Shokz has gone from being a company known only by serious runners to a mainstream headphone brand that’s introduced the world to the joys of open-ear listening. But, to Shokz co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Ken Chen, the company is still a challenger, a dragon-slayer, even though most of the brand’s original primary competitors in the bone conduction space went out of business long ago.
At a recent tech day in Shenzhen, China, Chen took the assembled journalists through the company’s history with refreshing honesty and humility.
The beginning of Shokz
The company started in 2004, founded by three university friends who met while studying mechanical engineering before dispersing to different fields. Chen ended up in New York, working in finance. The company originally started as a factory making headphones for other companies, though the founders dreamed of one day making their own product, under their own name.
“We tried a lot of new stuff, but none of them were successful with our customers,” Chen said. “It turns out that they just want something that’s popular, so you just need to copy, you don’t need to create anything, because whatever you create is not popular, at the beginning at least.”
After long despairing at doing what was popular, rather than what was interesting, Chen and his business partners founded AfterShokz in New York in 2011, inspired by bone conduction technology.
“As engineers, we thought that we could do more with technology, and we have passion,” he said. “This imagination echoes with our inner heart.”
Shokz CTO Ken Chen was candid about the failures that led to the headphone company’s success. Image: Supplied.
According to Chen, the reason for choosing to incorporate in New York was due to China’s limited headphone adoption. It still is today; everywhere I went in Shenzhen, there were people playing things out of their phone speaker and talking on speakerphone in public instead of using headphones or putting the phone to their ear.
Being based in the US, where headphones had been a regular part of daily life since the Walkman made a splash in the 1980s, made more sense to the founders. New York is also where Chen went to university (he got his master’s at Clarkson, and did his PhD at Columbia), so it was a familiar place.
Learning from failure
The next step was to get a booth at CES to share their wares, which they did in 2011. It did not go well.
“We had the smallest booth possible, and we were showcasing the headphones, but nobody understood what we were doing,” Chen said. “Nobody knew anything about bone conduction.”
“There were lots and lots of people in CES, and they actually came up in front of us, but they came up to apply protection film for their smartphone [from another booth] right in front of us. Nobody paid any attention to what we were trying to say.”
Determined to make the next year different, the company invested heavily in marketing and had a better showing at the next CES, with a busy booth and lots of sales. After that show, they spent the next year building Bluez, a product so mediocre that it nearly sank the company.
The product itself was a revolutionary idea: the first Bluetooth stereo bone conduction headset. Previous models (including the Sportz MI, which I first reviewed back in 2012) had been wired, and the Bluez were the first in the market to be untethered. Unfortunately, they suffered from poor battery life, terrible sound quality, and discomfort for the wearer.
Following the wired Sportz Mi with a Bluetooth model proved to be difficult. Image: Alice Clarke.
“It was not a great product. We still had to go to the market with the goods, even though it was a product that was not that great,” Chen recalled.
“I wore the damn headphones to Macau, and I came back and told our engineer, ‘This is not working, we’ll have to redo the damn thing’. The user experience was so bad, I refused to say it had anything to do with sports. That’s why we named it Bluez. I couldn’t imagine myself being able to run with something like that.”
Stores rely on sales numbers to determine how much space a product gets, and whether they’ll keep carrying it. The expectation at the time was to sell at least one device per week per store, and then the company would continue to carry it.
When the US Office Depot report came out for the first week of Bluez sales, it showed that they had sold just 18 pairs across the United States, despite being stocked in 1,000 stores. After that, AfterShokz products spent the next three years going in and out of Best Buy and Apple Stores.
“We moved from one distributor to another, from one sports store to another. We simply couldn’t find stability. I remember one moment clearly — I was in New York, discussing our ‘grassroots approach,’ when Bruce received a call from Best Buy. We were kicked out. The decision was final. The timing was almost ironic.”
When I asked why they went to market with a product they knew was bad, Chen was refreshingly honest.
