Samsung Bean earbuds show that hearables are coming back

Hearables are coming back. At least that’s what a new trademark for Samsung Bean wireless earbuds looks like.

The Samsung Beans seem to have a much smarter remit than the in-ears headphones currently have. Fitness and workouts seem to be high on the agenda, with the possibility of coaching, direct from the ear.

The company has been here before with the smart Samsung Icon X buds (main image), but has shied away recently with the more standard Galaxy Buds+.

Here’s what the trademark of the Samsung Bean – spotted by LetsGoDigital – has to say:
Wearable wireless earsets comprised primarily of:

• MP3 player;
• sensor for detecting whether the earset is on or off;
• software for providing a fitness guide;
• distance, speed, time, changes in heart rate, activity level, calories burned

This means we’re looking at a device pretty close to the now defunct Bragi Dash (RIP), which was a big name in the wearable tech world back in 2017.

It means putting smarts back into wireless buds, which would house the sensors, and processing power needed to not only record data like heart rate and speed, but also making sense of it to provide real-time feedback.

Of course, in some cases this could be handed off to a paired smartphone, but the list of specs here make it seem like the Samsung Bean could be standalone devices.

Analysts did predict a massive surge for hearables in 2020/21, but that has failed to materialise – at least from the perspective of early devices. Bragi Dash and others sold us a dream of a smartphone-less future, using voice assistants and sensors to do our bidding instead.

However, they simply failed to catch consumer imagination. And comparatively simplistic in-ear buds like the Apple AirPods have dominated the space. This could be a sign that big brands feel that consumers are ready for the extra layer of features in the ear, and that hearables are making a comeback.

Stay tuned to see if this trademark actually becomes a real product.