By John Bugailiskis
AT THIS YEAR’S DIGITAL CES 2021, it should come as no surprise pandemic products could be clicked on everywhere. As reported previously, Covid-19 has been very good for the tech industry. Now we even have MaskFone, a washable, N95 mask with a Bluetooth headset inside, designed to allow you to take calls without that annoying muffled mask sound.
Selling for $50 (it doesn’t appear to be for sale in Canada, yet), its manufacturer, Binatone, calls it the perfect solution for providing crystal-clear calls and audio without ever having to take your mask off. The unit features 12 hours of music playtime, an IPX5 waterproof rating and compatibility with Google, Alexa and Siri. The product was actually named a CES 2021 Innovation Award winner as an honoree.
“Especially given the current situation, the MaskFone fixes the most common issue of removing your mask to speak on the phone in order to b 
e heard clearly and exposing yourself and those around you while doing that. Using MaskFone, both you and your surroundings will always stay safe and healthy,” says the owner of Binatone, Dino Lalvani.
Obviously, I was unable to try one on, but it looks like Binatone has simply taken a washable face mask and added a Velcro pocket to slot in the earbuds and volume control. In other words, if you can sew, you could make one of your own. Which makes a lot more sense to me, and likely safer, than wearing a mask with the letters “MF” boldly printed on it.
