Fender's modular lossless headphones and gorgeous new speakers have me thrilled

Fender Audio is entering a crowded Bluetooth market, but it’s breaking in with modular lossless headphones and portable Bluetooth speakers that double as XLR amps.

Fender is an age-old name in audio, but a recent one in the Bluetooth audio space. Through a licensing deal, Fender Audio launched two new product series during CES 2026, and they both took me by surprise after a quick demo.

The Fender Mix is a pair of modular headphones, and they have a serious Swiss Army Knife vibe to them. The band detaches from each driver connected by USB-C plugs for easy detachment. The earcups detach, too, unveiling a couple of hidden features.

Fender thought it would be a good idea to include a USB-C dongle for those who want to experience lossless audio or even low-latency for gaming. The headphones connect via Bluetooth codecs, but the addition of the tiny dongle allows for direct LDHC and Fire codec connection, allowing for full-bandwidth audio on top of the built-in Auracast capabilities.

Advertisement - scroll for more content

A removable battery sits under the other earcup. Once the magnetic cup is pulled off, the user can slide a small divider away from the battery and replace it in a matter of seconds. Fender Audio claims the Mix headphones can hit 100 hours of playback with ANC off, and 52 hours with it turned on.

The thoughtfulness that went into the Mix headphones is phenomenal.

Fortunately, Fender isn’t relying solely on name recognition and exciting features. The company is backing up the $299 price tag with a modular pair of headphones that sound excellent. Even when using AAC with Bluetooth, the headphones sounded phenomenal, with the company’s tuning doing the heavy lifting. Using lossless audio, they sound even better. The addition of the incredibly small dongle makes lossless audio so much more approachable on the go.

These headphones still won’t replace a pricey DAC, amp, and wired headphones, but they seem to showcase a solid step in the right direction for portable options. That’s coming from someone who spent less than an hour listening at CES 2026. Even still, they sounded crisp and ever-so-slightly warm with emphasis on the right details, which I love.

As for the new speakers, Fender’s Elie 06 and Elie 12 offer the same great sound in a portable form factor, just with different output levels. The Elie 06 is a smaller unit that sits tall with a small footprint. It can last up to 18 hours on a full charge, while the much larger model can last 15 hours.

Both are designed beautifully, with a maple wood accent lining the top of the speakers as an homage to Fender’s history. The company’s design language also incorporates retro details mixed with modern aesthetics. Overall, I think it’s a very good-looking set of speakers that come in both black and white.

The Elie 06 speakers are mono, but Fender uses the newest Bluetooth codec to allow for one-button pairing to a second Elie 06 for stereo audio. Both modes sound fantastic, but a dual-speaker setup will offer more depth.

Fender is also trying to appeal to a wider audience with connections we generally don’t see in Bluetooth speakers. The back of the speakers houses an XLR input for guitar or microphone connections, with a button for 48V phantom power. Any input can be mixed in with a line out for recording to external devices.

The Elie 06 and Elie 12 will be available for $299 and $399, respectively, while the Mix modular headphones will sell for $299. The entire lineup is expected to launch sometime next month.