Repairable earbuds are now here, so that’s pretty cool. https://shop.fairphone.com/fairbuds
It’s not for me because I like wired but it’s much better than apples.
Huh, no shipping to the US it seems. I guess I’ll be waiting for a while then.
They are planning to extend. I wouldn’t hold my breath though until they give a solid date.
Yup. They finally released the Fairphone after years, but it’s only the Fairphone 4, through a reseller, and only supports T-Mobile and its MVNOs.
So yeah, not sure if/when they’ll ship the buds to US customers.
Ugh. Gross I hate the in ear canal things. Absolutely the worst.
My problème is that all the non apple ear phones wireless suck. Iike the plain basic airpods for the ear fit. Not because apple.
How are Apple’s AirPods not “in ear canal things”?
I think they mean without a eartip. The airpod pro’s have them but all their other earbuds do not have eartips.
Ugh, i hate people that think only their view of the world is valid.
I don’t agree with them, but I also didnt read that they thought others weren’t valid. They seemed like they were just expressing that this isn’t a good option for them (or people like them)
Yeah relax with this agression or we gonna have Reddit all over again
Yeah, you might be right.
I mean, “all” is a pretty absolute statement.
Yeah maybe they are just talking from there perspective, but its so assuming, it just strikes me the wrong way.
Agree, the soft tip earbuds always fall out of my ears/don’t have a good seal. I couldn’t find ANY decent alternative to airpods, I’ve been using my airpod 3’s for over a year for 8+ hours a day. If someone knows of a secret headphone manufacturer that makes wireless buds with good battery life and non-soft tips, I’m ALL EARS
Lol funnily I’m the exact opposite. Apple’s “cupless” ear buds have never stayed in my ears, from the early iPod ones to airpods. I put them in and they’re just completely loose and immediately fall out if I turn my head.
Maybe my ears molded to them as a teenager 😂
Personally I like the muse headphones. Absolutely fantastic range for the price and if you are actually looking for audio quality + repairable they are great. The build quality is also top notch and compare with the $500+ range headphones. I don’t like how apples sound tbh. For that price it should sound better.
For everything else I just get wired or target brand wireless. The target brand for less than 10$ has lasted over 4 years lol.
I had some ghetto ones from Home Depot that lasted a few years as well. Decent battery life, reasonably comfortable, and inexpensive.
I now use Shokz bone conduction headphones for wireless, especially on my bike. For everything else, my wired cans work well.
Downvotes shall list better headphones.
I myself have not found a better solution.
I like apple headphones and i settled on similar shaped non-apple brand at a fraction af the price, but it is lower in quality compared to apple. Microphone is crap and I stopped trying to use it. Headphones level is good at low level and high level sound reproduction, but it is not as accurate as apple.
In the end the trade off is worth it to me for the price, but i will not claim at is better.
So, bring on your alternative and price of it.
Downvotes shall list better headphones.
Moondrop, Truthear, 7Hz.
And from the old guard Shure, Ultimate Ears, Westone.
Didn’t downvote but got cheaper earbuds myself because I was concerned about 1) losing them 2) the planned obsolescence.
https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/best/best-wireless-earbuds
I used a lot of sites to look up budget earbuds and YouTube mic tests (Apparently this guy still makes earbud comparison videos- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsMdI_q48ZA). I ended up with Earfun Air S and love them. Got them $50.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://www.piped.video/watch?v=SsMdI_q48ZA
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
I’ve never bought any Apple stuff so I can’t compare but I find Bose products nowadays to be extremely good quality, if a bit pricey
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 (Pro)? I am not an “audiophile” at all so I cannot judge whether they are going to be satisfactory to all those people that imagine they can hear certain tiny frequency contributions (which they cannot, the “audiophile” community is just delusional), but they’ve served me well for the past two years.
(which they cannot, the “audiophile” community is just delusional)
I don’t consider myself an audiophile, but I’m still offended on their behalf.
Having said that, after futzing a bit with the eq I do love my Buds 2 Pro.
No shit. And get this - The iPhone 7 did have enough space for a headphone jack.
I’m so angry that the 3.5 jack is gone… same with microsd slots…its such BS.
There’s still phones that have them, like Sony phones
True but in my market it’s basically samsung and apple at all the carriers. Hard to find alternatives.
