Nextear Wireless Earphones Are Earbuds Worth a Second Look_

Many people think these are the best earbuds. There’s a reason that Nextear received more than 550% of its crowdfunding target in just a couple weeks – these wireless earphones really are smart, in more ways than one.

First, let’s talk about the case. This is easily one of the best earbud cases available, because not only does it house those small earphones when you don’t need them, it also acts as a connector, charging stations for the earphones, flashlight, storage station for songs, and extra battery storage if you want to give your smartphone a quick charge. When it comes to downloading songs, the device can hold 16GB of tunes in its flash memory. It’s an all-in-one design that makes you wonder why more people don’t favor it.

Of course, one reason people don’t use wireless earbuds is that they tend to fit poorly or get lost easily. The latter is answered by the case, but the former is addressed with a little video showing that a good shake can’t loosen the form-fitting earbuds, which is good to know.

The buds connect via Bluetooth to a variety of devices and offer stereo sound. You can choose to charge one bud while listening to the other if you prefer. Apparently 40 minutes of charge time will yield 4 hours of continuous play, which is hard to judge based on mere claims, but the batteries do use 50 mAh battery cells. The carrying case can hold four charges in total for the pair of earphones.

Nextear also comes with some consumer-friendly choices like various colors and other customization options that the founders only intend to unlock if they hit several hundred thousand dollars in funds raised (a far out goal, in multiple senses). The retail price is expected to be around $263, but you can get a pair for as low as $173 by jumping on the crowdfunding bandwagon. The first shipments are expected in October 2015.