Fairphone 5 - The Ars Technica Review

Rade0nfighter@lemmy.world to Android@lemmy.world – 354 points –
Fairphone 5 sets a new standard with 8-10 years of Android support
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I switched to using wireless headphones a good decade ago and I've never had a set die die to the battery going.

I've had plenty of wired headphones die bectthr cable became frayed or loose though.

I am still surprised at the lack of a headphone jack in the Fairphone, but I don't agree that wireless devices are somehow more prone to becoming e-waste.

How are they not going to become e-waste? At some point the battery will die. And more people will just throw those out then they will recycle them. The Bluetooth codec on the set will get outdated. I have old wireless Bluetooth speakers that are completely "useless" now because of the battery and old Bluetooth codec which doesn't work with modern phones. But damn if I still can't plug into their headphones Jack and use them while they're powered from the wall. If you look up the average lifespan of wireless earbuds you get answers anywhere from 1 to 5 years lol. I have a pair of headphones from the 90's that work great. I have another pair older than me.

Just because regular headphones don't have as much electronics in them doesn't mean they don't contribute to e-waste as well. That's what I am driving at, cheap headphones will die quickly and most people don't bother repairing them. The same will happen to cheap wireless headphones. However, good quality ones will last and an often misses benefit of wireless headphones is that there's a lot less wear on them.

The comments about the battery eventually dying may well be correct, but honestly the batteries last plenty long. It's not like they stop working, they just lose capacity over time. All I'm saying is that the battery "dying" is not the big contributor to e-waste that it's purported to be.

The answer to this problem is better wireless headphones

Because what lithium ion battery last forever? They're well degraded after a few years.

So stop using electronics? We’re talking about a phone with its own batteries. I understand your point but Fairphone can’t solve every sustainability and e-waste problem with a single device. Not buying this phone, assuming you buy a different, less sustainable phone, is a net negative.

The phone has a removable battery. Not one that you need to break the device apart and unsolder everything to get to it, like almost all headphones.

Again, this is an argument for better headphones.

Well tell that to Fairphone, they're only selling shitty e-waste ones instead of providing a headphone jack.

But do let me know who is making in-ear earphones with a removable battery. Not massive over the head cows. Portable earphones.

For those buy a dongle. This is not a reason to force a headphone jack on every phone. If it were a modular option, sure who cares. But “every phone needs a jack so some people don’t have to use alternatives” isn’t a good point

Right, so when we're saying that it was wrong of the company that sells their products on the promise of sustainability and compatibility, to remove their headphones jack and sell shitty ewaste earbuds instead, we're totally saying that every phone in the world needs a headphone jack.

Also funny how quickly we went from "you can get headphones with AAA batteries" to "use a dongle".

If only there was some simple solution that has worked for decades, has zero downsides and costs almost nothing to implement. If only!

You moved the goal posts. The original complaint was about wireless headphones. Now it’s about wired ear buds. If you dig hard enough you can be mad about anything, but that doesn’t mean it’s important.

Ok sir, only what you say is important is actually important. Got it. Bye.

They could create less e-waste by including a headphone jack and not removing it cause they wanna sell their own wireless headphones. Its a simple money move. And I don't wanna support a company like that even if in theory their message is just.

So use a AAA or something like my old pair did. We just need better Bluetooth headphones.

So buy a DAC with mini jack adapter and call it a day then?

Oh joy something else i need in my pocket.

You created the need, not the manufacturer, not me, not your mamma YOU DID. And you can still get phones with a headphone jack your just pissy every phone doesn't come with one.

Get the fuck over yourself.

The manufacturer absolutely created the need to have a dongle by removing the headphone jack. Give me one good reason and a good reason to remove it?