TWS headphones, true Wireless Stereo True Wireless Stereo headphones, completely eliminate the way wires are connected on the outside, providing a convenient experience. With the release of AirPods in 2016, TWS headphones entered the explosive stage, after several years, still maintained a stable high-speed growth, driving the development of many related industry chains, while product functions are gradually enriched, constantly expanding the TWS headphone application scenarios. Last year, I love audio network shared with friends the top ten development trends of 2021 TWS headphones, this time let's imagine the development trend of TWS headphones in 2022.
I love audio network previously and small partners shared the 20 most worthy of research in 2021 TWS headphones, in 2021 Apple released the third generation of AirPods products, Android mobile phone brands further expand the market layout, products cover high, medium and low gears; in 2021, TWS noise reduction headphones prices continue to explore, active noise reduction has become the standard of high-end products, adaptive noise reduction began to apply; in 2021, sound quality became the keyword of TWS headphones, and consumer attention increased rapidly In 2021, there are many more feature configuration apps that provide a better user experience. There are also many new directions gradually revealed, opening up new directions for future development.
2022 officially set sail, I love audio network according to the TWS headset market changes, as well as a detailed understanding of the continuous tracking of products, for everyone from many aspects to share the development trend of 2022 TWS headphones, including product design, functional applications and the main configuration of the three aspects, let's look forward to the future together ~
TWS headset product form
TWS headphone products in the appearance of the design, after a long period of development, each brand has its own characteristics. According to I love audio network to understand, from the overall appearance of the form, currently mainly including the handle, bean type, hanging ear type and ear clip type four, according to the wearing mode can be divided into in-ear type, semi-in-ear type and open three kinds, each form and wearing method has its own advantages and disadvantages, need to choose according to their own preferences of the use of the scene.
At present, most of the mainstream products on the market adopt a stalk-shaped in-ear design to provide more space, carry more functional applications and larger capacity batteries, and bring better noise reduction effects. With the widespread popularity of TWS headphones and the growth of user use time, in order to achieve a more comfortable wearing effect, semi-in-ear products have received a large number of user attention in 2021, and major brands have also launched semi-in-ear products to cope with the needs of users.
Open true wireless headphones mostly use ear clip design, fixed on the pinna, liberating both ears, further improving the comfort of long-term wear, and improving the safety of outdoor use, but also because of open listening, making it more susceptible to external environmental influences, mainly used in indoor entertainment, office and other relatively quiet scenes, as well as out sports use.
In 2022, due to active noise reduction and continuous enrichment of functional applications, TWS headphones will still be the mainstream of stalk-shaped in-ear headphones in terms of appearance and form, but semi-in-ear products will no longer be the label of low-end entry-level products, and the brand will be based on wearing comfort to improve the experience of sound quality, call noise reduction, etc., and complement each other with in-ear noise-canceling headphones. The optimal solution is that with the development of technology, the half-in-ear type can also provide excellent noise reduction.
TWS headset function
Different from traditional wired headphones, TWS headphones in addition to convenient experience, another major difference is based on built-in battery applications, so that it can be equipped with more functional applications. According to the development of the real-time tracking market of I Love Audio Network, in 2022, the TWS headphone function application will be further optimized and further expanded to provide users with richer application scenarios.
Exercise health monitoring function application
In consumer electronics technology products, sports health monitoring function is a more important development direction for smart wearable devices, the current function is mainly used in close contact with the human body smart watch / bracelet products, can support blood oxygen, heart rate, body temperature detection, exercise data tracking and other functions. In 2022, this situation may be broken, and TWS headphones will also be equipped with this function.
According to I Love Audio Network, due to the impact of the epidemic in recent years, consumers' attention to great health has been continuously improved, and health monitoring has become a function that users recognize very much. The way TWS headphone products are worn and used also has the conditions of close contact with the human body, so many brands have begun to explore the application of sports health monitoring on TWS headphones.
In the recent apple new generation of AirPods Pro, it was also revealed that it will be equipped with an "ambient light sensor" for collecting and analyzing the wearer's inner ear data to detect the user's blood oxygen, heart rate, and body temperature, and will also support the health tracking function, with apple's "health" APP to continuously track changes in body data and warn users of their physical condition.