There was no reason to get rid of the headphone jack. Funny enough, the microSD cards are designed to fail. When you’re using them in dash cams, cameras and drones they know they have to reach a certain bit rate and when they see that not happening they tell you that it’s time to format and/or replace. But using them as a supplemental file system in the phone is dicey. The difference between underperforming and being a problem is a line in the sand that Android has a mastered. Google even tried a series of tactics to make them less dodgy. They tried to make it where you can’t install apps out there. But even just putting media and other stuff out there when the operating system goes to check the storage driver can cause hiccups and lags and weird problems.
If SD cards weren’t almost all disposable trash we might be able to use them in our phones without creating any performance or support nightmares.
The kinda depends on what SD card you buy. Don’t buy crap cards.
Also SD cards work well enough for the Switch and Steam Deck, and that’s objectively way more demanding than storing a few images on a phone.
The vast majority of SD cards are made in the same factory and just branded differently.
Switch and steam deck Don’t constantly try to enumerate/scan the entire file system. Putting game binaries is a one and done. Writing save files is a trickle every couple of minutes.
Android really does abuse the hell out of those cards.
It’s not like games just read once from the SD card and then remain in RAM
If what you said about android is true, then they should have fixed that instead.
Good point with the micro SD. Although I have yet to see one fail personally, however that is a minuscule sample size.
I’ve got the 3rd gen and it’s lasted at least 3 years now.
It’s really nice to see what this community has to offer on lemmy. I quit Reddit because I refuse to use the Reddit app. I really do like the comments more than Reddit, and I’m a wannabe techno savvy Linux pro but I’m still working on basic motivation. Therapy included.
I’ve got Linux on Debian cause I needed the stability to handle my instability, I’ve read through the Linux command line and fell in love with emacs, and all I do on my pc is write, now. And pay bills, but that’s just Firefox. “Just the internet,” lol. It’s hard to try to contain, so I write.
Hope I don’t get banned for irrelevance. No hate here. Just rambling through.
This is how to comment effectively on Lemmy.
If you post about an Apple product working reasonably, in order to counteract the confirmation bias downvotes, you are required to supply two paragraphs praising Linux.
Hahaha true.
I also like the Airpods Pro :) I even rebought them, when I lost them. Only apple item I ever owned. But the fit is awesome and they never hurt. I could wear them all day. And battery lifetime is probably as long as the one of a smartphone battery.
I laughed inappropriately loud at this comment.
I downvoted for mostly irrelevance but then read your comment and you’re right. Upvotes for both of you.
We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological irrelevance to our own. Your irrelevance will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.
anything without standardized replaceable batteries is designed to fail without recourse eventually. batteries are consumables goddamit!
Surprised the title didn’t say, “Apple slammed for ear pods that are designed to die”.
Gluing components together so it’s not easy/impossible to repair is different to ‘designing to die’. In my opinion designed to die suggests the ear pods will die prematurely due to intentional design decisions. Gluing components together just means that when the ear pods die, then they cannot be brought back to life and you have to replace them.
For every article not containing the word slammed, there’s a comment that mentions the lack of the word slammed. This way, we’ll never get rid of it
Lemming SLAMMED for commenting on lack of this one weird word in article title (editors hate him)
Commenter SLAMMED Lemming on their SLAMMED SLAMMING, but nothing else is SLAMMED as back in nineteen ninety-eight when the Undertaker threw Mankind off hеll in a cell, and plummeted sixteen feet through an announcer’s table
“SLAMMED” SLAMMED!
Gluing components together so it’s not easy/impossible to repair is different to ‘designing to die’. In my opinion designed to die suggests the ear pods will die prematurely due to intentional design decisions. Gluing components together just means that when the ear pods die, then they cannot be brought back to life and you have to replace them.
But they’re designed with the knowledge that the small battery has a brief usability period. Which is like putting a time bomb in there knowing the people will probably buy more of their products. Putting something inside that can’t be removed and that has a short lifespan is designing a product to die. In other words, it’s designed to die with plenty of good parts left inside when the part that’s quickest to die can’t be replaced. They’re turning a bunch of long lifespan stuff into disposable. That’s an intentional design decision that makes the product die prematurely.
As they said in the article, they could easily make this a replaceable part. But they glue it in so that’s near impossible. Not to mention how long apple fought right to repair legislation. They know exactly what they’re doing.
Kinda off-topic but their charging cables are actually designed to die. Not that people care…
Source?
Mine are still working after 5 years. I probably average 1-2 hours a day on them though which may be less than normal.
You’re using them and not discharging fully which is ideal for the battery.
Five on mine too. Many days charging from dead, many days charging from 50% or so. Would love to be able to replace the batteries, but if I get seven year out of em? Eh whatever
Mine lasted for years as far as battery is concerned.
