Etymotic Research officially announces ety.8 Bluetooth earphones

We first caught sight of Etymotic Research's ety.8 Bluetooth earphones back in September courtesy of our friends at the FCC, but the all-in-ear, all-the-time company's now finally gotten around to officially announcing them -- looking slightly more prettied-up for their final press shots, but still rocking that same eye-catching design we loved so much. As we knew before, the earphones support A2DP and AVRC Bluetooth profiles and pack Broadcom's BCM-2037 chip set, which keeps the power consumption low and the size "small," with the rechargeable battery promising eight to ten hours of juice per charge. iPod users willing to forgo a few style points to cut some wires can also opt for a special "Made for iPod" package, which'll let you control the player directly from the earphone instead of having to endure the inconvenience of reaching into your pocket. You can look for these to be be available next month for $199 for the standalone phones, or $299 for the iPod kit, each of which comes bundled with a leather case and a stash of replacement earphone tips and filters.

[Via Mobile Tech Review]

[JustEaton @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:18AM]

Yes! Thank you, I've been waiting for this day for awhile now...

[- @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:42AM]

Finally, I can use this while watching movies while on the erg (rowing machine) and not have a cable constantly bat against me or foam muffs that get all sweaty. I like how the cable has no odd pendant or nubby (wiREVOs) that I'd worry about getting wet.

[Eric @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:45AM]

For Etymotic, the price is looking really good. Hopefully there's not a huge tradeoff in sound quality. Until that question is answered I'll $200 in my pocket.

[Javaflash @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:06AM]

I don't know...

There is a cheaper, market-ready solution... 2nd Generation iPod Shuffle with a 3rd party magnetic bud earphones. We have to carry SOMETHING at some point.

[Edward @ Nov 22nd 2006 4:46AM]

it looks stupid. big transmitter each side of earphone, which looks like box, doesn't make me good. when you wear it actually, you look very strange, and that things will be heavier so that you can't really wear for a long time. I don't get it. why you think it is good design. it's totally out of look.

[santiago @ Nov 22nd 2006 5:21AM]

Those are cool and all but, geez... so... fugly.

[george @ Nov 22nd 2006 9:27AM]

sure everyone buy them, but good luck getting laid this century!

[Thomas Devol @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:08AM]

Those earphones are not worth 200$. Maybe 20$ at most. Why rectangles? Could they have at least made them ovals, or circles?. What if they removed them from being close to the ear and move large bulky components to the valley of the cord so they could be tucked under the collar of the shirt behind the head? Or better yet, they could have even sluffed them down to the shoulders, or put them together at the top of the head like a little cap! Anything better than having box ears!

[bitstream @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:04AM]

FUGLY doesn't even begin to describe these things. They had to have outsourced design to some back woods Chinese company.

Nobody will buy these things and admit it. They certainly won't wear them outside of the house for fear of embarassment. They look like you're getting a hearing test or something...

[Michael @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:27PM]

People already walk around with their ridiculous Bluetooth headset in their ears even when not on the phone. I admit that the design could have been better. This will happen over time with smaller electronics and efficient designs that require smaller batteries.

I would like to see an alternate design as mentioned by others where the control and electronics are away from the ears. Keep in mind though that designs like this are not the best for sporting activities where there is a lot of jarring motions. You can put lots of strain on the wires and eventually cause open circuits.

I have a pair of Etymotics and they sound great. I prefer them over my Shures. If these sound nearly as nice, they will do well. The convenience of no wires seems to be priority ahead of looks. I do not own nor would I walk around with a Bluetooth headset on. And I do not walk around town with headphones on. Who does? I prefer to interact with people unless, I am my desk or on a train. In relatively private setting, looks do not matter. If they do, take a look at your slick headphones. They used to look as goofy (looking different is looking goofy).

[Edward Drewery @ Nov 23rd 2006 1:55AM]

move to ny - iec phones are a freaking godsend here. not only do i get to avoid

the
uhmm
ditzy
uhmm
girl
uhmm
in like
uhmm
the line
uhmm

but i also get to ignore the feces stained drunken kung fu master homeless guy that wants to tell me his life story... i just point to the phones and mouth, sorry i can't hear you.

Pfftt... give me more devices to provide some solitude, fwiw, i userd my er6i's tonight for 3 hours as earplugs because my jackass neighbor decided to open the intrusion alarm equipped roof door and the super refused to come into the city and turn it off.

Yah, i'll give ety more money - ANY TIME... and their customer service is FANTASTIC.

[noisy_carpet @ Nov 23rd 2006 6:57AM]

they look so huge that you probably can exercise your neck muscles just by wearing them. A fitness gadget, definitely.

[aaron @ Dec 5th 2006 4:20PM]

At first I thought these looked ugly..and honestly i think they still looks a bit odd, but after looking on the Etymotic Webpage and there is a shot of a guy wearing them, and they don't look too bad. The wires connecting them doesn't seem that bad either. I have a pair of Ety ER4P's and I love them, and I did not buy them for their looks, in fact they look a bit odd too. I bought them for their superior sound quality, which they have. And after studying the specs on the webpage about them, they look to hold up pretty well to the Ety4P's which is awesome. As soons as I save some scratch I will be buying these no doubt. And as for the wire getting in the way, i kind of like the idea of them being linked to each other so they dont get misplaced. I coudl do without the controls on the headset though. Since you are wire free it will take nothing to take your ipod out and use its controls. My only concern is someone just snatching em off your head and running...but maybe that is the point of the "ugliness" who in their right mind would think to steal such odd looking things...and since they arent attached to anything (ipod) the burglar might just think it is some headset for a phone. Just my thoughts...lates