The Fuse wireless earbuds can be charged in wearable cases

The most common thing people ask me when I use, review, or even talk about wireless earbuds is that they’re afraid to lose them. It’s a problem that Bay Area startup Ashley Chloe is trying to solve in a pretty novel way with the $199 Fuse wireless earbuds, which we just took a look at here at CES 2017. These tiny ceramic buds magnetically snap into a cylindrical adapter that can fit into four different kinds of charging cases — including two you can wear. 

Customers will be able to pick from a basic squarish charging case or a desktop dock, but the more interesting options are the bracelet or pendant necklace designs. Each case offer multiple extra charges on top of the Fuse’s four hour battery life, and just 15 minutes of charging will add an hour’s worth of battery back to the earbuds.

The earbuds have touch-sensitive controls for things like play / pause, and activating Siri or Google Assistant. Ashley Chloe reps also said that the accompanying app will let users tweak specific frequencies to their liking.

The Fuse earbuds will be available near the end of 2017, but it’s worth noting that the Kickstarter page for Ashley Chloe’s first product — wired earbuds that fit into a wrist-worn charging case — is riddled with comments about shipping delays. That’s not much of a surprise. If the last few years’ worth of attempts at making wireless earbuds are any indication, it’s that cramming powerful wireless features into such a small form factor is a major struggle. Reducing the risk of losing wireless earbuds is always welcome idea, though, and Ashley Chloe has proposed a clever solution to the problem. Here’s hoping the competition is watching.

The article was published on : theverge