2022 TWS headset development trend!
TWS earphones are True Wireless Stereo true wireless stereo earphones, which completely abandon the way of wire connection on the outside, providing a convenient use experience. With the release of AirPods in 2016, TWS headphones entered an explosive stage. After several years, they still maintained a stable and high-speed growth, which led to the development of many related industry chains. At the same time, product functions are gradually enriched, and TWS is constantly expanding. Headphone application scenarios.
In the past 2021, Apple released the third generation of AirPods, and the Android mobile phone brand further expanded its market layout, covering high, medium and low grades; in 2021, the price of TWS noise-cancelling headphones will continue to drop, and active noise reduction It has become standard for mid-to-high-end products, and adaptive noise reduction has begun to be applied; in 2021, sound quality will become the keyword of TWS headphones, and consumer attention will rapidly increase; in 2021, there will be many functional configuration applications, providing a better user experience. There are also many new directions gradually revealed, opening up new directions for future development.
TWS headset product form
In terms of appearance design of TWS earphone products, after a long period of development, each brand has its own characteristics. As far as I know, from the overall appearance, there are mainly four types: handle, bean type, hanging ear type and ear clip type. According to the wearing method, it can be divided into three types: in-ear type, semi-in-ear type and open type. Each form and wearing method has its own advantages and disadvantages, and you need to choose it according to your own preferences.
At present, most mainstream products on the market use a handle-shaped in-ear design to provide more space, carry more functional applications and larger capacity batteries, and bring better noise reduction effect. With the widespread popularity of TWS earphones and the increase in user usage time, in order to achieve a more comfortable wearing effect, semi-in-ear products will attract the attention of a large number of users in 2021, and major brands have also launched semi-in-ear products one after another. Respond to user needs.
Open-type true wireless headphones are mostly designed with ear clips, which are fixed on the auricle, freeing both ears, further improving the comfort of long-term wearing, and improving the safety of outdoor use, but also because of the open listening, It is more easily affected by the external environment, and is mainly used in relatively quiet scenes such as indoor entertainment, office, and outdoor sports.
In 2022, due to active noise reduction and constantly enriched functional applications, TWS headphones will still be the mainstream in-ear headphones in terms of appearance, but semi-in-ear products will no longer be the label of low-end entry-level products. Based on wearing comfort, the brand will improve the experience of sound quality, call noise reduction, etc., and complement each other with in-ear noise-cancelling headphones. The optimal solution is that with the development of technology, semi-in-ear can also provide excellent noise reduction effect.
TWS earphone function
Different from traditional wired earphones, in addition to the convenient use experience, the other main difference of TWS earphones is the application based on the built-in battery, which enables it to carry more functional applications. According to my real-time tracking of the development of the market, in 2022, the functional application of TWS headsets will also be further optimized and expanded to provide users with richer application scenarios.
Sports health monitoring function application
In consumer electronic technology products, the sports health monitoring function is an important development direction for smart wearable devices. At present, this function is mainly used in smart watches/bands that are in close contact with the human body. Heart rate, body temperature detection, sports data tracking and other functions. In 2022, this situation may be broken, and TWS headphones will also be equipped with this function.
As far as I know, due to the impact of the epidemic in recent years, consumers have been paying more and more attention to big health, and health monitoring has become a very recognized function of users. The way of wearing and using TWS headset products 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 headsets.
I tracked the market and learned that the current Bluetooth headset products of brands such as Huami, 233621, Philips and other brands are equipped with health monitoring sensors in the sound tube of the headset. With the mobile phone APP, functions such as heart rate, body temperature detection, and exercise data tracking are realized. Although the user experience needs to be further optimized, it also indicates that sports health monitoring is a completely feasible direction on TWS headsets.
In the recent news of Apple's new generation of AirPods Pro, it was also revealed that it will be equipped with an "ambient light sensor" to collect and analyze the wearer's inner ear data to detect the user's blood oxygen, heart rate, and body temperature, and will also support health tracking. , paired with Apple's "Health" APP to continuously track changes in body data and provide early warnings for users' physical conditions.
