Kenwood WS-A1 Active Noise Canceling Smart True Wireless Earbuds
- They can work with Alexa or Google
- They’ve got a good mic for making crystal clear calls
- They sound great, look great
- They’ve got noise-canceling technology
- Qi charging case for wireless charging
- They usually sell for $300
- Can they make margaritas: No, but if someone convinced the people at Kenwood that incorporating a blender would make them sell like AirPods, they probably would
Overdone
Sometimes companies get ambitious. They choose a competitor that’s maybe out of their league and try and battle them head-on, forgetting that most people buy stuff that’s the same brand as something else they own to avoid the hassle.
So it goes with these Kenwood earbuds. Now, these were mostly made for the Japanese market, hence why you likely haven’t seen them stateside (also hence why the literature included with them will be partially in Japanese, FYI). Basically, Kenwood wanted to compete with Apple, Sony, and Samsung.
Reading over the product copy, there’s a significant emphasis on two things. First, they’re made to work with either Alexa or Google. Which is great, if you use those a lot. The other thing they spend a long time discussing is how great the microphone is, and how awesome these are for making calls, inside or outside. And, according to our man Troy, “they thought they could appeal to Kenwood car audio customers with these for a seamless transition between office and car.”
All neat, right?
Now, a quick tangent that I promise will tie back to the topic at hand: I follow a lot of real estate Instagram accounts, many of which show houses that sit on the market for years, despite their beauty. And it’s not because they’re not worth the asking price. It’s because, at the end of the day, nobody wants to live in the middle-of-nowhere Kansas, or some burnt-out town in way-way-way-upstate New York.
Something similar is at play here. The problem isn’t that Kenwood tried to upsell. No way! They certainly made sure these earbuds sound good enough, look good enough, come in beautiful enough packaging, and feature enough handy tricks to be worth their $330 price tag. But, at that price, they’re more expensive than AirPod pros or options from status symbol brands like Bose. (And audio nerds, don’t @ me, okay? I know Kenwood is a good name, but for the casual earbud shopper, it doesn’t register on the same level, IMO.)
And that’s why we’re able to sell them for not quite 40 dollars. AKA, just about $300 less than they went for originally.
So please, buy these over-engineered buds for not quite 40 dollars.
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