Everyone seems desperate to wear a pair of smart glasses on their face (or at least technologically companies seem desperate to sell us with this solution), but the closest to that right now are the ones $ 200 Bose frame or $ 250 Amazon Echo frame. The problem is that they deliver only sound. This pays a lot for an alternative to headphones that don’t sound as good as real headphones, so consider the new JLab Audio DIY solution, which allows you to easily update existing glasses with wireless sound.
JLab JBuds are not really buds in the sense that you stick them in your ears like you do with a pair of AirPods. Instead, they are designed to hold you in the arms of your glasses – whether they are prescription glasses or simply sunglasses – and then they will throw the sound in your ears using downward-facing speakers. There is yet another solution for headphones with open ears, such as Bose Sport open headphones announced earlier this week, which allows you to listen to your music while listening to everything going on around you. This makes ideal for runners or anyone who does not want the world around them to be silenced. Unlike headphones and over-ear headphones, they also do not make physical contact with any part of the ear, which means that they are potentially more comfortable to wear for long periods of time..
The JBuds are rated IPX4 for water resistance, which means that they should easily survive both sweat and heavy rain, but they will not survive a dive. Probably due to the large opening of the speakers that allows the sound from the 16 mm drivers of JBuds to reach your ears. It’s the same approach as over-the-ear headphones (drivers are slightly out of ears), but without an earcups, so there exists worrying about these types of personal audio devices that everyone can hear what you are listening to. JLab promises that it is not a problem, given the way the sound is directed to the ear canal, but it is not a black hole from which the sound cannot be reflected. If you let go of the songs, you can probably expect someone nearby to come out as well.
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JBuds includes buttons to adjust playback volume, answer calls, and even switch EQ settings, and battery life is estimated at over eight hours. Surprisingly, a $ 50 headset includes its own custom charging cable. which in this case splits into two magnetic connectors to help minimize open ports on each speaker. But at the same time, proprietary charging cables are never a welcome solution, even with the comfort of magnets.
JBuds will be available this spring for $ 50.