Plenty of the best headphones claim that they can be repaired, but very few can be taken apart and rebuilt at home so that you can replace broken bits. Most require a trip back to the manufacturer, so that experienced repairers can fix them, or you just get sent a new pair.
Not so with the Fairbuds XL, the latest version of Fairphones over-ear headphones. They're an upgraded version of the previous model, with improved sound, a more comfortable fit, and even a USB-C audio mode. They're also completely repairable, with their parts available from the Fairphone website. But none of that matters if they're not good headphones — and thankfully, they are.
Just how repairable are they?
Most headphones can be dismantled without damage to some degree. However, once you're inside, you'll typically find seals for water resistance and soldered batteries that can't be replaced. Once your headband material has given way to head grime and started to peel away, you're generally stuck, and forget about easy earpad changing. Even if you can get them off, good luck finding good replacements.
To that end, the Fairbuds XL are completely dismantlable. They're modular, held together by screws that can be removed with the same screwdriver. The headband can be replaced, the earcups swapped, and the hinges changed. Everything comes apart — even the cable carrying the audio from earcup to earcup is a USB-C cable, so you can even change it in a pinch.
They're not entirely modular, of course. You buy the earcup assembly as one piece, so you can change out individual circuit boards. But you can buy batteries in case the one in the headphones loses its charge. It's hidden behind a door that you can easily unclip.
While the parts aren't yet available to buy on the Fairphone webstore, they will be soon so that you can swap out the parts. Owners of the first model of FairBuds XL can swap bits of their headphones out for the upgraded ones from this new pair. The colors won't match, but you'll get all the benefits of the new model without paying new model prices.
Not that they're particularly expensive — they cost the same £219 as the older model in the U.K., and will cost $229 in the U.S. when they launch.
What about those environmental credentials?
Fairphone is well known for not just its repairable tech, but also its work with the environment. It claims that it uses 100% renewable energy during manufacture, for example, backed up with B Corp Certification.
The materials that have gone into the headphones are apparently recycled, including the rare earth elements in the magnets of the headphones. They're also Longtime Certified, so they're going to last a long time.
But how do they sound...
Being environmentally conscious is all well and good, but I want the headphones that I use to be good as well as repairable. Thankfully, the experience at the heart of the Fairbuds XL is a very good one.
They're a handsome pair of cans, for one. I like the fetching green or black color ways, and the patterned headband draws the eye. The control joystick is intuitive and useful, and feels great under the finger.
They're light and comfortable, and the material on the earcups and the headband is soft. The ANC works well, although it isn't quite as impressive as that which you'll find in the more expensive options from Sony and Bose. But those don't have replaceable batteries — and cost $200 more.
30 hours of battery is plenty, and you could even buy an extra battery for your pocket to hot swap them when the one in the headphones runs out of juice. That's cool — and something unique.
But then there's the final question — how do they sound? They sound pretty good. They're not a HiFi experience, designed to reveal all the detail and make Spotify Lossless sound amazing, but they feature a well-considered sound profile that most people are going to really like.
They sound their best connected to your audio source with a USB-C cable, but they sound fine over their Bluetooth 5.3 connection. They're quite bassy, as you might expect from people-pleasing headphones, but there's still enough detail that they don't feel muddy or unpleasant to listen to.
I really like the Fairphone XL, and I really like how serious they are about their environmnetally friendly mission without compromising on the things that make headphones great. For $229, there's some great competition from the likes of Sony, Bose or Soundcore — but only these ones are completely repairable.
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