It’s a very big month for Sonos. The audio brand is set to launch its Ace Ultra headphones and Beam Ultra soundbar imminently – pre-orders are open now – alongside the latest Sonos 27 app to wash the brand of its previous software sins. Both products are brilliant as – spoiler alert! – our 5-star reviews attest.

However, with the Ace Ultra’s big new feature that it offers Wi-Fi connectivity to play nice with your Sonos system at home – here’s how its Headphone Linking feature works – you might think that’s the core playing field for these new headphones. I think they offer much more, though, as the Ultra is extremely adept in the outside world too.

September has been a jam-packed month for me personally, involving a lot of travel. I’ve flown for roughly 70 hours during this month alone thus far, with some particularly long-haul flights – Tokyo to London’s routing is touching upon 16 hours at present – which seemed like the ideal opportunity to truly test Sonos’ latest headphones.

I’ve been carting around the Ace Ultra alongside the original Ace product (for side-by-side testing), plus a batch of in-ears and some secret headphones that I’m not yet permitted to talk about. And using these Sonos over-ears has been a real unexpected treat during my travels. Here, in five key points, I highlight the biggest takeaways in my experience.

Noise cancelling that truly competes

When Sonos launched the original Ace, it proclaimed to have the best active noise-cancelling (ANC) on the market. Many scoffed at this, frankly, especially when Bose and Sony had long ruled that roost. It was decent, mind, just not as ‘locked-in’ as some other products can deliver – but that was arguably more fitting of such a product and its at-home use potential.

In the Ace Ultra, however, Sonos hasn’t just leant back and re-stated the very same claim. These headphones have fully reworked the ANC on offer, with more microphones – 10 in total – being a major part of how it can sense and constantly adapt to surroundings, making your listening experience better.

The new Adaptive ANC feature is there to, just as its name states, adapt to surrounding conditions. But it’s not mere marketing, as I’ve been able to literally hear it operating: when putting my glasses on after a little nap on the flight, for example, the added gap between headphones and my head made for a less ideal ANC environment.

But this new Sonos product knows – and it’s kitted out to make real-time adjustments. Mere seconds after making that physical adjustment, upon which I could hear the ‘fizzing’ background noise of the aircraft cabin, it dwindled and almost disappeared.

This is ANC of the highest order, so if you don’t want to hear bothersome distractions then you’ll be well served – even if you keep making tweaks to the headphones’ fit over your head. It’s very clever stuff indeed, not to mention the Ultra sounds way better with ANC activated.

Battery life that bosses it

There's no shortage of decent travel headphones, many of which make it their job to offer the best possible longevity – so you can keep on listening, trip after trip. There’s the Sony WH-1000XM6, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, and plenty of others to consider.

In the Ace Ultra, Sonos has really elevated its offering. The original Ace was decent in its innings, with 24-to-30 hours per charge doing a darn good job for extended periods – and being mighty comfortable throughout. The Ultra, however, ups that to 35 hours per charge, which is a notable improvement.

That’s 35 hours with ANC on, by the way, so you needn't forego any feature niceties at all. I've used the Sonos 27 app to dig into these headphones’ EQ settings, too, as there’s a fully customisable eight-band equaliser to get everything sounding just as you want.

Given just how much travelling I’ve been doing, I’ve been able to watch hour by hour how accurate that ’35 hour’ claim is too. The app is really good at presenting precisely what it predicts you have remaining in the tank, while an auto-off setting (which you can set as you please, should you wish to delay it) ensures battery savings when you forget to switch off.

I did wonder if ‘bigger battery’ would mean ‘greater weight’, but the product’s 322g total mass doesn’t feel excessive when wearing. Comfort is one of the biggest positives about this product in my view – as I’ll cover more extensively below – and I think other big names could learn a thing or two from Sonos’ take on design and ergonomics.

