Headphones aren't yoghurt. They shouldn't have a best-before date. Yet the vast majority of headphones on the market are designed to last just long enough for the warranty to expire so you trudge back to the shop and buy new ones. This is called planned obsolescence, and it's complete bullshit.
We at Valco disagree. But let's start with the basics.
What actually wears out in headphones?
There are roughly three things in headphones that break or wear out over time:
- Pads. Ear pads and headband cushions are wear parts. Synthetic leather starts to deteriorate after about 1-3 years of use, depending on how much you sweat and how you store your headphones. This is normal. It doesn't mean your headphones are broken – it means the pads need replacing.
- Battery. The lithium battery in wireless headphones loses capacity over time. After about 500 charge cycles, the battery is typically at 80% of its original capacity. In practice, that means 2-4 years of normal use. The battery doesn't die all at once – it fades gradually.
- Mechanical parts and electronics. Hinges, cables, connectors, drivers. These can last decades in principle – unless they've been made as cheaply as possible or designed so they can't be replaced.
Why do most headphones only last a couple of years?
Because they're designed that way. A huge chunk of consumer headphones are glued shut. The pads don't come off. The battery can't be replaced. When one part fails, the whole thing goes in the bin.
This is excellent business for the headphone manufacturer. Terrible business for the planet and your wallet.
For comparison: your grandad's radio speakers probably still work. Not because people were somehow wiser in the 60s, but because devices were made to be repaired. At some point this was forgotten, because disposability is more profitable.
How long should headphones really last?
If headphones are properly designed and can be serviced, a realistic lifespan is 5-10 years. Even longer.
That requires a couple of things:
- You need to be able to replace the pads. On Valco headphones, they twist right off. No tools, no tears.
- You need to be able to replace the battery. With us, that's handled through our repair service.
- The manufacturer needs to have a repair service. Our guy Jasse and the rest of the crew fix devices in Kajaani, Finland. We don't ship them off to China and wave goodbye.
We offer a 24-month warranty on Valco headphones, but the intention is for them to last much longer. Even after the warranty period, devices get repaired – at the cost of a repair package. Because chucking headphones in the bin is stupid, expensive, and unnecessary.
How to extend the lifespan of your headphones?
No rocket science needed. The basics will do:
- Store your headphones in their case when you're not using them. At the bottom of a bag under all your other stuff, they'll survive about as well as our boss Henri's Alfa Romeo in a Finnish winter.
- Don't always charge the battery to 100%. The 20-80% range is optimal for the battery. This applies to all lithium batteries.
- Clean the pads every now and then with a damp cloth. Sweat and oils eat away at synthetic leather.
- Don't force the headband open. Headphones go on your head, not around your knee.
Final words
We're not claiming to be saints. We want your money – we'll openly admit that. But we'd rather have it once and done properly than every other year all over again. Every Valco purchase funds our Death Star by roughly 0.000001 percent, so long-lasting headphones are actually a setback on a galactic scale. But we still do it right.
If your headphones have broken – whether they're ours or someone else's – drop us a line at info@valco.fi. We'll at least fix our own.