The headphone market is under pressure with brands such as Skull Candy, Monster and Beats struggling to hold onto marketshare, while the likes of Marley, Sennheiser and Sol Republic are witnessing growth.
One of the brands tipped to witness growth this year is JBL who showed ChannelNews a new range of headphones which several buyers tipped will be big sellers in Australia this year.
Among the new range are two new Bluetooth headphones the JBL Reflect Response BT and JBL Synchros S210BT. These headphones have an active motion sensor that allows the user to pause/play/change music and even pick up calls using the wave of a hand, this is similar to the technology now found in the new Samsung headphones which are also tipped to get traction in Australia in 2015.
The Reflect Response BT has an in-ear headphone design with a neckband and sweat protection. On the other hand, the Synchros 210BT headphones have two-way hybrid balanced armature drivers, which are touted to output better quality sound. Both the headphones are available in red, blue, green and black colours. They have a rated battery life of 8 hours. Pricing in Australia for the two pairs of JBL headphones have not been set yet.
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JBL also built in its proprietary Clari-Fi technology, which JBL engineers claim reconstruct compressed digital audio and improve the quality, to the JBL Synchros S700NC.
This headphone has an active noise-cancelling algorithm and 50mm drivers. JBL bundles a rechargeable Li-ion battery that is rated to last for 18 hours of continuous music playback. The Synchros S700NC has a detachable cable with iOS three-button remote/microphone cable and universal three-button remote/microphone cable included in the box.
It will be available in Australia late in the second quarter 2015.
Also from JBL is the new Reflect Aware in-ear sports headphones which gives the user the ability to mix ambient sounds with active noise cancelling performance.
JBL claims that the headphones redefine the meaning of a focused workout.
The headphones work in conjunction with the JBL Ambient Aware app. The big advantage is that JBL has been able to eliminate a battery box dedicated for noise cancellation. It comes with a small 4-button remote control for play/pause and volume controls in addition to ANC on/off.
Apart from these headphones, JBL also unveiled a tiny speaker the JBL GO. It will be available in a bevy of funky colour options like Black, Red, Orange, Pink, Grey, Blue, Yellow and Teal.
It is expected to have a playtime of 5 hours and features an Aux-IN connectivity.
