Sol Republic's new Shadow Wireless earbuds come in black or gray with rose gold. Sol Republic
It’s winter in New York City, which means every time I go anywhere I spend fifteen minutes getting dressed. Sweater. Coat. Scarf. Hat. Boots. Gloves. Steely reserve against miserable cold. And for the past few days, the last thing I put on are Sol Republic’s new Shadow Wireless, the company’s first Bluetooth earbuds. They’ve been my companion everywhere I go, and they’ve sold me completely on wireless headphones.
These new $99.99 ‘phones will be out later this month. They have a flexible gray collar that wraps around your neck, with short cables connecting to two mushy silicon tips that jam deep into your ears. They’re a much more comfortable, better-looking take on the LG Tones, the massively popular and terribly awkward combo you’ve probably seen people wearing at the gym. But the setup is a little odd no matter how you slice it: since all the controls are on the collar, it constantly looks like I’m scratching my neck when all I want to do is change the song. Eventually, Sol says it’ll make a sporty version without the collar—I’m looking forward to those, since I found wearing what amounts to a necklace pretty weird. But even with the necklace, the Shadows are pretty innocuous and comfortable for all-day listening. The upside? They’re all but impossible to lose.
Reasons not to buy wireless headphones are rapidly disappearing
The biggest reason not to buy wireless headphones used to be that they didn’t sound very good. The Shadows aren’t perfect, either, but they are certainly good enough. As long as you really stuff the tips into your ears (I recommend making the requisite ear-opening yawning face while you put them in), you get impressively full and even sound out of the headphones. It’s the mids where they’re most impressive; bass is present but not quite thumping; and the highest highs get clipped a bit. Bottom line: there’s a really nice indie-rock sound profile here.
Truthfully, the entire “they don’t sound as good” argument has become overblown. Just about any half-decent pair of wireless buds will sound a hell of a lot better than the white EarPods that came with your iPhone, and those are what most people are using anyway. If you’re a particularly picky audiophile, wireless headphones aren’t for you–and that goes for the Shadows, too. But for most people, the convenience and simple joy of a pair of headphones that never tangles in your pocket or gets caught on your jacket is worth any auditory tradeoff.
The more compelling argument against wireless headphones is that they have batteries, and batteries die. That’s a fact. I’ll never forget digging my Beats Solo Wireless out of my bag on a cross-country flight, only to find that they were dead and I was stuck buying the ear-destroying $2 horrors from Delta. The Shadows do OK in this respect, lasting seven or eight hours on a charge. As the battery gets low they start reminding you every few minutes that, hey dude, it’s charge time. I haven’t been caught battery-less with the Shadows yet, but I do still carry around my wired Bose IE2s—just in case.
Thing is, I don’t think I’ll be fishing that tangled old pair out of my bag any time soon. I’m sold on the Shadows.
By all indications, wireless headphones are taking over. They’re one of the fastest-growing parts of the headphone market, and stores like Best Buy are starting to heavily promote them. (The Shadows will be sold exclusively at Best Buy, at least for now.) And they are getting better and better. First it was the cans— those big over-the-ear Beats models—now it’s the earbuds. Prices are coming down, too, so there are more options than ever. Since Bluetooth 4.0 uses very little power, you won’t be killing your phone and your headphones just to get rid of a wire. Companies are also starting to make their connections stronger, solving for the fact that your body is a wireless signal’s greatest enemy. (While I’ve been using the Shadows, I’ve had the occasional blip in a song, especially when I’m wearing my wintry getup, but it’s only been a few times and I’ve never completely lost connection.)
The best thing about wireless headphones is just that they’re wonderful
It’s hard to explain the best thing about wireless headphones, which is just that they’re wonderful. You can dump your phone in your bag or leave it on the table, and keep listening; you don’t have to jockey around the headphone jack when you want to play a game. I listen to music while I brush my teeth, while I work, and while I work out, and not having a cord get in the way is the best. Your headphones won’t get tangled when you take off your coat. They won’t get stuck on a stranger and yanked out of your ears. You can connect to multiple devices at once, so you’re not plugging and unplugging every time you stand up. All these improvements are small, but they add up to something huge. Tech is supposed to feel natural, invisible; wireless headphones just do. I wouldn’t buy anything else.
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