64 | FORBES ASIA JUNE 2018MOST GADGETS NOWADAYS are
manufactured in Shenzhen, the south-
ern Chinese city that grew from a fish-
ing village to hardware capital of the
world in a decade. But before Shen-
zhen’s rapid rise, Hong Kong had its
own electronic manufacturing scene.
Most of those companies are gone now,
but a few, such as Nuu Mobile and
Holga Camera, are still proudly churn-
ing out products in Hong Kong.
Louisa Cheng is hoping her compa-
ny, Jabees, can follow in their footsteps. Started in 2004 by Cheng and
her husband, Joe Chan, Jabees initially operated as an OEM (original
equipment manufacturer), meaning it made electronic products onto
which more famous brands (usually American) slapped their logo.
Jabees initially made budget audio equipment (think Bluetooth head-
sets) for low-cost American carriers MetroPCS and Cricket Mobile.
But as Bluetooth connectivity got better and better, Cheng and her
husband, Joe, decided to branch out. “We began experimenting with
our own products in 2012, but we were a bit concerned if it would sell,
so we sort of stuck with being an OEM for others, too,” Cheng says. That
half-in, half-out approach resulted in some decidedly average products.
The Chengs eventually realized that if they were to be taken seriously
as a brand, they needed to focus their limited resources on just one area.
“And so in late 2014,” she says, “we decided to stop being an OEM and
completely be our own brand.”
Cheng had high hopes, partly because true wireless earbuds were
beginning to take of. (“True” means they don’t have a tether, or wire,
running between the two buds.) Germany’s Bragi had just announced
its ambitious Dash earbuds, and Apple’s AirPods were about a year away
from being introduced.
I tested Jabees’ first true wireless earbuds, the BTWins, in 2016 and
was impressed, but they sufered from connectivity issues, a common
problem with true wireless earbuds at the time.
The company is now back with a new set of true
wireless buds named the Firefly, and in my brief
demo of a preproduction unit during a meeting
with Cheng, I found significantly improved con-
nectivity. Best of all, the Firefly has a presale price
almost half that of the previous BTWins: $59.
That’s the core of Jabees’ business model,
Cheng says: “We know it’s tough to compete with
all the brands out there, so we’re trying to ofer a
similarly featured product for less.”
While the sound quality on the demo unit
didn’t blow me away, it is above average, with
clear mids and solid bass. Vocals came out clear
on podcasts and pop songs. One thing that
helps the Firefly stand out is its transparent
casing, which is unusual in gadgets (although
Xiaomi just announced a transparent-backed
flagship phone).
Another feature that’s available on the Fire-
fly (which I didn’t get to test) is rapid charging.
According to Cheng, the earbuds can ofer two
hours of playing time on just 10 minutes of
charge (a full charge takes 30 minutes). I am
concerned, however, about the charging case,
which has only a 500 mAh battery cell inside.
Cheng says it will provide three additional
charges to the earbuds.
All the other features one would expect
from a wireless headset, including the ability to
take calls and use voice assistant, are included.
The Firefly even has a transparency mode that
allows outside noise to filter in, making the ear-
buds safer for runners or cyclists while using
them on the road.
In my testing, voice calls and digital assis-
tant operation functioned without a hitch, but
transparency mode needs work: Noise came
in far too strong, overpowering the music. I
found the fit and finish of the earbuds to be
good; they stayed securely my ear during a
few test jogs. The Firefly is also equipped with
the latest Bluetooth standard (5.0), which is
something other budget wireless buds do not
have. Cheng says the earbuds will be available
at the usual markets in
Hong Kong, Taiwan,
South Korea and Thai-
land following its presale
campaign, and the price
could jump up to the
more typical $99 range.
The Firefly seems to be
a great deal at $59, but
once it gets up to $99, its
luster fades a bit.CLEARBUDS
BEN SIN IS A HONG KONGBASED CONTRIBUTOR TO FORBES.COM WHO WRITES ABOUT CONSUMER TECH. THOMAS KUHLENBECK FOR FORBES (TOP); BEN SIN
TECHNOLOGY BEN SIN // GADGETMAN
The Firefly is fun for the eyes as well as the ears. F