New opportunities for assistive/assisted listening headsets
In addition to sports health monitoring, TWS headphones also include hearing aids/assisted hearing headphones in the field of great health, which are classified as PSAPs (Personal sound amplification devices) personal assistive hearing devices through the integration of hearing aid products to help users, including hearing users, get a better listening experience in specific scenarios.
In 2021, the U.S. FDA released an executive proposal on consumer hearing aids that will establish a new OTC hearing aid category that skips the "prescription" of professional hearing aids and allows consumers to buy or lease hearing aid products through the Internet, mail order, and supermarkets. Therefore, to some extent, the functional definition and sales channels of OTC hearing aids and assisted listening headphones overlap abnormally, but they are subject to laws and regulations and differ in business names.
In this context, based on the vast market of hearing-impaired people, light medical and large health directions such as hearing aids and OTC hearing aids may become the next development direction of TWS headphones. At present, there are also many chip manufacturers and brand manufacturers entering the market, or starting to lay out the consumer hearing aid market. Therefore, in 2022, TWS headphone products in the hearing aid/assistive hearing category will usher in a new stage of development.
Adaptive active noise reduction is widespread
Active noise cancellation is a very important and greatly improved user experience of TWS headphone products, with the release of AirPods Pro equipped with active noise reduction in 2019, which promoted TWS headphones to enter the era of noise reduction, and TWS noise reduction headphones have been widely popularized in the next two years. I love the audio network recently summarized and analyzed the top 20 popular TWS headphone products in 2021, 90% of which support the active noise reduction function.
With the rapid development of the noise reduction function, in order to achieve a more comfortable noise reduction experience, many brand products have supported the multi-file mode of noise reduction effect adjustment, high-end products also support the adaptive active noise reduction function, according to the external environment noise size, personal ear canal structure and wearing status and other factors affecting the noise reduction effect, automatically adjust the most suitable noise reduction mode, further enhance the user noise reduction experience.
In 2022, with the development of TWS noise reduction headphones, the maturity of related technologies, the adaptive active noise reduction function will gradually become popular, so as to avoid the ear pressure discomfort caused by the "one-size-fits-all" noise reduction scheme and provide the best noise reduction experience in different use scenarios.
AI call noise reduction is fully applied
Voice calling is the basic application of TWS headsets, and it is also one of the most used features. In daily life, voice call scenarios are also relatively complex, including subways, public transportation, restaurants, cafes, and office scenes, etc., so in order to ensure clear call effects and their own privacy protection, call noise reduction is particularly important.
Call noise cancellation is different from active noise cancellation, which provides users with a noise-free immersive video experience, but provides clear voice call effects for the call object. At present, the TWS headset products on the market are based on different hardware configurations such as single wheat, double wheat, three wheat, and bone conduction, corresponding to different call noise reduction algorithms for noise reduction processing, and achieve the effect of clear calls through the coordination of software and hardware.
In the noise reduction algorithm, similar to the adaptive active noise reduction function of the AI call noise reduction algorithm began to be applied in high-end products, based on machine deep learning technology, the collection of a large number of noise data and vocal data in different scenarios, in the voice call AI algorithm will automatically identify and separate noise and human voice, so as to achieve a clear voice call effect. Therefore, based on the excellent experience of AI call noise reduction algorithm, TWS headphone products in 2022 will be fully opened for application.
Sound quality into the latest product gear distinction
Sound quality is the most basic function of TWS headphone products, and with the rapid iteration of audio products, the number of products used by users increases, and the difference in sound quality that consumers can perceive is constantly improving, so the requirements for sound quality level are generally improved.
In the current TWS headphone market, with the improvement of consumer demand for sound quality, brand manufacturers have also begun to make multi-faceted attempts to improve the audio experience. Including acoustic configuration, sound cavity structure optimization, high-definition audio decoding, rich preset sound effects, spatial audio, and combined with the accumulation of technology to improve the audio factory tuning.
There may be many reasons for this, in order to love the audio network for the TWS headset understanding, one of the main reasons is the perception of the functional experience. TWS headphones are not like HiFi headphone products for consumers who have high demand for sound quality, but are positioned in the general public, so most users have a big gap in the perception of active noise reduction and sound quality, and the user experience determines the direction of the product.