New Opportunities for Hearing Aid / Hearing Headphones
In addition to sports health monitoring, TWS earphones also include hearing aids / hearing aid earphones in the field of general health. Through the integration with hearing aid products, they are used to help users including hearing people get better hearing in specific scenarios. experience, classified as PSAPs (Personal sound amplification devices) personal assistive hearing devices.
In 2021, the US FDA issued an executive proposal on consumer hearing aids, which will establish a new category of OTC hearing aids, skip the "prescription" of professional hearing aids, and allow consumers to buy or rent through the Internet, mail order and supermarkets. Hearing aid products. Therefore, to a certain extent, the functional definitions and sales channels of OTC hearing aids and hearing aids are extremely overlapping, but they are only subject to laws and regulations and have different business names.
In this context, based on the broad market of hearing-impaired people, light medical and general health directions such as hearing aids and OTC hearing aids may become the next development direction of TWS headphones. At present, many chip manufacturers and brand manufacturers have entered the market, or have begun to deploy the consumer hearing aid market. Therefore, in 2022, hearing aid/auditory aid TWS earphone products will usher in a new stage of development.
The popularity of adaptive active noise reduction
Active noise reduction is a very important feature of TWS earphone products that greatly improves the user experience. With the release of AirPods Pro equipped with active noise reduction in 2019, TWS earphones have entered the era of noise reduction, and TWS will drop in the next two years. Noise-cancelling headphones have gained widespread popularity. 90% of the 20 most popular TWS headphone products in 2021 that I recently compiled and analyzed 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 currently support multi-mode noise reduction adjustment, and high-end products also support the adaptive active noise reduction function, which can Changes in factors that affect the noise reduction effect, such as size, personal ear canal structure, and wearing status, automatically adjust the most suitable noise reduction mode to further improve the user's noise reduction experience.
In 2022, with the development of TWS noise-cancelling headphones and the maturity of related technologies, the adaptive active noise-cancelling function will gradually become popular, so as to avoid the discomfort of ear pressure caused by the "one-size-fits-all" noise reduction solution and provide different usage scenarios. The best noise-cancelling experience.
AI call noise reduction comprehensive application
Voice call is the basic application of TWS headset, and it is also one of the functions with the most usage scenarios. In daily life, voice call scenarios are relatively complex, including subways, public transportation, restaurants, cafes, and office scenarios. Therefore, in order to ensure clear call effects and privacy protection, the call noise reduction function is used. especially important.
Call noise reduction is different from active noise reduction, which provides users with a noise-free immersive audio and video experience, but provides a clear voice call effect for the caller. At present, the TWS headset products on the market are based on different hardware configurations such as single-mic, dual-mic, three-mic, and bone conduction. Noise reduction processing is performed corresponding to different call noise reduction algorithms. Through the cooperation of software and hardware, the effect of clear calls is achieved.
In terms of noise reduction algorithms, AI call noise reduction algorithms similar to the adaptive active noise reduction function have begun to be applied to mid-to-high-end products. Based on machine deep learning technology, a large number of noise data and human voice data in different scenarios are collected. The AI algorithm will automatically identify and separate the 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 headset products may be fully applied in 2022.
The sound quality has become the latest product grade distinction
Sound quality is the most basic function of TWS earphone products. 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 increasing. Therefore, the requirements for sound quality levels have generally increased.
In the current TWS earphone market, with consumers' increasing demand for sound quality, brand manufacturers have also begun to make various attempts to improve the audio experience. Including acoustic configuration, sound cavity structure optimization, high-definition audio decoding, rich preset sound effects, spatial audio, and joint audio tuning with technical accumulation.
In 2021, there will be a phenomenon, such as OPPO, Xiaomi, Samsung and other brand manufacturers, when laying out the sinking market of flagship products, the active noise reduction function is retained, but the audio experience is reduced, such as changing the sound unit configuration, canceling Joint tuning, high-definition audio decoding, and special audio functions.