“There were two products we didn’t release, and there were also several products that I regretted that we released them,” he said. “Back then, if your whole company worked on [a product] for one whole year, was it really a choice to not release it? If you raised a lot of capital and stuff, you could. But not us.”
But Chen did make a fair point about the competition, conceding that while “Bluez was horrible”, “at that time, all these stereo Bluetooth headphones were horrible”. He then went on to compare Bluez to the Motorola S7, saying Bluez was more comfortable, which is certainly something.
Feeling the AfterShokz
It is said that failure breeds success, and that’s true for Shokz, too. While it would be easy to give up after releasing a series of bad products that tanked in the market, the company redoubled its efforts
“Instead of giving up, we went back to the fundamentals,” Chen said. “We focused heavily on improving the underlying technology itself. Bone conduction had major problems: it leaked sound, it lacked bass, and it caused vibration discomfort. So, we worked on all of it.”
Chen shared that the company puts a lot of stock in Amazon reviews. More than media reviews or feedback from distribution partners, he always tied everything back to Amazon reviews. We were shown multiple charts of how consumer sentiment ebbed and flowed over time.
Trekz proved to be a big success for the brand when it was known as AfterShokz. Image: Shokz.
“For the first time, consumers felt ‘This actually works.’” Chen said. “That moment changed our business.”
But the company was still struggling on the business side, getting distributors, stores and potential customers to trust them again. So, Chen and his co-founders came up with a demonstration setup that could be sent out to stores so customers could actually hear what bone conduction headphones sounded like before buying.
Now, that idea sounds quite standard; anyone who’s been to a bike shop has seen the testing stands. But back then, it was an out-of-the-box idea that turned things around for the company.
Trekz then sold for eight years with great success. The company rebranded to Shokz in 2021, aiming to be easier to spell and communicate in different languages.
Conducting a bigger headphone market
In 2023, Shokz then pivoted to also include true wireless and air conduction headphones in the lineup, like the Shokz OpenFit. It was a slight departure from the previous commitment to all bone conduction, all the time.
For Chen, the move to air conduction was one to reach the broader market.
“There are no single headphones that work for everyone,” he said. “Even for something as mighty as AirPods, a lot of people still feel, ‘My ear is the wrong size,’ or ‘I am going to lose it,’ and they often need to try it before they know whether it truly fits them.”
Beyond the current lineup, Chen and the rest of Shokz see AI as the future. He spoke about the company’s plans to make AI glasses, similar to Meta’s glasses. The company has already gone through several iterations, with the category still in the very early stages.
More recently, Shokz launched the OpenFit Pro, which brings noise cancellation to an open-ear design. Image: Shokz.
When Vincent Xiong, CEO of the American arm of the business, took the stage, he told the assembled journalists that the digital world is now more important than the physical one. Xiong spoke about how the future of open-ear headphones is to keep people connected to their AI assistants, so they could always be connected to their digital world, even when they have to be present in the physical one.
He also spoke about how headphones could one day record everything you say and create an avatar for you that could respond on your behalf. He also said that there would be products that would be AI-free, like OpenSwim. The fear of being left behind on AI seemed to be a primary driver in a lot of decisions being made, which is common across the board for tech companies in 2026.
But, beyond whatever the company does or does not do with AI in the future, the focus for now is on ensuring people can find an open-ear format that works for them, whether that’s bone conduction, ear hook air conduction, or the popular Dots ear clip design. It’s that ethos of keeping people connected to the physical world, while still being able to enjoy music, that has been the throughline of Shokz for the last 15 years.
As Chen said, “inspiration is easy; innovation is really hard”. Shokz has been willing to put in the hard work.
Alice Clarke travelled to China as a guest of Shokz.
Apple has given the strongest indication yet that its yet-to-be-announced iPhone 18 range will see a sizable price increase compared to last year’s iPhone 17 lineup. It comes as outgoing CEO Tim Cook labels the current economic conditions facing tech companies as “unsustainable”.