Wired listening ideal for in-flight entertainment

When on long flights, I tend to use my AirFly Pro to wirelessly send a Bluetooth signal from in-flight entertainment to my headphones. I forgot to charge that unit this trip, though, and even once I had it didn’t want to play ball on this occasion.

Therefore, faced with wanting to watch a movie – pray tell thee, why on earth did I pick Hamnet? – I was assuming the provided cables in the Ace Ultra’s package might not play nice with British Airways’ IFE system. How wrong I was, though, as it worked a treat – no fiddling about or balancing the 3.5mm half into the socket to get a decent audio signal.

Sonos includes a USB-C-to-3.5mm cable in the box, which worked wonders for my wired listening in this scenario. Outside of flying, though, you can also use a USB-C-to-C cable (also provided) for Hi-Res Audio listening at the utmost quality. So the Ace Ultra isn’t just good via Bluetooth, it’s great to use wired too.

Serious sound and customisation

All of which is all well and good, but the core reason for travelling with headphones is to obtain the best possible sound when on the go. And in a way that's private.

Fortunately, the Sonos Ace Ultra sounds stupendous. These are no ‘Ace+’, as Sonos built a new 40mm driver from the ground up, tuned it with Grammy-nominated producers, and has really pushed for a more vibrant sound profile. There’s bass in abundance, enhanced by the ANC, but no other frequency goes amiss.

Per the Adaptive ANC, there’s another clever option going on here to enhance the listening experience: Adaptive EQ. In real time, these headphones can offset frequency balance based on your surroundings, the product’s fit, and what you’re listening to. There’s even a Loudness switch to toggle on for some ‘turn it up to 11’ additional pep.

I’m very impressed with the sound. But that is, in a way, also enhanced by the comfort. Just as I said of the original Ace, the Ace Ultra is supremely comfortable over the ears. There’s no excess weight or clamping force, just a very well-considered design that looks, feels and sounds a triumph.

The case is still a faff though

So far, so happy. But there’s one part of the package that Sonos hasn’t addressed well enough: the carry case. This honestly surprises me – in my original Ace review I called out that case for being a weak point in the whole product offering, and I certainly wasn’t the only one to say it.

The Ace Ultra? The included case here is pretty much the same. Yes, it looks nice, but when it’s got a zip that can catch the fabric and get stuck, that doesn’t really matter, does it? The material finish also marks up, so it won’t necessarily stay looking all that nice for long either.

The way the headphones fold and fit within, plus the little pockets for those included cables – that stuff is all good! It’s just the finicky nature of the zip which really lets this case down and, given how sophisticated the headphones' design is overall, that seems like the one weak point when travelling with them.

Can’t have it all, eh? But it’s 95% of the way there – and I’d happily use the Ace Ultra for long-haul travel in addition to at-home sessions. It might well have added some degree of Wi-Fi compatibility, but that far from defines this product. If anything, the Ace Ultra might be at its best when out in the wild – and a true new competitor among the best headphones money can buy.

I really like the new Beats 360, but if there's one thing I'd rush to buy at launch, it isn't necessarily the headphones themselves, but the cushions.

To entice people to splash the cash on its new over-ear noise-cancelling headphones, Beats is launching replacement 360 Cushion Kits for just £9.95 in the UK, down from £49.95.

Each kit includes replacement ear pads and a matching headband cushion, and at that introductory price, I think they're almost impossible to ignore.

That's especially true if you're planning to use the Beats 360 as running headphones.

The headphones are Beats' first over-ear model with an IPX4 sweat- and water-resistance rating, and the supplied Performance Knit cushions have specifically been designed with workouts in mind.

The cushions twist off, while the padded headband section snaps out, making it easy to swap between different sets.

After a sweaty workout, the last thing I want is to put the same damp ear cushions back on for an afternoon of work.

Having one set for training and another for everyday listening makes much more sense.

Beats says the Performance Knit cushions can be cleaned, but they'll obviously need time to dry.

A spare set means you can swap them over and keep using the headphones.

