A great environmental initiative, but enough to justify buying these pretty bad-sounding earbuds?
These Earbuds Shouldnt be Graded on a Curve
Earbuds should make your music sound good.
But plainly, I didnt like the way the Fairbuds sounded out of the box.
Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek
Maybe youre wondering if the microphone quality was a redeeming aspect.
Nope, that was poor too.
The audio was distorted and choppy.
Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek
I wouldnt want to use these to dial into a work meeting, personally.
The active noise-canceling didnt pull its weight either.
The feature the company wants the Fairbuds to be graded against is the buds user-replaceable batteries.
Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek
But earbuds should be judged by how well they play audio, first and foremost.
At no point did I ever want to use them to listen to music though.
Frankly, I just dont want to do that thoughat least not for earbuds.
Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek
They dont age gracefully, getting outdated in other ways beyond their batteries.
The Fairbuds don’t have replaceable drivers, Bluetooth chips, or anything else like that.
Electronic waste is a problem, full stop, but I dont think replaceable batteries are the solution.
Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek
At least its not the first area of the problem to solve.
The times the app finally recognized them, the app wouldnt load because a pending update was available.
There are no ANC configs in the app.
Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek
Really, the only thing to use the app for is to change the EQ.
I didn’t care for the other two presets (Flat and Main) at all.
The Studio EQ mode allows people to adjust an 8-band EQ.
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Are the Fairphone Fairbuds Worth Spending Money On?
The market for cheap earbuds at, or under, 150 (~$160) is vast.
TheFairphone Fairbudsshould not be at the top of anyones list.
If you feel really bad about buying AirPods, then the Fairbuds do exist.
The idea here is sound, but the execution is off.
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