Microsoft’s place in the battle of wireless earbud makers is going to be delayed a bit as the tech giant’s chief product officer announced Thursday that more time is needed to get the details right on Surface Earbuds.
Panos Panay tweeted that the worldwide launch of the product, first announced at Microsoft’s Surface devices event in October and expected sometime in 2019, will be pushed back to spring of next year.
Product-making is about the relentless pursuit to get all the details right, which takes time…sometimes more than we planned on. To ensure we deliver the best possible experience for you, our fans & customers, Surface Earbuds will now launch worldwide in Spring 2020 #Surface
— Panos Panay (@panos_panay) November 21, 2019
The Surface Earbuds, reportedly priced at $249, feature touch sensors on each earbud to navigate music and calls. There are two mics embedded in each bud; there is 24 hours of battery life with an accompanying carrying case; and the Surface Earbuds take advantage of Microsoft’s cloud capabilities to translate more than 60 languages in real-time. The buds can also integrate with Office for real-time voice captioning during a presentation.
See the all-new Surface Earbuds. #MicrosoftEvent @rmseiler pic.twitter.com/4RO1lDCZHt
— Microsoft Surface (@surface) October 2, 2019
Microsoft, which debuted its $350 Surface Headphones last year, is clearly looking to keep up with others chasing Apple and its 2-year-old AirPods. Amazon has released its own wireless earbuds called Echo Buds, with Alexa voice technology, which sell for $129. Samsung also entered the arena with Galaxy Buds.