Your New Best Buds
4 SMART, WIRELESS EARPHONES FOR JAMMING ON THE GO
From smartwatches that measure your heartbeat to fitness bracelets that remind you to work off that doughnut you ate for breakfast, it's clear that wearable technology is a trend that continues to take us by surprise with its innovations—and earbuds are no exception! The following four wireless earbuds are some of the most cutting-edge designs entering the market this year, many of which have gotten their start on the popular crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. All four utilize Bluetooth technology to connect to your devices, freeing you from tangled wires and providing quality audio for the active audiophile. Whichever of the following products you choose, you will surely stand out. Bragi The Dash ($299, ships May 2015)
There's a reason why these smart, touch-enabled earbuds by Bragi received the 2015 CES Innovation Award. While The Dash can connect to your iPhone via Bluetooth like any other wireless headphones, they can also stand alone, thanks to 4 gigabytes of internal storage that can hold up to 1,000 songs. They also double as an activity tracker, containing sensors that monitor your heart rate, oxygen saturation, distance traveled, and cadence. The accompanying Bragi iPhone app displays your fitness data and lets you do things like set exercise goals or adjust how much ambient sound you wish to hear. The Dash has a rather short three hours of play time, but comes with a compact charging case to remedy the situation. The earbuds weigh only 13.8 grams and feature a waterproof design, a touchpad, and scalable noise isolation that lets you adjust how much outside sound you want to hear. OwnPhones ($249–$349, ships June 2015)
Although the Ownphones don't have quite as many features as The Dash, they make up for it in originality. Using the Ownphones app on your phone, you record a video of your ear and Ownphones converts the footage to 3D data to produce 3D-printed buds built specifically to fit your ears. They come in a plethora of designs, from simple and colorful to jewelry inspired. Another key feature is voice control, which works with Siri. In mono mode, you can listen to music with one earbud while leaving your other ear free to hear oncoming traffic, and you can use the app to choose which sounds you'd like to filter through. The Ownphones provide 4–6 hours of playback (exceeding The Dash), include a charging case, and can stay on standby for 140 hours.