Unless you’ve been blissfully off the grid for much of 2026, you’d know how expensive technology is getting. Memory and component shortages, driven by AI infrastructure demand, have placed significant pressure on the entire consumer technology supply chain.
“We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable,” he said.
Cook didn’t specify exactly which Apple devices would see a price increase, or how much the price increases would be. However, with September typically Apple’s traditional iPhone launch period, he’s likely preparing consumers and investors for the upcoming news.
Earlier in the year, Samsung, Apple’s biggest smartphone competitor, launched the Galaxy S26 range with prices up to $250 more expensive than the previous-generation models in Australia.
Analysis from WSJ estimates a potential US$1,299 price point for the iPhone 18 Pro, a US$200 increase over the iPhone 17 Pro. On a rough currency conversion, that’s $1,849 here in Australia, which doesn’t account for taxes, logistics, and distribution costs that get added to local pricing.
If WSJ‘s estimates prove to be accurate, an iPhone 18 Pro will break the $2,000 barrier in Australia, surpassing the iPhone 17 Pro’s $1,999 starting price. And if Samsung’s pricing strategy is anything to go by, the standard iPhone 18 range will see the biggest price increase.
Sony’s 1000X range has been my travel headphone of choice for years. As a tech journalist, I’m fortunate enough to get to choose from a wide range of headphones, but I keep coming back to the 1000X series. I used the M2, M3 and M4 in their time, and the Sony WH-1000XM6 is what I reach for today when I head to the airport.
So, when Sony offered me the chance to test the 1000X THE COLLEXION, arriving on the tenth anniversary of the original MDR-1000X, I was genuinely curious about what it had to offer and took it on a long-haul trip from Sydney to London to find out how well it travels.
Magnetic carry case closure; plastic-free packaging (sugarcane-bamboo paper)
Approx. 25% recycled plastic content
Available in Platinum Silver and Black
What is the 1000X THE COLLEXION?
At the press launch, Sony was clear that the 1000X is not a successor to the M6. It is a parallel option for those who want their listening experience to feel more like a special occasion. Where the XM6 is a refined, practical, do-everything pair of noise cancellers, the 1000X is built around the idea that premium audio should feel premium to use, too. Sony put a lot of effort into updating the design and materials, and elevated the listening experience with a bespoke driver unit.
At $999.95 in Australia, it costs $300 more than the XM6 and is available in two colourways: Platinum Silver and Black.
Sony’s beloved 1000X range of headphones including M1, M2, M3, M4, M5 and M6 (left to right). Image: Valens Quinn.
Design, build and materials
Look and feel
While the overall ‘look’ of the 1000X resembles the last couple of models, there are subtle changes. Sony has gone with hand-finished metal for the headband: a matte, sandblasted body offset by gloss edges, with each piece hand-polished by a craftsperson. It is the sort of detail you’d expect on a watch, not a pair of headphones. Buttons and microphone openings are integrated cleanly into the metalwork, removing the visual clutter that can make premium headphones look overdone.
What I like about the result is that it doesn’t announce itself. It’s not obtrusive, garish or overdone; it doesn’t scream ‘look at me, I’ve spent a bomb on my headphones.’ The shape is familiar, not unlike the M6, which I already appreciate. In hand, the 1000X has a genuinely luxurious feel, and the all-metal controls are easy to locate by feel in the dark. They provide a nice visual contrast too, particularly striking against the black colourway, and still smart against the silver.
There’s no denying that the 1000X feels luxurious with the polished metal headband and controls, pliable faux leather and plush cushioning. Looks at home in your fancy plane seat. Image: Valens Quinn.
Materials and comfort
The earcups and headband padding are wrapped in a bespoke faux leather that Sony says took two years to develop. It is described as more pliable and more sustainable than genuine leather, and it feels the part: supple and warm, adapting to the shape of your head gradually until it becomes unnoticeable.
