Dutch social enterprise Fairphone is best known for making repairable phones that receive long-term support and which are made at least partially from ethically-sourced materials. But a few years ago the company also branched out into accessories with the introduction of the a set of true wireless earbuds that sell for €100 (about $109).
Now it looks like the company could be expanding its audio lineup with a new set of Fairbuds XL wireless over-ear headphones.
The folks at Android Authority spotted a listing for the upcoming headphones at the Bluetooth SIG website and, after a little digging, also found a little additional information.
Fairphone’s upcoming headphones have the model number HEAD-1ZW, support Bluetooth 5.0 connections to smartphones, PCs, and other devices, and may carry a price tag of around $200 to $260 when they go on sale in Europe in the coming weeks or months.
A thumbnail image for a promo video (which is not currently available to view) also gives us an idea of what they’ll look like. While it’s possible Fairphone will offer multiple color options, the picture shows a pair of green headphones with padding on the headband and plenty of cushion on the ear cups. There are also a few buttons on one side of the headphones.
Fairphone’s true wireless earbuds are too small to incorporate the kind of modular, repairable design that the company’s smartphones are known for. But they are “designed with fair and recycled materials” and the company says they’re “electronic waste neutral” since Fairphone will “reuse or recycle as much electronics as the weight of each pair of earbuds” they sell.
It’s unclear whether the larger Fairbuds XL will focus on repairability, but it seems likely that the company would at least try to make them as sustainable as its earbuds.
Unfortunately you’re unlikely to see the Fairbuds XL outside of Europe anytime soon. So far the company’s phones, earbuds, and other products (including spare parts for phones) are only sold in that region.
via WinFuture
Why is he, the dude in picture holding the earbud-headphone contraption as if it were a dirty diaper?
I would buy repairable headphones in an instant. The headband snapped on my Sony noise cancelling set and I couldn’t figure out how to repair them. I ended up buying the latest pair which might have been their plan all along, but now I have these expensive headphones that I know will go in the bin at some point.