On the other hand, features similar to "spatial audio" will usher in more products in 2022. Spatial Audio is a surround sound technology that creates an audio effect with music around the head for a more comfortable and immersive listening experience.
Apple Space Audio has also been widely expanded on its Apple Music platform and other devices, and Apple Music has also cooperated with musicians and record companies to continuously enrich spatial audio content to provide users with a better audio experience, and may replace the current stereo sound as a universal audio effect in the future.
Pressure-sensitive, touch-sensitive, and voice-in-one interaction
TWS in the way of interaction, according to I love audio network to understand the current main program includes physical buttons, tapping, touch, pressure sense four, many products on this basis will also combine the voice assistant, through the headset to wake up the phone or headphone built-in voice assistant for the control of various functions.
Among them, most of the current products use a touch scheme, which can avoid physical key openings, reduce the stethoscope effect of tapping keys, and support a wide range of modes, including single, double, triple, long press, and slide up and down.
In addition to the advantages, the touch button is of course accompanied by disadvantages in the use of the process, such as easy to touch, poor precision relative to physical buttons, and the user will still cause ear pressure through tapping. Therefore, the combination of physical button accuracy and touch without the advantage of opening holes has gradually increased in 2021, and products of brands such as Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi have begun to be adopted.
However, compared with the touch control, the pressure-sensitive scheme is relatively insufficient in supporting modes in addition to the increase in cost, and it is impossible to achieve control such as sliding up and down. Therefore, in 2022, high-end products of TWS headphones will gradually adopt the interaction scheme of touch, pressure sensitivity combined with voice, providing users with a better interactive experience completely detached from the mobile phone.
Finally, let's talk about the more advanced gesture control scheme, currently based on the TWS headset product itself and the limitations of gesture control technology, Xiaobian believes that it is not possible to apply a wide range of TWS headsets in a short period of time, but the corresponding products have a very large possibility, let us look forward to what kind of interactive experience will be brought at that time.
Fast charging and wireless charging improve the battery life experience
Compared with traditional wired headphones, TWS headphones abandon the shackles of wire and provide convenient wireless connectivity, but they also bring the problem of battery life anxiety. And with the continuous enrichment of product functions and the improvement of power consumption, higher requirements are put forward for product endurance.
In order to achieve a better battery life experience on TWS headset products, in addition to the battery configuration mentioned in detail in the main configuration below, the current high-end products are mainly solved by fast charging and wireless charging in two ways. Quickly replenish the power through fast charging, reduce the impact of short single battery life; wireless charging improves the charging convenience of headphones, when not using headphones, the charging box is placed on the charging plate, and the charging is placed with the release and recharge, and the energy is replenished in real time.
In 2021, the TWS headset products that support fast charging have increased rapidly, and some products have been advertised to support charging for 10 minutes to listen to songs for 5 hours, get up in the morning, headphones are out of power, washing time charging can meet the needs of most users for a day commute, greatly improving the use experience. In 2022, the application cases of fast charging and wireless charging will continue to grow, and the battery life experience of the product will also be improved.
Featured feature app
In the TWS headset market, some products also support some niche functions, which further expands the application scenarios of TWS headsets and improves the user experience. At present, it has supported recording, real-time translation, voice detection, voice hot word control, headphone positioning, etc.
Speech detection and voice hot words are automatically controlled through intelligent speech, such as Samsung's TWS headset products support intelligent recognition of user voice, automatically open the ambient sound mode; such as some of Xiaomi's products and iFLYTEK's latest iFLYPODS PY1, which can support "up/down song switching, volume plus/minus" and other voice hot words wake-free control.
Featured function applications are mainly based on brand manufacturers based on their own understanding and user feedback to explore new features, although the experience may need to be further optimized, but in the future, these can effectively improve the user experience of the function, will be as the current active noise reduction, in-ear detection, wireless charging and other functions have been well known to users as a wide range of popularity, but also look forward to the future can be more features of the birth.
TWS headset main configuration
The rapid development of TWS headphones has led to the optimization and upgrading of the relevant industrial chain, while the improvement of industrial chain technology has further improved the performance of products and promoted the healthy and stable growth of the TWS headphone market.
