headphones twice after they would not charge at all.

A couple months ago, the battery in my Sony wh1000xm3’s failed to hold any charge at all. Was an easy replacement tho and they’re as good as new.

I also have that model, and even though the battery still seems to last for ages, I was wondering if it was replaceable.

Does Sony sell a replacement, or do you have to go through a 3rd party? Is everything held in place with screws, or do you need to mess around with glue and whatnot?

Batteries fail completely too, on occasion especially with cheaper brands or 5+ year-old headphones.

I bought a pair of Philips headphones with a replaceable cord. Instead the jack became loose.

I’ve been using Bluetooth wireless headphones exclusively when I’m portable since 2006 (Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 represent), with only wired use at a desk and I’ve never looked back.

The difference is I can easily fix a broken cable.

All my corded headphones lasted at most 2 years of mobile use. My QC35s are still going strong. Wired sucks for mobile use. And if the cord doesn’t go, the 3.5mm socket does. I replaced multiple sockets on my iPod and iPhone 3g. That replacement process sucks.

What are you doing that destroys cables and jacks like that? I use wired earbuds while riding my bike and I've never broken a jack, and the one time I broke the cable was because I made a mistake and dropped them while riding, which got them tangled up in the spokes.

Putting phone in pocket and sitting down, passing through doors with handles on them, putting cable in bag, removing cable from bag, normal use?

My corded QC25 is still as new. No battery to die (it's simply AAA), the cord and ear pads are replaceable.

Of course you can get the Fairbuds which have replaceable batteries.

Hopefully more Bluetooth headphone companies follow suit. Maybe we can even get a standardized battery.

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