Hi,
I bought the earphones (with wire) early 2020 for my FP3. They lasted less than a year, one of the earthings broke. Then I bought a new pair, and that’s also broken now, the cable connecting the right earphone with the microphone.
Both earphone-sets cannot be repaired, no screws etc.
That’s a bit disappointing, because it would have made sense to make a ,new’ set out of the old half-broken ones.
And now I see the product is not even available any more. Not really big in sustainability.
And no, not interested in spending 100 € on the wireless set, even if they existed in Fairphone-blue. Because they are too expensive and they don’t have a microphone.
So, does anyone still have a pair of the old cable-earphones they want to sell?
And am I missing something or is the earphone-thing really a disappointing story?
thanks.
P.S. couldn’t write in the original earphones thread, it seems closed.
I’ve got a set of modular Earphones lying around somewhere I think. I didn’t use them at all because the sound is… well… bad. But they came for free when I ordered the FP3 so, yeah. If you want to have them just hit me up.
It certainly sounds like a less than ideal experience. But you’re mistaken about one thing:
In fact they seem to have multiple microphones and it is possible to use them for calls, see specs here: TWS Earbuds | Fairphone
(Personally, I’d still not buy them, though.)
Yeah, the cable should still be available and I got one on warranty, too. Unfortunately the solderings within the remote control are the weak point of these headphones. I have repaired my very first cable, but then the housing fell apart while I was outside, then I bought a new cable and that failed after only one or two months of careful use again. That one was replaced in warranty. It’s still on my to-do-list to check this cable for repairability. Usually the ground wire loses contact but these wires are really, really tiny. With the mechanical stress on the cable it’s a wonder actually that they survive for so long. Seeing all this one could understand why they removed the cable in the successor product…
Maybe you should see it the other way round: reading all the problems you describe the earphones were probably not as sustainable as they were intended to be. So this is why they are no longer available - and it’s good from a sustainably perspective that only robust devices are kept in store…
@t_aus_m that’s really great, thank you! Yes the sound is well not the best, but I mainly use the earphones on walks to listen to podcasts or radio, and for that the sound can be trashy. They also work ok for phonecalls and zoom etc. , then I have my hands free. So I’ll send you a PM. Dankeschön!
@martin_anderseck
Yes, the cable connections are always the problem. The cable with the mike broke or is half broken, so first it was a Wackelkontakt and now the sound is gone completely. I suppose the mike should still work, haven’t tried that yet. but I see no screws on the mike thing I can open.
@Volker Yes, makes sense. “The survival of the fittest” (die am besten angepassten, wird ja immer falsch übersetzt)
@mde thank you, I didn’t know that! But same here, will not really buy them, esp. without trying them on, for fear of them not fitting properly (same with the cable-earphones, right fits, left not really)
@yvmuell thank you for the Hinweis! So that’s the whole cable and I just connect my earphones? Not bad. I think for warranty I’ve had them too long (> 12 months)
OK, so I’ve now replied to all replies in one post hopefully (there was a suggestion that I should do that).
And I think all are German, - but maybe someone who doesn’t speak English can benefit from the chat.
btw. What I like about earphones (compared to headphones): I can just put in one, and have the other ear open for environmental sounds.
It’s two half pieces that are pressed together. You can carefully try to get a fingernail or something like this between the both and then move them apart. This also explains why it didn’t hold that well afterwards anymore because I wanted to avoid glue to be able to open it again if it fails once more… But as mentioned before, this only makes sense if you have a sufficiently small soldering iron available to fix these points.
Here’s the thing: iem’s and especially their cables are fragile things. They almost certainly will break in time. If you want a pair to stick with i recommend going for some that have a replaceable cable. Cables are quite well recycled these days. If you don’t mind mediocre sound can suggest kbear’s… Those seem built like a tank and cost like 25 bucks. You can have mine if you want but you’d have to get a cable with a mic.
Wireless buds these days almost always have microphones. Don’t worry about that. They work. Worry about the fact that right now there literally is not a single pair that can be made to last more than a few years at best. That’s if the last thing that fails is the battery. They are all destined for the landfill no matter if they come in a gentle Fairphone blue or a gleaming Apple white.
I personally dislike Fairphone selling earbuds. It is what it is.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the discussion!
Today I received a pair of the old cable earphones from @t_aus_m , herzlichen Dank!
Also I will look into the warranty thing, maybe I can get the cable and manage to replace it in the broken set, then I have a spare.
I got the KZ-ZS10 Pro, You can get a Wired cable, Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth 5
My Wired Cable broke after 2 Years and swapped it with a BT5.0 a few Weeks ago.
Maybe you should see it the other way round: reading all the problems you describe the earphones were probably not as sustainable as they were intended to be. So this is why they are no longer available - and it’s good from a sustainably perspective that only robust devices are kept in store…