The 1000X weighs 320g, compared to the M6’s 254g, a meaningful difference on paper. In practice, the combination of the wider headband cushion and generously sized earcups does a lot to offset it. I wore them for stretches of six to eight hours during my flights without significant discomfort.
The earcup size is the real win for extended wear. On the M6, my ear pushes up against the inside of the cup and catches on the edges over long sessions. The 1000X cups are noticeably more generous.
One fitting note: the adjustment arms sit lower by default than I expected. My head is fairly average in size, and I barely needed to extend them, so those with smaller heads should try these on before buying. The mechanism slides smoothly and holds firmly once set.
The carry case
The carry case is made from a woven material that feels considered and organic. The magnetic clasp is a revelation: you don’t need to zip anything up; it just snaps shut and holds.
The carry case has a soft fabric cover, a magnetic clasp and has a hole in the middle when closed to fit your hand through! Images: Valens Quinn.
Case compactness matters a lot when you’re travelling with a full carry-on, and my M6’s case is a little more stow-friendly in tight spots. But the 1000X case has something I love: a hole in the centre of the lid that forms a natural handle, making it easy to tote around the terminal or hotel. Inside, the moulded recesses for the earcups are easy to figure out, far less of a spatial puzzle than the M6 case, which in a jet-lagged state I’ve often failed to solve correctly. There’s also a pocket for the USB-C and 3.5mm cables, which is a handy touch.
Active noise cancellation
Active noise cancellation on the 1000X uses the same setup as the WH-1000XM6: 12 microphones feeding Sony’s Multi-Noise Sensor technology, with the Adaptive NC Optimiser adjusting in real time to whatever environment you step into. Atmospheric pressure optimising is also built in, designed to fine-tune ANC performance at altitude.
In practice, I didn’t notice any dramatic improvement over the M6. The 1000X does the job, cutting out the drone of aircraft engines and pushing chatter and the occasional crying child into the background. There are more aggressive noise-cancelling options out there, and Apple’s AirPods Max edges ahead (but are way too heavy for me to travel with). Transparency mode works well too, and is useful when moving around town or at the airport and wanting to stay aware of your surroundings without taking the headphones off.
Sound quality
The 1000X gets a bespoke driver unit: a high-rigidity dome made from unidirectional carbon fibre composite with a soft edge. Sony’s stated aim is improved instrument separation, more detail at the top end, and a wider soundstage. Tuning was handled in collaboration with Grammy-winning and nominated mastering engineers from the US, with a deliberate brief to stay faithful to what the artist intended rather than impose a house sound.
All audio testing was done via Apple Music on an iPhone 17 Pro set to Hi-Res Lossless, streamed wirelessly over Bluetooth. EQ was left at default, Listening Mode set to Standard, and ANC off during listening sessions. Where DSEE Ultimate is noted, I ran the track twice: once with it off and once with it on.
Track by track
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Apple Music, Lossless 24-bit/48 kHz ALAC)
A useful early test for driver precision. The stereo spread from the maracas across to MJ’s vocal expressions is immediately apparent, and the bassline is smooth and tight, not muddied at all, which shows the precision and quality of the driver. With DSEE Ultimate switched on, there was a noticeable increase in sharpness and detail, which makes sense given the vintage recording source.
Loads of detail in Billie’s voice, smooth and rich, with the breathy, close-mic character of the recording fully intact. DSEE made only the very slightest difference here, a trace more presence in the high frequencies, which reflects the quality of the original recording rather than any shortcoming in the headphone.
This is where the 1000X really shines. The detail in Buckley’s voice is extraordinary; you can hear the breath from pursed lips pushing into those breathy Hallelujah notes, and the scintillating high notes carry genuine light and energy. The dynamic range is something else, too: the power of his rising voice against the reverb-soaked guitar passages is rendered with real contrast and depth. Remarkable.
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (Apple Music, Hi-Res Lossless 24-bit/96 kHz ALAC)
A great instrument separation test, and the 1000X delivers. The placement is clear and distinct: saxophone mid-left, piano centre, cymbals far right. Dynamic range is also on show, from subtle piano chords to piercing sax high notes, all rendered with composure.
