Andrew O'hara
Renowned audio company KEF is launching a new set of true wireless earbuds to take on Apple's AirPods Pro. The Mu3 earbuds offer impressive battery life, noise-cancellation, and a unique design.
Available now, the Mu3 earbuds were designed by Ross Lovegrove in partnership with the London-based KEF acoustic team. They deliver KEF's signature sound using 8.2mm full-range dynamic drivers for "well balanced, coherent sound with rich midrange, detailed bass, and crisp high tones" and a frequency range of 20-20000Hz.
The case is intended to look almost like a sculpture with its smooth curves and the matching earbuds. USB-C powers up the case which provides an additional 15 hours of usage time on top of the nine hours in each earbud. Fast charging gives an hour of use after 15 minutes of charging.
They're protected with IPX5 splash resistance for all-weather wear. A multi-function button sits on each earbud to control music playback, audio mode, and volume.
The Mu3 connects over Bluetooth 5.0 for lag-free audio. Active noise cancelation blocks external noise and an "Ambient Mode" allows surrounding audio to be piped through, similar to AirPods Pro transparency mode.
You can pick up a pair in silver now from KEF for $229.99.
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6 Comments
Looks interesting, but I wonder how well they “play” with Apple devices. Also, do they pause what you’re listening to if you take one out of your ear, like AirPos Pro? This is one of my favorite AP P features.
KEF, my favorite speaker company. I listen to music for hours through my KEF Reference 107's speakers on a daily basis.
I read this as another KFC release at first.
I hope these sound better than the AirPods Pro. Their audio quality is disappointing.
I tried different sized ear pads, which make little difference.
I have a pair of KEF LSX wireless speakers and a KUBE 10b sub-woofer that support AirPlay 2.
They’re just great. So, I’m very curious about the new Mu3’s sound quality.
I'm a big fan of KEF's products so these are intriguing. I'm still trying to come to terms with the semi-disposable nature of true wireless headphones due to non-replaceable batteries. I love my original AirPods but they have started down the irreversible path of permanent battery discharge. If I used them every single day the cost would be amortized over their relatively short lifespan, but I don't need them every day so they are a luxury with a built-in rapid decay.
I'd like to see Apple make its AirPods available through a subscription model tied to Apple Music, with an automatic replenishment with a new pair when Apple detects that the battery has been depleted to a certain point. I'm thinking they could charge you something like $5.00 a month extra on your Apple Music subscription and supply you with a set of AirPods linked to a 24 month maximum refresh cycle, just so you'll always have a working set of AirPods. Anything that gets used up in a 24 month or less timeframe, like AirPods do, is essentially a consumable product, like toner cartridges in your printer. Something like the "shave club for men" for true wireless headphones doesn't seem like a stretch anymore.