HMD’s new earbuds can top off your phone’s battery

HMD announced a new set of earbuds today with a case that doubles as a backup phone battery. The aptly named wireless Amped Buds come in a Qi2 charging case that uses reverse wireless charging to boost your phone’s charge. With a slim design and a 1,600mAh battery, it’s a portable case that offers just enough charge to get through the end of the day. They’re priced at €199 (about $206) and will launch in April. We don’t yet know if they’ll come to the US.

The Amped Buds include active noise cancellation and environmental noise cancellation. The case is rated IPX4 for some dust resistance, and the earbuds are IP54 splash-resistant. The case measures 14mm thick, and the buds are designed with a hinge to fit straight into the case for charging. They’re spring loaded, so there’s a satisfying pop when you put them in or take them out of the case. Remove the buds, and you’ll fold the stems forward to fit like standard earbuds.

The case and buds are color-matched and come in cyan, black, and pink. The case’s Qi2 support means it will connect magnetically to Qi2 and MagSafe phones for a secure fit while charging. It can be used with magnetic phone cases, too, or with any plain wireless charging phone (it just won’t stick securely), and there’s a USB port to provide wired charging. Of course, you can just use the case to charge the earbuds themselves — more than ten times over, according to HMD, which gets you up to 95 hours of music playback time before you have to charge the case again.

It’s a clever concept that makes immediate sense. Plenty of us are used to charging and carrying earpods already, so there’s no new behavior to learn. You just carry your earbuds with you as usual, and if you happen to run low on battery, you have a back-up on hand, or you just have a huge battery to keep recharging your buds. Pretty slick.

HMD announced the buds at MWC where it also unveiled an FC Barcelona-branded phone and a safety-focused phone for teens developed with kids’ smartwatch maker Xplora. But the earbuds stand out to me as the most interesting new offering.