Daft Punk – Lose Yourself to Dance (Apple Music, Lossless 24-bit/44.1 kHz ALAC)
Wide frequency coverage, nothing muddy, crisp and detailed. The punch from the low end is balanced rather than dominant.
DSEE Ultimate
The 1000X is the first Sony headphone to ship with DSEE Ultimate, which uses Edge AI to upscale compressed music in real time, restoring lost detail and dynamic range that the source material is missing.
Tested track by track, the results varied by source quality. On a well-mastered modern recording like “Ocean Eyes”, the difference was barely perceptible, a faint lift in high-frequency presence. On an older recording like “Billie Jean”, the effect was more noticeable, with greater sharpness and detail. It’s not a night-and-day transformation, but it’s a thoughtful addition and worth leaving on.
How does it compare?
I compared most tracks with my handy M6s, as well as Apple’s AirPods Max (2nd gen). Here are some general conclusions:
AirPods Max: more neutral to bright, occasionally a touch clinical, with emphasis on mids and treble
1000X THE COLLEXION: warm, rounded and smooth, tight and punchy bass, noticeable instrument separation
WH-1000XM6: similar character to the 1000X, though occasionally a touch muddier and without quite the same richness
The difference between the 1000X and M6 is not dramatic, but it is audible on close listening. The 1000X has a fuller, more refined sound that rewards the attention you bring to it. The AirPods Max are more expensive ($899 in Australia) and do have elevated audio fidelity over the M6 (and probably the best ANC overall), although not as sweet-sounding as the 1000X by my ear.
Yeah, there’s no way I’d use the Qantas headphones when I have the Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION on hand. Image: Valens Quinn.
360 Reality Audio and Spatial Sound
The 1000X introduces 360 Reality Audio Upmix in three dedicated modes: Music, Cinema and Game, accessed via a dedicated Listening Mode button on the earcup. I tested the Music and Cinema modes.
I engaged Music mode with MJ’s “Billie Jean”. It broadens out the soundstage noticeably, though not to a fixed point in space; it’s more of an expansion than a precise spatial placement. Enjoyable for casual listening, but for critical listening, I preferred the standard mode.
For cinema, I watched Interstellar, specifically the sequences approaching Gargantua. The spatial sound adds genuine depth to the experience and feels more enveloping, well-suited to the scale of that film. The benefit depends on what you’re watching, though; a dialogue-heavy drama is unlikely to benefit as much as a film with full environmental sound design.
As a comparison, Apple’s spatial audio on the AirPods Max pins sound to fixed positions in space for a more precise and refined spatial experience. Sony’s approach is broader and warmer, but perhaps less exact.
One thing worth knowing: Game mode is not assigned to the Listening Mode button by default and needs to be added manually via the Sony Sound Connect app. It was not tested in this review.
Smart features and the app
Sony’s Sound Connect app, which handles setup and customisation for the 1000X, has improved over the years, though it’s still not the most intuitive experience. Getting around it takes a little patience, but once you know your way around there’s a solid amount of customisation on offer: EQ adjustments, Listening Mode settings, DSEE Ultimate control, Adaptive Sound Control, Speak-to-Chat, wearing detection and more. The app does the job, with room for improvement in how it presents those options. Thankfully, there’s plenty to dial into for those who like to tinker.
Making calls
In my experience, over-ear noise-cancelling headphones are rarely at their best for phone calls, and I wasn’t expecting the 1000X to change that. I made calls in noisy and windy environments on the trip, and the results were about what I’d expect: usable, but not exceptional
Without the close-mic precision of earbuds or a dedicated headset, the headphone picks up ambient noise when it can’t effectively cancel it, and attempts to suppress that can detract from voice clarity. These will be fine for the majority of calls; just don’t make them your primary reason to buy.
