The Mobvoi Ticpods Free, currently in crowdfunding on Indiegogo, look a lot like Apple’s AirPods…and sound pretty similar as well. Like the AirPods, the Ticpods have a cool auto-pause feature, which activates any time you remove one of the earphones from its assigned ear. Better yet, the Mobvoi Ticpods Free wireless earbuds are a ton cheaper at $79, compared to $159 for AirPods. The Mobvoi Ticpods Free earbuds are Android-compatible, and come in several colors.
The Ticpods feature a number of touch-based controls. You can long-press to ignore phone calls, swipe up and down along the length of the earphone to adjust volume, double-tap to skip a song, and more. They have in-ear detection, thanks to accelerometers inside, and they are optimized to reduce lag when watching videos on a connected device.
When chatting on the phone, the Ticpods will activate ambient noise cancellation, and a two-second press will turn on voice recognition, which currently works with both Siri and Google Assistant.
The Mobvoi Ticpods Free earbuds should last for four hours on a single charge, plus an extra 18 hours if you have the charge case with you. They are IPX5 rated for sweatproofing, which means you can wear them to work out without worry, and they’re available in navy blue, white and red.
Mobvoi is based out of Shangai, with satellite offices in San Francisco and Seattle. Much of the staff previously worked for the likes of Microsoft Amazon and Google. The Modvoi Ticpods will be the company’s first set of headphones. They also offer smartwatches and a smart speaker. also wonder whether the design of the Ticpods will infringe upon trademarks filed by Apple for the AirPods. the white ones look almost identical to AirPods, considering the form factor and the way they hang from the ear. Plus, at $79, they could be a steal, but at the MSRP of $130, you might be better off buying AirPods (at least, if you’re an iPhone user).
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For the last 20 years, David Novak has appeared in newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV around the world, reviewing the latest in consumer technology.
His byline has appeared in Popular Science, PC Magazine, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Electronic House Magazine, GQ, Men’s Journal, National Geographic, Newsweek, Popular Mechanics, Forbes Technology, Readers Digest, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Glamour Magazine, T3 Technology Magazine, Stuff Magazine, Maxim Magazine, Wired Magazine, Laptop Magazine, Indianapolis Monthly, Indiana Business Journal, Better Homes and Garden, CNET, Engadget, InfoWorld, Information Week, Yahoo Technology and Mobile Magazine. He has also made radio appearances on the The Mark Levin Radio Show, The Laura Ingraham Talk Show, Bob & Tom Show, and the Paul Harvey RadioShow. He’s also made TV appearances on The Today Show and The CBS Morning Show.
His nationally syndicated newspaper column called the GadgetGUY, appears in over 100 newspapers around the world each week, where Novak enjoys over 3 million in readership. David is also a contributing writer fro Men’s Journal, GQ, Popular Mechanics, T3 Magazine and Electronic House here in the U.S.
