Bang & Olufsen's first ever pair of wireless earphones — dubbed Beoplay H5 — look like they could be a winner. They're simple and well-designed, with no plastic collar that sits on your shoulders: just a single braided cable with a built-in remote, playback, and volume control. They're splash and dust resistant, and there are 50 mAh batteries inside each earpiece which combine to offer five hours of continuous playback.

the earbuds clip together with magnets and offer 5 hours battery life

B&O says the cable's design was inspired by the materials used to make sneakers, so it's comfortable and easy to clean. (A good thing — as sticky rubber cables can sometimes snag on your skin.) The H5s cling together with magnets when not in use (which automatically powers down the battery), and the same magnets are used to clip the earphones into their "charging cube" — easier than having to fiddle with a microUSB cable each time you want to top up the battery.

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Neckbuds of this sort have been pretty popular recently, but they're very much hit and miss. While their design saves you the hassle of having a wire bouncing around your body, they often come with weird neck-collars holding the battery and Bluetooth component and need frequent recharging. With the H5s, B&O looks like it's solved these problems at least: there's no plastic collar, a decent amount of battery life, and the earphones have a simple charging mechanism for topping them up each night.

And as this is B&O, the H5s also promise great sound, with 6.4mm dynamic speakers and a Bluetooth 4.2 chip. A companion app can be used to create different sound profiles for the earphones too, letting users adjust tonality and sound staging, as well as monitor their battery life. But you have to consider the price, too — the H5s go on sale today in the UK for £199 or roughly $268. Will they be worth the money? We'll have to wait until we can get a pair around our necks.

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