JBL made a couple of interesting announcements at CES 2018. The audio company announced a new range of headphones that come with the Google Assistant built-in; aside from that, it also announced a new range of water resistant wireless Bluetooth speakers, as a refresh of its existing portable speaker lineup.
Last year, Bose launched an updated version of its noise-cancelling headphones, the Bose QC35 II with Google Assistant support built-in. Now, JBL has updated its headphones line, and announced three new Bluetooth headphones with the Assistant functionality. These are the JBL Everest 310GA on-ear headphones, JBL Everest 710GA around-ear headphones, and the JBL Everest 110GA in-ear headphones.
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Prices start from $249.95 for the around-ears, then $199.95 for the on-ears, and finally $99.95 for the in-ears, or around Rs. 16,000, Rs. 12,750, and Rs. 6,500 respectively. Listeners can control the volume, access meetings and events, or control tracks through voice commands through Google Assistant.
The JBL Xtreme 2 Bluetooth speaker
Photo Credit: JBL
Aside from this, JBL also announced a refresh of its Bluetooth speaker line, with new updates being the JBL Xtreme 2, the JBL Clip 3, and the JBL Go 2. All three new speakers come with water resistance, and are IPX7 certified, which means that they can withstand up to 30 minutes at a depth of 3.3 feet.
The JBL Xtreme 2 is priced at $300, while the compact Clip 3 is priced at $60; the small Go 2 will retail at $40. That’s approximately Rs. 19,000, Rs. 3,850, and Rs. 2,500 each; although of course the actual prices in India will be higher as this is just a direct conversion of the dollar value.
Both the new lines of products – the Google Assistant enabled headphones, and the waterproof Bluetooth speakers – will be available from Spring 2018.