Big News

Hot on the heels of the Solo 2, the sequel to its uber-popular on-ear model, Beats has now introduced the Powerbeats 2 Wireless, a Bluetooth version of its Powerbeats sports earphones.

The original wired Powerbeats have been on the market for a while, but got a boost in recent years thanks to basketball star Lebron James promoting them in a memorable US television ad. Beats says the new model has been inspired by James, and he is credited as a "co-creator."

At $200 (around £120 and AU$210, with official UK and Australian prices yet to be announced), the Powerbeats 2 Wireless is a pretty pricey headphone. But that may not bother you if you're looking for a comfortable, lightweight Bluetooth sports headphone that performs well.

The earphones are sweatproof -- but not waterproof -- and come in white, red, and the black you see here. In many ways they're reminiscent of the earlier, corded Powerbeats, with the same ear hooks that help keep the headphones securely on your head.

These new hooks have some bend to them (they're pliable) and you can customize the shape to fit around your ear better. A three-button inline remote and microphone are built into the cord for making hands-free calls and skipping tracks forward and back, as well as adjusting the volume.

The headphones come with a few different sized of silicone eartips. Beats reps told me that, depending on the eartips you choose, you can opt to go for a tighter seal or leave some breathing room to let ambient noise in for safety reasons. Many people like to be able to hear cars coming when they're running or biking.

That said, because of the way the headphones are shaped -- and the way my ears are shaped -- I wasn't able to get a really tight seal with any of the eartips, so I was always left with a slightly more open fit. When that happens, you do lose a little bass, but the only time I found the looser fit to be a problem was when I was in an environment where there was a lot of noise -- the New York City subway, for example.

Overall, I liked the way the headphone fit and you can adjust the cord length with the little crimp that's included. From a sound standpoint, as I said, despite the inability to get a tight seal, I thought it performed well for a Bluetooth headphone.

It plays loud and has relatively clean, aggressive sound that's filled out with rich bass that thankfully isn't overpowering. That seems to be Beats' MO with its new headphones: scale back the bass a bit while punching up the treble detail. As with the Studio Wireless and Solo 2, I wouldn't call this a balanced headphone, but it is more balanced than last-generation Beats headphones.

This is a Bluetooth 4.0 headphone that's firmware upgradeable and charges via micro-USB. It gets about 6 hours of playback from a single charge, which isn't great, but that's about what competing products like the Plantronics Backbeat Fit deliver. Beats says that a 15-minute "quick-charge" gives you an hour of non-stop playback. Unfortunately, the headphone doesn't automatically shut off when disconnected from your phone's Bluetooth.

I spent some time with the headphones in the gym, both lifting weights and running on a treadmill. In all, despite a few small shortcomings, I was fairly impressed and came away thinking that the Powerbeats 2 Wireless is one of the best wireless sports earphones, combining strong sound with a shape that should comfortably fit most people. That makes it a pretty safe pick in a category (wireless earphones in particular) that doesn't have a lot safe picks.

The only problem, of course, is that it's expensive. Overall, this feels more like a $150 headphone, but hey, Beats has gotta pay Lebron and all those other celebrities, so $200 it is.

The Beats Powerbeats 2 Wireless is available this month (June), with broader distribution in July. I'll post a full review after I test it a little longer and we do some jury testing among other editors.

If your kid's been begging for an iPod Touch, I've got some bad news. Apple has quietly discontinued the most affordable entry point into the world of iOS, the $199 16GB 4th-generation iPod Touch, an update of the 2011 model with a 3.5-inch screen. It's just as well since little Junior would have suffered some peer humiliation for not sporting one of the latest, greatest 5th-gen iPod models -- clearly distinguished by their bigger screens and candy-colored aluminum casing. Those models start at $299 for 32GB, or $399 for double the storage.

A bad Bluetooth device will ruin even the most engaging gab session. That's why it's important to select the right headset, and this guide is here to help. If you need a great hands-free headset right now, definitely check out the Plantronics Voyager Legend. Not only is it lighter and smaller than most devices equipped with a big boom mic, the Legend delivers superb audio quality and has a design

Libratone, the company that brought you the cylindrical Zipp, has given birth to another wireless speaker.

This one's circular and appropriately called the Loop (I would have preferred Ring, but Loop is OK). While it has some heft to it -- as you'd expect from a $499.95 speaker -- it's pretty compact and looks like a speaker that Bang & Olufsen would sell, which perhaps isn't so surprising when you consider

They're small. They're portable. And they're breeding.

Yes, the mini wireless Bluetooth speaker has come of age, and it seems as if every week we see a

     

Wireless audio systems are notoriously tough to get right, and while many have tried (and some are still trying), Sonos is arguably the only company that has truly succeeded.

LAS VEGAS--The last time we caught up with Valencell, the company was hoping its PerformTek fitness-monitoring sensor technology would be available to consumers last fall. It's taken a little longer than expected, but the tech has been licensed to Iriver and will be available in March in the form of the $199 Iriver On earbuds.

Sound bars have always seemed like starter home audio systems almost by definition, sacrificing performance for a slim, convenient design that sounds "good enough."

Sony's trying to change that reputation with its newly announced HT-ST7, a decidedly high-end sound bar with audiophile aspirations and a $1,300 price tag. And while the system isn't breaking any particularly new ground -- it's a typical 2.1-channel sound bar-subwoofer system -- it aims to do everything better, especially when it comes to playing music.

What I will say is that the AE2ws are surprisingly impressive wireless headphones. They're arguably the most comfortable over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones on the market and they manage to passively seal out a good amount of external noise.

I've reviewed a number of portable headphone amps over the years, but they just took the analog output of a phone or MP3 player and made it sound better. Ideally, you want to totallybypass the player's digital converters, but up until recently that was a very expensive proposition. The V-Moda Vamp Verza cuts the price to less than half, and works with iPhones, iPads, and iPods, as well as Androids and computers. I'm really impressed with the little Vamp Verza's sound.