Google's new USB-C headphones offer great sound and innovation for $35

USB Type-C headphones have traditionally been rare and quite expensive. My Razer Hammerheads in-hear headphones cost over $80 but they were the ideal plug and play solutiion to use on my Essential Phone PH-1 and later on my Pixel 2 daily driver Android phones.

Google has quietly added its new USB-C headphones which are included with the new Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, not only are these generally lightweight to use and fit nicely in most user's ears. Google says these will sound great with 24-bit digital audio and should be outstanding companions to the new Pixel 3 flagships.

More impressive is tht amoutn of tech that these USB-C headphones, which can be purchased separately for $35. You can access Google Assistant with one click, use the volume up button to have your notifications read to you and, the killer feature for travellers, you can Communicate in over 40 languages with in-ear help from Google Translate. Just press and hold the black button and say “Hey Google, help me speak Japanese.”

Personally I can't wait to try all these features and I hope that some of this functionality will be backwards compatible to earlier Pixel devices. Once more, Google is showing that by making accessories smart, it can differentiate itself effectively from the competition.