Apple delays W1-equipped BeatsX earphones until February 2017

BeatsX Wireless Earphones image 001

While Apple’s online store this morning began accepting orders for $159 AirPods ahead of their Christmas delivery, another pair of earphones from Apple that use W1 chip just got delayed.

Announced at the iPhone 7 event in September and originally listed as arriving in late-2016, Beats X Wireless Earphones won’t be available before February 2017, according to Apple’s online store.

As evidenced by the screenshot you see below, the BeatsX listing on the Apple Online Store has been updated to reflect that the earphones will be arriving in February 2017.

BeatsX Apple Online store

Interestingly enough, the product page at the official Beats website still lists BeatsX as coming in late 2016.

BeatsX arriving late 2016 web screenshot 001

The $149.95 accessory is available in Black or White. You can order yours through Apple.com in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany and a few other countries.

CNET’s David Carnoy went hands-on with Beats’ first neckband-style headphone and came away impressed with both their fit and sound. According to Carnoy, they may be Beats’ best new wireless headphones.

Here’s Carnoy’s video hands-on.

Apple’s W1 chip powers AirPods, Beats Solo3 Wireless On-Ear Headphones, Powerbeats3 Wireless Earphones and BeatsX Wireless Earphones. It enables reliable Bluetooth connections and significantly longer battery life versus headphones without it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-lP_4RyP_k

Additionally, W1 is responsible for smart features that are exclusive to Apple devices, like one-tap Siri access, the ability for AirPods to automatically shut down when you take them out of your ear, seamless iCloud-based pairing, automatic audio routing when you lose one of the AirPods or its battery dies and more.

W1-driven accessories can be used comfortably with non-Apple devices, in which case they work as any other Bluetooth accessory minus the aforementioned smart features.