These headphones transform into a Bluetooth speaker (and it's sick)

Published Nov 13, 2026, 11:00 AM EST Bertel is a lifelong tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience writing thousands of articles about Android devices, Linux, and more. Before joining the How-To Geek team, Bertel wrote for the likes of MakeUseOf, MakeTechEasier, and Android Police—at the latter he wrote over 3,500 articles. He delights in helping others decide which tech to bring into their lives... and which tech to do without. Bertel graduated from the College of William and Mary in 2012 with degrees in History and Government. He has spent his entire career as a tech journalist covering Android, Linux, wearables, smart home devices, and more. There is a lot of bad new tech coming out right now, but now and then, someone nails it—such is the case with the Bluetooth headphones I've spent the last month living with. Just about everyone who has seen me with them thinks they’re dope. TDM Neo’s latest headphones double as a Bluetooth speaker Or are they speakers that double as headphones? TDM is not a household name, but the company impressed many at this year's CES with its booth showing off a pair of hybrid headphones with a unique twist. The TDM Neo are headphones that are equally at home as a Bluetooth speaker. The company won many best of CES awards for wowing attendees with a concept that hardly needed to be sold—even if it didn't make our own best of CES list. This is not yet another AI voice recorder, nor is it a PC gaming handheld you can hardly afford. I wasn’t at CES, but TDM sent me a pair that I’ve been living with for the past month. It’s easy to see something like this pop up on your feed and be skeptical that it will ever come to market or is actually a real product. I was genuinely excited to try these out, and I have not been disappointed. The transition from headphone to speaker is handled perfectly No button presses or awkward app required Here's the concept—you wear the Neo on your head like typical headphones. When your head needs a break, you take the headphones off and twist each ear cup to bring them closer together. Once the padding makes contact with each other, the external speakers activate. The sound immediately transfers from the internal speakers to the external ones. Just like that, you have a compact Bluetooth speaker. Headphones that turn into a Bluetooth speaker are an inherently good idea, and whether it's any good or not lives and dies by the execution. The TDM Neo could very easily have been a pair of hybrid headphones that required memorizing a button press to transition from headphone to speaker and hoping that it worked. Even worse—TDM could have treated the feature as a reason to download a companion app. If they had, I wouldn’t be writing these words. I’m happy to say that these headphones are a lesson in excellent design (at least in this one area). Once you’re aware that they turn into Bluetooth speakers, the headphones bend in the direction you intuitively expect them to. The transition happens automatically, with no awkward delay causing you to wonder whether you’re doing it right. That these headphones can transform is hard to miss, since the Neo ships with a case that they will only fit in when converted into a speaker, which also makes them compact and easy to travel with. That last bit is a bigger deal than you might think. These aren’t perfect headphones, but I hope everyone copies them This concept deserves imitation and innovation From the moment I experienced the Neo, I wished all headphones were this way. They’re the ideal travel companion. With one device, I know I have headphones that can block out the world on a plane or the backseat of a car, but I also have a speaker for ambient music and background podcasts once I arrive at a hotel. I don’t consider a dedicated Bluetooth speaker something worth taking up precious space in my bag when I’m trying to pack light, but it’s something I will happily use if it’s there. With the TDM Neo, that problem is solved. Whether it’s for the convenience of having a Bluetooth speaker always on me or the space-saving design, I don’t want to go back to the usual form factor. Yet that doesn’t mean TDM has completely knocked it out of the park. The first time I tried to show these headphones off to someone, the transition didn’t work. Turned out I had unknowingly changed what happened when the headphones twisted (I had then set to pause and unpause music). Likewise, since there isn’t a dedicated power button, I couldn’t figure out how to turn the headphones off. In other words, this is not a pair of headphones you can skip reading the small user manual that comes with it, not because the twist mechanism is confusing, but because the buttons are. Likewise, to keep the headphones smaller, the cup doesn’t cover my ear. Instead, they rest on top of them. This is a matter of personal preference, but I would like to see a larger version that does fully cover my ear. In other words, there is room for innovation here, and I’d like to see other brands jump on board. I hope all my future headphones twist like this I’m not saying you should rush out and buy the TDM Neo. At $250, these headphones are up against premium options that offer better sound quality, noise cancellation, comfort, and style. It may be better to think of the Neo as a $125 pair of headphones combined with a $125 Bluetooth speaker. That’s not a tradeoff everyone is willing to make, but this two-in-one design is such a practical improvement for me that I can’t help but wish all other headphones worked the same way.