Fairbuds 2 leak gives us an early look at a very different design

Wireless earbuds aren’t exactly famous for being repair-friendly, which is why Fairphone’s first Fairbuds were such an oddity. You could replace parts instead of binning the whole thing when something wore out. Now the Fairbuds 2 have leaked, and their new design has raised the question of whether that repairability has survived.

Dutch outlet NieuweMobiel has obtained images of the upcoming Fairbuds 2, which Fairphone has already confirmed will launch in Q4 2026. The new buds ditch the rounded shape of the originals for a stem-style design, while the charging case is taller. The images show green and black versions, which mirror the Forest Green and Horizon Black colorways of the new Fairphone Gen 6 Plus.

The original Fairbuds had seven replaceable parts, including the batteries in both the earbuds and the charging case. Fairphone is calling the Fairbuds 2 “modular,” so repairability clearly hasn’t disappeared from the pitch, but we don’t yet know exactly what you’ll be able to swap out.

NieuweMobiel notes that batteries in stem-style earbuds are often glued in place, making the approach here worth watching. But we don’t yet have reason to believe the batteries won’t be replaceable, and if any company is going to buck the glued-in trend, it’ll be Fairphone.

The rest is still a bit of a mystery. The case appears to have USB-C, three LEDs inside, and a button, while its larger size could accommodate a larger battery than the original 500mAh unit. Fairphone hasn’t revealed pricing or full specs yet, so we’ll have to wait for the official launch for the details.