With Here One makers Doppler Labs closing down for business in 2017, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the startup was the only one making augmented audio smart earbuds.
Australian startup Nuheara also built and launched a pair that of buds that lets you take control of what you hear and it's still open for business, unveiling two new hearables while giving the existing IQbuds an upgrade.
The first new model is the IQbuds Boost, which aims to offer a more sophisticated level of personalisation, customisation and amplification than the current IQbuds. It introduces something Nuheara is calling Ear ID, which evaluates a user's own hearing profile to create a more personalised hearing experience, which sounds like what the now-deceased Doppler did with the Here One.
Joining the IQbuds Boost is the LiveIQ that brings a slimmer look and throws active noise cancellation into the mix. The existing buds will get a performance boost bringing battery life up to 20 hours for Bluetooth streaming and 40 hours of hearing processing.
In terms of availability, the IQbuds Boost will be available to buy in April 2018 although there's no details on pricing. The LiveIQ buds will be priced under $200 and will be available to pre-order early 2018 and is expected to ship in the summer.
While we didn't give the first IQbuds a perfect score, we have since spent more time with them and they remain some of the best smart earbuds we've tried thanks to some useful updates. So the addition of two new models and an upgrade to the first generation hearable is definitely good news.
All three models will be shown off at CES 2018, and team Wareable will be there to see what they're made of.
How we test
By Michael Sawh
Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.
He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.
Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech.
Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.