You know how audiophiles get their own specialist gear? Music equipment specifically tuned to the needs of hi-fidelity audio? Gamers get their own specialist gear too. Low-latency audio solutions, with mics, controls, the works. What about podcast listeners? Can you think of how audio gear would look if it were specifically designed for people who listen to podcasts? That’s what the POD Pods are supposed to be apparently.
Designed as a pair of TWS earbuds tailor-made for podcast listeners, the POD Pods come with a few features that truly uplift the podcasting experience. Unlike regular earbuds that just come with a case, the POD Pods pack controls and even a display that’s designed just for podcast-listening, providing everything from a timeline, to AI highlights, and even language translation for foreign-language podcasts.
Designer: Lee Huang
The POD Pods are, first and foremost, earbuds. They come with a truly wireless design, sitting inside a semi-transparent case that feels reminiscent of stuff from . The case’s clear lid lets you see the earbuds inside, knowing whether they’re there or not. Meanwhile, a screen on the back, and controls on the side help aid the podcast listening experience.
Before we talk about the screen, I really sort of fell in love with the controls first. The POD Pods come with 3 controls, placed strategically on the side of the earbuds case. Two of them are volume controls – understandable, given that it’s literally audio gear. The third, however, is a brilliant podcast-app-UI feature that gets translated into a control. A knob on the side lets you instantly skip forwards or backwards by a period of 15 seconds (anyone who’s used Pocket Casts or another podcast app will relate), making it incredibly easy to skip forwards or backwards while listening to a podcast.
Music listeners prefer skipping tracks. Podcast listeners prefer micro-adjusting progress while listening. That intuitive understanding led to the addition of this feature, which, with the flick of your thumb, can send you 15 seconds forward or backward while on a pod episode.
That said, the screen might be the most impressive addition to the device’s caseback. The screen uses a low-energy electronic ink display, capable of running for weeks on just tiny amounts of energy. This allows the entire device to still have a great battery life despite boasting a near 2-inch display.
The display does a variety of things. When playing music, it showcases the album art, but switch to podcasts and you get access to a variety of power-features, from AI transcription to generating highlights based on content. You even get translation, which would help a lot of non-English speakers listen to podcasts or news – an important feature considering the POD Pods were designed by a Japanese designer.
To accompany the POD Pods, designer Lee Huang also created a pod-station of sorts. Designed to work as a charging dock for the pods case, the station still allows you to listen to podcasts thanks to its unique design. Most charging docks just handle battery recharging. This one comes with a speaker and controls, allowing your earbuds to now transform into a tiny internet radio of sorts. It’s clever and takes a very novel approach to novel problems. Nobody really designs audio gear specifically for podcasters – which is why this one feels so refreshingly innovative! Too bad it’s just a concept, though.
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