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I particularly liked the part where he tells the engineer "you're not understanding me, I don't care why it doesn't work, I'm just telling you that it doesn't w

I particularly liked the part where he tells the engineer "you're not understanding me, I don't care why it doesn't work, I'm just telling you that it doesn't work. I'm a consumer and these are $300 earphones and they can't send a signal from my ears to my ass" [1] Reminds me of so many people I've worked with who think it matters to consumers/users why something doesn't work. Like they can justify it, and it's not that big a deal. 1. https://youtu.be/36Gw3tErUSM?t=16m20s https://youtu.be/36Gw3tErUSM?t=16m20s

dragonwriter 9y ago
> I'm a consumer and these are $300 earphones and they can't send a signal from my ears to my ass To be fair, that's not the intended function of earphones.
- joncrocks 9y ago
  From the video, they're wireless headphones, connected to his phone and his phone was in one of his back pockets and couldn't stay connected for more than '10-12 seconds'.
  - DiThi 9y ago
    I think he means the signal is supposed to go the opposite direction. Just a funny mistake.
  - throwanem 9y ago
    That's actually pretty typical; every Bluetooth earbud I've tried has tended to cut out when I move so that my body's blocking the signal path. Low-power, high-frequency signals like these really don't penetrate human tissue well, so when there's a large cross-section between the transmitter and receiver, not enough signal gets through for the decoder to produce audio. And the earbud form factor imposes a significant additional challenge, in that the antenna is already mostly surrounded by insulation. I mostly solve this by carrying my phone in a side rather than a back pocket. But it still cuts out if I turn my head far enough to the side, as when checking traffic in a road I'm about to cross. Them's the breaks - if you want to wear a radio receiver in your ear and carry the transmitter in your pocket, there's some physics you pretty much just have to deal with. Don't get me wrong - I totally get being upset with $150 earbuds that don't work reliably, especially when they're sold startup-style as the best thing since sliced bread and the cure for all the world's mobile-audio-related ills. But if that's your budget and solid signal in all circumstances is your major criterion, you might be better served by something that goes beyond the pure earbud form factor, like Apple's ones that have the antenna in an extension that puts it outside the pinna.
    - Accacin 9y ago
      I have some very basic £14 headphones by Anker that I use and I can have my phone in my back pocket and they don't miss a beat. The headphones that he's reviewing retail at $300.
      - throwanem 9y ago
        Those project significantly outside the pinna. Kanoa's don't appear to. Neither do the ones I've used. (Still do use a Rowkin Mini.)
    - joncrocks 9y ago
      Oh, I completely understand that it's a thing, having used many bluetooth headphones/headsets myself over the years. I was just trying to indicate that what he was saying wasn't just a hyperbolic/flippant statement, but a use-case not fulfilled by the product. I guess there's no easy way round the fact that we're ugly giant bags of mostly water :-)
    - vlozko 9y ago
      I'm not sure if that's truly normal and if it is, it shouldn't be. My first and only pair of Bluetooth headsets are the Beats X. I chose them because, unlike the AirPods, they stay in my ear and the ease of switching between my devices as the source. Never once had it cut out on me when I'm near my source. It only starts occasionally dropping when I'm 25+ feet away and with a wall in between. I'm not trying to say that Apple's are the best but rather am wondering if there's really that many headsets out there that perform so poorly.
      - throwanem 9y ago
        As with the Anker set mentioned by someone else here, the Beats X doesn't suffer the same limitation of size and antenna placement - the RF hardware is on the cord that goes around your neck, and not in your actual ear. That's a vastly more hospitable environment for an antenna intended to pick up a Bluetooth signal. The AirPods similarly include a design feature that places the antenna mostly in free air. The Kanoa earbuds do not. For comparison, my Rowkin Mini does fine anywhere in my apartment when my phone's sitting on the shelf by the door - but only if I happen to be oriented such that my head isn't between the earbud and the phone. If I turn to face the opposite direction, it cuts out and stays out unless I'm within about six feet. So the problem doesn't lie with the receiver per se, but with the thick layer of RF insulation that a human body can put between the receiver and the signal it's meant to pick up. I don't think it's a totally insoluble problem. But it is a very hard one. As I said before, I get the dissatisfaction with $300 earbuds that don't perform up to the claimed spec. But, to the best of my knowledge, there is no fully in-ear Bluetooth earbud available for any price which won't exhibit the same behavior to a greater or lesser degree.
- arethuza 9y ago
  The inexpensive wireless headphones I have have controls on the headphones which allow me to control my device my touching the headphones (which actually works really well - much easier to press the button on the headphones than get my phone out of a pocket or bag).
Waterluvian 9y ago
I get that a lot at work. I'm on the product team and all engineering I do is in service of a user in mind. I have colleagues on an engineering team who are sometimes more interested in the novelties of the technology itself. It's been very interesting to experience. I don't yet have any solutions.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> I'm a consumer and these are $300 earphones and they can't send a signal from my ears to my ass To be fair, that's not the intended function of earphones.

