Surface Earbuds: Microsoft's answer to Apple's AirPods
The new true wireless Surface Earbuds are arriving later this year for $249.
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Update, May 6, 2020: The Microsoft Surface Earbuds are now available to preorder, for less than previously announced: $200 (£200, AU$320). Our original story from October 2019 follows.
Last year Microsoft released a pair of Surface noise-canceling headphones. This year it's jumping on the true wireless bandwagon with its new cord-free Surface Earbuds. While we're awaiting more info and a full list of specs, what we do know is that they'll be released in time for the holidays and cost $249. At its Surface Event in New York on Wednesday, the company touted the Surface Earbuds' comfortable fit, tap-and-swipe controls that allow you to access Spotify playlists without touching your phone (for Android users) and on-the-fly translation capabilities, with support for 60 languages.
The event also saw the launch of the Surface Duo dual-screen Android phone, Surface Neo dual-screen tablet and Windows 10 X software for dual-screen devices. More conventional new products included the Surface Laptop 3, Surface Pro X and Surface Pro 7 tablets and the SQ1 custom Arm chip.
As far as the Earbuds go, they have an open design, much like Apple's AirPods, but look almost like earrings on the outside with a disc-shaped exterior -- think Pixel Buds, but without the cord. They also feature integration with Microsoft Office apps.
As for battery life, Microsoft says the Surface Earbuds deliver a healthy 8 hours of battery life from a single charge and the charging case (with USB-C charging) provides an additional three charges. They're slash-resistant, with an IPX4 rating.
Last week, Amazon announced its new true wireless Echo Buds ($130) with integrated Alexa support. The Surface Earbuds' $249 price tag puts them in premium territory, so they better sound very good and be stellar for making calls. According to Microsoft, each earbud is equipped with "custom-designed drivers that are precisely tuned to deliver an exceptional acoustic experience" along with two microphones to "deliver exceptional voice recognition and call quality."
I'll post a full review of the Surface Earbuds when they're released later this year.
