
My favorite earbuds of the year just got an open-ear makeover, as this top cheap headphone brand debuts 7 new models
THE SO WHAT
Seven new SKUs from a budget brand at IFA shows how fast audio is fragmenting into micro-use cases—open-ear, sleep, sport, work. If you’re building software or services around audio, don’t assume a single “headphone user”; segment by context and design features and pricing accordingly.
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