Microsoft announces Surface Earbuds with Office 365 integration

[Karlston]

Microsoft announces Surface Earbuds with Office 365 integration

Microsoft is holding a special devices event today, where it has announced a refresh to the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro. The firm also announced the brand new Surface Pro X running a custom chipset. In addition to these devices, the company also announced the Surface Earbuds. The Earbuds are Microsoft’s answer to Apple AirPods and products from other competitors such as Samsung and Google.

 

The Earbuds can be controlled using touch, gesture, or voice. The company claims a 24-hour battery life for the earbuds and as with other competitors, it comes in its own charging case. The device has 2 directional microphones on each bud to pick up voice commands and can be paired with a single click, says the company. On Android devices, users can perform a double tap on the surface of the device to open and play music on Spotify. The company also adds that it has designed the device to fit comfortably in the ears all day.

In addition to the usual set of capabilities, what sets the device apart is that it can tie in with Microsoft’s Office apps for dictation, and in combination with Azure Cognitive Services, can transcribe user speech into captions in Office. Along with this, the device also supports over 60 languages for real-time translation.

 

The Surface Earbuds will be available later this year and will cost $249.

 

 

Source: Microsoft announces Surface Earbuds with Office 365 integration (Neowin)

[zanderthunder]

Here are the techspecs of Surface Earbuds:

Dimensions	Each earbud:         0.98” (25mm) x 0.75” (19mm)   Charging case:         Length: 2.93” (75 mm)         Width: 1.28” (32 mm)         Height: 0.98” (25 mm)
Weight	Each earbud: 7.2g Charging case: 40g
Exterior	Color: Glacier
Frequency response	20 – 20kHz
Speakers	13.6mm driver
Microphones	Two microphones per earbud
Battery Life2	Up to 24 hours of battery life battery with included charging case (8 hours of continuous listening time on a single charge, plus another two 8-hour charges with the charging case)2  A 10-minute charge provides up to 1 hour of battery life.2
Cord	USB-A to USB-C cord (1 meter)
Controls	Touch, tap, swipe, voice
Compatibility	Windows 10, Android 4.4, iPhone 5, iOS9, Bluetooth 4.1/4.2
Audio Codecs	SBC and aptX
Waterproof rating	IPX4
What’s in the box	Two Surface Earbuds, Charging Case 3 pairs of silicone ear tips (sizes S/M/L) USB-C™ to USB-A cable Quick start guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	1-year limited hardware warranty

 

[2] Up to 24 hours of battery life with the included charging case: 8 hours continuous listening time on a single charge, plus another two 8-hour charges with the charging case. Battery life may vary by usage. 

 

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/new-surface-earbuds/920bnghqjshs?activetab=techspecs

 

[Karlston]

Hands on: Microsoft Surface Earbuds review

Microsoft's mighty impressive answer to AirPods

(Image: © Future)

Early Verdict

Microsoft's Surface Earbuds are bigger, longer lasting and have far more robust features than Apple's AirPods. However, they're also more expensive and stick out like a sore thumb as compared to AirPods, making this a tough call so early in the game.

For

• Excellent fit
• Impressive audio performance
• Solid touch controls
• Neat translation feature

Against

• Kind of big
• Design is a bit bombastic
• Not as portable as competitors

Microsoft surprised us all at its October 2019 event keynote with the debut of the Surface Earbuds, the follow-up to the Surface Headphones and its answer to Apple's market dominating AirPods.

 

The Windows company's take on true wireless earbuds is far more robust and feature-rich than Apple's, but that also makes them more expensive and slightly less portable. 

 

Regardless, we're mighty impressed by the Surface Earbuds in practically every regard, from audio performance to additional features. Both Google and Apple have a not-so-little something to worry about, too, as Surface Earbuds will work on either platform.

(Image credit: Future)

Price and availability

When the Surface Earbuds become available before the end of the year, they'll call for $249 (about £199, AU$360).

 

That price includes, of course, two Surface Earbuds along with a rather sizable charging case and three sizes of silicone ear tips.

 

If you're keeping score, that price is 25% higher than Apple's AirPods with a wireless charging case, and more than 36% pricier than Apple's set with a normal charging case. So, do they live up to this marked price differential? 

 

 

(Image credit: Future)

Design and feel

As avid AirPod users, we'll say that while Microsoft's true wireless earbuds aren't nearly as turnkey as we find Apple's to be, they're certainly more robust in what they can do and how they're fitted.

 

For starters, Surface Earbuds aren't simply a "one size fits all" product, rather every box comes with 'small', 'medium' and 'large' ear tips, so that you can get that much closer to a truly snug fit for your unique ears. In this regard, there's far more personalization to Surface Earbuds than AirPods – even if you can't engrave the Surface Earbuds case for free, like Apple's ... yet.

 

However, while we find the fit to be incredibly comfortably and snug, the Earbuds' design is a little ... out there. Sure, we've become accustomed to the AirPods aesthetic, and we know how widely it's hated, but these things are just honking big.

 

They almost look like gauge earrings that you see peppered throughout the crowds when Warped Tour comes into town. (Imagine wearing gauges and these earbuds?)

 

Small side note here: we also find the charging case to be rather large, so much so that it looks as if it would be difficult to fit in your pocket. Unlike an AirPods case, these will probably live in a bag when not in use, whereas Apple's case fits in almost any normal pocket without issue.

