It’s 2020 and I’m still surprised we haven’t figured out the best shape for a pair of earphones. We’ve experimented with circles, silicone tips, weird wing-shaped hooks that latch onto parts of our ear canal, and even AirPods, and we’re yet to arrive at a universal earphone design that fits, pardon the phrase, like a glove. Recent images based on reliable leaks show that Samsung’s experimenting with kidney-bean shaped TWS earphones that fit neatly into the outer-ear canal. Given their form, it seems fitting that Samsung’s codenamed them The Bean.

The Bean’s shape looks pretty promising and is apparently smaller than any of Samsung’s Galaxy Buds. Sort of a cross between a hearing aid and consumer-grade wireless earphones, the Beans are a little over an inch long and have two small loudspeakers each, covering the midrange and treble, as reported by WinFuture. There’s even an outside channel similar to what you’d find in subwoofers, and a host of microphones, not just for answering calls, but presumably also to help cancel outside noise, because of the lack of an air-tight silicone tip on the Bean.

There’s no official word from Samsung with any working details or a release date (or even a price range), but reputable sources indicate a summer or autumn launch to coincide with the Galaxy Note 20. Until then, I’m stuffing broad-beans into my ear to see if they actually hold up. Please don’t try this at home.

Designer/Visualizer: Roland Quandt for WinFuture