Battery life
Battery life on the 1000X is up to 24 hours with ANC on, or 32 hours without, which is slightly less than the M6’s 30 hours with ANC on. For most long-haul travellers, that’s unlikely to be a problem, but it’s worth being slightly more mindful on very long journeys.
The good news is that you can charge while listening, which I did in-flight, and even a quick top-up in the lounge is worth doing. A five-minute charge with a USB-C Power Delivery charger is good for around three more hours, which is useful when you’re scrambling before boarding.
Real-world testing: Sydney to London
The 1000X is easy to travel with, though not quite as compact as the M6. Because the earcups don’t fold, the case is a little wider, and there have been moments on the road where I could have squeezed the M6 into a spot that the 1000X case simply wouldn’t fit. I wouldn’t travel without the case either; these are too nice to risk damaging loose in a bag.
En route, the 1000Xs are comfortable and go the distance (left) while I can’t travel without my AirFly Bluetooth dongle, so I don’t need to bother with cables (right). Images: Valens Quinn.
That said, the elevated finish of the 1000X made me a little more proud to wear them around my neck in the lounge, and they genuinely do sound wonderful with ANC or without. There’s something about reaching into that woven case, pulling out a pair of premium headphones, and settling into your seat that adds a small but real sense of occasion to the experience, even if you’re at the back of the plane.
Which is best: the 1000X vs WH-1000XM6?
1000X THE COLLEXION
WH-1000XM6
Price (AUD)
$999.95
$699.95
Driver
30mm bespoke carbon composite
30mm carbon fibre
DSEE
DSEE Ultimate
DSEE Extreme
360 Audio Upmix modes
Music, Cinema, Game
Cinema only
Battery (ANC on)
24 hours
30 hours
Weight
320 g
254 g
Foldable
No
Yes
Headband
Hand-polished metal + faux leather
Soft-fit vegan leather
Listening Mode button
Yes (dedicated)
No
Sony is positioning the 1000X as a companion to the WH-1000XM6, not a replacement. The M6 remains the smarter buy for most people: it costs $300 less, sounds excellent, folds flat, is lighter, and lasts longer on a charge. (Sony has also just added a new Sandstone colourway to the XM6 range, giving it yet another style option at the same price.) If you travel frequently and want the most practical headphone, the M6 is probably the better choice.
The M6 (top) and 1000X (bottom) case sizes are different, reflecting that the M6 folds up. You get a carrying ‘hole’ in the 1000X case, but it’s not as compact as the M6. Images: Valens Quinn.
Sony’s 1000X THE COLLEXION is for those who want the same proven noise-cancelling platform in a demonstrably more luxurious package, with the bespoke driver, DSEE Ultimate and three-mode 360 Reality Audio Upmix as a bonus. They are a perfect travel companion, but with a touch of luxury that just elevates the experience. For those who put music fidelity first and love Sony’s legendary 1000X range, the 1000X is just the ticket.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION worth the extra $300 over the WH-1000XM6?
It depends on what you value. The WH-1000XM6 ($699.95) delivers excellent sound and noise cancellation, is lighter, folds flat, and lasts longer on a charge, making it the stronger all-round travel headphone. The 1000X ($999.95) offers noticeably richer audio through its bespoke carbon composite driver, adds DSEE Ultimate upscaling and three-mode 360 Reality Audio Upmix, and is built from hand-polished metal and premium faux leather. If premium materials and audio fidelity are your priority, the extra outlay is justified.
What is the difference between the Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION and the WH-1000XM6?
The 1000X and WH-1000XM6 share the same 12-microphone ANC platform, but differ in driver, materials, and features. The 1000X uses a bespoke unidirectional carbon composite driver, adds DSEE Ultimate (Edge AI audio upscaling), and offers 360 Reality Audio Upmix in Music, Cinema and Game modes versus the XM6’s Cinema-only mode. The headband is hand-polished metal with premium faux leather; the XM6 uses soft-fit vegan leather. The 1000X does not fold flat and weighs 320g versus the XM6’s 254g. Battery life with ANC on is 24 hours (the 1000X) versus 30 hours (XM6).
