- Among the most repairable headphones you can buy
- Headphones will be followed by a US smartphone launch
- US prices TBC, but the £219 UK price is around $285
Fairphone, one of the most interesting smartphone manufacturers, is coming to the United States – but its first American product will not be a phone. It will be a set of noise-cancelling headphones.
However, these are no ordinary headphones. Made with longevity, repairability and environmental responsibility in mind, the Fairbuds XL are among the most repairable headphones you can buy, according to iFixit.
That’s Fairphone’s deal: it makes products that enable you to enjoy your technology for longer without feeling so guilty about what you’re doing to the planet. So these headphones are 100% e-waste neutral, made from 92% recycled aluminium, are modular for easy repair and have easily replaceable batteries.
We’ve used the Fairbuds XL and like them a lot, calling them “very talented” – and in Europe they’ve been around for a few years, so sometimes you get up to 30% off, which makes them even more tempting.
Why Fairphone’s US launch is important
The Fairphone fits nicely into the growing “right to repair” movement, which is asking manufacturers to do better: many people want technology that isn’t impossible to repair or that must be thrown away because life-limited components like earphone batteries can’t be replaced.
The company’s flagship phone, the Fairphone 6, promises to give you eight years of total support including a five-year warranty and parts availability until 2033. And it will also come to the US once the headphone launch has helped establish the brand.
Fairphone still uses Chinese manufacturing, but as Pakinomist reports, the firm is focusing on sustainability throughout the supply chain from extracting materials to manufacturing devices. And its units are built to be repaired, with key components easily replaceable.
That strategy seems to be working: Fairphone’s revenue is up 61% year-on-year, and it has bold plans for the US: it wants to sell as many headphones in the US as it does in Europe.
We don’t yet know what the headphones will cost in the US, but the UK price works out to around $285 – although the UK price includes 20% VAT, so the price before tax in the US is likely to be lower than that.
The best noise canceling headphones for all budgets
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