At today's event in London, HMD Global took the wraps off the Nokia 7.1, a premium-looking smartphone that offers somewhat compelling features such as HDR support. But the presentation wasn't just for phones, and the company also introduced two sets of wireless earbuds, offering very distinct designs.
The Nokia True Wireless Earbuds are two tiny earbuds weighing just five grams each. As the name suggests, they're not connected by a wire, working similarly to Apple's AirPods, and come in a case which is also capable of charging the earbuds. On a single charge, the True Wireless Earbuds offer up to 3.5 hours of audio playback or 4 hours of talk time, but the charging case can give them another 3 full charges, essentially bringing it up to 14 hours of music or 16 hours of talk time.
Thankfully, it doesn't look like the company made the sort of compromises you'd often expect in these kinds of devices. It's one of the few earbuds out there to support Bluetooth 5.0, and the charging case uses USB Type-C instead of the dying micro-USB connector. That may help justify the rather steep €129 (roughly $148) price tag, but it's still an expensive piece of gear.
If you're looking to spend a little less, you may find the Nokia Pro Wireless Earphones a little easier on the wallet. Unlike the pair mentioned above, these earphones are connected to each other by a wire, in a similar fashion to the OnePlus Bullets Wireless. Much like that headset, they offer a magnetic lock for keeping the earphones wrapped around your neck when you're not using them, and this mechanism can be used to end a call or pause music playback. The Pro Wireless Earphones also offer vibrating notifications and they last up to 10 hours on a single charge.
Unlike the other pair announced today, the Pro Wireless Earphones use Bluetooth 4.2, but they can be connected to two devices at once. They also use the older micro-USB connector instead of USB Type-C. With that being said, they come significantly cheaper, at €69 ($79).
A specific release date wasn't given for either set, but they should be available around the same time as the new Nokia 7.1. You can also keep an eye on the official product pages linked above to know when they're available for purchase.
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