California-based xMEMS Labs has developed the idea of solid-state speakers based on MEMS technology into speakers for open-back headphones and wearable and mobile electronics. According to the company, the new development will bring full-fledged sound to a mobile environment without increasing the volume for the speaker system. It’s an engineer’s dream—slim, compact speakers with clear sound in slim, sleek designs.
Image source: xMEMS Labs
The company’s assets include MEMS speakers for closed-back headphones and even coolers for cooling chips. The new development, called Sycamore, will expand the range of use of silicon speaker systems to installation in smart watches, virtual reality headsets, smartphones, laptops and, of course, open-back headphones.
«With Sycamore, mobile electronics can now come in thinner, more stylish form factors while maintaining powerful, rich sound,” said Mike Housholder, vice president of marketing and business development at xMEMS. “With superior performance at both low and high frequencies, Sycamore delivers powerful, full-range audio for smartwatches, smartglasses and every other small mobile form factor engineers dream of.”
The microspeaker, made of silicon, measures just 8.41 x 9 x 1.13 mm and weighs 150 mg. xMEMS estimates that this is about a third the thickness of a “typical speaker set” in a much smaller footprint. Also, silicon speakers need less space behind them for full sound when we are talking about installing wearable or mobile electronics in the case. At the same time, the new product boasts similar characteristics at mid frequencies and a margin for low frequencies of up to 11 dB. The versatile solid-state speaker also performs well at higher frequencies, delivering “15 dB more volume above 5 kHz” when compared to cone speakers.
The company plans to begin mass production of the new product in October 2025. Interested manufacturers will receive product samples earlier – early next year.