Surface audio headphones: a bold move by Microsoft
8.2.2019
Translation: machine translated
When Microsoft announces a brand new product, it's well worth a look. Even more so when it's a Surface audio headset. With these headphones, Microsoft intends to conquer a market that the multinational has never ventured into before.
"Microsoft doesn't just create software" is the key message at the opening of its Pop Up Store on Zurich's Poststrasse. This respectable company shows itself to be young and hip, judging by the artificial grass, lounge area and industrial-style wooden furniture that punctuate the three floors it occupies. The latest products from the Redmond-based company are displayed on the tables. There are laptops and even the Surface Studio. But one item seems to stand out from the crowd: it's their headphones.
The Surface Headphones are supposed to shake up the market by allowing Microsoft to make its mark in the audio segment, and not just "the fluffy laptop segment".
A promising headset
The Surface Headphones stands out for one feature. This is an on-board control on each of the two earpieces. The one on the left adjusts the active noise cancellation function, while the one on the right adjusts the volume. These headphones seem relatively bulky because of the four microphones on each side, two for noise reduction and two others for conversations. Once placed on the head, the headphones don't squeeze.
At a Pop Up Store presentation, there was talk of a "unique listening experience" and "high-end finishes" (sic). I can't judge the sound conclusively, having only been allowed to test the headphones for a few minutes. It was specially flown in from the United States - where it has already been on sale for some time - so that the press could test it. Its launch in Switzerland is expected to take place in a few weeks.
Microsoft is finding it hard to shake off the image of the round leather man in a suit and tie. And as proof, the first scene of the headset advert opens with a woman wearing a blazer during a conference call.
The headset will be launched in Switzerland in a few weeks' time.
By way of comparison, Apple called on dancers and creative minds for the launch of its AirPods. At Microsoft, the latter take second place to the business traveller and the conventional man wearing a grey top. Microsoft sees its headphones as the ideal support in an open office. The active noise cancellation function would even attenuate other teleconference calls and similar noises.
Soliloquy on a computer
This headset supports Cortana technology. At Apple, it will be Siri, at Sony with the WH-1000XM3, Google Assistant. But who actually uses Cortana?
As far as we can tell, the headphones have a battery life of 15 hours, which is "enough to cover the longest intercontinental flight". The USB-C port allows the empty battery to be recharged in just over an hour, according to Microsoft's claim that five minutes of charging time equates to an hour of use.
The two pads conceal four-centimetre diameter speakers.
First impression: an interesting device as anything, and not just because Microsoft is getting into the business. So it's worth checking out...
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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