After months of waiting, Microsoft will finally release its AirPods competitor, the Surface Earbuds, on May 12. What’s more, the company has revised pricing for the wireless earbuds from its original price tag of $250 to $199.
That’s a significant price drop and more in line with what earbuds without active-noise cancelling technology from competitors like Apple, Google, and Amazon are offering. The big difference for Microsoft is its Office 365 functionality and unique design.
The Surface Earbuds with their distinctive design will likely steal the show. From the outside, the buds look like small white saucers sitting in your ears. It’s sure to get plenty of looks from passersby who, by now, are more used to seeing the look of Apple’s AirPods, which look more like Q Tips.The Earbuds’ design isn’t just for show, though. That flat surface also supports touch inputs including tapping to pause or play music and swiping to raise or lower the volume.
The first true-wireless earbuds from Microsoft, the Earbuds don’t push into your ear, but rather sit on the outside of the opening anchored by four touch points. The buds also come with three different silicone tips to ensure you’re able to get the best fit possible.
Microsoft says the buds will use the company’s Surface Omnisonic profile, and you can launch Spotify instantly, on Android phones, by triple-tapping the buds. The company doesn’t say whether that will work with Apple’s iPhone.
Interestingly, Microsoft is also including dictation capabilities for its Office 365 suite of apps, including the ability to listen to and delete emails in Outlook.
The buds are listed as splash resistant, and, according to Microsoft, offer 8 hours of continuous listening before needing to be dropped into their charging case. A 10-minute charge gives you an hour of listening.
As far as pricing goes, the Surface Earbuds line up nicely with Apple’s base AirPods, which start at $159 with a standard charging case and $199 with a wireless charging case. The AirPods Pro, which offer active-noise cancelling technology, cost $249.
Google’s new Pixel Buds, meanwhile, start at $179.
Credit: finance.yahoo.com
UPDATE:
One problem reared its head during testing. They use an archaic pairing method, which only connects the right bud directly to your source device. The left bud, meanwhile, shares reception with its sibling.
For most people this won’t be much of an issue. But if you enjoy walking around with a single earbud for passive podcast listening, it means you’ll have to rely on the right Surface Earbud. During testing, the left bud dropped reception often if it got too far away from the right unit. Contacting Microsoft reps confirmed the pairing method.
Being able to choose between either side is helpful if you forget to charge one bud, or if you end up draining the battery throughout the day. It's also a surprising limitation since most modern wireless earbuds pair both ears directly to their source devices. Sharing reception with just one ear is something we saw with early wireless entries. In 2020, it seems like an issue Microsoft could have avoided entirely.
Credit: engadget.com
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