Repairability is finally going mainstream. Sort of.
Android & Chill
One of the web’s longest-running tech columns, Android & Chill is your Saturday discussion of Android, Google, and all things tech.
Unfortunately, most people don’t care much about how easy the fancy stuff they buy is to fix. It will break down, go bad, or wear out eventually, so it’s worth thinking about even just a little, but few people do.
I’m not here to change your mind or tell you how to think, but repairability is one of the most important factors for me when it comes to the features of the products I buy. Maybe because I’m good enough at it to be dangerous, or maybe because I’m cheap, but knowing I can fix something at half the cost instead of replacing it is important, even though my favorite phone is impossible to fix. Dammit.
If you’re one of the people who do care about fixing your stuff, you gotta love seeing what’s happening in the world of Bluetooth headphones lately. I’m not talking about improvements in the sound department, though I understand that is getting better, but about how companies are starting to make stuff you can either fix yourself or get someone else to fix for you. Awesome.
Sony’s new WH-1000XM6 headphones (man, these stupid names) are the latest set making a bit of a buzz in the way you want your headphones to make a buzz. As iFixit shows us in a teardown video, screws replace a lot of glue, and everything is laid out so you can get to it without cutting open any plastic.
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It still might look a little confusing once you see all the parts, but compared to the way companies used to bury those parts in glue and plastic, it’s a big change. And it’s a good change — even if you never plan to fix something like a pair of headphones yourself, this will let a qualified technician do it at half the cost. That’s money saved you could spend on other stuff like groceries or weed.
You might think that fixing an old pair of headphones is nothing new, but we’re talking about Bluetooth technology here. You know, with little circuit boards and batteries and ribbon cables. That’s a lot different from your old headset held together with electrical tape and speaker wire. Yeah, I have those, too.
Even more encouraging is seeing earbuds becoming repairable. I don’t just mean the Fairphone Fairbuds, though they are the ultimate fixable set of buds you can buy. Companies like Sony, PQ, and even Amazon make earbuds that aren’t impossible to crack open and fix once they go bad. When they go bad, because they will.
Unfortunately, we aren’t seeing the same from every company. Apple, Samsung, and Google sell some very recognizable earbuds that a lot of people use with their smartphones. Consider them all to be disposable, because you probably won’t be able to fix them or find someone else who can fix them for less than buying a new pair.
Some things aren’t going to become more repair-friendly because of what they are or how they are made. Some shouldn’t be repairable, like things you plug into the wall or a charging cable, because someone somewhere will get hurt trying to mess with them. Someone like me, probably.
In the meantime, seeing more of the stuff we buy when we pick up a new phone, being more friendly when it comes to you and your toolkit, is great. Here’s hoping other companies see the light and get on board.
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