Scandinavian audio startup Earin impressed us with its debut Bluetooth earbuds, which featured high-quality sound and a solid build. Now it's back for its second go around, showing off its M-2 earbuds at this week's CES, which build on its earlier wireless success by adding phone and music controls to the mix.
When Earin first launched its crowdfunding campaign for its wireless earbuds in 2014, it claimed them to be the world's smallest. Commenting on their design, my colleague Paul Ridden noted that there was an almost "Apple-esque quality" about them, which seems prescient considering the M-2's features that seem geared toward a certain headphone jack-free smartphone.
In terms of physical form, the M-2s look similar, but do have a slightly different design in that they bend rather than being straight and cylindrical. The company says this shape isolates the M-2's sound from the outside world. But tap a touch interface on the tip of Earin's latest buds and the user can answer calls and play, skip and pause music as well, features already claimed last year – along with volume control – by the Apollo 7 earbuds that we enjoyed from Erato.
In keeping with its tendency to make big and bold claims, the earbuds are said to be the lightest and smallest on the market. They also feature a magnetic docking capsule like their predecessors, which also charges the earbuds and offers three hours of battery life. There's no word yet on pricing, but the M-2s will become available in the first quarter of 2017.
Source: Earin (PDF)
