Earphones

OnePlus isn't one to immediately jump onto trends but it doesn't shy away from making changes when it believes that the time is right. After years of carrying the torch for the headphone jack, it finally gave in but only after it had launched its own wireless headphones. That happened back in 2017 when it launched its first Bullets Wireless earphones and, three years and two generations later, it is coming back with the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z. No, there is no three.

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Despite its improvements in battery life, the Galaxy Buds+ still came out as a disappointment for many who were expecting just a bit more from Samsung. In particularly, many hoped that it would be a significant improvement over the already popular Galaxy Buds in terms of features, even if that came at a slightly higher price tag. That never came to be but now consumers might be putting their hopes on the company's AKG property and its new N400 truly wireless buds to deliver exactly those missing features.

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As wireless headphones, earbuds, and speakers become more commonplace, they also start to become lifestyle choices more than just audio accessories. Although performance and comfort are of utmost importance, style and appearance have also become a deciding factor for some buyers. Unfortunately, wireless earbuds are harder to skin compared to smartphones so consumers in South Korea should probably consider themselves lucky to have access to an all-new pink Galaxy Buds+.

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Apple may have its AirPods but not all Apple fans, even the hardcore ones, buy into it, whether because of its design or its audio quality. Fortunately for Apple, it also owns Beats, both the brand and the audio technology, to give consumers more options that still profit it in the long run. And those who prefer the audio company's ergonomics might be happy to hear, no pun intended, that a new Powerbeats is coming blending old and new.

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Once in a while, one company stumbles onto a new technology that pulls the rug out from under their industry - and sparks plenty of competitors trying to do the same. For Nura, that innovation centered on how it could create truly personalized hearing profiles simply by having people sit through a series of beeps and boops while wearing their headphones. Headphones offering personalized audio has since then popped up left and right, pushing the company to step up its game. That next level comes in the form of the NuraLoop, a pair of around the neck earbuds that brings Nura's technology to a more discreet and more personal wearable device.

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They're the Apple product many have been waiting for: AirPods Pro bring active noise cancellation to the instantly-recognizable white earbuds. Joining, rather than replacing, the existing AirPods range, they're not exactly cheap at $249, but for frequent travelers or urban commuters deep in the Apple ecosystem they could be a godsend. I've been wearing AirPods Pro this week: read on for what already stands out.

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Apple may be credited for having made Bluetooth earbuds cool but the AirPods are, fortunately, not the only choice in the market. Various manufacturers have jumped on the train. Some of them are even from some of the better-known brands in the audio market. But even for its expertise and clout, Master & Dynamic's MW07 true wireless earbuds left a few things to be desired. Now the audio company isn't just back to correct those, it has two earbuds to meet customers' different needs.

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It seems like every other tech brand is developing its own “true” wireless earbuds. Since the success of Apple AirPods, companies have quickly jumped on board the bandwagon, offering their renditions of these tiny audio devices, housed in a small charging case.

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Huawei has started to portray an image of independence from US companies, at least as far as some hardware components go. It has touted its own Kirin system-on-chip (SoC) to rival Qualcomm's and even Samsung's and Apple's on the smartphone side of things. Now it's doing the same for wearables with the newly revealed Kirin A1. But more than just a processor for smartphones, Huawei is billing it as the first chip to support both traditional smartwatches and fitness trackers as well as Bluetooth earphones and headphones.

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The Galaxy Note 10 won't have a 3.5 mm headphone jack. It will have, instead, a USB-C headphone jack. Even before the phone has launched, it is already earning criticism because of that one "feature" among many other criticized changes. Samsung may already be preparing for the backlash by providing not just USB-C in-ear headphones but ones that come with a noise canceling feature that's unusual for buds that ship inside phone boxes.

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Thanks in part to Apple pushing its AirPods onto the smartphone market, the in-ear Bluetooth earbuds industry has gotten some attention and improvements. From truly wireless designs to touch-sensitive surface, these audio accessories have greatly improved in all but one aspect: battery life. Considering their size and the technology they use, it's not surprising that they could last only a few hours at most. That's where Cleer's new Ally earbuds try to break the mold with 10 hours of playback that could get you through your work day with no problem at all.

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Wireless earphones come in all shapes and sizes but they all have a few traits in common. For one, they can be a pain to pair given how Bluetooth pairing works. They can also be a pain to recharge when it does finally come to top them off. Huawei boasts that it has solved those and more problems with its new FreeLace wireless pair. That said, at least one of those will only make sense if you have not just any Huawei phone but one with its latest EMUI software.

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