New Surface Earbuds pack great functionality & an ‘interesting’ design
We’re in two minds about the new Surface Earbuds Microsoft announced at its 2 October event, which will be available later this year from US$249.
On the one hand, these wireless earbuds have very good 24-hour battery life when paired with their charging case, and take the concept one step further with Office integration.
The company demonstrated the ability to dictate copy and to create captions in PowerPoint in real time, which is even more interesting when combined with on-the-fly translation in more than 60 languages allowing you to present to any audience.
The wireless earbuds are also designed to be comfortable enough to wear all day, and build in dual mics and filters for better noise reduction.
But on the other hand, we’re not so keen on the design. Necessarily large in order to accommodate a variety of touch gestures that prevent you needing to reach for your phone to answer calls, listen to music and more, the Surface Buds are going to stick out like a sore thumb.
Microsoft’s wireless earbuds are compatible with all platforms, and on Android Spotify integration allows you to use touch gestures to launch the app and start playing music. You can also use touch play, pause, skip tracks and change the volume.
Microsoft also used its October event to talk about the newSurface Laptop 3,Surface Pro 7,Surface Pro Xand upcomingSurface Neoand Surface Duo, two dual-screen folding devices.
Author: Marie Black, Editorial Director, International
Marie is Editorial Director at Foundry. A Journalism graduate from the London College of Printing, she’s worked in tech media for almost 20 years, covering all types of consumer tech from smartphones and their accessories to smart home gear. These days she manages our international editorial teams and leads on content strategy, having witnessed first-hand Foundry’s transition from print, to digital, to online - and beyond.
