You’re saying yours broke easily too? I don’t think this is by design. Can you explain what kind of handling broke it?
Mine broke simply adjusting the fit on my head as my ears were uncomfortable. I am currently using my old, very old, wireless set and I can drop them adjust them without any damage for years. Thomson brand, very ancient.
The temperature here at the time of breaking might’ve had something to do with it.
Support are currently ignoring my request for a return label, seems they wish to analyse the damage.
I hope they don’t try and blame me because that will kill their reputation.
Has anyone tried the new firmware yet. It seems quieter to me, is there a way to restore the original.
I have it installed since it was released. Some changes that were listed and that I could confirm:
- max. volume was reduced - this is likely the change you mean?
- volumes when operating with cable have been smoothed out between headphones turned on and off
- additional EQ editor in the app (not tested by me)
But there are observations by more audiophile people than me (or at least one, @dblake) that the new firmware does not seem to remember the EQ presets any more and the Fairbuds app has to be opened every time to actually apply them. Discussion in German here:
My experience has been exactly like that. Thanks for the help.
Do you suppose this company will ever get anything correct.
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Maybe if the devs and support staff have to use their own products, including the beta releases. Since these and many other issues are found by simply using them for 5 minutes. I’m personally not bothered by the max volume, but he minimum volume is still too high when I connect via Bluetooth to my laptop. It’s also annoying to then still have the ANC announcement quite loud, and the volume goes up before the announcement, rather than relatively lower to the current volume.
I’ll make an issue tracker in the hope FP will fix them. In the meantime I’ll have to return these headphones, it’s just not the kind of quality I’d expect for 250 euros.
BlockquoteIn the meantime I’ll have to return these headphones, it’s just not the kind of quality I’d expect for 250 euros.
my problem is that I have them to long to return them and I gave my “old headphones” to a friend of mine so I need to use them … 
…
but I don’t think that I will buy anything of Fairphone directly after launch in the future … and to be honest … I don’t know if I’ll buy anything of fairphone in the future … I like the idea but the quality of their products is just to lame … …
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Was this issue already reported to support by anyone? And if so, what was their response?
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hm … good point … not from my side … I’ll report it tomorrow …
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I agree that the quality is not good enough for the cost.
The firmware should be open source so the community can work on it.
I have to say that unless there are dramatic improvements I will not be buying any more products from Fairphone.
The concept is worth supporting but the reality is not good enough. I can not recommend these products to anyone currently.
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I reported it today at the Fairphone Support - let’s wait for the answer.
BR
Dominique
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I wouldn’t say the sound is second-rate. It’s actually quite good.
I can very well understand the criticism of the transprarent mode. But I overlooked this reasonable criticism? This real issue isn’t mentioned in the article.
I still find the equalizer somewhat inadequate and of course the sound quality via USB cable.
I think the criticism of the Fairbuds XL is exaggerated in most cases.
Edit:
What I have noticed, at least according to my subjective impression, is.
The equalizer presets seem to have different quality.
Amsterdam is generally quite usable. Boston as well.
Tokyo sometimes causes problems.
By that I don’t mean that some settings don’t fit all music, but that they can start to not sound clean.
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Is there a way to erase pairing history or reset. I can do that with my Bluetooth adapter but their help says do the headphones too.
So, is there a procedure.
To unpair
To clear the pairing records or reset your Fairbuds XL:
- (On Android) Open the Bluetooth menu via Settings → Connected devices → Press the cogwheel to the right of Fairbuds XL. Press Forget and confirm**.**
- To reset all settings on the headphones, press and hold the joystick button to the right for 5 seconds until you hear the confirmation.
In case of issues (like mono instead of stereo): please unpair the headphones and pair them again.
Source:
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Thankyou I didn’t think there was such a procedure.
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Because being a shill for Qualcomm, Fraunhofer, Sony isn’t ideal. If Google supports Opus for their Buds Pro, a sustainable company should use OGG OPUS over the other options that cost money for the end user.
But if you combine fairphones repairability, Pine64 open source software and Google choice of codec you got recipe for success.
Have you heard anything?
yes … I heard that it is fact that you need to run the software … so this is a standard setting and no “problem” … so the ticket was closed … since then my Fairbuds XL are in the corner full of dust … I decided to now use them any more …
Maybe it’s best to sell them? 