Bang & Olufsen looks to be one of the early companies to begin offering fully wireless earphones with a wireless charging case. While we’re still waiting on Apple to offer a wireless charging case for AirPods (and AirPower), B&O is updating its Beoplay E8 premium earphones with a new wireless charging case and more.
After Apple missed its 2018 deadline for launching AirPower, it has continued its silence on the product. Meanwhile an updated AirPods charging case with wireless functionality has also yet to be seen. Most recently, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted last month that we’d see the wireless AirPods case sometime between January and March.
But it’s looking like Bang & Olufsen will beat Apple to the wireless charging case game with its refresh of the Beoplay E8 premium earphones. As reported by The Verge, Bang & Olufsen will introduce the E8 2.0 which will feature a new wireless charging case, bigger battery, and USB-C for wired charging.
The Beoplay E8 2.0 earphones will go for over double what the current AirPods cost at $350. That’s a $50 premium over the original E8 earphones without the wireless charging case. They will be available on February 14th from B&O and other retailers with the new accessories available standalone in April.
It not quite certain how Apple will rollout its wireless charging case for AirPods, but it will likely cost quite a bit less than B&O’s option. While it seems like B&O will beat Apple to offering earphones with wireless charging, there is a month or so window for Apple to surprise us, but I’m not counting on it.
For current AirPods owners, take a look at some much more affordable ways to add wireless charging in the meantime:
- Review: Wirelessly charge AirPods with HyperJuice’s handy adapter [Video]
- Review: The SliQ case adds Qi charging to your AirPods for $25, but not without compromise
Image via The Verge