There may be many reasons for this. From what I know about TWS headphones, the most important one is the perception of functional experience. Unlike HiFi earphone products, TWS earphones are aimed at consumers who have high demand for sound quality, but are aimed at the general public. Therefore, most users have a large gap in the perception ability of active noise reduction and sound quality, and user experience determines product direction.
On the other hand, features like "spatial audio" will see more products in 2022. Spatial audio is a surround sound technology that creates an audio effect in which music surrounds the head for a more comfortable and immersive listening experience.
In 2021, Apple's AirPods 3, Beats Studio Buds, Beats Fit Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, Sony WF-1000XM4 are all equipped with surround sound function, and Xiaomi also supports 360 on this year's Xiaomi True Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones 3 Pro. ° Surround sound field. Apple Spatial Audio has also expanded extensively 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 and provide users with a better audio experience. It will replace the current stereo as a general audio effect.
Three-in-one interaction of pressure, touch and voice
In terms of the interaction mode of TWS, as far as I know, the main solutions currently used include physical buttons, tapping, touch, and pressure. Control of various functions.
Among them, most products currently use the touch solution, which can avoid the opening of physical buttons and reduce the stethoscope effect of tapping the buttons. The supported modes are also very rich, including single, double, triple, long press, and up and down. swipe etc.
In addition to the advantages, the touch buttons are of course accompanied by disadvantages in the process of use, such as easy to touch by mistake, the accuracy is poorer than the physical buttons, and the user will still feel pressure on the ears by tapping. Therefore, pressure-sensitive solutions that combine the accuracy of physical buttons and the advantage of no need for openings for touch will gradually increase in 2021, and products from brands such as Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi have begun to use them.
However, compared with the touch control, in addition to the increase in cost, the pressure-sensitive solution is relatively insufficient in the supported modes, and cannot realize the control such as sliding up and down. Therefore, in 2022, the mid-to-high-end products of TWS headsets will gradually adopt a three-in-one interaction solution of touch, pressure and voice, providing users with a better interactive experience that is completely separated from mobile phones.
Finally, let’s talk about the more advanced gesture control solutions. At present, based on the limitations of the TWS headset product itself and gesture control technology, the editor believes that it cannot be widely used on TWS headsets in a short time, but the corresponding products come out. Possibilities, let us look forward to what kind of interactive experience it will bring.
Fast charging and wireless charging improve battery life experience
Compared with traditional wired earphones, TWS earphones abandon the shackles of wires and provide a convenient wireless connection, but at the same time, it also brings about the problem of battery life anxiety. And with the continuous enrichment of product functions and the increase in power consumption, higher requirements are put forward for product battery life.
In order to achieve a better battery life experience on TWS earphone products, in addition to the battery configuration that will be mentioned in detail in the main configuration below, the functions of current mid-to-high-end products are mainly solved by fast charging and wireless charging. Quickly replenish the power through fast charging, reducing the impact of short battery life; wireless charging improves the convenience of charging the earphones. When the earphones are not in use, place the charging box on the charging board, and recharge the energy in real time.
In 2021, TWS earphone products that support fast charging will increase rapidly. Some products are advertised that they can support charging for 10 minutes and listening to songs for 5 hours. When you get up in the morning, the earphones are out of power, and charging during washing time can meet the needs of most users for a day's commuting. to improve the user 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 application
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. Among them, the currently supported ones include recording, real-time translation, voice detection, voice hot word control, headset positioning, etc.
TWS headsets with functions such as recording, real-time transcription, translation, etc. are currently being launched by iFLYTEK, Baidu Xiaodu and other brands. They are mainly realized through their own intelligent voice technology combined with mobile APP, and are positioned for business office workers. Improve office efficiency.
Voice detection and voice hot words are functions of automatic control through intelligent voice. For example, Samsung's TWS headset products support intelligent recognition of users' voices and automatically turn on ambient sound mode; for example, some products of Xiaomi and the latest iFLYPODS PY1 launched by iFLYTEK , it can support "up/down song switching, volume up/down" and other voice hot words without wake-up control.
