Gadgetwise Blog: Listen Alone or Share With Friends

The Flips Audio headphones from Idea Village.

When it comes to a company like Idea Village, you expect to see some unusual concepts.

The company, which develops and markets “as seen on TV” products, like Stompeez children’s slippers and the Shoe Dini shoe horn, recently created a new technology division to market Flips Audio, a hybrid gadget that combines headphones and external speakers.

Placed on your head, Flips Audio delivers music directly to your ears as a pair of on-ear headphones. But when Flips is slipped around your neck, the ear cups can be turned outward for sharing with friends (or strangers on a subway train).

As headphones, Flips delivers decent sound, although a bit muddy, especially at higher volumes. The audio improves when the headphones are transformed into external speakers. Flips will not rock your next party, but the speakers are loud enough to let others nearby hear your music. When you’re done sharing, a quick flip turns them back into headphones.

The external speakers run on an internal lithium-polymer battery that Idea Village says will last two to three hours on a full charge. That’s not very long, but enough time to share your favorite songs. A USB cable is included for charging.

The biggest drawback is the lack of external controls. Flips Audio costs $120, and for that amount of money, you would expect at least an in-line remote control. As it stands, you have to keep your music player handy to change the volume or play or pause a track.

Flips Audio comes in black or white and is available on the company’s e-commerce Web site and at Walmart stores. It may not have the best sound system, but it is a fun novelty. You could easily find better headphones and a better speaker, but you’d be hard-pressed to find them both in the same gadget.