With the future of the headphone jack looking increasingly grim, many of us are looking at our wired headphones and wondering how much life they have got left in them. Fortunately, there is a solution other than plunking down the cash for a new pair of wireless headphones: an adapter like Griffin’s new iTrip Clip Bluetooth audio adapter.
The iTrip Clip is a relatively small piece of hardware with a straightforward purpose: Plug in your headphones, and it acts as a combination Bluetooth adapter and amplifier. There are two ports — a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Micro USB port for charging — and the usual assortment of buttons that you’d expect to find on wireless headphones. If your car has an aux-in jack but not Bluetooth, you can even use the iTrip Clip to add hands-free capabilities.
“iTrip Clip ensures users can continue using their favorite 3.5mm headphones, with no worries about if their new smartphone eliminated the headphone jack,” Griffin category manager of power Andrew Biddle said in a statement. “Not only can our iTrip Clip make any pair of headphones wireless, it also puts the convenience of a Bluetooth sound system into any car.”
In addition to the controls, the iTrip Clip also features a built-in microphone for calls. The device works with iOS and Android, allowing the user to wirelessly interact with Siri, Google Now, and other voice recognition apps like Microsoft’s Cortana.
Range is stated as the standard Bluetooth range of 30 feet. As for battery life, Griffin claims up to six hours of playback or talk time on a single charge, and up to 180 hours on standby.
If you’re not sure about switching to a new wireless pair of headphones or sticking with your wired pair, the iTrip Clip is a fairly cheap experiment, retailing for $20. It will be on sale beginning in September via the Griffin website.
