Bang & Olufsen announced its back in November, touting, among other things, its replaceable batteries “for sustainability” and compliance with upcoming EU device repairability requirements. But Teardown tells a more complex story about actually replacing these batteries, describing the process of simply opening the case as “a very onerous and time-consuming task… even for a trained technician.” And inside, the battery is attached to other components in such a way that it requires heat to remove it, which itself does not comply with future EU regulations. Considering all the work that went into it, the headphones received a terrible 1/10 rating on iFixit's repairability scale.
Bang & Olufsen said the headphones' design “allows the battery to be replaced at a service center,” which iFixit notes suggests this isn't a repair you can do yourself at home. It was ultimately possible to disassemble one of the headphones without damaging any of the electronics inside, but the labor-intensive disassembly calls into question how feasible and sustainable battery replacement would be, even if performed at a B&O service center. Opening the case to reveal a “plastic weld mark blocking access to the battery,” iFixit's Shahram Mokhtari notes in video that, “at a minimum, any battery replacement service will be required to fully recycle the plastic casing.”
“I would like to see B&O's process for replacing these batteries,” Mokhtari wrote on his blog. “I'm willing to bet it's not cheap or waste-free, but I'd like to be proven wrong.” The teardown also revealed that the Beoplay Eleven is an “exact copy” of the 2022 Beoplay EX inside. “Even the tear-off tape on the back of each earbud says 'Beoplay EX' and not 'Beoplay Eleven,'” Mokhtari wrote. Yes.