On the problem that TWS earphones are easy to lose, most products currently only search at close range, that is, the earphones make a beeping sound through the Bluetooth connection, which is convenient for users to find. In terms of long-distance positioning, only a few products such as Apple and Belkin are supported.
The application of special functions is mainly the exploration of new functions by brand manufacturers based on their own understanding and user feedback. Although the experience may need to be further optimized, in the future, these functions that can effectively improve the user experience will be like the current active noise reduction, in-ear Detection, wireless charging, etc. have been widely popularized by users as well as functions, and we are looking forward to the birth of more special functions in the future.
3. Main configuration of TWS headset
The rapid development of TWS earphones has driven the optimization and upgrading of the relevant industrial chain, and the improvement of industrial chain technology has further improved the performance of the products, promoting the healthy and stable growth of the TWS earphone market.
Bluetooth 5.3 popularization, LE Audio application
The reason why TWS earphones can achieve convenient connection and use experience is that Bluetooth technology plays a vital role in it. With the upgrade of Bluetooth technology, it provides terminal products with higher audio quality, lower power consumption and more Stable connection.
The Bluetooth SIG released the latest Bluetooth 5.3 core specification on July 13, 2021, which improved the periodic broadcast, connection update, and channel classification in Bluetooth low energy, and further improved low power consumption through the improvement of these functions. Bluetooth communication efficiency, reduced power consumption and improved wireless coexistence of Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth 5.3 also further improves the security of classic Bluetooth BR/EDR by introducing new features.
The Bluetooth SIG released the latest Bluetooth 5.3 core specification on July 13, 2021, which improved the periodic broadcast, connection update, and channel classification in Bluetooth low energy, and further improved low power consumption through the improvement of these functions. Bluetooth communication efficiency, reduced power consumption and improved wireless coexistence of Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth 5.3 also further improves the security of classic Bluetooth BR/EDR by introducing new features.
LE Audio is a new generation of Bluetooth audio technology standard released by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group at CES2020. It has lower power consumption, adopts a new high-quality, low-power audio LC3 decoder, supports multiple streaming audio, and supports broadcast audio technology. , which can provide strong support for hearing aids.
MediaTek took the lead in supporting the Bluetooth 5.3 standard on the Dimensity 9000 mobile platform at the end of the year. Combined with Bluetooth LE Audio technology, the Bluetooth latency was reduced by 32%; the LC3 codec brought by LE Audio has double the use of the traditional SBC. rate, which can effectively improve the audio quality of the call.
TWS earphones are still mainly used with mobile terminals such as mobile phones, tablets, and computers. With the successive deployment of LE Audio on upstream mobile platforms, in 2022, TWS earphone products will also support LE Audio functions, thereby providing richer Bluetooth audio. functional application.
SiP package system chip
SiP package (System In a Package) is a package solution that integrates a variety of different components and chips with different functions into one package according to the application scenario, the number of layers of the package substrate, and realizes a basic and complete function. It has the advantages of highly integrated system, integrated dense circuit, miniaturized size, reduced power consumption, improved radio frequency characteristics, increased energy density, more stable performance and quality, and is widely used in various smart wearable products.
In the current TWS headset market, Apple used the SiP packaged system chip Apple H1 for the first time on the AirPods Pro, and continued this solution on the latest AirPods 3 released this year, and has been further optimized and upgraded, using higher integration. The size and process technology are greatly reduced, and it brings better performance and power consumption.
At present, manufacturers such as Wingtech and ASE are actively promoting the application of SiP packaging in TWS earphone products. With the enrichment of product functions, the occupancy rate of the space inside the headset continues to increase, and the SiP package will play a greater role. Therefore, in 2022, it is expected to see the Android-based TWS headset brand products will also use SiP package chips one after another.
Multifunctional main control IC for charging box
The internal components of the TWS earphone 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 in the charging box, and the charging box for charging and charging the earphones. The box communicates with the mobile phone/headphone, and the power display and other charging box functions are controlled.