How long does the battery last on the Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION?
The Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION delivers up to 24 hours of playback with Active Noise Cancellation on, or up to 32 hours with ANC off. A five-minute quick charge using a USB-C Power Delivery charger provides approximately three hours of additional playback. The headphones can also be used while charging via the USB-C cable.
Is the Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION good for long-haul flights?
Yes, with some caveats. The 1000X’s ANC performs well on flights, cutting aircraft engine noise effectively, and the generously padded earcups and wide headband cushion make them comfortable over extended periods. They were tested on flights of up to 16.5 hours. The carry case is practical, with a magnetic clasp and a handle for easy portability. The main trade-off is that they do not fold flat, making the case slightly bulkier than the WH-1000XM6’s, which can be a consideration in tight overhead lockers.
Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION
An elevated experience, adding a touch of luxury and higher fidelity audio, Sony's 1000X THE COLLEXION builds on the M6 model but may only be worth the extra $ to some.
Features
8.5
Performance
9.5
Design
9
Ease of use
9
Value
8
Positives
Lovely tactile experience with brushed metals, supple faux leather and plush padding on the headband and earcups
Well designed and portable travel case, plus it has a hole in the middle!
Custom drivers improve fidelity by adding warmth, richness and depth to your audio experience
Love that you can charge and listen at the same time
Updated DSEE is handy for making the most from lower quality audio sources
Negatives
The added price may not justify the improved audio and luxury materials for some
Less battery life than the Sony M6 (24 vs 30 hours) with ANC enabled
1000X model's earcups do not fold up so not as compact as other models
Gains a bit of weight thanks to higher quality materials - but still comfortable
Snap Inc, the company behind the Snapchat messaging platform, has officially announced its augmented reality glasses, joining the growing chorus of smart wearables. Known as ‘Specs’ (stylised in all-caps as SPECS), the glasses carry a substantial US$2,195 price tag.
Billed as a “wearable computer”, Specs encase everything inside the glasses. There’s no cable attached to a power pack or a separate processing unit; it’s meant to be a fully self-contained wearable device.
“The smartphone put our lives in our pockets,” said Evan Spiegel, co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc. “Specs put computing into the world, where life actually happens.”
Within the frame is a liquid crystal display that Snap says is equal to a 24-inch monitor or a 115-inch cinema screen. Positioned as a combination of AI glasses and bulkier headsets, albeit in a slimmer form factor, Snap’s device aims to bring computing to your face.
Snap claims that Specs last up to four hours of mixed use, while the included charging case supplies four additional charges. rImage: Snap Inc.
Between projecting personal workspaces, providing contextual AI features based on what you see, and Bluetooth integration with other devices, Specs seems like an intermediary, bringing together the functionality of multiple devices into one gadget.
It comes in two sizes: a 47mm model that weighs 132 grams, and a 52mm model weighing 136g. Snap says the glasses “support a wide range of prescriptions” via removable inserts.
Many tech companies see smart glasses and wearables as the next big thing. Meta currently dominates the market, according to IDC data, largely by virtue of being one of the first to market.
It begs the question: what’s the appetite for $3,000 smart specs?
After using high-end $300-plus noise-cancelling earbuds for the last 10 years, I felt I needed a comparison to a budget pair. For the last month, I have switched to the Soundpeats Air6 HS, which, although it incorporates many of the latest innovations, lacks some of the features I have come to rely on.
The Air6 HS costs less than $60 in Australia, which means I could afford to lose six pairs compared to my regular drive. Now I have never lost a pair, but I have spent many hours looking for buds I have dropped in the garden. I do note there is a ‘Find My Earbuds’ setting that uses your phone’s GPS to indicate their last known location. This, unfortunately, does not help in a pile of leaves.
