Fairphone acknowledges that you usually don’t break or lose both your wireless earbuds
As great as all the best true wireless earbuds are, their small size does come with a disadvantage. You tend to lose or break one of the two earbuds they own, but to replace them, most companies will force you to buy a full set as a replacement — but not Fairphone, at least anymore. The business noticed this issue and has now started selling individual left and right replacement buds in its shop.
The individual left and right earbuds are available right in Fairphone’s shop alongside its Fairphone 4, accessories, and other replacement parts. At €45 a piece, you get a small rebate compared to the full €100 you pay for the complete set including the charging case. Fairphone also notes that the replacement earbuds only come with the medium-sized ear tips. A set of all sizes is available for an extra €5.
It’s also interesting that Fairphone lets you choose your preferred color for your replacement earbud. This means that you can mix and match as you like once you lose or break one of your earbuds. Want to combine a green and a gray earbud? Go for it.
Fairphone makes clear that you can’t just buy two of these to make your own set of wireless earbuds. After all, you still need the case to charge them. The good news is that the case is also available as a replacement part, but it comes in at €35. Buying all three items separately is going to cost you more than just going for the bundle right away.
While you could think that Fairphone might be the first company to offer a customer-friendly service like this given its quest for less electronic waste, it isn’t. Apple will also sell you individual replacement Airpods, and Samsung does the same for its lineup of earbuds.
Fairphone deserves credit for making this process as easy as visiting its replacement parts shop and purchasing the necessary replacement part, though. Both Apple and Samsung require you to jump through hoops like contacting support to purchase individual parts or make appointments at service centers, so there is still something these companies can learn from Fairphone.
Contrary to Fairphone’s usual mantra to create repairable electronics, its earbuds can’t be fixed by customers when they’re broken. Instead, the company focused on sourcing the materials fairly and making the battery stay at 100% of its maximum capacity as long as possible. Fairphone is looking into reparability in the long term, once it’s more familiar with the earbuds product category.