Bluetooth 5.3 popularization, LE Audio application
The reason why TWS headphones can achieve convenient connection and use experience, Bluetooth technology plays a crucial role in it, with the upgrade of Bluetooth technology, providing higher audio quality, lower power consumption and more stable connection for end products.
On July 13, 2021, the Bluetooth Technology Alliance released the latest Bluetooth 5.3 core specification, which improves the periodic broadcast, connection update, and channel rating in Bluetooth low energy, and further improves the communication efficiency of Bluetooth low energy, reduces power consumption and improves the wireless coexistence of Bluetooth devices through the improvement of these functions. The Bluetooth 5.3 version also further improves the security of the classic Bluetooth BR/EDR by introducing new features.
I love audio network in the summary of 2021 TWS headset Bluetooth audio master chip and application cases, through consultation to learn that there are many chip original Bluetooth audio SoC products through the Bluetooth 5.3 certification, I believe that in 2022 a new generation of TWS headset products will support Bluetooth 5.3, so as to provide end users with a better wireless audio experience.
At the beginning of 2021, Qualcomm released a report entitled "Q&A on LE Audio", which detailed the questions about what LE Audio is, why LE Audio was introduced, what advantages LE Audio has, what new use cases are given, and the impact of LE Audio on Qualcomm's future audio products and technologies.
MediaTek in the end of the year tianji 9000 mobile platform, the first to support the Bluetooth 5.3 standard, combined with Bluetooth LE Audio technology, Bluetooth latency reduced by 32%; LE Audio brought LC3 codec, compared to the traditional SBC, has a double adoption rate, can effectively improve the audio quality of the call.
TWS headphones are still the main way to use with mobile phones, tablets, computers and other mobile terminals, with the upstream mobile platform successively layout LE Audio, in 2022 TWS headphone products will also continue to support LE Audio function, thereby providing a richer Bluetooth audio function application.
SiP package system-on-chip
SiP package (System In a Package) is a variety of different components, a variety of different functions of the chip, etc. according to the application scenario, the number of layers of the package substrate and other factors, integrated in a package, to achieve a basic complete function of the packaging scheme, with a highly integrated system, integration of dense lines, size miniaturization, reduce power consumption, improve RF characteristics, increase energy density, performance and quality more stable and other advantages, is widely used in various types of smart wearable products.
In the current TWS headset market, Apple first adopted the SiP package system chip Apple H1 on the AirPods Pro, which continued this program on the latest release of AirPods 3 this year, and has been further optimized and upgraded, using a higher degree of integration and process, the size is greatly reduced, and brings better performance and power consumption.
Charging box multi-function master IC
The internal components of the TWS headphone charging box include power management IC, MCU, lithium battery protection, buck-boost IC, overvoltage and overcurrent protection IC and other configurations, which are used to charge the built-in battery of the charging box, charge the charging box for the headphones, communicate with the mobile phone/headset, and control the functions of the charging box such as the charge box.
With the outbreak of TWS headphone products, the sales of brand customers' products have increased rapidly. In order to meet the market demand, it is necessary to improve production efficiency, so based on high integration and high flexibility, simplifying design and assembly production, a system-level single-chip solution with a complete set of charging case functions for TWS headphone customers has been widely adopted.
On the other hand, due to the impact of the epidemic, insufficient production capacity has led to the rupture of the upstream and downstream chip supply chains, and the global market has the problem of chip shortages, and the all-in-one single-chip solution effectively avoids the problem of long and short materials and can achieve shipments more quickly. Therefore, in 2022, the concept of charging box main control IC will gradually land, and more chip manufacturers will join this market to promote the future development of TWS headphones.
Multi-sensor blessing
The application of the sensor is one of the main ways to enrich the functions of TWS headphone products, and the current TWS headphone market has been applied to include optical infrared sensors, capacitive in-ear detection sensors, touch detection, pressure sensors, voice acceleration sensors, six-axis gyroscopes, health monitoring sensors, etc.
