Today, HMD announced a new set of headphones with a case that doubles as a backup battery for your phone. The aptly named Amped Buds wireless headphones come with a Qi2 charging case that uses reverse wireless charging to boost your phone’s power. With a slim design and a 1,600 mAh battery, this portable case provides enough charge to last you through the day. The price is 199 euros (about $206) and will be available in April. We do not yet know if they will be available in the US.
Amped Buds have active noise cancellation and ambient noise cancellation. The case is IPX4-rated for dust protection and the earbuds are IP54-rated for splash protection. The case is 14 mm thick and the earbuds have a hinge that allows you to insert them directly into the case for charging. They are spring loaded, so when you insert or remove them from the case, you will hear a nice click. Take the earbuds out and you’ll fold the stems forward to match your standard headphones.
The case and earbuds are color-matched and available in blue, black, and pink. With Qi2 support, the case connects to Qi2 and MagSafe phones with a magnet to ensure a secure fit while charging. It can be used with magnetic phone cases or with any regular phone with wireless charging (it just won’t stay on securely), and there is a USB port for wired charging. Of course, you can also just use the case to charge the headphones themselves – according to HMD, it charges them more than ten times faster, giving you up to 95 hours of music playback before you have to recharge the case again.
It’s a smart concept that makes immediate sense. Many of us are already used to charging and carrying headphones, so there’s no need to learn a new behavior. You just carry your headphones with you as usual, and if you run out of battery, you have a spare on hand, or you just have a huge battery to recharge your headphones. Pretty clever.
HMD announced the headphones at MWC, where it also unveiled a FC Barcelona-branded phone and a safety-focused phone for teens developed in conjunction with children’s smartwatch maker Xplora. But the headphones seem to me to be the most interesting new offering.
