House of Marley (HoM) has always prioritized eco-friendly designs for those who want a slightly more guilt-free way to enjoy their tunes. Now, for the first time, the company has brought the price of its sustainable wireless earbuds under $100, with the very affordable Little Bird. The new buds share the same eco-minded mission as the company’s other true wireless products, but at just $40, they’re by far the most affordable. The Little Bird True Wireless Earbuds will be available in two color choices on November 7 at major retailers.
Like many of the company’s other products like headphones, earbuds, speakers, and turntables, the Little Bird make extensive use of materials that are just a little bit better for the planet, like bamboo, mica composites, recycled plastics, and Regrind — HoM’s own blend of natural wood fiber.
But other than the eco-friendly focus, the Little Bird appear to be a very basic set of wireless earbuds. You won’t find active noise cancellation (ANC), transparency mode, wireless charging, hi-res audio, or Bluetooth Multipoint. They play music and let you take phone calls, and that’s about it.
Even their battery life, while decent at a claimed six hours (24 hours with the case) is very commonplace — perhaps even a little on the low side for this price. There is a fast-charge feature that that gives you an additional two hours after 15 minutes of charging.
The Little Bird support Bluetooth 5.3, and they have separate modes for gaming and movie watching (the former is designed to reduce latency). The touch controls can be used to govern playback, phone calls, and volume levels, but with no HoM companion app, there’s no way to customize those controls (or perform firmware updates).
Editor’s note: the original version of this story reported the price of the Little Bird as $50, due to an error in House of Marley’s press release.