If one day we’ll have to pick a single object to define 2020 in the annals of humanity, it will inevitably be the protective face mask. Gone are the days when fellow travellers would look at you with utter disdain if you dared wearing one on a plane or in the subway during flu season. 
Over the span of nine months since the beginning of the pandemic in Europe, masks have been normalized as a common household item, while designers are already taking on the object to make it better, faster, stronger (and, alas, never simpler). The Maskfone is the latest instalment in this uncontrollable strain of enhanced protection devices. As the name suggests, it’s a mask that lets you make your calls without having to remove it.

Thanks to an integrated microphone and two wired earbuds, the wearer can talk into the mask, without having to remove it for better sound quality during a call. The protection is guaranteed by removable FFP2/N95 filters than can last as long as 200 hours of continued use. To make and receive calls, the mask can be connected to any smartphone via Bluetooth and operated through the controls placed on the right side. It’s an interesting idea for anyone who needs to wear a mask continuously and make and receive call hands-free quite often. If you already have a pair of True Wireless earphones (such as Apple’s AirPods) save yourself the 50$ requested by the Maskfone’s manufacturers, though: we've tried multiple times, and they’re perfectly suitable to be used while wearing a normal cheap non-smart regular mask.