If you don’t already have enough earbud choices in your life, Lenovo’s new Erazer XP6 AI translation buds are here to give you more analysis paralysis. They’ve been listed on the official Erazer website for some time, but you can’t actually hand over R1,400 for a pair. It’s “not set up” for that.
But if you’re willing to take a chance, you can nab Lenovo’s new buds in their screen-fronted case from Banggood for about R850. That includes shipping to South Africa. It probably doesn’t include whatever Customs will demand of your little shipment.
Erazer XP6 Gun
As for why you’d want a pair… that’s easy. The buds use an open-ear design, relying on hooks to keep them mounted on your melon. They’re not the most long-lasting, and the open design means they’re probably not the best sounding either. But Lenovo’s buds have one serious feature — AI.
Yes, yes, AI sucks. But in-ear AI translation of numerous languages sucks a little less than average. The XP6 buds support 31 languages, including English. Unfortunately, they’re aimed more at European and Eastern customers. Don’t expect to have a handy translator for more of South Africa’s official eleven. Still, if you’re hopping on a plane to Spain or a boat to Hungary (good luck, it’s landlocked), these would be a handy item to stash in your carry-on.
According to Banggood’s listing, the Erazer XP6 on-ears (we guess?) use 13mm drivers and feature a 4.5-hour battery. That’ll be the AI draining your listening time, we reckon. Environmental noise cancelling is present for calls (and conversations), but ANC seems to be absent. Then there’s the case, with its phone-controlling touchscreen. That’ll let users change audio modes, tracks on their phones, and even trigger the camera shutter remotely. If you’re travelling, you’ll likely need that last one.
Weirdly, the Banggood listing doesn’t include the XP6’s AI features. It could be that the Erazer buds’ free language translation app isn’t included with this particular purchase. Never mind, you’ll probably find some way to locate it if you look hard enough…
