Microsoft Needs to Make Surface Earbuds (Premium)

Microsoft’s Surface Headphones don’t seem to make much sense as a standalone product. But as part of a broader family of related peripherals, it starts to make sense.

The Surface Headphones were announced at Microsoft’s hardware event, which you may remember as the event at which Panos Panay stole my laptop during his presentation. But the October 2018 hardware event was perhaps more notable because the software giant revealed only one truly new product.

Which was, of course, Surface Headphones.

I can’t find the exact quote because Microsoft hasn’t provided a full or partial clip from the event that includes this segment. And the only video it did post, Introducing Microsoft Surface Headphones, is one of those Apple copycat product videos that the firm can’t stop posting these days. But I distinctly remember Panay explaining the rationale behind Surface Headphones in terms of how people needed them in today’s modern, open-plan offices.

I also distinctly remember thinking at the time, nope. That’s not it.

Full disclosure: I’ve worked at home for almost 25 years, so my opinions about people working in offices might be a tad out of date. But when I look at Surface Headphones, I see a number of issues with this supposed use-case.

Those kinds of over-the-ears can-based headphones will cause your ears to sweat over the course of the day and will thus be uncomfortable. The only people I see wearing those kinds of headphones are in planes, where the noise-cancelation capabilities are appreciated, or are kids, and are wearing stylish Apple Beats headphones, not boring gray work headphones.

Second, what’s really needed, both in an office and on-the-go, is noise-canceling in-ear headphones. Earbuds, wireless or wired. Like the Bose QuietComfort 20 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones that I love and recommend. These headphones are tiny and light, and they work with and without noise canceling. They are a joy to travel with.

Also, if Microsoft was going to make bulky over-the-ear headphones, why on earth would it market them as a Surface peripheral. This thing has Xbox written all over it, and thus should be white and green.

So I can only assume that Surface Headphones is the first of a planned set of familial devices that will come about if they are successful enough. And that this form factor was chosen not because it’s superior in any way, but because it was the easiest/cheapest to make.

Don’t get me wrong, some people do prefer this kind of big, bulky headphone. And even if there were other choices, some would still choose it. But it’s weird that it’s missing some obvious functionality and isn’t part of a bigger family of products. Until you realize that it probably will be.

And please, Microsoft. Whenever you do expand the product line, be sure to add Xbox-themed versions too. Your fans will thank you.

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