Samsung Reportedly Launching Bone Conduction Headphones Alongside New Foldables

According to a new report, Samsung is looking to launch a pair of headphones using bone conduction tech later this year.

Bone conduction headphones are nothing new, as brands such as Shokz and others have been using the tech for quite a while now. However, bone conduction is still considered a niche, as most big brands such as Apple, Google, and Samsung have traditionally used silicone-tipped earbuds, while there’s also a growing movement of open-ear headphones from brands such as Nothing.

Where bone conduction comes into play is that the tech offers an open-ear experience while not being subject to the same limitations of speaker-based open-ear headphones.

Samsung is reportedly looking to jump into this market as well.

Ice Universe says on Weibo that Samsung will be releasing its own bone conduction headphones “in July” alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7. The headset is codenamed “Able,” and it’s unclear if it will fit into the “Galaxy Buds” lineup.

In theory, a pair of open-ear, bone conduction headphones could make sense with Samsung’s XR/AR ambitions, with a headset and glasses also in the pipeline. However, such a headset has a use case well outside of that, so it’ll be interesting to see where Samsung lands in terms of design and integration with Galaxy devices.