Bang & Olufsen’s Beoplay E8 Sport are pricey wireless earbuds for workouts
While Bang & Olufsen had the E8 Motion for more active lifestyles, the company didn’t offer a set of true wireless earbuds designed to fully withstand sweaty workouts. Today, B&O announced the E8 Sport: a pair of earbuds based on the third-generation E8 design, including all of the improvements to sound quality, battery life and calls that model offers. What’s more, the E8 Sport has improved water resistance — from IP54 up to IP57. In other words, this new version can withstand full immersion up to one meter (about three feet) for up to 30 minutes. That’s a significant upgrade over the E8 Motion’s splash protection.
Speaking of moisture, the E8 Sport has gripped details that help you better utilize on-board controls when your hands are sweaty. Those controls will allow you to skip tracks, take calls, activate a transparency mode and more with a swipe or tap. The E8 Sport also comes with a selection of fins to help you keep the earbuds in place during a run or workout. Bluetooth 5.1, AAC and aptX support should keep you connected and the music sounding crisp and clear during all of your activities.
B&O’s press release doesn’t go into much detail, but since the E8 Sport is based on the E8 3.0, battery life should be around seven hours on the buds. When you factor in the included charging case, you should be able to manage 35 hours total thanks to the four additional charges the accessory allows. Plus, the case is equipped for wireless charging — a feature that’s increasingly common, but still not standard just yet. There’s also a quick charge feature on the third-gen E8 that gives you an hour and a half of listening time in 20 minutes.
Like the E8 3.0, the E8 Sport is $350 (350€/£300). That’s pricey for a set of true wireless earbuds these days, especially one that doesn’t have active noise cancellation (ANC). If that doesn’t deter you, these sporty buds will be available from B&O and other retailers in black and “oxygen blue” on July 9th.
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