I have trouble concentrating. I’ve worked at home my entire career, but between the distractions of being in a home environment and the lack of sleep due to having a baby, lately, I’ve been struggling to get as much done each day as I otherwise would have. A few years ago. But we have tools to track the health of our hearts, so why not our brain? That’s the promise of the new Master & Dynamic MW75 Neuro headphones, which promise to use EEG sensors built into the earcups to help you improve your concentration by tracking it and making recommendations while listening to your favorite songs.
I have to admit, when I first heard about these headphones, I was a bit skeptical. I’m a big fan of consumer health trackers in general — the Apple Watch was the first confirmation I got that I had atrial fibrillation, which eventually led to me having an atrial fibrillation ablation procedure when I was 28 years old. But really — headphones that can read your voice Brain waves?
Do they work? Well, sort of – and they certainly make a compelling case for technology in general. But I’m not entirely convinced it’s ready for prime time yet.
Goodness
The Master & Dynamic MW75 Neuro headphones are the result of a partnership between Master & Dynamic, which built the core MW75 headphones, and Neuroable, the company behind the EEG-based focus tracking technology.
We’ll mainly focus on the focus tracking technology here, but it’s still worth noting how the headphones perform. I’ve been a fan of Master & Dynamic for some time, and these headphones are a good explanation why. They are looking excellent Gorgeous, with a unique and distinctive design overall. However, this iteration of the headphones isn’t the most comfortable – they’re relatively heavy, and put a lot of pressure on the top of the head, while applying a lot of clamp force. However, they sound great, offer good bass response and plenty of clarity in the high end – although if you just want great-sounding headphones, there are probably better options in this price range.
The headphones work with the Master & Dynamic app to adjust audio-related settings, but they also work with the Neurable app, which is how you’ll track your focus sessions. The app is relatively well designed, and it’s easy to start tracking your concentration when the headphones are properly connected.
During the session, you will kind of go about your day. You may assume that these activities are only good for work, but you can select the type of activities you plan to do during the session, including “Work,” “Leisure,” “Study,” and more. However, I mostly used headphones while working.
After the session, you will be able to see data related to your focus over the time you tracked. The time will be divided based on the ‘quality’ of focus, including ‘high’, ‘medium’ and ‘low’. You’ll also get information about your best attention spans, such as how long they lasted. As you work, you’ll receive notifications suggesting you take a break when your headphones think it will help you focus. It is well presented and easy to understand. After each session, you will also accumulate so-called “Focus Points”, which contribute to your daily score goal.
The bad
It’s a great idea overall – but after using these headphones for a while, I’m not quite sure the technology is worth the money yet. The MW75 Neuro headphones cost $700, which is $100 more than the regular MW75 headphones — which are more expensive to begin with.
I really don’t think most people willing to spend that money in the first place will get their money’s worth. Here’s the thing — the best health technologies work in the background, without You really have to do anything. That’s why using a device like the Apple Watch works so well. All you have to do is wear the watch, and it will track all kinds of different data, including sleep.
That’s not the case with the MW75 Neuro headphones, which require you to be willing to wear the headphones for a significant portion of your day, open the app, select the type of activity you’re doing, start the session, and keep the app running. in the background, and end the session when finished. At the time of this writing, the headphones don’t support Bluetooth Multipoint either, so you’ll be required to use them with your phone, and you can’t use them with a computer.
If you’re willing to do this, you may notice trends in your data. For example, on days you sleep poorly, your concentration is likely to be worse. But here’s the problem: when you sleep poorly, you… actually Know that your concentration has gotten worse, and an app that simply tells you it’s worse isn’t really helping anything. Guidance provided by the app about taking breaks may Be helpful sometimes – but I don’t know many people who work well that way. When I’m working on an essay, it’s not helpful to take a break and forget my train of thought, even if I’m having trouble concentrating.
Additionally, you can’t really track your data in real time. The screen basically shows you that you’re technically tracking, not what your focus is at any given moment. This makes sense – your focus will change when you’re monitoring data in an app, and as I said, the best health technologies work in the background. But it would be good to at least take a look at how your focus session has been so far.
All of this can be summed up in one sentence: the Master & Dynamic MW75 Neuro headphones are heavy, expensive, and not really useful.
the future
That is, it is not really useful yet. The technology in general is very cool, and I have high hopes for it. Who wouldn’t want to be able to monitor their brain health like you can monitor your heart health?
In the long term, that seems to be the goal for Neurable, which has big plans to use these headphones to track medical conditions and better help with things like focus. Even if work-based apps are the end goal, the product could be useful for avoiding burnout and increasing productivity by alerting you when you’re better focused. Beyond that, it can help treat things like epilepsy, PTSD, sleep disorders, and more. Non-invasive EEG can have significant effects on brain health.
It’s a great idea overall. After all, the brain is one of the least tracked parts of the body right now, not to mention perhaps the least understood. More widespread tracking can only be a good thing, as it helps consumers understand their minds better, and helps companies better develop brain-tracking technology.
But it’s not there yet. One day, it might be, and perhaps it will help solve the mysteries of the brain.
Conclusions
the Master & Dynamic MW75 Neuro headphones It’s a great idea, and I found it interesting to use – but not really useful. The headphones are a bit uncomfortable overall, focus tracking requires a lot of interaction, and the metrics that are tracked aren’t really useful. But technology in general is very exciting, and democratizing access to EEG technology would be a good thing. If you’re interested in playing around with technology and have money to spend, you’ll like what these headphones have to offer here. Just expect the first generation experience.
Should I buy the Master & Dynamic MW75 Neuro?
No, widespread access to EEG is exciting, but at this iteration, it is very expensive and not useful.
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