Among them, the optical infrared sensor and capacitive ear detection sensor are used to wear the detection function to realize the extraction automatic pause playback, wear the automatic resume playback function; the touch detection and pressure sensor are equipped with the corresponding detection IC for TWS headset interaction; the voice acceleration sensor is used for clear calls and voice interaction, and the six-axis gyroscope is used to detect the wearing action, realizing the function of "dynamic head tracking space audio" such as Apple.
Health monitoring sensors are still relatively rarely used in TWS headphones, mainly including heart rate, blood oxygen, body temperature detection and other sensors, which have been mentioned in the above TWS headphone functions. With the continuous application of new features of TWS headphones, the blessing of multiple sensors is an inevitable trend.
High-voltage soft-pack buckle batteries are widely used
As we mentioned above, in order to achieve a better battery life experience, TWS headphones have gradually popularized fast charging and wireless charging in terms of function. In terms of configuration, on the one hand, it is equipped with a large-capacity battery as much as possible, and on the other hand, it adopts a high-voltage battery.
At present, the full charge voltage of TWS headphone batteries on the market is mainly 4.2V, and the material system and full charge voltage limit the energy density of 4.2V batteries to further improve, while the high-voltage lithium battery technology can increase by more than 10% on the basis of the energy density of 4.2V lithium batteries to achieve the purpose of extending endurance.
I love audio network in a recent disassembly report found that more and more TWS headphones began to use a soft pack buckle battery between the soft pack and the steel shell, and many are more than 3.8V high-voltage batteries. In appearance, it has the circular appearance of a steel shell coin cell battery, which is more in line with the contour of TWS headphones and can use the internal space more efficiently; it has a lighter volume in performance, and the energy density change is more flexible, and it may usher in a wide range of applications in 2022.
I love audio network summaries
After several years of rapid development, TWS headphones have continuously improved product performance, product functions have become more and more abundant, and constantly expand new application scenarios, making the user experience better and better. Looking back at 2021, there are many excellent TWS headphone products on the market, providing consumers with a wealth of choices; noise-canceling headphones have become standard, the demand for sound quality has been continuously improved, and the application of adaptive noise reduction, spatial audio, shared audio and other functions has brought a better user experience.
Looking forward to 2022, standing on the shoulders of the giants of the predecessors, TWS headphones will usher in further development. Enter the big health field market, promote the application of sports health monitoring functions on TWS headphones; assistive listening/assisted listening headphones usher in a new stage of development, helping hearing loss users get a better listening experience; adaptive noise reduction, AI call noise reduction began to be fully applied, sound quality will become the latest product gear differentiation; feature function applications to get an early adopter experience.
The stable and healthy development of TWS headphones is inseparable from the efforts of related technology and supply chain manufacturers. With the new specification of Bluetooth 5.3 and the new technical standard application of LE Audio, Bluetooth transmission will achieve high sound quality, low power consumption and richer expansion applications; SiP package system chip, charging box multi-function main control IC, improve product performance, reduce system power consumption, simplify product design, optimize the production and assembly process to make product performance more stable; multi-sensor application rich product functions, and battery performance improvement for all functional applications to ensure battery life.
As a media focusing on the audio market, I Love Audio Network has been active in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and has continued to hold many sessions of Bluetooth Asia Headphone Exhibition, Fruit Powder Carnival, China Smart Wearable Summit, China Cross-border E-commerce 3C Accessories Selection Conference and other activities, as well as helping partners in the industry to release new products, witnessing the vigorous development of the audio industry.
Join you in the 2022 Asian smart wear industry transformation!
【Summit Registration】
Registration for the popular summit during the 2022 (Spring) Asian Smart Wear Show opens
2022 (Spring) Asia Bluetooth Headset Conference
2022 (Spring) Asian Smart Wear Conference
Asia Wireless Connectivity Technology Conference 2022 (Spring).
Audio industry annual report continues to update, if you want to know the latest developments in the consumer audio industry, welcome to follow I Love Audio Network:D
"Technology Topics"
"Disassembly Summary"
"Quality Resources"
"Chip Factory"
「Battery Manufacturers」
"Brand Zone"
"Exhibition Coverage"
"Potato Interview"
"Potato Factory"
Content is constantly being updated
Be brave and speak your mind on the message board!