 

With that size in mind, the Surface Earbuds do weigh a bit more heavily on your ears than AirPods, but that is somewhat offset by the customizable fit. The Earbuds don't get too far into your ear so as to be uncomfortable or create too strong of a seal in your ear canal.

 

In fact, Microsoft aimed for the Surface Earbuds to allow for a bit of ambient sound leakage, so as to be more conducive to office environments and outdoor use. We held an entire conversation with two Microsoft employees giving us a tour of the Earbuds with them still in our ears – we don't think we could do that with AirPods in our ears for certain.

 

Microsoft looks to make up for this allowance of ambient sound with clever audio engineering.

 

(Image credit: Future)

Performance

We're told that Microsoft has "the quietest room in the world" at its Redmond campus, where the Surface Earbuds were developed and engineered. It's here that Microsoft built its "Surface Omnisonic Sound" profile for the Surface Earbuds, which employs custom audio drivers designed to emulate the sounds of both live music and studio equipment.

 

However, that phrase also pertains to the voice response in the Earbuds using two microphones in each earbud. These help to cancel out background noise during phone calls or conversing with your digital assistant of choice.

 

Microsoft has also tuned the Earbuds to not climb above 108 decibels at the highest volume setting, so as to protect users' ears from permanent damage. Trust us, you don't even need all of those decibels to drown out the din of a keynote showroom flooded with a raucous DJ performance with Pearl Jam's "Jeremy".

 

But, that's just the beginning of what these earbuds can do. The caps on these headphones are capacitive touch surfaces (teehee) that respond to swipes and taps for different functions.

 

Swiping up and down raises or lowers the volume by about seven points per swipe, we've found. Meanwhile swipes forward or backward skip ahead or replay/skip back tracks, respectively. Double tapping causes audio to play or pause, and finally, holding a finger to either Earbud conjures up the digital assistant of your choice.

 

We say this because Surface Earbuds support Windows 10 (natch), Android devices as far back as version 4.4, Apple devices running iOS 9 or later and Bluetooth 4.1 or 4.2 protocols. We're also told specifically that using this long-press function on iPhone or Android will bring up Siri or Google Assistant, respectively. This will be managed by a Surface Earbuds app that will launch for all of these operating systems.

 

The gestures work just fine in our experience, and are quite intuitive. Even if you weren't given a manual, we imagine you'd figure out how to use each of these swipes and taps within a few minutes.

 

What really has mind-blowing potential, though, is live translation through subtitles. While the Microsoft event space Wi-Fi was a little too spotty to directly translate, we spat out a few phrases to see them appear as subtitles beneath a PowerPoint slide practically instantly. With a solid internet connection, this could be a game changer in a similar vein to Google's Translate function on its Pixel Buds.

 

Finally, the Surface Buds offer up to 24 hours of battery life, though in eight-hour increments at a time through two additional charges in the included case. That's plenty to get through a work day and the commute. 

 

Comparatively, Apple's AirPods are far more limited in their gesture control, down to only taps. And, while they offer the same 24 hours of battery, the AirPods can only last up to five hours at a time.

 

Charging the Surface Buds for 10 minutes buys you another hour of play time, while charging the AirPods for 15 minutes gets you a longer three hours of play time.

 

(Image credit: Future)

Early verdict

All told, the Microsoft Surface Earbuds have quite a lot going for them, and they're markedly different from the elephant in the room. They're bigger, longer lasting and have far more robust features than Apple's AirPods. They can also be used to nearly their full effect on a number of devices.

 

However, they're also a little more unwieldy in terms of weight, and they stick out like more of a sore thumb than even AirPods do, as so many claim. (Though, we don't really understand that.) They're also considerably more expensive and less portable than the industry leader.

 

The Microsoft Surface Earbuds in turn deliver excellent audio at first listen, and are more conducive to office and outdoor environments, like city streets. We can't wait to try the Surface Buds out extensively to see whether they're worth the extra scratch.

 

 

Source: Hands on: Microsoft Surface Earbuds review (TechRadar)

[Karlston]

Microsoft's Surface Earbuds will work with Cortana, Google Assistant, and more

At its event yesterday, Microsoft announced a number of new devices, including the long-rumored dual-screen handset - the Surface duo, a larger dual-screen tablet - the Surface Neo, and a bunch of other products. The firm also unveiled its upcoming Surface Earbuds with Office 365 integration, and touch, gesture, and voice control.

 

Now, according to Arif over at OnMSFT, Microsoft representatives have confirmed that these earbuds will work with digital assistants that are running on the paired devices. As such, although support for only Cortana and Google assistant has verbally been verified, it is more or less confirmed that Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, and other voice assistants will work with the earbuds as well.

 

Since no native digital assistant software is offered with the Surface Earbuds, it is expected that any digital assistant should work, as long as it is installed on users' devices. The fact that this process now seems to be completely device-dependent also implies that multiple digital assistants installed on the same device can probably be switched between without running into any additional trouble.

 

As announced at the event, the earbuds will also combine with Microsoft's Office apps and Azure Cognitive Services to offer a richer experience for users. They also support real-time translation for over 60 languages.

 

The Surface Earbuds will be available later this year for $249. Microsoft also opened pre-orders for some new Surface accessories yesterday that you can check out here.

 

 

Source: Microsoft's Surface Earbuds will work with Cortana, Google Assistant, and more (Neowin)

[zanderthunder]

According to the product video, Surface Earbuds also supports Fast Pair on Android (with the device must running Nougat and above).