Microsoft may be getting into the wireless headphone business, with a pair of earbuds that will serve as the little brother to last year’s Surface Headphones. Supposedly, they’ll be called the Surface Buds.
The company has reportedly been exploring more products to add to the Surface lineup, and is now planning to release its own pair of true wireless earbuds shortly.
Microsoft’s wireless earbuds are reportedly being developed under the code name “Morrison,” likely a reference to legendary rock singer Jim Morrison. Microsoft’s Surface Headphones were called the “Joplin,” a reference to equally lauded rock icon Janis Joplin, when they were in development.
It’s not a total shocker that Microsoft is developing a product in the wireless headphone space. Samsung recently launched its Galaxy Buds, Apple has had long-term success with its industry-leading AirPods, and even Amazon is reportedly working on its own true wireless earbuds with Alexa on board.
Rumor has it that the new Microsoft model (the official name is still unknown) will have Cortana integration, noise canceling, and great connectivity for music and video.
Depending on the price, the addition of noise-canceling could make the new Microsoft wireless model a very compelling product. Currently, there are no top-tier wireless headphones with active noise canceling, due in large part to the battery requirements of most modern noise-canceling tech. Wireless headphones are short on space, so adding a big enough battery to maintain the industry standard of 5 hours of listening time may be hard with such tech on board.
It’s true that Qualcomm has been hard at work developing significantly more energy-efficient chips for this particular genre of headphones, so there is reason to believe such a product is possible.
There’s no word on specific launch or design details for the Surface Buds, but many are speculating that the headphones could hit the market by the end of 2019.
