Exhibition Experience
I. Introduction: Breaking Free from the Audio-Visual Barrier – Open-Back Headphones Designed for Workplace Productivity
Currently, the open-back headphone market primarily focuses on listening to music during exercise and daily commutes, with sound quality and wearing comfort being the core competitive factors. However, very few products deeply integrate meeting recording and cross-language business communication across the entire process.
NetEase Youdao, leveraging its self-developed “Zi Yue 4.0” model, launched the Youdao OpenPods. Breaking away from traditional audio hardware logic, it centers on AI voice productivity, integrating four major functions – real-time translation, audio transcription, AI minutes, and a desktop standalone translator – into a lightweight open-back ear-hook headphone.
Unlike ordinary headphones that prioritize music listening with AI as a secondary function, the OpenPods’ underlying logic is digital office work through sound: covering all scenarios from online meetings and offline interviews to foreign trade meetings and offline interviews. This hands-on test provides a complete breakdown of the wearing hardware, acoustic pickup, translation capabilities, meeting AI, innovative charging case design, and the advantages and disadvantages of battery life.
II. Hardware Appearance and Wearing Test: 7g Per Ear, Zero-Pressure Open-Type Ear Hook
- Lightweight Ergonomic Design
Weighing only 7g per earbud, the device features a C-shaped floating open-type ear hook structure that doesn’t enter the ear or block the ear canal. The silicone ear hook is soft and elastic with no hard edges, suitable for people with small or large ears, and those who wear glasses.
8-Hour All-Day Wearing Experience Test: During commuting, four consecutive meetings, and interviews, there was no soreness or ear pinching pain. The ear canal did not experience the stuffiness or itching common with in-ear headphones. The open-type design preserves ambient sound, ensuring safety during office communication and commuting across the street, making it suitable for both office work and daily travel.
The body is made of minimalist matte plastic with a low-key black business appearance, free of unnecessary colored lights or exaggerated shapes, making it suitable for in-person client meetings without being obtrusive.
- Core Acoustics and Sound Pickup Hardware
12mm composite driver unit with built-in low-frequency compensation algorithm, balancing clarity for both music and vocals;
Dual high-precision main microphones + bone conduction auxiliary sound pickup array, paired with DNS intelligent noise reduction 3.0;
Bluetooth 5.4 low-latency chip, instant connection upon opening the case, supporting seamless switching between mobile phones and computers;
IPX4 water resistance, worry-free for sweaty or rainy short trips;
Physical shortcut keys for one-click recording/translation, no need to unlock the mobile app.
- Exclusive Innovation: Independent Recording and Translation Charging Case
This is the core highlight that distinguishes OpenPods from all competitors. The charging case is not just for storage and charging, but also an offline independent translation terminal:
The charging case has a built-in independent microphone + external speaker, eliminating the need to connect to a mobile phone or wear headphones. During business negotiations, simply place it on the table for real-time bilingual dialogue translation.
Real-world test during foreign trade interviews: With the client and I communicating face-to-face, the earphone case is centrally located. One person speaks, and the audio is automatically translated and played aloud, eliminating the need to constantly pass a phone for translation. This creates a more professional business image, making it highly practical for offline exhibitions, visits, and coffee shop meetings.
- Deep MFi Apple Compatibility (Unique Advantage in the Industry) The first open-back AI earphone in China to receive Apple MFi certification, offering a significantly superior iOS ecosystem experience compared to competitors: With the phone locked, a short press of the physical button on the earphone activates recording/translation in one second, skipping the cumbersome steps of “unlocking the phone → opening the app → connecting the device.” This ensures you don’t miss crucial information during unexpected speeches or interviews. Recorded files and translated text can be directly synced with Apple Notes and Docs, providing seamless ecosystem integration.
III. Core AI Functionality Testing: Powered by the Ziyue Large Model, Automating the Entire Office Process
- Real-time Simultaneous Interpretation in Over Ten Languages, with More Natural Voice Cloning
Supports real-time bidirectional translation in over ten languages, including Chinese-English, Chinese-Japanese, Chinese-Spanish, and Chinese-Korean. It fully covers online video conferencing, voice calls, and offline meetings, with official translation capabilities comparable to professional level 8.
Exclusive Voice Cloning Technology: Pre-record your own voice; the translated foreign language will replicate your voice, making cross-border calls sound as if you are speaking directly in the foreign language, eliminating the harsh electronic tone of machine translation and significantly improving the long-term communication experience in foreign trade.
Offline translation packages can be downloaded in advance, enabling basic bilingual translation during business trips without internet access or overseas business trips, solving the pain point of translation interruptions caused by unstable networks.
- 98% High Accuracy Meeting Recording Transcription, AI Automatically Generates Office Materials
Dual microphones + bone conduction composite sound pickup accurately separates human voices from ambient noise in shopping malls, cafes, and noisy meeting rooms. Speech-to-text recognition accuracy reaches up to 98%, and professional industry terminology is automatically recognized and corrected.
Complete AI Workflow: Structured documents are generated synchronously after the meeting, automatically completing four major processes:
- Differentiating between multiple speakers and labeling each speaker’s name;
- AI extracts core viewpoints and meeting resolutions;
- Automatically captures to-do items and task deadlines;
- One-click generation of accompanying mind maps, which can be directly exported as Word, PDF, and images for sharing to DingTalk, Lark, and WeChat Work.
