Today I wanted to give all our Kickstarter fanatics, Lord knows I’m one, a heads up on what looks to be a cool gadget. The PUGZ wireless headphones. They’re small, even for wireless headphones, and packed with all the features expected of headphones in today’s world of smartphones.
These headphones a current Kickstarter with over $300,000 raised, six times their original goal of $50,000 with 28 days remaining in the campaign. They’re a beautiful minimalist design with all the features you’ve come to expect: the ability to change volume, skip tracks, start and pause music, and activate Siri/Cortana/Google Now. What set these apart for me, having looked at a lot of wireless audio solutions recently, was that they could be charge through your phone.
Now, like some of you, my initial thought to this was “Why? My phone often runs out of charge sooner than I’d like it to anyway,” but when I thought about it more, it made sense. The headphones are designed to be charged through USB or a smartphone, meaning that the majority of the time they’re likely going to be charged through USB ports. The problem, however, comes when someone is traveling or simply forgets to charge the headphones before going somewhere. There’s nothing I hate more about technology than when it runs out of charge when I’m in a place where I’m unable to charge it. This feature of the PUGZ makes it less likely that you’ll run into that particular frustration.
With aptX Bluetooth technology to ensure CD-quality audio over the air and a 4.5 hour active battery life that requires only 3% of the average smartphone battery to charge, these headphones sound like a solid option for the user looking to go wire-free without the weird neck-dongle. All they require are the headphones themselves and the charging cord, which uses a self-guided magnetic connector that they call “the squircle” to charge the headphones.
PUGZ are available on Kickstarter for the next 28 days at the time of writing. There’s one unit left at the “super early bird” rate of $99 and plenty remaining at the “early bird” rate of $119. Regular price will be $199.
Hey Dad,
Thanks for the review. I’ve gone ahead and backed these but did hold off for a while due to lack of info on the sound quality and/or fit(comfort). What is it they say in the promo video? kick ass sound or something. A tad more info would have been nice.
Unfortunately no units were available for review. We will be doing a hands-on review once units are available. I don’t like to make statements on sound quality or feel until I’ve had the opportunity to use the devices personally.
Update from 11/6 – Pugz did not get Apple MFI certification and the iPhone/iOS backers will not be able to charge their Pugz via Lightning port. This makes this pair of bluetooth headphones just like all the other versions on the market for iOS users. Pugz has refuse to refund their iOS backers even though they have missed their key goal of on-the-goal charging for these backers. See https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pugz/pugz-worlds-smallest-wireless-earbuds-you-charge-w/comments
Would like to add to the above comment. Because, once again, Apple has decided that they want to keep charging only for their own products, this is not the problem of PUGZ. If you own an Android phone, you will be able to use these to the full and disclosed purposes. I am a backer, and I am disappointed, only in the fact that these will now be delayed due to Apple doing what they do best, being proprietary.
Just received 2 of these in the mailbox. They do not support Google Now. Long pressing the middle button just turns them off.