Zipbuds’ new Slide earbuds promise to terminate your tangling woes

By Ryan Waniata Published July 15, 2015

There are few first-world problems more annoying than a tangled pair of earbuds. When reaching for the sanctity of your musical asylum, especially on a crowded bus or subway car, that knotted mess of a cables can seem to take an eternity to unravel, no matter how carefully you stowed them away. Zipbuds’ new Kickstarter campaign aims to change all that, with a sleek new pair of earbuds that stick together called the Slide. (Update: And here’s the company’s official site.)

You may have heard of Zipbuds before. We featured one of the company’s previous stabs at the tangle conundrum on our weirdest headphones piece, linked above. However, while the cables for those headphones literally zipped together via protruding teeth (hence their placement on our “weird” list), Slide’s solution is decidedly more elegant.

Recommended Videos

Through Zipbuds’ patented new technology, the forked cable at the top of the Slides melds together to form a tight seal, ensuring the buds won’t batter against each other in transit, and won’t come apart like the old Apple earbuds solution. And perhaps most appealing, the buds come together via a simple … well, slider that does just that to connect and retract the tight seal.

At the ends of the cables are an attractive pair of angled earbuds layered in silver finish, which the company calls the ComfortFit2. Zipbuds’ founders claim they used “top-of-the line” drivers, and since the company has been around for awhile, there are already established manufacturers in place to start construction once the campaign concludes.

The buds are available with the basic design, as well as with a mic and single-button control piece for an extra 10 spot above the purchase price. At the time of writing this post, there were still some of the Early Bird Slides and Slides + Mic left, which can be picked up for a mere $29 and $39 respectively. The company has raised around $20k of its $50,000 goal, with 28 days to go.

Of course, we have no clue if these things sound any good. And although the creators assure potential buyers the sound is “amazing,” at $30, we’re not expecting miracles. Still, if you just need a pair of traveling buds to blast your tunes from points A to B, the Slide make an enticing choice. If you’d like to pick up your own Slides, you can pledge your support at the Kickstarter page today.

Former Home Theater & Entertainment Editor

Ryan Waniata is a multi-year veteran of the digital media industry, a lover of all things tech, audio, and TV, and a…

Topics

Audio / Video

Sony’s new flagship headphones promise best-in-class noise canceling and calling

Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones seen in silver.

As expected, Sony has taken the wraps off the fifth generation of its flagship line of active noise cancellation (ANC) wireless headphones. The WH-1000XM5 have been priced at $400 -- $50 more than their predecessors, the WH-1000XM4 -- and they sport a new, lighter-weight design, dual noise-canceling processors, eight microphones, and hi-res audio capability. The XM5 can be pre-ordered starting May 12 in both black and silver (a sort of sand color), and general retail availability begins May 20.

Sony plans to keep selling the older XM4 model alongside the new XM5, at least for the foreseeable future. The biggest change to Sony's design for the WH-1000 series is a move away from the traditional flat-headband plus earcup forks design to an integrated approach. The headband sliders are now tubular and connect to a hidden pivot inside the tops of the earcups, creating a similar profile to both the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 and the Apple AirPods Max. The new design means that, unlike the XM4, which can fold flat, then fold again to take up less room, the WH-1000XM5 can only fold flat.

Mobile

These weird new earbuds are designed to dehumidify your ears while you listen

Linkface Dearbuds

True-wireless buds have sent ear infections spiking around the world, but a Samsung-backed startup may finally have a solution that can save you a trip to the emergency room. At the Consumer Electronics Show this year, Linkface, a company spun out of Samsung’s startup accelerator program, C-Lab, showcased a wearable that can dehumidify and disinfect your ears.

Called DearBuds, these devices can easily be mistaken for traditional wireless earbuds. But they’re what Linkface calls an “ear-care device” that goes in your ears after you’re done listening to music on the earbuds of your choice.

Audio / Video

Give your head a shake: Klipsch’s new earbuds use head gestures as controls

A close-up of the Klipsch T5 II ANC true wireless earbuds and charging case.

Today, Klipsch launched its latest true wireless earbuds, the $299 Klipsch T5 II ANC. As the name suggests, these are Klipsch's first true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC). But what makes these earbuds unique is their ability to sense head movements and use them to control phone functions like accepting or rejecting calls.

These gestures are enabled through Klipsch's partnership with Bragi, a company you may have heard about before. Bragi was an early innovator in the true wireless space and launched the $299 Bragi Dash in 2016. Those earbuds were loaded with sensors and onboard memory that enabled a host of features like fitness tracking. At the time, we felt Bragi had focussed too much on features and not enough on simplicity. In 2021, Bragi is using the lessons it learned with the Dash and Dash Pro to develop its Bragi OS -- a customizable, gesture-sensing software that Klipsch has incorporated into the T5 II ANC and the Klipsch Connect app.