Real-world testing in scenarios such as journalist offline interviews, product requirement reviews, and customer requirement communication eliminates 1-2 hours of manual text processing after meetings, significantly reducing office time costs.
- AI Voice Agent: Deep Q&A on Recorded Materials
Unlike simple transcription tools, OpenPods features Youdao AI Agent. After all recorded materials are archived in the database, users can directly ask questions about the documents:
“Extract all the modification requests raised by clients in this meeting,” “Organize the relevant content of the quotation in this foreign trade negotiation,” “Summarize the project risk points in the third quarter.” The AI directly retrieves the full text of the recordings and outputs concise answers. A vast database of historical meeting recordings can be quickly searched and reviewed, forming a personal office knowledge base.
- Multi-Scenario Mode Switching
The device has four built-in exclusive modes, which can be switched with one click to adapt to different scenarios:
Meeting Mode: Full-power noise reduction + multi-speaker recognition;
Interview Translation Mode: Linked with the charging case for desktop external speaker translation;
Interview Mode: Ultra-high sensitivity voice pickup, amplification of weak voices;
Commuting Entertainment Mode: Optimized low frequencies for music, reduced power consumption for voice pickup.
IV. Battery Life, Companion App, and Ecosystem
Battery Life: 4.5 hours of continuous recording and translation on a single full charge; with the independent recording and charging case, the total battery life is 24 hours; Type-C fast charging reaches 75% in 30 minutes and fully charges in just 1 hour, meeting the needs of all-day business trips and multiple meetings.
Youdao Dedicated App Full Functionality:
Recording Library: Archived by date and scene tags, with local + cloud dual backup;
Translation Management: Offline language pack download, voice cloning recording;
AI Workbench: Minutes, mind maps, document export, batch sharing;
Device Management: Noise reduction intensity, sound leakage control, customizable button adjustments;
Supports encrypted cloud storage; for confidential business meetings, local storage mode can be enabled, recordings are not uploaded to the server, ensuring the security of enterprise communication information.
V. Summary of Advantages and Disadvantages Based on Actual Testing
Core Advantages
Lightweight Fit: 7g per earbud, open-back design, comfortable for all-day wear, especially suitable for those who wear glasses;
Exclusive Desktop Translator & Charging Case: Independent translation without a phone, a must-have function for offline foreign trade meetings, with no similar competing products on the market;
Full MFi Apple Certification, one-click quick start on iOS, ecosystem compatibility far surpasses ordinary third-party headphones;
Native adaptation to Youdao Ziyue large model, translation and transcription accuracy among the industry’s top tier, supports professional terminology correction;
Full-chain AI Office Closed Loop: Integrated recording – transcription – minutes – mind mapping – AI Q&A, directly addressing high-frequency pain points in the workplace;
Offline translation and recording are available, working normally during business trips and overseas without network access;
Open design considers commuting safety and daily music listening, not limited to a single office scenario.
Objective Shortcomings:
- Due to the limitations of its open-back physical structure, low-frequency performance is weaker than in-ear headphones in noisy environments like subways and busy city streets.
- Deep AI intelligent question answering and multilingual offline expansion require a membership; the free version only offers basic transcription and Chinese-English translation.
- Open-back design results in slight sound leakage; it’s unsuitable for music playback in extremely quiet libraries, only suitable for recording and office work.
- The charging case has a built-in microphone and speaker, and is slightly larger than a typical open-back headphone case, taking up some space in a small bag.
- Currently does not support simultaneous online access for multiple devices; switching between computers and phones requires a brief disconnection and reconnection.
VI. Target Audience and Purchase Recommendations
- Highly Recommended for:
- Foreign trade professionals and multinational sales personnel: Frequent bilingual interviews and multinational online meetings; the desktop translation box significantly improves communication efficiency.
- Product managers, management, and consultants: Multiple daily meetings requiring automatic summary and task retrieval.
- Journalists, self-media creators, and interview creators: Offline interview recording and rapid transcription.
- iOS Apple users seeking quick lock screen launch and a smooth ecosystem.
- Frequent business travelers and client visits requiring a lightweight, portable office tool. Not Recommended for: Heavy music enthusiasts seeking the ultimate closed-back noise cancellation and deep bass listening experience; those who only listen to music during daily commutes and have no needs for meetings, translation, or text recording; and those with extremely low budgets who only need basic Bluetooth headphones in the hundred-yuan range.
Purchase Recommendations: The standard matte black version will be officially released in August as the basic model, meeting most office and translation needs; a light white minimalist version will be launched later, suitable for female users; there are no high or low configuration options, all core AI functions are included as standard, and no hardware features are omitted.
VII. Review Conclusion: Redefining the Standards for Business AI Headphones
Currently, most open-back headphones remain at the audio entertainment level, while NetEase Youdao OpenPods differentiate itself, upgrading headphones from “music accessories” to portable office productivity terminals.
The 7g lightweight design solves the pain point of wearing headphones for extended periods of time at work, while the exclusive charging case with independent translation fills the gap in offline bilingual communication. Based on Youdao’s years of experience in translation and speech modeling, it achieves seamless integration of recording, transcription, summarizing, and multilingual simultaneous interpretation.
For professionals whose days are filled with meetings, client meetings, and cross-language communication, this is more than just a pair of Bluetooth headphones; it’s a 24/7 AI meeting secretary and professional translator. If your core needs are improved work efficiency and cross-language business communication, these newly mass-produced OpenPods from WAIC are the irreplaceable business choice among open-source AI headphones currently available.