Beats X Bluetooth Earbuds: a UX Critique
The Beats X wireless earbuds are truly a step in the right direction in the domain of personal wireless audio. In a climate of increasing consumer interest in bluetooth connectivity, as well as Apple’s “courage” to remove the headphone jack from the newest iPhone models, the Beats X represent a simplistic yet extremely capable bluetooth audio solution. However, having owned these earbuds for almost two months now, I have realized that the Beats X suffer from a few user experience flaws that I encounter almost every day in using them.
The Left/Right Indicators: Unlike Apple’s EarPods, Beats X are connected to each other in one continuous band that wraps around the back of the user’s neck, providing the user security that they won’t be separated from each other. However, both ends of the silicon band are almost perfectly symmetrical, offering little indication as to which side is the left ear’s and which side is the right’s. It was only after a month that I figured out that there are tiny L and R marks right beneath the earbud, but these don’t exactly help when I am just trying to throw them on quickly before leaving.
The Beats brand, even before being acquired by Apple, has always focused on creating headphones that reflect style and minimalism (as evidenced by the solid color, symmetrical necklace design). However, this stylish design priority is at the cost of learnability and memorability with the Beats X, as putting the earbuds on correctly is not all that intuitive. Although I have now learned to identify the correct orientation for the earbuds by finding which side has volume control module, this is a habit that requires weeks to build and is not clear to new users. The Beats X designers may have assumed that users would, like me, learn to associate the volume rocker side with the left earbud, but I only learned this after later watching youtube reviews. New users would benefit from having L/R printed in a more visible way — possibly embossed in each earbud itself.
The Power/Connected Indicator: Whereas other bluetooth audio devices I have encountered have separate buttons for power on/off and connect device, the Beats X have only one small and non-tactile button for both operations, located on another module lower on the band. On this button is a tiny, near invisible indicator light that lights up when the earbuds are on, and goes dark when the earbuds turn off. When the Beats X successfully connect to a device after turning on, they play a strange electronic pulse sound effect through the earbuds. When they disconnect, they play the same exact sound with a tiny variation at the end. This consolidation of power/connection into a single button for the sake of minimalist design is cause for frequent interaction confusion.
My usual practice is to put the earbuds in, hold down the button, and then wait for the sound effect to tell me they are connected to my phone. However, the earbuds usually take a few seconds to connect. The case may be that the earbuds are powered on and are trying to connect, but because this multipurpose button is not very physically responsive and there’s no power on sound effect, I often times find myself thinking “well I must not have pushed the button hard enough, I’ll push it again” — and I end up turning the headphones off. I have made this time-costing mistake so many times that now, after pressing the button, I take the earbuds off to see whether the little on-indicator light is there or not. The whole indication system is ineffective, and makes me reminisce on the days of knowing that my earbuds were “good to go” as soon as I plugged the headphone jack in. Although the Beats X and other similar bluetooth earbuds may be trying to condition this generation of consumers to a new set of habitual behaviors when interacting with the bluetooth audio platform, users would greatly benefit from a more feedback from the “power-on” and “bluetooth-connection” operations. When the on-button is pressed, the earbuds should speak “connecting” repeatedly until connection is established.