Unfortunately the loudness level has dropped significantly. I went to Apple store and they acknowledged this as that’s what happens to them.
Eventually I gave up and replaced with alternative lower cost similar style headphones. The sound level is plenty, but microphone is terrible. I tried several and found I found similar problems. It is acceptable for much lower cost, but doesn’t compare.
I’ve got 4yrs on mine, I use them for meetings at work and regularly do 3hr meetings with them, probably averaging about 3 hrs a day, 5 days a week. They ran out for me the other day after a 3.5hr meeting, but luckily just one did, so I had it charge while I was using the other and made it through the 5hr outage call.
Not ideal, but the 4 other head sets (2 bt and two wired I got from the company) sounded terrible (either the microphone or the speaker or both) so they’re my go to pair.
I do wish you could swap the battery, but if I make It to 5 yrs it’d probably be fine considering how much I use them. I’d even be okay if they’d just make that a pro feature. At least give us the choice.
You could just use the wired Apple ones. Does the microphone sound better than just using the phone as a microphone?
The microphone definitely sounds better in the wireless earbuds. Especially with the amount of background noise it picks up if you’re not using it like a phone. (These are all video calls, so I can’t hold it to my face the same way) The wires one isn’t bad though, I used one for a while (wanted to make sure they fit and were comfortable… and then waited for a sale), but traveling back and forth from the office didn’t agree with them over the long term. That’s one benefit with the wireless ones, the case is pretty protective and durable so it makes for good travel usage.
The headline could have been Apple make Apple product.
Stuff like the Fairphone Buds seems like a good alternative.
Like other commenters here, I got something like three years out of my AirPods until they wouldn’t hold a charge.
Gen 1 AirPods = Trash batteries that become miserable after 2 years. Good luck making it through a 1 hour call if you use them a lot. These things beg for the landfill by year 3.
Gen 3 AirPods or AirPods Pro’s = surprisingly good battery longevity. Expect these to be solid after 2 years.
I have the og regular. They still work but the battery dies after 30 minutes.
I feel like they’re 7 years old.
Five year old second Gen AirBuds: working amazing
I honestly never noticed any battery degradation on my OG pros. Like I’m sure they degraded, but they always lasted long enough for me to not care.
That’s because the components inside each little white stick are glued together. Apple could use screws and latches to hold together the components. That way, if something needed to be repaired or replaced, you could easily get inside the device in order to fix it. But Apple doesn’t do this.
So as usual, they purposefully do this. This reminds me of the time with the iPhone battery ‘scandal’ Apple Batterygate.
I really like their Airpods Pro (1st gen), have them for about 4 years now. However not without problems. I had to replace them 5 times because of crackling sounds, muffled sound and broke-bass sounds. This even happend after my 2 years warranty but luckily (and thankfully) the Apple employees are nice people at times. When it happened (twice) outside my warranty, they told me, if I showed them my receipt - They can and will give me a new pair of Airpods Pros.
They told me ‘‘many do not know but there’s a law that forces companies (even Apple) to give a ‘decent product’ to the customer’’.
Not sure if I will get their Airpods Pro 2 (or 3) though after all the hassle.
EDIT: As I’m not sure if this law is also outside my country, here’s the official government website with their explanation of it. It is in the Dutch language though: Rijksoverheid deugdelijk product
Each to their own, but I personally can’t imagine having to replace a faulty product 5 times and still wanting to use it
I think I did that with an Xbox 360 but it really pissed me off.
That’s highly fucked up if you replaced them 5 times within 4 years.
My Jabra 85h Elite ANC probably isnt as good as thr Airpods ANC but only had to replace them once within 4 years of having them. First replacement was within warranty and I was given new headphones but also could keep the old ones.
Used them for as long as they could still run. Very satisfied with the service from Jabra. Just the ANC is lacking.Agreed! Though, I asked one of the employees that worked there and was told that the 1st gen AirPods Pro had a very known issue with all the three issues I had. Especially the crackling sound.
And apparently Apple refuses to fix the entire issue with the 1st gen and rather replace them continuously (I suppose?).
I’m only so glued to the AirPods Pro at the moment for the NC. I got Tinnitus, hear damage and with loud sound I will get Hyperacusis. The NC allows me to have very low sound on, avoid the noise from outside but still capable of hearing other sounds a bit.
Great service of Jabra though, I’m surprised they allowed you to keep the old ones.
