True wireless earbuds may rule the roost when it comes to portable listening, but Beyerdynamic hasn’t forgotten about the other kind of wireless earbuds. Its new Blue Byrd ANC in-ear headphones are neckbuds, aka neckband earbuds, aka in-ear headphones with a wire running between your ears that are still technically “wireless” because there’s nothing physically connecting them to your phone.
The new Blue Byrd in-ear headphones are an upgraded version of the second-generation model from 2021, now with support for active noise cancellation and a transparency mode. Turning on ANC drops the battery life from 14 hours to a bit over eight, and charging is still handled over USB-C, where a 10-minute charge gets you two hours of listening.
Neckbuds might seem less cutting edge than true wireless earbuds, but they have their advantages. Eight hours and 15 minutes of continuous listening with ANC on is better than what you’ll get out of a lot of true wireless earbuds (though Sony’s WF-1000XM4 come close with eight hours of playback). Then, when you need to charge them, you have the certainty of plugging in a physical USB cable rather than occasionally finding that an earbud hasn’t charged because it wasn’t seated properly in its charging case. And of course, you’re far less likely to drop a neckbud into a sink of dishes while doing the washing up.
In terms of other specs, the Blue Byrd ANC look mostly identical to the non-ANC model that proceeded them. There’s support for Qualcomm’s AptX Adaptive codec alongside AAC, and Beyerdynamic is also using Qualcomm’s cVc technology for canceling out background noise and echo on calls. There’s an IPX4 rating for protection against light splashes of water as well as support for Alexa Built-in, Google Fast Pair, and Apple’s Siri voice assistant.
The Beyerdynamic Blue Byrd ANC are available starting today for $149.
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