Well, we may have already found the strangest product on show at IFA 2017: the JBL Soundgear wearable speaker, which claims to not only be hands-free, but also ears-free as well.
While it sort of seems like JBL is suggesting that you don’t need ears to listen to the Soundgear (we’re no experts but we assume that you do), by ‘ears-free’ what it means is that you don’t need to shove anything into your ears (such as ear pods) to listen to your tunes. Sort of like a normal, regular speaker then.
The design of the JBL Soundgear lets it hang around your neck and shoulders, allowing you to move around your home, listening to music or podcasts, while keeping your hands free.
Freedom of movement
This makes it an affordable solution to more expensive multi-room audio setups, and by not using earphones it means you’re not completely cut off from the outside world.
The JBL Soundgear connects wirelessly via Bluetooth to media-playing devices, and comes with a dual-microphone setup that allows you to make and receive calls in high quality thanks to noise cancelling technology that can eliminate ambient noise.
JBL has also suggested that the Soundgear is a good accompaniment to virtual reality headsets – especially smartphone-powered ones such as the Samsung Gear VR or Google Daydream View.
The JBL Soundgear will be released in November with a price tag of £199.99 (around $250, AU$300). It’s certainly a unique device, and we look forward to going hands- and ear-free with it soon.
- IFA 2017 is Europe's biggest tech show. The TechRadar team is in Berlin to bring you all the breaking news and hands-on first impressions of new phones, watches and other tech as they're announced.
