When you think of headphones, there a couple of main segments to consider: in-ears, over-ears, on-ears, and basic headphones that sit in your ears—but not as deep in as in-ear headphones. However, there are a couple of outliers in the market, although they tend to cater to niche markets, such as bone conduction headphones that bypass your eardrums. Now, Bose has announced a new pair of TWS earbuds to add to that… but they hardly look like earbuds/headphones, if you ask me.
The most interesting thing about the Bose Sport Open Earbuds is that they don’t go in your ears, and neither do they sit on them. Instead, Bose says that their sport earbuds have been designed to keep you “aware of your surroundings” when you wear them.
So, how do these even work?
Bose Sport Open Earbuds: How do they work?
So, Bose says that the earbuds are designed for use during workouts, and they come with a contoured hook that sits above (not over, in, or on) your ear canal. The earbuds basically “grip” the outer ridge of your ears, and Bose says that there will be “virtually no skin contact” when wearing them. Meanwhile, each earbud uses a dipole transducer which has been cleverly positioned to provide “personal audio that stays at the ear”.
This theoretically means that you’ll be able to listen to your music and podcasts and your surroundings at the same time. But you won’t have to worry about anyone overhearing what you’re listening to, Bose promises:
“Even at high volumes, you’ll hear your content and conversations—but others won’t.”
Other specs include a microphone system that isolates your voice during calls, by reducing the interference of wind and other elements. There are also touch controls, as well as an etched antenna and Bluetooth 5.1, while you get IPX4 water resistance rating and up to eight hours of battery life on a single charge. It isn’t clear if the carrying case promised by Bose supports additional charges, but there isn’t any mention of that or wireless charging thus far.
In any case, the Bose Sport Open Earbuds are now open for pre-orders in the U.S., with a retail price of USD199.95 (~RM803). For now, we have yet to receive word on a wider, regional/global release, but we’ll certainly keep you informed as soon as we hear anything. It’s worth noting that these unconventional headphones appear to be targeted towards the same niche market that bone conduction headphones are, although the latter often produce rather low quality audio.
If Bose’s new, unconventional earbuds sound better than any bone conduction headphones I’ve tried, perhaps we’ll have a new breed of headphones on our hands. But you have to admit: these look a lot like hearing aids, don’t they?
