Wireless headphones are improving faster than anything else in tech

                           
If you’re in the market for new wireless headphones, IFA 2018 has been an absolute treat for you. If, on the other hand, you just bought a pair, well... this is going to be an upsetting read. At this year’s IFA in Berlin, headphones manufacturers brought out a litany of meaningful, tangible, delightful improvements that have made the wireless audio market much more exciting than it was just a few days ago. Let’s take each new change in turn.
USB-C IS THE NEW CHARGING STANDARD

Anyone who’s been following my writing will know that I think this change is overdue. For months, I’ve been imploring headphone makers to get with the times — a majority of smartphones and laptops now charge via USB-C — but most of them kept updating their flagship models while keeping the flimsier and now outdated MicroUSB standard. No longer. Every new pair of wireless headphones or earphones I’ve come across here at IFA has featured a USB-C charging port. Whatever market data everyone has been looking at, it’s finally showing the investment into USB-C to be worthwhile, and the industry has promptly responded by flooding the Berlin Messe halls with USB-C-powered headphones.

Sony’s new 1000X M3s switched to USB-C charging this year, leaving my friends who already own the earlier generations holding their heads in despair. The absence of a USB-C charging port was one of the very few reasons I didn’t award the previous 1000Xs the prize for best wireless headphones. Now, many people who might have ruled Sony out and handed Bowers & Wilkins their cash for the excellent, USB-C-powered PX will have to reconsider. You may think I’m overstating this point, but the convenience of having one charger compatible with all your gadgets is the sort of thing that you’ll be loath to retreat from once you’ve tried it.

Beside Sony, Sennheiser added USB-C to its first truly wireless earbuds, the Momentum True Wireless, and Beyerdynamic outfitted its full range of new Byrd earphones and Lagoonheadphones with USB-C. I’ll admit, there are few stragglers like Audio-Technica dragging their feet with MicroUSB, but they’re increasingly in the minority. Flagship wireless headphones from this week onwards will all have USB-C as a standard expectation.
EVERY PAIR OF HEADPHONES NOW HAS A VOICE ASSISTANT TRIGGER

The added feature that Bose pioneered with the QC35 IIs last year — having a dedicated button to launch your preferred voice assistant — has grown widespread at IFA this year. Sony’s 1000Xs have a Google Assistant trigger, Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless do as well, and so do the Beyerdynamic Lagoon. iPhone users can opt to use the same function to talk to Siri. It’s no accident that I keep returning to these three pairs of headphones: to me, they represent a unified and extremely coherent vision for the immediate future of wireless headphones. They contain all the good ingredients that make IFA 2018 such a milestone moment for this product category.