iFixit Teardown Review: Best Repairable Headphones!

We pit the Fairbuds XL against AIAIAI’s TMA-2 and Sony’s WH-1000XM5 to see how they stack up against each other for repairability, modularity, and overall quality. Who will win?

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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:08 Comparing the Fairbuds, TMA-2, and Sony WH-1000XM5
00:30 Tearing down the Fairbuds XL
00:33 Fairbuds XL battery removal and specs
00:49 Fairbuds XL ear cushion removal
01:07 Fairbuds XL headband cushion removal
01:26 USB-C interconnect cable removal
01:33 Driver assembly disassembly
02:03 Everything in the driver assembly is modular
02:12 Fairbuds XL final thoughts
02:21 Tearing down the AIAIAI TMA-2
02:26 The TMA-2 is a highly modular device
02:35 The TMA-2 driver disassembly
02:47 The TMA-2 headband disassembly
03:25 The TMA-2 battery removal and specs
03:29 TMA-2 Surprise and Final thoughts
03:48 Tearing down the Sony WH-1000XM5
03:53 Sony XM5 ear cushions removal
03:58 Sony XM5 driver disassembly
04:03 Sony XM5 Easy battery removal
04:37 Sony XM5 Final thoughts
04:53 Ranking our favorite headphones, who wins?

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[janankohler]

Love the video but at 1:09 you don't need to unscrew those screws! theres a silver lever under the headband cover you just pop open and you can slide the headband base right off to be able to remove the cover and the cable! its super easy

[平和-vz]

If only Sony and Fairphone could collab on products...
Fairphone's repair and upgradability + Sony's performance and features would result in absolute perfection...

[MatteoCampinoti]

There is a reason the AIAIAI keep all the processing away from the drivers: they are sold separately. This way the user buys the "brains" of the device a single time and they can buy different drivers to customise the sound without paying for the same electronics every time. They also have headbands with no electronics for wired-only used.

[rasenmaher]

I feel like Fairphone got off a bit easy for not supplying spare parts here it's quite close to the Sony's in that sense. Needing a donor means having to find a broken pair and buying it which can be both unnecessarily expensive and a lot of work.

[nimam]

The hinges of XM5s are known to pop out or break. A tear down of the hinges and showing how to fix them is much appreciated.

[markeissler]

Why aren't the Fairbuds available in the USA?? My AKG N60NC Wireless headphones just broke: a simple plastic part cracked due to fatigue. There are no replacement parts available from Harmon/AKG and a new pair would easily run around $150 or more!

[williamhillyard-mfmn]

I would also say these are basically 2 separate niche markets. 1) is set for the person intending on fixing their headsets themself, the other, 2) is for someone who wants arguably one of the best headsets they'll ever use (the Sony, according to MKBHD).

[doomville]

These Fairbud XLs are excellent, solid anc, good balanced audio and great construction. A+

[denisemccormick]

Bravo iFixit! Love these product comparisons! Too bad Fairphone wasn't the winner in audio quality as well.

[enzoe.]

I love repairable headphones but the electornics and batterry always is the last thing that breaks for me, before the batterry goes bad the coushions and hinges break for me, I had some expensive sony headphones and other people I knew had differrent models too and in less than a year their hinges broke because they used plastic inside, was repaired 2 times in warranty, then I gave up. What I care about the most is solid hinges that use metal all around. I like the designs from the marshall wireless headphones and the old sennheiser momentum 3

[LeornianCyng]

Well done Fairphone on once again leading the way. Wish more bigger companies followed their approach. However, I still rock with my wired AKG K452’s, still working after 11 years. No batteries, no complications, no fuss. I just replaced the cable and ear cups. Happy days.

[centermass]

I still rock a pair of Bose QC25s because all you got to do is pop out the AAA. They’re corded yes but I won’t have to toss them when the battery dies. Didn’t know that about the Sonys though. Good to know.

[Thomas-pmgw]

Would be very nice if there would also be a disassembly guide for the Sony WH-1000XM5 on your website. Other than that great video!

[TheSpotify]

Seems like you got some nice repairable headphones! The same cannot be said for the Bluedio Revolution headphones that I have had before, which (although having good sound quality and features) have a distinct lack of modularity and questionable build quality. Even replacing the battery will likely be a one way procedure, but from my experience, other parts have given way long before the batteries lose any capacity, and the batteries still test out OK on my test setup.
Would probably get a Fairphone pair if they were available in the UK.

[Guuzaka]

Was not aware that Fairphone made headphones, and boy do they look good! 👍🏾

[mathisdesbaumes]

This is the best Chanel I have found all year. Please keep up your amazing work 🙏♻️🌎

[GAMIR_SFM]

I wouldn't buy fairphone's but i can appreciate their repairability

[EarthSpank]

The xm5's are my favorite cans rn. So comfortable, I use them a lot.

[Poorgeniu]

Didnt knew these kind of headphones exists now in the market!

[headerahelix]

I wish there were repairable IEMs. They're my preferred form factor.