Technological Trends to Look Out for in 2017 Episode 4: Wireless Headphones
Wireless audio is another technology that isn’t exactly new; in fact I remember when I had my first pair of wireless headphones in the early 1990’s, they were this colossal pair of over the head headphones, that seriously looked like something from a 1980’s science fiction movie. They had big antennas sticking out of each earpiece wirelessly transmitting to a receiver dock which was plugged into the auxiliary port of my hi-fi/television dependant on which device I wanted to listen to. It seemed revolutionary at the time but the sound quality wasn’t great, the range and interference were even worse and don’t get me started on the battery life!
So what is with the resurgence of wireless headphones now? Although I don’t think you can call it the full definitive factor, but Apple’s notion to do away with the 3.5mm jack definitely put some weight behind the need for wireless audio this year. With rumours that other popular smartphone brands will also be ditching the 3.5mm jack, this only adds more fuel to the wireless fire. The reasoning behind the event many people on social media called #jackgate is that the analogue port just took up too much space with it being such old technology; it was time to fill that area with new technology.
Whilst talking rumours of other smartphone brands, it is also rumoured that this year we will see the arrival of smartphones with Bluetooth 5. Bluetooth 5 is a dramatic improvement on current Bluetooth technology; it promises 4 times the range current Bluetooth has and doubles the speed all without increasing power consumption. This would work perfectly in conjunction with the resurgence of Bluetooth headphones; the gripe many users have currently is losing range and the sound cutting out, with this area strengthened and quadrupled in range, means no more sound drop outs due to the device being too far from the headphones.
The current headphone market is pretty extensive, there is a great range with several different price points and many different styles, including a limited range of wireless headsets. In my personal opinion I think suppliers this year will reduce their focus on wired earphones and start limiting these ranges, whilst placing more emphasis in taking the wired headphone styles and incorporating Bluetooth into them. One thing I am excited to see this year is if anyone goes down the same root as apple has and creates minimalistic Bluetooth earphones, that have a dedicated charging box, the reason being is I believe the charging box provides another great opportunity for the product to be further branded!