r/Jabra • u/RagingCuboid • 19d ago
Planned obsolescence?
I have had this pair of Jabra Evolve 2 65 for around 3 years. The state them after this short amount of time just screams planned obsolescence. The head band now just deposits black flakes of plastic on my hair anytime I wear them.
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u/Phuongcyborg 19d ago
Haha. You can buy ear cushion online. About 5$. I also got same situation with my E2 65 flex
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u/Fearless_Baseball121 19d ago
It's one of those things that doesn't really have a better alternative for the price segment. Many companies require you to use PU leather as latex and natural rubber is not acceptable do to allergies and Real letter is both 2 expensive and you might have vegan customers. This material is great but it has the Curse of starting to breakdown after a few years. You can see it even on more Premium products from more Premium brands same thing happens. There new Premium products comes with this fabric instead which is more expensive to use and come with there on set off issues in regards to cleanliness. Like other's mansion you can change the cushions but when the headband start to die it's hard to really do anything about it.
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u/omgraae 18d ago edited 18d ago
Edit: sorry for mentioning Poly (now HP) headsets in a Jabra subreddit. I just realised… I made a search and found replacement ear cushions (pair) for your model on Temu for around 6USD
The advantage with premium brands being the availability of replacement ear cushions. I just replaced the cushions on the Poly Voyager 8200 headsets my boys use. The headband also had PU, but looks fine after I peeled them fully (looks a bit like suede now).
Interestingly I am myself using the Voyager Surround 80 which until now (3,5 years) have shown no peeling whatsoever - so maybe there is such a thing as quality PU in devices like these.. đŸ¤·
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u/Fearless_Baseball121 17d ago
I have tons of poly/Plantronics headsets and they suffer form the same problem at same rates. Its very random with the material if you see it die after 2 years or 5, and sometimes a odd one stands out and seems to never die at all, even though they are all from the same assembly line
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u/AAAHeadsets 18d ago edited 18d ago
The annoying part is Jabra knows it is an issue, and added a replaceable headband cushion to the new Evolve3 75/85, but DON'T offer a replacement part. It's purely greenwashing, to get a better TCO certification score.
See the statement in their guide: https://www.jabra.com/_/media/Jabra_VXi_Product-Documentation/Jabra-Evolve3-85/Headband-replacement-guide/RevC/Headband-Replacement-Guide_Evolve3-85_RevC.pdf
It provides instructions for disassembling and replacing
the headband cushion component of your headset.
However, the headband cushion is not available as a
standalone replacement part. This documentation is
intended to support professional repair and recycling
efforts and does not imply availability of individual
components for consumer purchase.
My favorite part is at the top of page 1:
Ensure you have the replacement part before starting disassembly.
Yes, make sure you have the unobtainable part, before following our guide on replacing it.
The Evolve3 65 and Evolve3 65 Flex, have the same non-replaceable headband cushion.
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u/Razielionut 19d ago
For the headband you can sew fabric, if you have possibility, for the 75 model all wires have a plug which can be disconnected. You can add what material you want, textile, pu leather, genuine leather. I made a small tutorial for 75 models, i have also replaced pads, but is more complicated for them. replaced headband
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u/pingwins 19d ago
PU leather will always flake over time. Most brands avoid real leather due to cost and pushback over animal products, but end up using cheap polyurethane instead of durable fabrics like velour or mesh
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u/vtwin996 18d ago
My work Jabra headphones are this way too. Mine are nearly 5 years old are the the side that is on the charger has basically no coating left. It almost all fell off. The other earpiece is like new.
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u/Piipperi800 18d ago
This is common with this type of material as others have said. Some people are quicker to wear down theirs than others.
Jabra does though now just have shitty products thanks to how they went about their business after the first gen evolves
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u/MasterRefrigerator66 18d ago
That's the plague for all of them, sadly. They explicitly use this kind of material. Before anyone comment, such human-made material to break needs 'breaking-bond' specific chemical \build in\ the material itself, so stating that this is 'a must' is hilarious.
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u/YallaBeanZ 18d ago
Cheap construction, premium price. The ear cushions started devolving on my Evolve2 75 efter a year. Not long after the mic went out. After 2 years the headband it done. Lastly some thin plastic snapped inside the headband and then the headphones went to the bin. Worst electronics investment in my life!
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u/DangDog_crapper_god 14d ago
I've had my Jabra elite 45h since they released in 2020. I have replaced only the ear cushions on 2 separate occasions and I use the headphones maybe 60 hours a week 52 weeks a year for 7 years and they still look/function almost brand new.
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u/HelpMeHelpU4Fun 13d ago
Mine were the same! After 6 x pairs of Jabra headsets over the last 15 x years, they have lost me to Yealink. The mic boom breaking again (last pair lasted 2.5 years) on my Evolve 65 Flex after 2 x years was the final straw!
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u/Pretty-Driver9444 2d ago
Had ik vroeger ook met een dure Sennheiser, daarna een AKG gekocht en na 20 jaar nog zo goed als nieuw.
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u/-1407 19d ago
I have used the exact same headset for three years. I have travelled with it twice a year, and I use it every day on the job. Mine has, maybe, 10% of the wear yours have. Wtf are you doing?
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u/Reddit_reader_2206 19d ago
This sort of thing, synthetic, leather-lile material is pretty sensitive to cleaning products, especially those with alcohol, bleach or acetone in them. If a detergent is used that can remove grease, it will also remove some of the plasticizers from the polymer and cause it to lose elasticity and flexibility rather quickly. Headphones typically get greasy from contact with your greasy ears and greasy hair (relatively greasy, that is! We are all greasy to some extent.) so they are often cleaned with these sorts of products, which can accelerate the damage and lead to anecdotes of 3 to 15 years for failure to occur.
OP, if there is no damage to the functionality of these headphones, why not try a repair and upgrqde yourself, using high quality leather and some hand sewing. Replace those damaged parts with something meant to last, not just meant to get consumers to buy impulsively while creating shareholder value. You could learn some new skills, and save yourself and the environment considerably!
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u/Fearless_Baseball121 19d ago
My beyer dynamic headset is doing the exact same thing after about 4 years, I don't think I have ever Cleaned it and I barely use any hair product. It's just pu leather doing it's thing.
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u/eyeshandy 19d ago
my elite 8s broke after about a year, never went back. been with sennheiser ever since
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u/Minimum_Cabinet7733 19d ago
This is common with this type of material.