What key feature has you going back to the airpods? There’s very likely a good alternative, but it depends on what is keeping you using them.
None. I stick to the AirPods Pro at the moment because, they work right now and Apple keeps replacing them anyway.
That and don’t have time (yet) to do research for new in-earbuds that are good quality with real good NC. Noise cancelling is a must though.
I use IEMs they’re not noise cancelling, but more noise isolating. When I have them in they act like earplugs, silencing the outside world.
The big thing, for me, with my IEMs is that they’re wired, but there are solutions to that depending on how you want to proceed.
The IEMs themselves are pretty cheap, especially compared to airpods, so trying them to see if they isolate enough noise should be a very inexpensive proposition. So getting some decent IEMs and testing them using a wired connection for fit and isolation and sound quality should be the first task, if this becomes a serious consideration.
I don’t presume to know what it is you’re looking for in terms of design, style, sound profile, etc. Even if those things are simply preferences, and not hard requirements. I wouldn’t want to recommend bright pink headphones because their specs are great and in line with what you’re looking for, if you happen to hate the color pink (as a crude example).
What I can say is what I would think to recommend, which, off the top, I’d be considering the blon bl-05 IEMs paired with either a wired connection to a Bluetooth receiver, such as the Fiio BTR3 or similar, alternatively, the Fiio UTWS3 or similar for the “true wireless” type experience. The last piece that’s absolutely essential for sound isolation is better eartips, I’ve been using these for a while and they’re excellent: https://www.linsoul.com/products/tripowin-spiral-groove-memory-foam-eartips
The foam tips make it so I can’t hear anything when I have my IEMs inserted.
The catch to all this is that putting them in or taking them out can be a little bit of a pain point, since the foam tips can be a bit finicky to get properly seated in your ear (at least for me).
But, like I said, I don’t know enough about your preferences to really make a proper recommendation.
Of course, when you get into this level of earphones, you end up in a market where the sky is the limit on cost. I’ve seen some IEMs go for thousands of dollars. You can spend nearly as much on cables and add-ons. I’m not into that sort of thing. I’ve been on the hunt for cheap-but-good IEMs for years and have a small number of pairs that are very good and didn’t break the bank.
The nice thing about this kind of approach is that it’s very modular, so if you don’t like the BT receiver, replace it. If the fit of the eartips isn’t good, buy new eartips. If the sound of the IEM isn’t what you prefer, you can get a new IEM, and use that instead. It’s entirely up to you how you want to customize them and how you use them. Lots of options.
Personally I have a Fiio BTR5, a balanced headphone cable to my IEMs using the foam eartips. For IEMs I have a set of moondrop starfield, a set of blon bl-05’s and a set of Tin T2, which I regularly switch between. All of them sound great, but they all sound slightly different, so sometimes I’m in the mood for one over the other. I clip the btr5 to my belt, connected to my phone by Bluetooth, and usually run the cable under my shirt so it doesn’t catch on anything.
But that’s what I like. You’re different, so you’ll buy different things if you choose to go this route. No pressure, obviously, I just want to make you aware of the options you have in this regard. If you do choose to go this route, I’ll point you at linsoul (linsoul.com), which regularly runs sales on a lot of this, and otherwise has pretty good pricing. Some items may not be available there, like the Fiio bt receivers, but they’re generally going to be available on Amazon, so you should be fine there too.
My entire focus here, is to make you aware of the option. Not to tell you what to pick. Using IEMs has been rewarding for me since there’s nothing to throw away. Even if one set of IEMs died tomorrow, I would only have to toss the IEMs themselves. The eartips, cable, etc, would all be able to be reused with another set. With something like the airpods, you basically have to throw out the entire unit with the charging case and all accessories, since Apple usually doesn’t bother making any of that compatible with their future versions of the same. It’s wasteful. I don’t like it.
Whatever you decide, I hope you have a good day, and the best of luck finding a good replacement when you decide to do so. Cheers.
Only an apple zombie would be loyal to a product that crappy 5 times? My $30 Sesh earbuds work like a champ after several years. Then I got the $100 pixel A buds for free with a new phone and have been using those for years with no problems. Since they were so cheap I use the Sesh buds in the shower to listen to music or podcasts and they still work fine. I abuse cheaper products and they last longer than luxury brand crap.
I mean, if you don’t understand that I only paid once and that Apple replaced them freely even out of warranty. And that, that’s why I keep using the AirPods Pro (1st gen) for now.
I don’t know what else to tell you. You can call me an “Apple zombie” if that satisfies yourself. But it doesn’t make sense.
