During MKBHD’s weekly podcast WVFRM, a segment discussing the arrival of Fairphone via Amazon to the US was discussed. One of the co-hosts, David, announced he has been in contact with Fairphone discussing the arrival of the Fairphone 6 and Fairbuds XL, he let slip that Fairphone have made a new version of the Fairbuds XL which “improves on everything” including better drivers, a better headband and is “more replaceable” (I’m assuming he means more repairable), he also goes on to say theyre coming “very soon”.
Below is a timestamped link to the segment of the episode.
Not overly surprising, some further confirmation for the record:
The Fairbuds XL in both colours are now listed as “out of stock” in the Fairphone Shop.
Seems they are back in stock and heavily discounted (Promo).
Let’s hope that includes the audio quality through USB-C. This was my biggest gripe with the Fairbuds XL. If audio via cable hadn’t been that bad as it was, I would have kept mine. But that was a deal breaker for me.
I’ve found that there’s a difference in audio quality depending on the headset being on or off. I assume the DSP only kicks in when it’s on, and it does affect the audio quality and volume.
Besides, it’s not thaaaat bad. It’s merely not as good as bluetooth audio. It’s still aight.
Could they have fixed something with Firmware Updates in the mean time? I remember when I first got mine when they came out, die audio via cable was really abysmal. If the Fairbuds were off even at highest volume they were too quiet. And when turned on (what really defeats the purpose of having a cable in the first place, the DSP should work passively) there was a really noticeable loud hissing sound. For me, either on or off, it was really bad and unacceptable.
I don’t know, maybe they improved it through firmware.
Either way, I hope the new revision fixes this issue properly, both in hardware as well as in firmware.
Well, it hasnt gotten an update in quite a while, so likely not. Unless you got it like right at launch. I got mine when the still current update was already out.
I have no volume issues. Though it does enjoy a lot of power. A Nintendo Switch 2 for example barely drives it louder than listening volume. When off, that is. Desktop computer’s front panel output drives it adequately nice and loud.
The hiss though, I do know what youre talking about. It’s still there. But again, its really not that bad. Anything above quiet listening volume, and its drowned out.
While the brief video snippet only shows a new packaging box, “Can you hear it?” pretty much clarifies that the latest “Something’s coming” teaser belongs in this topic
I was so confused throughout this whole 40 second video that they hyped up with a premier days in advance, because it felt like I’m watching them promote an old product that already exists, and selling it as new.
But no. It is a refreshed gen2 of sorts. That they named the same thing. Sure it’s new and improved, implying a predecessor of sort exists. But holy actual f- this premier and announcement felt like the marketing equivalent of pretending to throw the ball for the dog, and watch them chase nothing and be confused.
Just say you made new cups that are backwards compatible with old headbands. IS THAT SO HARD?? You made a V2 speaker module. Very good! Say that! What is this marketing??
I’m genuinely so mad. Not at the product. Product is super neato. But the presentation and marketing. What was this?
The Fairbuds are probably a very low volume product, so they don’t have a huge marketing budget. They could have done way better, but maybe it’s all they could get from the free intern.
colours are now listed as 
