Show your Fairphone some love with brand new accessories

Originally published at: https://www.fairphone.com/en/2020/01/30/brand-new-accessories/

If you bought Fairphone 3, you probably noticed that the only thing in the box was the phone. No charger. No cables. No little extras. And we do that on purpose – to cut down on e-waste and encourage you to use what you already own.

But maybe you lost your charging cable. Or you need a different plug when you travel for work. Or perhaps it’s finally time to replace your ratty headphones. So if and when that moment arrives, we’re proud to announce that we’ve got you covered – our online shop is now fully stocked with essential Fairphone 3 accessories!

Our current selection includes USB-C cables and power plugs for the EU and UK. But our new earphones deserve an extra-special shout-out: just like our phones, they have a modular design. That means the cable and the earbuds can be replaced separately if anything happens.

This is more than just a sales pitch

Yes, this is obviously a blog post about new products you can order online. But as usual, there’s a bigger motivation behind it: We believe that your phones should last longer! Part of that comes down to being able to take better care of them, which is why we put such a big focus on modular design and easy repairs. And it seems like we’re on the right track: iFixit gave the Fairphone 3 a 10 out of 10 for easy repairability.

Repairing (instead of replacing) isn’t just good for your wallet – it’s also great for the planet. In fact, because the majority of your phone’s CO2 emissions come from the production process, every extra year you use your phone going reduces your environmental footprint.

Our goal is to make your Fairphone experience as enjoyable and long-lasting as possible. So if something goes wrong, wears out or breaks, we want to give you the power to replace or repair a single part. And then (and only then), we’re happy to be able to supply exactly what you need.

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“Unfortunately” I already have some great headphones; I really would have liked to give them a try.
Still: How about offering the headphones cables and* earbuds seperately as well already?
Because, there will always be someone managing to cut the cable or loose an earbud on day one. :wink:

*Edit (correction):
As Urs correctly posted below, the cables are available as spare part and are now linked to on the phones’ order page.

The earphone cable is already available separately – it’s just in the spare parts section, not the accessoires.

Earbuds though are not. I think if they ever make it into the spare parts shop, it would make most sense if they were offered individually (left earbud vs. right earbud). I am probably succumbing to wishful thinking here though :blush:

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Are the new earphones usable/compatible for the FP2 as an headset to phone?

I ask because in this post ✏ List of compatible Headphones and Headsets for FP2 it is stated that not every one works/runs.

Make sure you read the whole of @AnotherElk 's link. It turns out that eventually the earphones worked on the FP2. And that is something that I can confirm myself from first-hand experience.

However, it seems to be “normal” that extra functionality like volume control and skipping tracks only works with the FP2’s pre-defined standard music app (I haven’t found a way yet to shift this functionality to my preferred app VLC) – but that is also the case with another headset I have been using previously.

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What is the story behind the earphones exactly? Are they designed and development by Fairphone as well? Where are they made? Is their production on par with the motivations and standards set by the mobile phone production?

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Sounds like a good choice, these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMCX_connector -s.
:+1:

My old earphones (sennheisthingy) no longer work because something broke in the plug. At first bending the cable was a good work around, but finally it’s stopped altogether.
I hear that fixing this, attaching a new plug, is difficult, since the inner cables are so tiny.
However, I still intend to take them to our local repair cafe.

But how does this work for these new Fairphone earphones, is the plug easily replaceable?

Cheers,

AbangL

Well, I guess if you asked Fairphone, they would suggest replacing the cable:

Do I understand you correct if that sounds like there is no possible connection between an earphone cable and a plug, like MMCX for connecting a cable to an earphone?

To be honest, I don’t get exactly what you want.
If I get it correct: what @urs_lesse meant, was, that you can replace the cable including the plug, if the plug is broken.
Replacing just the plug takes some soldering experience (as well as the neccessary tools) and you got those tiny cables, as you already wrote.
And you get the problem, that the connection between cable and plug, that is merged with a sealed coating, needs to be sealed again. Something, that is not exactly standard diy.

Btw: Are you really sure, that it is the plug that is broken and not the cable?

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Thanx BertG,

You’re right, currently, replacing a plug is not easy.
I wondered if such a connection between cable and earphone would be possible for cable and plug as well.

At one point the workaround was to position the cable in a specific curved way. After a while that option stopped working as well. So maybe the cable is broken, yes. Either way, I can’t use these earphones anymore.

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