Onkyo W800BT Headphones

Until recently, the idea of a truly hands-free wireless pair of headphones was the thing of dreams, stuck in the realm of fiction and fantasy without any real world applications,

Idealized by the semi-sci fi film “Her”, the concept of wireless, touch free headphones has been on the minds of consumers and tech engineers alike for years, existing solely in the realm of “maybe, but probably not”.

Lately however, there have been a collection of Kickstarter campaigns which have promised that the days of tangled wires stuck in your pocket might soon be coming to a close, backed up by a number of real world products which almost have us convinced that being tethered to your phone or music player could soon be just a relic of the long distant past.

Thanks to the minds at Onkyo, wireless headphones aren’t just a pipe dream anymore: they’re a real, tangible piece of tech that could change everything we know about how we listen to music, talk to friends, and track our fitness stats on the go.

At the IFA conference in Berlin this week, the company showcased the capabilities of their new headphones, which are completely wireless and rely only on Bluetooth technology to transmit audio from your phone or tablet directly to the earbuds, without any extra setup required.

“The W800BT allows you to immerse yourself in audio in a free and natural way,” claims Onkyo Business Leader at Gibson Innovations Sebastiaan Gruijters. “We’re proud to showcase this genuine breakthrough innovation here at the IFA in Berlin.”

Although many different startups have claimed to have a functional mockup of the technology, the Japanese manufacturer Onkyo is the first to actually break out onto the scene with something we can hold, touch, feel, and hear.

There’s no telling whether or not the W800BT headphones will shine as the gold standard in their genre, but given they’re the first prototype to actually work the way the company claims they should, that’s still more than we can say about what the rest of the competition has up for offer.

As it stands, there are about a dozen other contenders looking to cram everything we want out of a solid pair of wireless headphones into one package. Whether it’s good sound, long battery life, fitness tracking or GPS location technology, we’ve asked a lot out of an earbud that hasn’t even hit the market yet, and so far Onkyo is the only one who’s actually come close to delivering on that lofty goal.

Onkyo W800BT wireless Bluetooth headphones are currently available from Amazon.