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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Earlier this week, Apple made a few different product announcements, first announcing a new iPad Air and iPad mini, then the next day upgrading the iMac with some new silicon. The company topped off its string of product announcements by revealing a pair of 2nd-generation AirPods on Wednesday. Even with these new AirPods out in the open, Apple may not be done launching wireless earphones, as a new rumor claims that Beats is gearing up to release a truly wireless version of its PowerBeats earphones.
Xiaomi has long been regarded as copying Apple’s designs but it has been making good strides lately in distancing itself from that image. Unfortunately, it may have just fallen back on old habits at least with one of its accessories. Despite the name, last year’s Xiaomi AirDots looked nothing like anything Apple would have made. With the new AirDots Pro, however, Xiaomi is leaving little to chance and is making a pair of earbuds that are unmistakably “inspired” by Apple’s AirPods.
Remember when Apple acquired Beats by Dre, and they suddenly cornered the headphones market worldwide? Since that happened, the company released a pair of wireless earbuds - not Beats earbuds, but Apple-branded. It's not as though Beats was ever the biggest brand in earbuds, but still - now Apple sells their own earbuds in the same store as Beats brand audio equipment. Now it would seem that Apple's readying themselves to release their own version of the Beats flagship: over-ear headphones.
Truly wireless earbuds took a while to get here but now we're seeing options at just about every price point, with Master & Dynamic bringing a new option for audiophiles who hate cables. The new Master & Dynamic MW07 True Wireless Earphones combine the headphone-maker's Beryllium drivers with some eye-catching design for a handsome AirPods alternative.
Sennheiser has launched its first truly wire-free earbuds, with the Momentum True Wireless headphones taking on Apple's AirPods. Revealed at IFA 2018 today, the new earbuds promise not only cordless music and calls but the sort of materials and build quality that we've come to expect from Sennheiser, rather than the plastic-only construction other fully-wireless earbuds have adopted for convenience.