Bose Stabilizes Headphones; No More Bouncy Earbuds

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At the Bose Store in Manhattan’s Time Warner Center, a conflagration of brand name boutique stores, the company gave reporters a sneak peak at the latest upgrade of their in-ear headphones.

Introduced last summer, Bose’s in-ear headphones (they won’t call them earbuds, bud) incorporate Bose’s Triport acoustic structure (also used in their professional aviation products and QuietComfort headphones) designed to reproduce deep bass by using three ports in each earphone.

While Bose claims the original design was well received by consumers, their research noted some complaints over the stability of the product, particular with active users (exercising, running …). Since Bose’s in-ear headphones rest lightly inside the ear, rather than the tightly wedged in-ear products of other companies, some users noted that they had a tendency to become dislodged during activities. To alleviate that problem, Bose has added a spring clip on the headphone’s wire, more secure silicone ear tips, and a rubber around-the-neck lanyard. The product’s enhancements don’t affect the acoustic characteristics at all, but do make the products more stable. The new tips, lanyard and clip are backward compatible to the original headphones, and in fact Bose will send them for free to existing headphone owners. As of March 15 the headphones with the new ear tips and a new black and white cord will be available for $99 (same price as the original) directly from Bose, and from authorized dealers in April. After March 16 owners of the original set can call 800-819-7032 to order the new tips, clip and lanyard. By June, the earphone set will include all the stability enhancements in the package.