First AirPods, now AirMuffs? – CNET

True wireless headphones are all the rage, but until now they've been in-ear models that nestle inside your ear and are relatively compact. But I figured it was only a matter of time before someone produced a different kind of cord-free headphones. Now someone has: Human, Inc., a Seattle-based start-up, has developed a lot of overheads that it simply calls Human Headphones. They also convert into a portable Bluetooth speaker and have a language translation mode, but their true nature is what makes them unique.

Read more: Best true wireless earbuds of 2019

I've been playing with a review for a few days. I can not say I'm in a rush to go out and buy a pair for $ 399 – yes, that's a pricey – but they do have some intriguing elements. Several years in the making, the headphones are only available at the $ 399 converts to about £ 330 or AU $ 590.

For starters, they sound decent. They have 30mm drivers and deliver the big sound you'd expect from full-size headphones. They're a touch bassy, ​​but they definitely have some punch and offer decent clarity. They also seem well engineered, with responsive touch controls and a nice matte black finish. They adhere magnetically and transform into a shell-like form that charges into a small docking station via USB-C. Tucked away into their carry case, it's much more than your typical set of over-the-ear headphones, weighing in at 3.68 ounces (104g). Too bad there's no noise-canceling feature.

Wearing them takes a little getting used to. To turn the headphones on you simply unclasp them. Each earpiece has a hinged clip mechanism that gently clips onto your ears (you give the earpiece a counterclockwise turn to get it on). They were pretty secure on my ears and I found them fairly comfortable to wear, but they are not light enough to run in. I think they'd better work with people. They do not seem to fit small ears securely.

I can not say I loved the human headphones when I was wearing them (a few people cringed). But they looked at them, and they could not have looked at them more than the AirPods. numerous jokes. You can wear glasses with them, and they will not mess up your hair.

The reality is that they are much more suited to wearing indoors. That's because they're designed to help you get your head on the head and back. These cover your ears like muffs but a lot of sound leaks in, making them harder to use in noisier environments like the streets of New York. In that sense, they're a little like AirPods.

Indoors they perform better. That goes for calls as well. The headphones are equipped with beamforming microphones designed to make your voice heard. On the streets of New York I had trouble hearing some callers. However, the following is a review

As a wireless speaker – and speakerphone – the headphones can not measure a $ 30 Bluetooth speaker – there is not much bass – but it does play louder and sounds better than your smartphone's speakers, so it's a nice little bonus. Alas, there's no stereo mode – the earpieces have to be put in place to work in a speaker mode, but there's just enough width to the soundstage to make the speaker a little bigger than it is.

I did not know how to do this, but it worked in a variety of ways, but it was not possible to test it in the real world yet. There's also "blending mode" that allows you to hear the world while you're still listening to audio on the headphones. The human app is available for iOS and Android and the company has been working on it.

As for battery life, it says you can get up to 9 hours of continuous battery life and Bluetooth range is up to 100 feet (or 30 meters). The headphones use Bluetooth 4.2 not the latest Bluetooth 5.0, but I did not encounter any major connectivity glitches in my few days of using them.

I came away from my initial trial impressed that someone had the vision to develop this product and get it to market. It's a bit strange and overpriced. But there's the makings of something interesting here. The next step would be to figure out how to get a seal around your ear. But at least you're getting some airflow to your ears, so it does not steam up like most over-ear headphones in the summer. And I'd bet they're providing some warmth for your ears in freezing weather. That's not something the AirPods can do.

I'll post a final review of the Human Headphones after I test them for a bit longer but they are available now. Human does a "30-day risk-free guarantee" so you can try them if you're not satisfied.