As one of the more high-profile wireless headphone companies in recent months, Bragi is already looking to position its two products -- The Dash and the just-announced The Headphone -- as strong competitors to Apple's just-announced AirPods. In a FaceBook post this morning, Bragi shared a chart which lists how The Dash and The Headphone (particularly The Dash) compare favorably to AirPods in various categories.
The nine categories in the chart include: Bluetooth connectivity, waterproofness, audio transparency (amplifying ambient noise as needed to hear your external environment without needing to remove the earbuds), fitness tracking, internal music player, Bragi OS updates, battery life, "PerfectFit" sizing, and price.
The Dash beats out the AirPods in five of the categories, with Bragi positioning its flagship headphones as a sports-centric device with waterproofing and fitness tracking, two things lacking in Apple's AirPods. AirPods, however, have a one-up on battery life (5 hours compared to The Dash's 4 hours), and come in at a notably more affordable $159, well below The Dash's $299.
Unsurprisingly, Bragi's chart focuses on criteria in which its products compare favorably to AirPods and omits features such as Siri and seamless device pairing with syncing over iCloud that are key parts of the AirPods experience.
Perhaps one of the more user-friendly features of The Dash and The Headphone is the ability for users to choose between three included "FitSleeves" for The Dash and "FitTips" for The Headphone. With small, medium, and large sizes included, Bragi seeks to ensure that anyone who wants to use its products will find a comfortable fit without any of the potential pain and headache caused by one-size-fits-all products, like the AirPods.
Overall, while Bragi's comparison chart paints a favorable picture of The Dash and The Headphone, Apple is no doubt banking on its design appeal, device integration, and price to present an appealing option. But even the AirPods' $159 price will be steep for some users, and with the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack in the iPhone 7, Apple is moving to soften the user transition to a wireless future by including Lightning headphones, and a Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter, in the boxes of the new iPhones.
