Headphones are always ignored because they are too common, but they have become a part of the daily life of the public, and they can be seen in entertainment or work.

In recent years, the hottest earphones are undoubtedly TWS earphones. When AirPods first appeared, the iPhone chose to cancel the earphone jack, which caused the dissatisfaction of countless fruit fans. After getting started with AirPods, it was a real fragrance. Now AirPods are basically the street countless trendy men and women. The standard configuration, even the VR that was touted in the past, is not as popular as the TWS headset.

From "Yes" to "No" headset development history

Everything will go through the process from nothing to something, but the history of the development of headphones is from "have" to "nothing." The "yes" mentioned here means wired, and "no" means wireless.

The earliest headset was born in 1881, but at that time it could not be called a "earphone", let's call it a "device". This device is a big guy weighing more than 10 kilograms, specially designed for telephone operators. In 1895, many opera houses began to offer home headset services to wealthy families, but they were handheld. After wearing them, they looked like doctors wearing stethoscopes, which was not very convenient.

It wasn't until 1910 that the world's first "binaural suspension earphones" began to appear. Unfortunately, its inventor Nasser Baldwin did not apply for a patent for this earphone, and missed an opportunity to make a fortune. Does not affect the popularity of headphones in the next;

In 1937, Beyerdynamic invented the world's first dynamic earphone DT48, officially opening a new era of modern earphones;

In 1958, Goss produced the world's first stereo headset Koss SP-3;

In 1959, STAX released the world's first electrostatic headset SR-1, but its high price discouraged many people;

In 1979, Sony's first popular headset MDL-3L2 came out, which truly gave the headset the characteristics of flexibility and portability;

In 2001, the appearance of the first iPod subverted the entire music world and also helped the wired headset usher in the peak era.

With the maturity of headset technology, wireless Bluetooth headsets began to take the stage. In 2000, the first phone headset based on Bluetooth technology appeared. Due to the bandwidth of Bluetooth 1.0 technology, the voice can only be transmitted in mono. , Not suitable for entertainment;

Earphones connected to the speakers on both sides by a wire began to appear in 2012, and the battery and circuits are integrated inside the earphone cavity; until 2015, the first wireless Bluetooth headset that also removed the wire between the earphone speakers finally came out. The real realization of the so-called wireless communication between two ears has also set off a wave of development of TWS headsets since then.

The working principle of TWS headset

TWS is the abbreviation of True Wireless Stereo in English, which means true wireless stereo.

TWS headsets work differently from traditional Bluetooth headsets with cables. The working principle of the Bluetooth headset is based on the underlying wireless signal module, protocol layer and application layer. The two headset units are connected to the same Bluetooth module through the cable between the left and right speakers. The signal from the mobile phone is transmitted to the Bluetooth module and passes through the application layer. Directly output the audio signal, let the left and right speakers sound, the entire transmission is only the signal transmission between the mobile phone's Bluetooth and the Bluetooth headset.

However, the design of TWS headsets is different. The biggest feature is to get rid of the traditional physical wire. There are currently two mainstream methods: the first is to divide the main and sub-headsets. First turn on the Bluetooth function in the mobile phone, and the mobile Bluetooth will connect first. The main earphone (usually the right ear), and then the signal is transmitted from the main earphone to the auxiliary earphone to form a stereo system. The typical representative is Apple. Apple Airpods use the monitor mode. The main headset does not need to send a signal to the secondary headset, but shares the key with the secondary headset, allowing it to "eavesdrop" by itself. This is achieved through this rule. The signal acquisition of the main and auxiliary earphones solves the problems of unbalanced power consumption of the main and auxiliary ears, interference of signal forwarding, and signal delay.

The second method is more common in the Android camp, such as the Bluetooth 5.0-based dual headset direct connection solution represented by Qualcomm, that is, the main and auxiliary headsets are not distinguished, and the left and right headset units operate completely independently. The mobile phone connects whichever is connected. Which. However, this method requires the system software to transmit the left and right channels separately, and needs to double the bandwidth, precise synchronization, custom equipment and headset protocol, and the compatibility and effect need to be strengthened relatively.

What is the reason why TWS headphones are so popular

Since Apple launched the first TWS headset Airpods in 2016, there has been a surge of wireless Bluetooth headsets. According to statistics from Zhiyan Consulting, from 2017 to 2018, the global TWS headset market increased from US$2 billion to US$5.376 billion, and global TWS headset shipments increased from 20 million units to 65 million units. It is estimated that the global TWS headset market will exceed 11 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, and shipments will reach 150 million units. Industry insiders predict that TWS headset shipments will exceed 1 billion units in the next five years, becoming the "number one player" in the headset market in the future.

(2016-2020 global TWS headset market size, data from Zhiyan Consulting)

In the ranking of TWS Bluetooth headset shipments in 2019 calculated by Strategy Analytics, Apple occupies the absolute main force, and mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Samsung, and Huawei are all on the list, abruptly taking away from the strong players in smart hardware such as Sony and Amazon. Gained a lot of market share.

(2019 TWS Bluetooth headset shipment ranking, data from Strategy Analytics)

Why are TWS headphones so popular? Mainly because of its excellent product experience and suitable for rich application scenarios:

1. As one of the commonly used accessories for mobile phones, earphones have a huge market. The appearance of TWS earphones breaks the shackles of the sensory experience of traditional wired earphones, and is more fashionable and avant-garde in appearance, attracting people's attention;

2. True wireless structure, completely abandon wired troubles, move more freely, especially for athletes, can enjoy the pleasure of listening to songs while exercising;

3. Small size, comfortable to wear, convenient to use, easy to carry, and rich in application scenarios. For example, in driving environments, it can free your hands and not worry about cable problems.

TWS headsets bring fire to related industry chains, which "entrants" will share the cake

TWS headsets seem simple, but in fact they have created a huge industrial chain. The so-called TWS headset is not just the headphone unit. The complete TWS headset product is divided into two parts: wireless headset part + charging box part.

The wireless headset part mainly includes: main control Bluetooth chip, MEMS microphone, voice acceleration sensor, storage, programmable SoC, audio decoder, overcurrent protection IC, current RF PCB, VCSEL, module foundry ODM, battery and other parts.

The charging box part mainly includes: microcontroller, power management IC, voltage regulator, lithium ion battery, charging control and protection circuit, DC-DC converter and other parts.

Specifically, the representative manufacturers of various components include:

It can be seen that in the related industry chain involved in TWS headsets, in addition to Apple Qualcomm, there are also established semiconductor giants such as STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, and Cypress. Among them, domestic manufacturers such as GoerTek, Zhaoyi Innovation, and Weir also share a part of the cake in the industry chain.

Future development of TWS headset

As a typical representative of smart hardware products, TWS headsets not only meet the needs of "wireless", they can also move in the following directions in the future:

1. Sound quality

Wired headsets are much better than wireless Bluetooth headsets in terms of sound quality. Thanks to data cable transmission, there will be less loss and delay in the process, so TWS headsets need to make more improvements in sound quality in the future;

2. Battery life

Although small size is the advantage of TWS headsets, it also leads to limited battery life. Now most of the ways to deal with it are to give the headset charging box the function of a power bank, even if you are away from home, you can charge it anytime and anywhere, but it is also a symptom A permanent solution

3. Intelligence

Give TWS headsets more intelligent functions, such as voice assistants, and control other smart terminal products by giving instructions to the headset. Another example is that TWS headphones are too small to be easily lost and difficult to find. How to prevent theft and loss is also one of the directions that needs to be overcome in the future.