Why do headphones die?
Most often it's the cable, and that's the easy one. Cable, plug and switch faults are the most common fault we could identify in the repair records, and volunteers at repair events fix nearly two in three.
Battery faults are the hard ones. Volunteers fix them only 39% of the time, less than any other common fault, and write off more than a quarter of those headphones.
Across all faults, volunteers fix 57% of headphones, about the same as the 56% for everything else they see.
The typical pair brought in for repair is three years old, and the middle half are between two and six.
So the headphones that last are the ones built around the easy fixes: a cable you can swap and pads you can buy. With wireless headphones, check how the battery comes out.
Figures from Open Repair Data (July 2026 release, 4,392 headphone records). The fix rate is the share of repair attempts that worked at volunteer repair events. We sorted faults by keywords in volunteers' notes, in English, Dutch, French and German, and could sort about half of the records. We rank brands with 100 or more repair records.
Which headphone brands last?
Sennheiser. Of the four brands we rank, volunteers write off the smallest share of Sennheisers as beyond repair, 18%. Sony is next at 22%, then JBL at 29% and Bose at 31%. Sennheiser also gets fixed most often, 62% of the time, just ahead of Sony at 59%.
Sennheisers come in older, too. The typical one is six and a half years old when it's brought in for repair. For Sony it's three.
Beyerdynamic and Audio-Technica make two of the picks below, but neither has enough repair records for the data to say how they hold up.
What we looked at
We judged each pair on four things:
Replaceable parts. Can you swap the cable, the part behind the most common fault we can identify, and does the maker sell pads?
Repair records. How each brand does at repair events: how often it gets fixed, how often it gets written off and how old it is when it comes in.
Battery. Wired headphones don't have one. For wireless, whether the battery can be reached and replaced.
Maker support. Spare parts you can actually order.
Disclosure: Some product links on Sundr are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a small commission. This doesn't influence our analysis. See our full affiliate disclosure.
Which headphones last?
Sennheiser HD 600. Best for Longevity - Durability: 10/10 · Cable: detachable - Price: ~$438 · Check price on Amazon
The pair to buy if you'd rather maintain headphones than replace them. The cable is detachable and Kevlar-reinforced, so a broken cable is a swap. Sennheiser sells replacement earpads, cables and headband padding. It came out in 1997, and it's made in Ireland.
Trade-offs: It's open-back, so it leaks sound and lets the room in: it's for listening at home, not on a train. Earpads from Sennheiser's US store cost $54.95 USD.
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. Best Budget - Durability: 8/10 · Parts: replaceable - Price: ~$129 · Check price on Amazon
Closed-back, so it blocks up to 32 dB of outside noise and leaks little. Sennheiser's listing calls the earpads, headband padding and cable easily replaceable, and the pads pull off and slide back on. It costs about a third as much as the HD 600.
Trade-offs: The coiled cable is wired in, not plugged, so replacing it is a small repair job rather than a swap.
beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro. Built for the Studio - Durability: 9/10 · Cable: fixed - Price: ~$260 · Check price on Amazon
A closed-back recording-studio standard. Made in Germany, with a spring-steel headband and velour ear pads you can replace. beyerdynamic sells the pads and a replacement headband.
Trade-offs: The cable is fixed, so when it breaks, fitting a new one means soldering. The 80-ohm version sounds best from an audio interface or headphone amp. And there are too few beyerdynamic repair records to say how it holds up.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x. Closed-Back with a Detachable Cable - Durability: 8/10 · Cable: detachable - Price: ~$219 · Check price on Amazon
Closed-back studio headphones with a detachable cable, so a broken cord is a swap, not a repair. Audio-Technica sells its own replacement earpads.
Trade-offs: Like the DT 770 Pro, there are too few Audio-Technica repair records to back it with data. You're buying it for the parts and the design.
Sony WH-1000XM6. If You Need Wireless - Durability: 8/10 · Battery: screwed in, not glued - Price: ~$478 · Check price on Amazon
Battery faults are the hardest common faults to fix, and Sony made this battery easier to reach. iFixit found it held in by two screws, not the glue earlier models used, and the charging port is a separate part. The ear pads detach, and other makers sell replacements. Up to 30 hours per charge.
Trade-offs: When it launched, Sony didn't sell replacement parts or publish a repair manual, so a new battery depends on a repair shop finding one. And the typical Sony pair brought in for repair is three years old, against six and a half for Sennheiser. That covers every Sony model, not just this one.
Our top picks are side by side on DurableFinds.
Durability scores are our editorial ratings, not measurements.
What should you look for when shopping?
A detachable cable first. Cable faults are the most common fault we can identify. On a pair with a detachable cable, that fault is a new cable, not a repair.
Pads you can buy. Check that the maker sells pads for the exact model.
Wired if you can, and know the battery if you can't. Battery faults get fixed least often of the common ones. If you need wireless, look for a battery held in by screws, not glue.
Check the parts before you buy. A maker that sells cables, pads and headbands for a model is one that expects you to keep it.
Before you throw a pair out, check what broke. If it's the cable or the plug, volunteers fix nearly two in three, and a repair café will try for free.
Compare Brands
See how headphone brands compare on reliability data from community repair records:
- Headphone brand reliability rankings. Sennheiser, Sony, JBL and Bose, ranked by repair success rate
- Sennheiser vs Sony: which brand is more reliable?
- Browse our durable picks on DurableFinds