I’m not going to explain myself to a stranger that soft-insult and can’t even give an good argument as to why I should not keep using them while Apple replaces them for free until I decide to purchase different in-earbuds.
How much of your time was wasted dealing with a faulty product? That’s beyond frustrating. When I spend apple money on something I expect it to work.
I understand you don’t like Apple. That’s fair. But you keep pressuring your opinion on others (me). You changed topics the moment, I told you, you didn’t understand my first comment.
Was it frustrating? Perhaps a little, I suppose. I don’t remember how much time, I spent. I don’t care either. The service was easy, quick and good. That’s what matters.
When I spend apple money on something I expect it to work.
Lets rephrase that shall we? “When I spent money on something, I expect it to work.”
Indeed. I expected it to work, it didn’t. Unfortunately several times but they replaced the product without any issue. So problems quickly solved.
Life isn’t going to always be in your favor. Have patience and find a solution.
EDIT:
why I should not keep using them while Apple replaces them for free until I decide to purchase different in-earbuds.
You also didn’t give me an actual good argument yet on this.
Haha no shit. It’s like 1000 worth of air pods.
Customers like this deserve to be ripped off imo.
Reading comprehension fail.
If you’d wanted better sound quality you could have got literally any headphones including the cheap ones you get from gas stations. They really do not have good sound quality, they’re fine, but they are only fine.
I didn’t get two years out of mine.
Regardless, they shouldn’t be manufacturing these like they’re disposable.
IMHO, the first generation was pretty bad. Those things went to shit after 2 years. I couldn’t get through an hour call with them.
But the new Pros are pretty good. I’ve had a pair for 2 years, and I’m still on 3-4 hour calls with them, with ANC on.
I don’t know what black magic is happening, but these things are doing way better than my first ones.
I’m on five years with my gen2 pair, and they’re still doing great.
Question…
Why did you purchase them in the first place then?
Hype? Advertising? Apple ecosystem? Lack of foresight that the batteries aren’t replaceable?
Edit: Downvoters too upset to answer the question. They actually have adapters to use wired headphones on iPhones ya know.
I bought them for the meme and ended up loving them, and never want to go back to wired headphones on my phone.
After buying AirPods I only once used the 3.5mm jack/dongle either my phone.
Okay. I actually got a pair as a Christmas gift. Have you ever noticed them starting to dangerously overheat on a warm day, while your ears are sweating into them no less?
I’m not exactly a fan of having lithium batteries explode in my ear. I actually like my eardrums and my brain noodles.
Does anyone actually do research into this new modern stuff before figuring out if it’s even safe or not?
Dude I think your headphones are defective. I’ve never noticed my AirPods get anything more than vaguely warm.
I know the left one’s battery runs down about twice as fast as the right one, so yeah they’re probably not in ideal condition.
When using them indoors, they only get mildly warm, nothing to really worry about. But you gotta keep in mind, some folks like to go out jogging with them in their ears.
They’ll get that much hotter when outdoors on a hot summer day, and electronics really don’t like sweat…
But you gotta keep in mind, some folks like to go out jogging with them in their ears.
That’s exclusively what I do with mine.
AirPods Pro and AirPods (3rd generation) are sweat and water resistant
While not proof, they really don’t mind getting a little wet.
Trust that it works well and it does. However, first gen was not as good as after it.
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Good microphone quality. Not true for first gen after some time in my experience
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Reliable connection. True most of the time.
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Apple ecosystem, yes to a small degree. Ability to see battery level is nice.
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Fast recharge times
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Endless usage time if using one headphone at a time. It is my preference usage method.
Cons: high price. After several years I expect to find comparable competition. It exists, and i use it, but i lost: 1, 2, 3 from my list. And usability is crap: accidentally touching headphone turns it off.
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You dare question an Apple product purchase? you’ve angered the cult.
FYI You should know fanboys and their anecdotes beat studies critical to Apple every time.
Oh I know. I’ve repaired over 1000 Apple devices in my days of tech repair, and the only thing I personally gained from my experiences is that they’re overpriced eggshells that are literally designed to fail.
Planned obsolescence ☹️
My aunt gave me a pair despite me being an Android person, I used them simply because they were free, and they died like a year later. I got some JBLs which are excellent thus far.
Any product that is a portable electronic and does not have an easily replaceable battery is considered disposable, a commodity. Every single one.
Here is what you should know: never ever buy a shit product
10-4, i will continue to stay in my basement and not order things because I’m broke.
