Fairphone Fairbuds XL Review: The long-term prospect

Verdict

A accountable sourcing of supplies and a totally repairable modular design make the Fairbuds XL a quite distinctive prospect within the headphone house, permitting for true long-term use, although they do lack a few of the smarts of equally priced alternate options from Sony and Bose.

Introduction

Fairphone, the corporate behind the environmentally acutely aware and simply repairable Fairphone 5, has dipped its toes into the audio world with the Fairbuds XL.

Following the identical sustainable, repairable focus as the corporate’s newest smartphone, the Fairbuds XL are a totally modular pair of over-ear headphones which can be each sustainably manufactured and impressively straightforward to restore with low-cost substitute elements from Fairphone and a bevvy of video tutorials taking you thru each single step.

Nevertheless, the concentrate on modular design signifies that the Fairbuds XL lacks in different areas, with seemingly on a regular basis good options like auto play/pause tech and quick charging not current on the £219 / €249 cans.

So the query is, are the Fairbuds XL well worth the premium price ticket Fairphone is asking for? Properly…

Design

• Good trendy design
• Joystick management for many actions
• Modular design for straightforward repairability

Most over-ear headphones don’t are likely to stray from the template, and the Fairbuds XL don’t both – on the floor, at the least.

They feel and look virtually the identical as some other pair of over-ear headphones, sporting an opulent vegan leather-based headband with loads of cushioning that helps alleviate the build-up of strain over longer listening intervals, with complementary soft-touch earpads on the oval-shaped earcups that sit actually properly across the ear.

The largely plastic and aluminium construct means the headphones are light-weight at 330g, and there’s nearly the best degree of clamping drive; not too unfastened that the headphones slip misplaced, however not too tight that I really feel strain when worn.

The inexperienced end of the Fairbuds XL I used to be despatched is pretty enticing, with a mix of varied shades of inexperienced and the occasional pop of orange within the type of cables. There’s additionally a speckled end on the outer rim of the earcups, additional including some razzle-dazzle to proceedings.

In the event you aren’t a fan of the colorful end, nevertheless, the cans are additionally obtainable in a way more muted all-black end.

Controls are dealt with virtually completely by a joystick on the again of the best earcup, permitting for fast changes to quantity, in addition to the power to skip songs and even reply calls. The opposite button, which sits simply above, permits you to cycle by the ANC, transparency and default listening modes, and there’s a USB-C port for charging on the underside too.

In fact, it is a Fairphone product and that signifies that, in addition to wanting good, the Fairbuds XL are extremely straightforward to restore due to a largely modular design.

You’ll be able to swap absolutely anything out on the Fairbuds XL, from the scarf masking to the drivers and even the battery, with low-cost substitute elements obtainable from Fairphone and loads of easy-to-follow video tutorials outlining the method.

This isn’t solely higher for the atmosphere, permitting you to exchange damaged elements quite than eliminating an in any other case completely superb pair of cans, however it additionally means you’ll be able to keep it up utilizing the Fairbuds XL for for much longer than virtually some other pair of headphones in the marketplace in 2023.

If longevity is essential to you, the Fairbuds XL definitely tick that field.

The modular design is additional improved by means of sustainable supplies, with the Fairbuds XL sporting 80% recycled plastics and 100% recycled aluminium within the headband base – however make no mistake, this doesn’t make them really feel in any approach low-cost or any approach much less strong than any competing over-ear headphones.

That’s not all, both; as with the Fairphone 5, Fairphone has dedicated to paying residing wage bonuses and selling employee voice applications throughout its manufacturing line to make sure higher working circumstances for its workforce – one thing the corporate needs to be recommended for.

Options

• 26-hour battery life
• Hybrid ANC
• Preset and customized EQs

Regardless of costing over £200, the Fairbuds XL aren’t absolutely the smartest over-ear cans round – the worth is targeted extra on the repairability and sustainable manufacturing of the headphones than snazzy high-end good options.

As such, you received’t discover options just like the Converse to Chat characteristic of the Sony WH-1000XM5, and even the power to robotically pause music when the headphones are eliminated.

It’s the same story with battery life, providing a quite commonplace 26 hours with ANC enabled or 30 with out, and a quite gradual cost time of round 3 hours. The important thing profit right here is that, in addition to lasting for an industry-leading 500 cycles, you’ll be able to swap out the battery fairly simply as soon as the potential does start to wane.

That stated, there are some sturdy qualities together with Bluetooth 5.1 help with dual-point connectivity that permits you to join to 2 gadgets and swap audio enter between them seamlessly. Simply pause on one gadget (like your cellphone) and play on one other (like your laptop computer). It’s not precisely an unique characteristic, granted, however it’s definitely good to see right here.

There’s additionally hybrid ANC capabilities – commonplace ANC together with a transparency mode – although the previous is definitely stronger than the latter, which struggles to let in any significant sound at something larger than extraordinarily low volumes.

The ANC, then again, is nice sufficient to take the sting off the hum of background noise on the streets of London and even a busy café on a Saturday morning, although it couldn’t fairly quieten the (generally ridiculously loud) London tube.

I additionally assume Fairphone must work on dampening the consequences of wind on the ANC mics, with the wind taking part in havoc with the ANC capabilities on even barely gusty days.

Away from the headphones themselves, there’s additionally the devoted Fairbuds app for each iOS and Android. In addition to offering a solution to ship software program updates to your cans, you’ll be able to rename your headphones and browse between a variety of equaliser presets to tweak the output of the cans relying on the fashion of music you hearken to.

My solely actual grievance is that, not like rivals that identify EQ settings primarily based on what they’re for – i.e. bass enhance, vocals – the EQs are named after cities world wide, from Amsterdam to Tokyo. You do get slightly description as you swipe by every preset, however it’s not excellent for at-a-glance choice.

Sound High quality

• Highly effective, rounded bass
• Large soundstage
• Vocals can generally sound muddy

Let’s dive into an important ingredient – sound high quality. The Fairbuds XL pack a 40mm dynamic driver in every cup that packs fairly a punch generally use, with {powerful}, rounded bass that’s current with out being too overpowering, as some headphones boast. That stated, should you do need omnipotent bass tones, you’ll be able to simply create your personal customized EQ within the Fairbuds app.

Quick-paced, bassy songs just like the Skream remix of La Roux’ In for the Kill and Flux Pavillion’s I Can’t Cease sound tight, shiny and well-balanced with a reasonably extensive soundstage that helps add presence to performances.

However whereas the sound is usually punchy and shiny, vocals can generally come throughout as slightly muddy. Meaning the crisp vocals of P!nk in titles like Who Knew don’t all the time come throughout in addition to they may, with a barely blunt supply at occasions.

I do assume the expertise is considerably curtailed by the dearth of help for newer, larger high quality Bluetooth codecs like aptX Lossless or LHDC, as an alternative capping out on the (nonetheless first rate however not the perfect) aptX HD.

Switching genres a bit, listening to Hans Zimmer’s Day One – in any other case often known as the Interstellar theme music for these unfamiliar – delivered superbly heat tones with a sharpness that completely fits the upper notes of the piano.

The sound completely envelops you, with nice sound separation that permits you to select the varied notes performed individually, and it’s the same story when listening to any classical songs, from Claire de Lune to Moonlight Sonata.

That every one stated, the headphones ought to greater than serve the overwhelming majority of customers’ wants, although audiophiles could wish to look elsewhere.

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