Wireless Tethered Earbuds

Qualcomm Introduces Two Next Generation Sound Platforms – S3 gen 3 and S5 gen 3.

Enterprise, Gaming, Home, Technology, Wearable Devices / By Peter Cooney / April 2, 2024 / Active Room Speaker, Audio Eyewear, Augmented Reality Headset, Enterprise Headset, Enterprise Speaker, Gaming Headset, Mixed Reality Headset, Portable Speaker, PSAP, Qualcomm, Radio, Smart Speaker, soundbar, Tensilica, Tensilican, True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, Virtual Reality Headset, Vivo, Wireless Ear Cup, Wireless Fully Enclosed, Wireless Mono Headset, Wireless Tethered Earbuds

Qualcomm has announced upgrades to some of its sound platform chips, with the S3 gen 3 and S5 gen 3. Here we look at the major changes made. The S3 is aimed at mid-tier audio devices. Looking at the specs for gen 2 and gen 3 the major upgrades on the previous generation include: The S3 also gives customers access to 3rd party solutions from the Qualcomm Voice …

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Headphones State of the Industry 2024, Updated Forecasts

Enterprise, Gaming, Product, Wearable Devices / By Peter Cooney / March 21, 2024 / Audio Eyewear, Augmented Reality Headset, DTC Over The Counter Hearing Aid, Enterprise Headset, Gaming Headset, Medical Hearing Aid, PSAP, True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, Virtual Reality Headset, Wired Headphones Packaged, Wired Headphones Retail, Wireless Ear Cup, Wireless Fully Enclosed, Wireless Mono Headset, Wireless Tethered Earbuds

DATAportl and sister company SAR Insight & Consulting have recently published updated forecasts for all headphone markets, the latest data is now available on the platform. We’ve been tracking the headphone market since the company was founded over 10 years ago and it has been very interesting to see how this market has transformed in …

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Charging Ahead: Solar-Powered Headphones. Future Headphone Market Growth?

Enterprise, Gaming, Product, Wearable Devices / By Peter Cooney / February 9, 2024 / Adidas, Audio Eyewear, Augmented Reality Headset, Bone Conduction Headphone, DTC Over The Counter Hearing Aid, Enterprise Headset, Exeger, Gaming Headset, Medical Hearing Aid, Philips, Powerfoyle, PSAP, True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, Urbanista, Virtual Reality Headset, Wired Headphones Packaged, Wired Headphones Retail, Wireless Ear Cup, Wireless Fully Enclosed, Wireless Headphone Charging Case, Wireless Mono Headset, Wireless Tethered Earbuds

The incorporation of Powerfoyle solar technology into headphone design represents a notable advancement in sustainable audio solutions, a trend I touched upon in a previous CES roundup. Among the latest products featuring this innovation is the A6219 on-ear GO headphones, showcased as part of the 2024 Philips Sound Range. This introduction underscores a significant shift towards …

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Qualcomm Releases the 2023 State of Sound Report

Player, Wearable Devices / By Peter Cooney / October 5, 2023 / Bone Conduction Headphone, Qualcomm, True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, Wired Headphones Packaged, Wired Headphones Retail, Wireless Ear Cup, Wireless Fully Enclosed, Wireless Mono Headset, Wireless Tethered Earbuds

SAR Insight again assisted Qualcomm in the creation of its annual consumer survey – The State of Sound report. This year the audience was extended, to include South Korea and to cover the use of devices in the workplace, for gaming and hearing enhancement. There are lots of interesting results to explore for anyone working …

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Bose embraces LE audio and proprietary spatial audio

Technology, Wearable Devices / By Peter Cooney / September 28, 2023 / Bone Conduction Headphone, Bose, Dolby, Sony, True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, Wired Headphones Packaged, Wired Headphones Retail, Wireless Ear Cup, Wireless Fully Enclosed, Wireless Mono Headset, Wireless Tethered Earbuds

This piece of news touches on two significant points. The new Bose headphones and earbuds are coming LE Audio ready, also packed with an exciting proprietary 3D audio solution. SAR is seeing a steady uptake of the new LE Audio standard amongst vendors, however, there is some hesitancy for low-end TWS vendors to fully commit …

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Wires vs Lossless Codecs

Technology, Wearable Devices / By Joe Murray / August 1, 2023 / Apple, Beats, Bone Conduction Headphone, Qualcomm, True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, Wired Headphones Packaged, Wired Headphones Retail, Wireless Ear Cup, Wireless Fully Enclosed, Wireless Mono Headset, Wireless Tethered Earbuds

Apple has just released the latest product from their subsidiary, Beats. The new Beats Studio Pro’s, which retail for $349.99, ironically still comes with wired connections. Despite Apple being the company that inspired many others to drop any connection holes from smartphones in the first place. This has been done to allow users to stream …

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TikTok beta tests premium only streaming service

Mobile Devices, Player, Wearable Devices / By Peter Cooney / July 20, 2023 / Bone Conduction Headphone, High End Smartphone, Low Cost Smartphone, Mid Range Smartphone, TikTok, True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, Warner Music, Wired Headphones Packaged, Wired Headphones Retail, Wireless Ear Cup, Wireless Fully Enclosed, Wireless Mono Headset, Wireless Tethered Earbuds

TikTok is attempting to penetrate the already saturated digital music streaming market. The news recently comes as an expansion to beta testing offered in Brazil and Indonesia. According to the news, “TikTok says it’s inviting users in Australia, Mexico and Singapore to participate in the TikTok Music closed beta test starting today.”This is very significant as …

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Shokz enter the TWS market

Product, Wearable Devices / By Joe Murray / July 4, 2023 / Bone Conduction Headphone, Shokz, True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, Wired Headphones Packaged, Wired Headphones Retail, Wireless Ear Cup, Wireless Fully Enclosed, Wireless Mono Headset, Wireless Tethered Earbuds

Shokz has just announced its first TWS products with a twist. In a similar vein to how they have attempted to offer a safer solution to earbuds in the past without using audio transparency, their new earbuds offer what they are calling Air Conduction, which seems to be either Beamforming or something very similar. The …

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Qualcomm S3 Gen 2 Sound Platform Portfolio

Mobile Devices, Technology, Wearable Devices / By Peter Cooney / July 4, 2023 / Bone Conduction Headphone, High End Smartphone, Low Cost Smartphone, Mid Range Smartphone, Qualcomm, True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, Wired Headphones Packaged, Wired Headphones Retail, Wireless Ear Cup, Wireless Fully Enclosed, Wireless Mono Headset, Wireless Tethered Earbuds

Qualcomm has announced an update to the Qualcomm S3 Gen 2 Sound platform portfolio, which is optimised for gaming. Latency is perhaps the biggest issue that is holding back widespread adoption of Bluetooth for gaming, many vendors continue to rely on proprietary RF to ensure latency is minimised. SAR Insight has talked about this many times. …

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Knowles Balanced Armatures Pack High-Fidelity Punch into 21-Driver UE PREMIER IEM

Technology, Wearable Devices / By Peter Cooney / June 27, 2023 / Bone Conduction Headphone, Knowles, True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, Ultimate Ears, Wired Headphones Packaged, Wired Headphones Retail, Wireless Ear Cup, Wireless Fully Enclosed, Wireless Mono Headset, Wireless Tethered Earbuds

Ultimate Ears’ recent UE Premier in-ear monitor (IEM) headphones boast an impressive 21 drivers per earpiece, “to deliver a signature sound with unparalleled fidelity, control and precision”. It is the trend to add more and more drivers (speakers) to IEM earbuds, but SAR has not seen anything quite so dramatic as 21 per earbud before. On closer inspection …

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