Bragi, Known for 'Dash' Wire-Free Earbuds, Sells Wearables Business

[MacRumors]

Bragi, a company known for making some of the first wire-free headphones to compete with the AirPods, has exited the wearables market, reports Wareable.

Bragi says that its product business has been sold to a third-party buyer and that while it will continue to license its IP and artificial intelligence, it will no longer be making new devices.

From the company's CEO:

"Bragi's technology suite is applied beyond our own products to partners and headphone brands. The Dash Pro featured groundbreaking ultra efficient AI and software that could be updated with new features such as Amazon Alexa, language translation and personalised hearing. With the sale of our product business, Bragi has completed its transformation into a software, AI and IP licensing company."

The first wire-free headphones from Bragi, The Dash, debuted on Kickstarter in 2014. The company raised millions, and ahead of when the AirPods launched, Bragi announced an AirPods competitor, "The Headphone."

The Headphone was a cheaper version of The Dash designed specifically to compete with the AirPods, but Apple's AirPods were a major hit with Apple customers and we heard little else from Bragi after the launch of the Headphone and a follow up to the Dash called the Dash Pro. Bragi's products were decent, but were never quite able to measure up to the AirPods.

All products were out of stock on Bragi's website as of January 2019, though Bragi's CEO did not initially admit to the imminent closure of the company.

Bragi did not unveil who purchased the rights to its headphones products, but said Bragi customers who own Bragi devices will continue to be able to access support.

Article Link: Bragi, Known for 'Dash' Wire-Free Earbuds, Sells Wearables Business

 

[AngerDanger]

I managed to come up with a more concise title. Feel free to use it, MR.

 

[atomic.flip]

LOL not surprised. I bought the originals. What a sad waste of money. The Bluetooth reception was beyond awful.

 

[Apple Master]

I prefer the cigarettes in my ears look

 

[alexandr]

that's cause apple dropped airpods 2

 

[Dustin Lenzz]

...A Dash of AirPods (and AppleWatch) makes the financials go down...

 

[Greenlee]

I hope Apple buys them and rebrands.

 

[djcerla]

AirPods, killer.

 

[Vanilla35]

Owned their "The headphone" buds, very good. Sound quality was slightly subpar, but product overall was pretty good for the time. Very stable connection unlike most (at the time). I understand their dash model was not quite as good (I think they put in too much tech in a small package, like the first galaxy buds).

At this point though they've been leapfrogged like crazy, so I'm not surprised they sold off. That's the risk of being early to market.

 

[Porco]

Bragi dashed?

or the humble-Bragi were slapdash?

 

[69Mustang]

I hope Apple buys them and rebrands.

I doubt Apple did it:

Bragi says that its product business has been sold to a third-party buyer

but hey, never say never... but yeah, it's probably never.

 

[sinsin07]

Bragi dashed?

Should be Bragi got dashed.

On another note AirPods first victim.

 

[FrancoRumors]

Owned their "The headphone" buds, very good. Sound quality was slightly subpar, but product overall was pretty good for the time. Very stable connection unlike most (at the time). I understand their dash model was not quite as good (I think they put in too much tech in a small package, like the first galaxy buds).

At this point though they've been leapfrogged like crazy, so I'm not surprised they sold off. That's the risk of being early to market.

I also own the bragi “headphones”. I actually still was using them up until my AirPods 2 arrived. Paired with the comply eartips they originally shipped with the sound quality was not bad and they functioned fine for the price and early availability. They definitely stayed in my ears without any issue and their ability to selectively use noise cancelling is something I hope Apple introduces in the future. HOWEVER, bragi has not supported the headphones for nearly a year.. meaning you couldn’t even order replacement ear tips from their website for the past year, even their in-house tips. Glad I purchased them on sale and didn’t drop the $500+ for their top of the line model..

 

[7thson]

Bummer. I had high hopes for them but was turned off by the mediocre reviews. I was waiting for a new model. I await the so called wire free Power Beats.

 

[Baymowe335]

Not easy competing with the best.

 

[gugy]

The only thing made me think about buying them was the waterproof feature for swimming. But I never took took the plunge.
Maybe some day AirPods will be waterproof but I hardly see it under the current design.

 

[Nautilus007]

They sold these at Costco

 

[Moonlight]

I would say Apple bested them at their own game, but that sounds a little....bragi

 

[alphaod]

It's hard to compete in a market dominated by big players like Apple, Beats, Bose, even Samsung now... Unless you have really breakthrough features it will be hard sell.

 

[randymarsh182]

Words can't describe how delightful it is learning about this company's demise. Music to my ears. This ********e start-up is the reason I do NOT support anything from kickstarters anymore. Name one that did not end up dead.

My story: bought the dash from kickstarters and the right earbud died after 13 months of use. Customer service was god forsaken awful, couldn't even get my name and case number right the whole time. Eventually they offered $20 dollar discount for the next pair... despicable garbage.

 

[entropys]

Probably Amazon.

 

[bizack]

LOL not surprised. I bought the originals. What a sad waste of money. The Bluetooth reception was beyond awful.

The last version, The Bragi Dash Pro (tailored by Starkey) are hands down the best truly wireless earbuds on the market (and the only BT earbuds I know of that can be custom fitted/molded).

 

[raghu8912]

I hope Apple buys them and rebrands.

Why would they when Apple already has a successful product competing.

 

[Vanilla35]

I also own the bragi “headphones”. I actually still was using them up until my AirPods 2 arrived. Paired with the comply eartips they originally shipped with the sound quality was not bad and they functioned fine for the price and early availability. They definitely stayed in my ears without any issue and their ability to selectively use noise cancelling is something I hope Apple introduces in the future. HOWEVER, bragi has not supported the headphones for nearly a year.. meaning you couldn’t even order replacement ear tips from their website for the past year, even their in-house tips. Glad I purchased them on sale and didn’t drop the $500+ for their top of the line model..

Yeah they were great headphones, very slim profile (slimmest at the time), great fit (I used them for a lot of running - both heavy treadmill, and concrete/trails. Push buttons were not ideal but for the price it was very good. Honestly the audio transparency done any other way is a deal breaker for me. I will never buy air pods for a few reasons, but lack of audio pass through is a requirement, and Bragi's method was seamless.

 

[mdelvecchio]

I prefer the cigarettes in my ears look

Not seeing it. Look sleek and streamlined to me. Haven’t thought twice about wearing in public in over two years.

[doublepost=1554159500][/doublepost]

I hope Apple buys them and rebrands.

Why on earth would they waste the money? Not happening.