French audio brand Devialet is the latest high-end company to throw its hat into the true wireless earbuds ring. Today it announced the Devialet Gemini, a $299 set of true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation. You can pre-order them starting tomorrow, and Devialet says they’ll be available in the U.S. at Best Buy and Amazon starting on November 25.
If you’ve heard of Devialet at all, it’s likely you’ve encountered the company’s wild-looking and superb-sounding Phantom wireless speakers. The Gemini may not share all of the Phantom’s unique characteristics, but it’s clear that the company’s designers have taken inspiration from the Phantom’s distinct oval shape, which is echoed in the Gemini.
As with the Phantom, Devialet says it has developed a series of new technologies that set the Gemini apart from other high-end true wireless earbuds. Among them is its Pressure Balance Architecture, which employs three decompression chambers inside each earbud. They ensure the ideal inner pressure in order to preserve audio quality, according to Devialet.
Battery life for the earbuds is a claimed eight hours between trips back to the wireless charging case — it drops to six hours if you have ANC turned on. With an additional 24 hours of juice in the charging case, that puts the Gemini into the upper tier in terms of total endurance.
With an IPX4 rating for water resistance, the Gemini is on an equal playing field with the Apple AirPods Pro and should be able to withstand a good amount of sweat.
Devialet’s reputation for great sound quality will be tested with the Gemini. These earbuds are going up against the $300 Sennheiser Momentum 2, the $230 Sony WF-1000XM3, and the $249 Apple AirPods Pro, all of which have proven to offer both great sound and great noise canceling.
It’s a field that’s about to get even more crowded with Bose’s $280 QC Earbuds and Grado’s $260 GT220, which will be available before the end of the year.
As soon as we get a pair in for testing, we’ll let you know if Devialet has managed to harness the power of its Phantom speakers into a tiny set of earbuds, or if you should look elsewhere for great wireless sound.