Soundpeats Air6 HS audio quality
On first impressions, the sound quality was great. Soundpeats indicates that a 13mm triple-magnet driver with Hi-Res LDAC is responsible for this, allowing Android users (like me) to hear three times more detail. I am no audiophile, but to my ear, these sounded great.
Box contents. Image: Angus Jones.
In the Soundpeats app, you can further customise the sound with an equaliser to control bass, treble, and everything in between. If you have access to media or streaming platforms with Hi-Res audio, you can enjoy higher-resolution files with better audio. Similarly, LDAC is a Bluetooth transmission protocol that enables higher-quality audio to be transferred to earbuds.
Two features I did miss — but for the price, I understand why they are not there — audio does not stop when you take a bud out, and there is no noise cancellation. So, your only option in busy environments is to turn the volume up, rather than cutting background noise out. There is one exception: when on a call, the microphone helps cut background noise so the person on the other end can hear you more clearly.
Design, app controls, and Bluetooth 6
Each earbud only weighs four grams, and I found them comfortable to wear all day while doing weekend chores. I also used them on my morning bicycle rides, where I never use noise cancellation, and found them to be a good balance between hearing traffic, my podcast, and wind noise.
Soundpeats’ earbuds support standard gesture controls: a single tap to adjust volume, a double tap to pause/play content, a triple tap to open an assistant, and a long press to skip forward or back. I found this intermittent to begin with, but in the end, I decided it was a change in sequence from what I was used to, and also getting the finger placement right, which turns out to be on the Soundpeats logo.
The app has all the controls you would expect, but after the initial setup and software update, I have not really touched it again. The battery status is listed within the app for each earbud and the case, but I find myself monitoring this on the case itself. The case flashes a colour when closed, indicating the case battery life, and also flashes a colour when the case is open, indicating the buds’ charge.
The buds support Bluetooth 6, which offers lower power consumption and longer, more stable transmission (i.e. a greater range between your phone and the buds). In the box is a USB-C cable, which I have a whole drawer full of them now, but means standardised charging, which will take up to 1.5 hours for the case and 45 mins for the buds. A 10-minute charge of the buds will, however, give you three hours of listening time. The total listening time between a charged case and buds is up to 45 hours.
These buds are IPX5 water-resistant, so they will survive a rain shower, but do not immerse them in water. Within the app is a ‘Drainage Function’, which plays a loud noise that supposedly helps remove any water that has entered the buds. Make sure you don’t activate this when you are wearing them.
What did I think of the Soundpeats Air6 HS?
The Soundpeats Air6 HS was a surprise package for me. For $60, I was expecting rubbish that I would never use. Instead, I now have a set of earbuds that I am not worried about losing. They produce great sound, and I will continue to use them in environments where I don’t want noise cancellation.
Video doorbells are great at keeping an eye on visitors, deliveries, and any happenings outside of your home. Unfortunately, many apartment dwellers miss out, because it’s just not feasible to stick a doorbell next to an existing intercom system. Amazon has an answer, though: the Ring Intercom, which provides the benefits of a video doorbell to apartment residents.
Ring’s $189 gadget connects with compatible intercom systems to give live updates on who’s visiting the building. Via the Ring app, you can also remotely let visitors and delivery people into the building. According to Amazon, the Ring Intercom suits renters, with no need to make any drastic changes to a home.
This new addition to Ring’s smart home range aims to address what Amazon’s research found about Aussies’ delivery habits. According to the research, 79 per cent of apartment residents get stressed waiting for deliveries without a way of letting people into the building. 89 per cent reportedly said that letting delivery drivers in remotely via their phone would be helpful.
Like Ring’s existing video doorbells, the Ring Intercom supports two-way audio communication and a live camera feed of who’s at the door. You can access the live feed through either the Ring app or an Echo Show device.
Image: Amazon.
These core features don’t require a paid subscription, but more functionality comes with a Ring Protect subscription, which starts at $4.95 in Australia. Paid features include access to 180 days of video history and a snapshot of every time someone buzzes the intercom. You can also send a preset quick reply to visitors when you can’t talk.
