PC World - USA (2019-11)

NOVEMBER 2019 PCWorld 23

Microsoft says the Surface Earbuds come in just a

single color, Glacier White, but there were gray

earbuds on display, too.

pcworld.com/earg), the polarizing ear

jewelry that can be attractive to some and

disturbing to others. Microsoft’s Surface

Earbuds don’t fit tightly in the ear—and that’s

a good thing, in my opinion—instead resting

lightly in the ear canal so that you can hear

other ambient noise around you. The white

discs are in fact control surfaces, which you

swipe and tap to execute actions through

your Earbuds.

I detest in-ear earbuds, because my ear

canals either fail to hold the earbuds securely,

or they get jammed in so uncomfortably that I

quickly remove them. Microsoft provides

three sets of silicon tips to fit your ears. The

medium-sized tips fit me snugly and

comfortably after a bit of adjustment.

Microsoft provided guided demos of the

Earbuds. When it came to be my turn, I tried

When Cortana was de-emphasized, down
went the Headphones. With the Earbuds,
Cortana appears just once on the Earbuds’
one-page product sheet. Instead, the secret
sauce is its cloud transcription capabilities,
plus what Microsoft is touting as a superior
audio solution for apps like Spotify.
At $249 (go.pcworld.com/byeb), the
Surface Earbuds are $50 more than the
Apple AirPods—which will inevitably be
seen as a competitor even if Microsoft’s
earbuds do much more. Microsoft may also
have a shot at putting a Cortana-powered
earbud on the market before Amazon
launches the Amazon Echo Buds at the end
of the month for $129.99.
Here are the Surface Earbuds in short:
They’re 7.2 grams apiece, measuring just
under an inch by 0.75 inches. Inside is a
13.6mm driver, good for 20Hz to 20kHz of
frequency response. The Earbuds can process
both aptX and the SBC audio codecs. They’ll
work with Android 4.4 and above, Windows
10, iOS 9, and Bluetooth 4.1/4.2. They’re
“waterproof,” with an IPX4 rating that means
that they can withstand water being sprayed
on them for five minutes. The Earbuds are
good for 24 hours of charging via the
charging case: 8 hours per charge, with two
“refills” from the case.

A COMFORTABLE FIT
Viewed on someone else, the Surface
Earbuds remind me of ear gauges (go.