Microsoft held its annual October event today in Manhattan and through the course of the keynote, unveiled updates to a few of the devices in the Surface lineup. The Surface Pro 6 and Surface Laptop 2 were introduced, along with Surface Studio 2. These updates are fairly minimal with some cosmetic tweaks such as the new black color and updated internals. The company also announced that the Windows 10 October Update is now available for the general public. In addition to these announcements, Microsoft showed off the Microsoft Launcher 5.0 update with Timeline integration, Phone Mirroring on Your Phone and To-Do integration with Outlook.com.
While the hardware side of things was being speculated on for long, Microsoft had a surprise up its sleeve, which was the Surface Headphones. A first of its kind product for the firm, the Headphones are aimed at not just casual listeners, but also people in workspaces or on the go. The company adds that the Headphones provide spectacular quality and 13 levels of ambient noise control. The device sports a circular dial on the ear cups, similar to that on the Surface Dial, and can be used to adjust the volume or tweak the extent of noise cancellation using the two beamforming microphones on each ear cup.
Additionally, the Headphones come with eight microphones to enhance call quality and to activate Cortana with voice. Yes, Cortana comes built into the device. There are also a few nifty features such as automatic pause or play depending on how the device is placed once removed from over your ears, Surface Headphones can pair with any Bluetooth enabled device and are charged through a USB-C port. The device also sports a 3.5mm jack for wired connections.
While the Surface Pro 6 and Surface Laptop 2 can be pre-ordered starting today for an October 16 delivery, the $350 Headphones will be available “in both the US and UK in time for the holidays”, says Microsoft.
Let us know what you think about the Headphones in the comments.