joncrocks 9y ago
From the video, they're wireless headphones, connected to his phone and his phone was in one of his back pockets and couldn't stay connected for more than '10-12 seconds'.
- DiThi 9y ago
  I think he means the signal is supposed to go the opposite direction. Just a funny mistake.
- throwanem 9y ago
  That's actually pretty typical; every Bluetooth earbud I've tried has tended to cut out when I move so that my body's blocking the signal path. Low-power, high-frequency signals like these really don't penetrate human tissue well, so when there's a large cross-section between the transmitter and receiver, not enough signal gets through for the decoder to produce audio. And the earbud form factor imposes a significant additional challenge, in that the antenna is already mostly surrounded by insulation. I mostly solve this by carrying my phone in a side rather than a back pocket. But it still cuts out if I turn my head far enough to the side, as when checking traffic in a road I'm about to cross. Them's the breaks - if you want to wear a radio receiver in your ear and carry the transmitter in your pocket, there's some physics you pretty much just have to deal with. Don't get me wrong - I totally get being upset with $150 earbuds that don't work reliably, especially when they're sold startup-style as the best thing since sliced bread and the cure for all the world's mobile-audio-related ills. But if that's your budget and solid signal in all circumstances is your major criterion, you might be better served by something that goes beyond the pure earbud form factor, like Apple's ones that have the antenna in an extension that puts it outside the pinna.
  - Accacin 9y ago
    I have some very basic £14 headphones by Anker that I use and I can have my phone in my back pocket and they don't miss a beat. The headphones that he's reviewing retail at $300.
    - throwanem 9y ago
      Those project significantly outside the pinna. Kanoa's don't appear to. Neither do the ones I've used. (Still do use a Rowkin Mini.)
  - joncrocks 9y ago
    Oh, I completely understand that it's a thing, having used many bluetooth headphones/headsets myself over the years. I was just trying to indicate that what he was saying wasn't just a hyperbolic/flippant statement, but a use-case not fulfilled by the product. I guess there's no easy way round the fact that we're ugly giant bags of mostly water :-)
  - vlozko 9y ago
    I'm not sure if that's truly normal and if it is, it shouldn't be. My first and only pair of Bluetooth headsets are the Beats X. I chose them because, unlike the AirPods, they stay in my ear and the ease of switching between my devices as the source. Never once had it cut out on me when I'm near my source. It only starts occasionally dropping when I'm 25+ feet away and with a wall in between. I'm not trying to say that Apple's are the best but rather am wondering if there's really that many headsets out there that perform so poorly.
    - throwanem 9y ago
      As with the Anker set mentioned by someone else here, the Beats X doesn't suffer the same limitation of size and antenna placement - the RF hardware is on the cord that goes around your neck, and not in your actual ear. That's a vastly more hospitable environment for an antenna intended to pick up a Bluetooth signal. The AirPods similarly include a design feature that places the antenna mostly in free air. The Kanoa earbuds do not. For comparison, my Rowkin Mini does fine anywhere in my apartment when my phone's sitting on the shelf by the door - but only if I happen to be oriented such that my head isn't between the earbud and the phone. If I turn to face the opposite direction, it cuts out and stays out unless I'm within about six feet. So the problem doesn't lie with the receiver per se, but with the thick layer of RF insulation that a human body can put between the receiver and the signal it's meant to pick up. I don't think it's a totally insoluble problem. But it is a very hard one. As I said before, I get the dissatisfaction with $300 earbuds that don't perform up to the claimed spec. But, to the best of my knowledge, there is no fully in-ear Bluetooth earbud available for any price which won't exhibit the same behavior to a greater or lesser degree.
arethuza 9y ago
The inexpensive wireless headphones I have have controls on the headphones which allow me to control my device my touching the headphones (which actually works really well - much easier to press the button on the headphones than get my phone out of a pocket or bag).

Waterluvian 9y ago

I get that a lot at work. I'm on the product team and all engineering I do is in service of a user in mind. I have colleagues on an engineering team who are sometimes more interested in the novelties of the technology itself. It's been very interesting to experience. I don't yet have any solutions.