Bottom line is all rechargeable batteries die at some point in the nearish furure, and most true wireless earbuds do not have replaceable batteries, and much for the same reason, they can't be recycled. So hundreds of millions of these earbuds will just end up in landfills.

Attempts like the Acouva One, which have replaceable rechargeable batteries, and bulky and that seems to a difficult sell.

In my case, after my first expensive Apple AirPods died after just two years, I decided to rather buy cheap earbuds as there is no way I'm spending that much on something that I just throw away every two years.

Will really need standardised small replaceable rechargeable batteries around which earbuds can be designed.

See https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/your-wireless-earbuds-are-trash-eventually/

#technology #environment #audio #earbuds

Comments

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Rambler wrote on July 27, 2021 at 11:11 PM

#4,673

I posted a rant about wireless earbuds recently. I never quite understood the appeal.

GadgeteerZA OP wrote on July 28, 2021 at 8:35 AM

#4,681

Replying to (#4,673)

They certainly have a place... I used to often have my wired one's snag on door handles in the house and that was plain irritating to me as I walk quite fast. That said, with wired you never have to worry about battery time or batteries that die after 2 years ;-)

9995Deluxe wrote on July 28, 2021 at 9:25 PM

#4,687

At the time of making this comment, Samsung's Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds+ are the most repairable true wireless earbuds I've seen. Their batteries do not require any soldering to replace.

iFixit has made a good guide on how to do this. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Samsung+Galaxy+Buds+Battery+Replacement/127556

Props to Samsung for their repair-friendly design.