Page 66 - Forbes - Asia (June 2018)

TECHNOLOGY BEN SIN // GADGETMAN

CLEARBUDS

MOST GADGETS NOWADAYS are While the sound quality on the demo unit
manufactured in Shenzhen, the south- didn’t blow me away, it is above average, with
ern Chinese city that grew from a fish- clear mids and solid bass. Vocals came out clear
ing village to hardware capital of the on podcasts and pop songs. One thing that
world in a decade. But before Shen- helps the Firefly stand out is its transparent
zhen’s rapid rise, Hong Kong had its casing, which is unusual in gadgets (although
own electronic manufacturing scene. Xiaomi just announced a transparent-backed
Most of those companies are gone now, flagship phone).
but a few, such as Nuu Mobile and Another feature that’s available on the Fire-
Holga Camera, are still proudly churn- fly (which I didn’t get to test) is rapid charging.
ing out products in Hong Kong. According to Cheng, the earbuds can ofer two
Louisa Cheng is hoping her compa- hours of playing time on just 10 minutes of
ny, Jabees, can follow in their footsteps. Started in 2004 by Cheng and charge (a full charge takes 30 minutes). I am
her husband, Joe Chan, Jabees initially operated as an OEM (original concerned, however, about the charging case,
equipment manufacturer), meaning it made electronic products onto which has only a 500 mAh battery cell inside.
which more famous brands (usually American) slapped their logo. Cheng says it will provide three additional
Jabees initially made budget audio equipment (think Bluetooth head- charges to the earbuds.
sets) for low-cost American carriers MetroPCS and Cricket Mobile. All the other features one would expect
But as Bluetooth connectivity got better and better, Cheng and her from a wireless headset, including the ability to
husband, Joe, decided to branch out. “We began experimenting with take calls and use voice assistant, are included.
our own products in 2012, but we were a bit concerned if it would sell, The Firefly even has a transparency mode that
so we sort of stuck with being an OEM for others, too,” Cheng says. That allows outside noise to filter in, making the ear-
half-in, half-out approach resulted in some decidedly average products. buds safer for runners or cyclists while using
The Chengs eventually realized that if they were to be taken seriously them on the road.
as a brand, they needed to focus their limited resources on just one area. In my testing, voice calls and digital assis-
“And so in late 2014,” she says, “we decided to stop being an OEM and tant operation functioned without a hitch, but
completely be our own brand.” transparency mode needs work: Noise came
Cheng had high hopes, partly because true wireless earbuds were in far too strong, overpowering the music. I
beginning to take of. (“True” means they don’t have a tether, or wire, found the fit and finish of the earbuds to be
running between the two buds.) Germany’s Bragi had just announced good; they stayed securely my ear during a
its ambitious Dash earbuds, and Apple’s AirPods were about a year away few test jogs. The Firefly is also equipped with
from being introduced. the latest Bluetooth standard (5.0), which is
I tested Jabees’ first true wireless earbuds, the BTWins, in 2016 and something other budget wireless buds do not
was impressed, but they sufered from connectivity issues, a common have. Cheng says the earbuds will be available
problem with true wireless earbuds at the time. at the usual markets in
The company is now back with a new set of true Hong Kong, Taiwan,
wireless buds named the Firefly, and in my brief South Korea and Thai-
demo of a preproduction unit during a meeting land following its presale
with Cheng, I found significantly improved con- campaign, and the price
nectivity. Best of all, the Firefly has a presale price could jump up to the
almost half that of the previous BTWins: $59. more typical $99 range.
That’s the core of Jabees’ business model, The Firefly seems to be
Cheng says: “We know it’s tough to compete with a great deal at $59, but THOMAS KUHLENBECK FOR FORBES (TOP); BEN SIN
all the brands out there, so we’re trying to ofer a once it gets up to $99, its
similarly featured product for less.” The Firefly is fun for the eyes as well as the ears. luster fades a bit. F
BEN SIN IS A HONG KONG BASED CONTRIBUTOR TO FORBES.COM WHO WRITES ABOUT CONSUMER TECH.

64 | FORBES ASIA JUNE 2018