Brooklyn's Grado Labs opted to take its sweet time for its first wireless headphones, not joining the already crowded space until 2018 with the GW100 open-backed over-ears. Now the company has followed a similar path for its first true wireless earphones.
Though Grado is known for its open-backed headphones, and there are earphones with semi-open backs, the GT220 true wireless earphones sport closed housing.
"I’m pretty excited about finally releasing the GT220,"said the company's Jonathan Grado. "We’ve been working on these for the last two years, and I’ve been using them almost everyday for the past couple months. The battery life and charging options are some my favorite parts, really happy with not having to worry about if they’re charged or not. They kind of just always are. I think my mom is tired of me telling her ‘Look mom, no wires’ every time I walk by her with them on though."
The earphones feature Bluetooth 5.0, with support for aptX and AAC codecs, for high-resolution streaming, and users control playback and volume, and take calls or access digital voice assistants, by touching the Grado logo on the acoustically-optimized polycarbonate outer shells.
They are reported good for up to six hours per charge, with the charging case offering five full charges. The charging case can be placed on a Qi wireless charging mat (not supplied) or topped up over USB-C when its battery is low.
There's no active noise cancellation here, which means the likes of Sony and Apple still have the edge for isolating you from the outside world, but with Grado audio gear, it's all about the sound. The GT220 earphones are described as representing "Grado’s legendary engineering know-how in miniature" and feature 8-mm polyethylene terephthalate full-range drivers complete with the company's highly regarded sound signature for a natural overall response with defined bass.
We'd have to try these earphones out before we can confirm if they really do set "a new benchmark in true-wireless audio," but if our experience with other Grado ear candy is anything to go by, we'd be very disappointed if the sound was anything short of impressive.
The Grado GT220 true wireless earphones are up for pre-order now for US$259, with shipping expected to start on October 15.
Product page: GT220