With the explosion of TWS earphone products, the sales of brand customers' products have increased rapidly. In order to meet market demand, it is necessary to improve production efficiency. Therefore, based on high integration, high flexibility, and simplified design and assembly production, the system-level single-chip solution that provides a complete set of charging box functions for TWS headset customers has been widely adopted.
On the other hand, due to the impact of the epidemic, the supply chain of upstream and downstream chips is broken due to insufficient production capacity, and there is a shortage of chips in the global market. The all-in-one single-chip solution effectively avoids the problem of long and short materials and can achieve faster shipments. . Therefore, in 2022, the concept of the main control IC of the charging box will be gradually implemented, and more chip manufacturers will join this market to promote the future development of TWS headsets.
Multi-sensor support
The application of sensors is one of the main ways to enrich the functions of TWS headset products. At present, the TWS headset market has applied optical infrared sensors, capacitive in-ear detection sensors, touch detection, pressure sensing sensors, voice acceleration sensors, and six-axis gyroscopes. , health monitoring sensors, etc.
Among them, the optical infrared sensor and the capacitive in-ear detection sensor are used in the wearing detection function to realize the functions of automatically pausing and resuming playback when picking up and wearing; the touch detection and pressure sensing sensors are used with corresponding detection ICs for TWS headset interaction; voice The accelerometer is used for clear calls and voice interaction, and the six-axis gyroscope is used to detect wearing movements, enabling functions such as Apple's "Dynamic Head Tracking Spatial Audio". Health monitoring sensors are currently relatively rarely used in TWS headsets, mainly including sensors such as heart rate, blood oxygen, and body temperature detection, which have been mentioned in the TWS headset functions above. With the continuous application of new functions of TWS headsets, the blessing of multi-sensors is an inevitable trend.
High-voltage soft-pack button batteries are widely used
As mentioned above, in order to achieve a better battery life experience, TWS headsets have gradually popularized fast charging and wireless charging in terms of functions. In terms of configuration, on the one hand, it is equipped with large-capacity batteries as much as possible, and on the other hand, high-voltage batteries are used.
At present, the full charge voltage of TWS earphone batteries on the market is mainly 4.2V. The material system and full charge voltage limit the further improvement of the energy density of 4.2V batteries, and the high-voltage lithium battery technology can increase the energy density of 4.2V lithium batteries by 10% again. Above, to achieve the purpose of extending battery life.
In my recent disassembly report, I found that more and more TWS earphones began to use a soft-pack button battery between the soft case and the steel case, and many of them were high-voltage batteries above 3.8V. In appearance, it has the round appearance of a steel-shell button battery, which fits more closely with the outline of TWS earphones and can use the internal space more effectively; in terms of performance, it has a lighter volume and more flexible energy density changes. In 2022 or A wide range of applications will be ushered in.
Summary
After several years of rapid development, TWS earphones have continuously improved product performance, more and more product functions, and constantly expanded new application scenarios to make the user experience better and better. Looking back on 2021, there are many excellent TWS earphone products on the market, providing consumers with a wealth of choices; noise-cancelling earphones have become standard, and the demand for sound quality has continued to increase. Functional applications such as adaptive noise reduction, spatial audio, and shared audio have brought Better user experience.
Looking forward to 2022, standing on the shoulders of the predecessors giants, TWS headphones will usher in further development. Entering the big health field market, promoting the application of sports health monitoring function on TWS earphones; hearing aid/auditory aid earphones usher in a new stage of development, helping hearing-impaired users to obtain a better listening experience; adaptive noise reduction, AI call noise reduction Begin to apply it in an all-round way, and the sound quality will become the latest product grade distinction; the application of special functions will 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 application of the new Bluetooth 5.3 specification and the new technical standard of LE Audio, Bluetooth transmission will achieve high sound quality, low power consumption and more extensive extended applications; SiP packaging system chip, charging box multi-functional main control IC, improve product performance, reduce System power consumption simplifies product design, optimizes the production and assembly process to make product performance more stable; multi-sensor applications enrich product functions, and battery performance improves to ensure battery life for all functional applications.