The £80 saving is the real deal

At the normal £49.95 price, two additional cushion kits would cost £99.90.

Buy those same two kits during the introductory promotion, and you'll pay £19.90, saving a whopping £80.

While I'm sure Beats will eventually drop the price of the new headphones, you might not save much on the cans themselves if you're also planning to buy at least one set of replacement cushions.

The promotional price runs from 22 September until 31 October 2026 in the UK, with a limit of three kits per customer and availability while stocks last. After that, the normal price of £49.95 applies.

At £9.95 a set, I'd probably buy two. One for sweaty workouts, one for everyday listening, and potentially £80 left in my pocket compared with doing the same thing later.

Head over to Apple to order your Beats 360 and cushions.

I came away from my Beats 360 review thinking they were some of the best headphones the brand has made in years.

They sound excellent, the active noise cancellation is much stronger than before, the battery life is impressive, and their secure fit finally makes working out in premium over-ear Beats feel like proper running headphones.

And while the new cans sound better than the Beats Studio Pro, I would still choose the older, cheaper headphones for long-haul flights for one simple reason.

Simply put, the Beats 360 has no wired audio connection, which means I can't use them for in-flight entertainment, forcing me to use the terrible cabled earbuds they give you on flights. Boo-hoo.

Newer isn’t always better

That omission makes sense when you look at how Beats designed the 360. The headphones use what the brand calls a "true wireless architecture," with separate batteries, antennas and processing components in each earcup.

This approach lets Beats reduce the hardware passing through the headband and optimise overall balance and fit. The result is a comparatively lightweight, secure headphone that feels much better suited to exercise and all-day use.

Conversely, the slightly heavier Studio Pro offers a 3.5mm analogue input, which might sound increasingly old-fashioned in 2026, but it remains incredibly useful on an aircraft.

Plug the included cable into the entertainment system in the seat in front of you, and you can listen to films and TV through your own headphones instead of relying on the usually dreadful pair handed out by the airline.

And there's an even bigger advantage! When you connect Studio Pro using the 3.5mm analogue cable, the headphones don't need battery power to play, which is enormously useful on a long-haul flight.

ANC won't work indefinitely because that still relies on the headphones' electronics, but basic audio playback through the cable does.

If the battery dies halfway across the Atlantic, or you've simply forgotten to charge the headphones before leaving home, you can still plug them into the seat and carry on watching.

With the Beats 360, once the battery is gone, so is your audio. Admittedly, the 32-hour battery life means that's unlikely on a single flight, but that's not really the point.

Sure, some newer aircraft and airlines now offer Bluetooth pairing, but it's far from universal. For most flights, the seat socket remains the easiest way to use your own headphones.

You can buy a Bluetooth transmitter and plug that into the aircraft's headphone jack, of course, but that's another gadget to remember, charge and carry around.

The Beats 360 is the more advanced product in almost every other respect. It has Beats' newer fourth-generation proprietary chipset, stronger ANC, interchangeable cushions, IPX4 sweat and water resistance, and longer ANC battery life.

So for commuting, exercise and everyday use, I'd take the 360. For a 14-hour flight from London to Tokyo, I'll still pack the Studio Pro.

Sometimes the boring feature matters most

It's easy to dismiss wired headphones as something the industry should have left behind years ago. For phones and everyday listening, I'd probably agree, as I almost never plug headphones into my smartphone anymore.

However, a simple 3.5mm socket gives Studio Pro flexibility the Beats 360 doesn't have, and analogue playback without battery power makes it especially well suited to long trips.

None of this makes me like the Beats 360 any less. They're still the Beats headphones I'd choose for almost everything else. But until in-flight Bluetooth becomes genuinely universal, the supposedly old-fashioned Studio Pro will keep one very important place in my bag.

Beats just permanently reduced the Studio Pro's price, so if you like cabled listening, now is the time to get one.

Beats once made headphones as much a fashion statement as audio equipment, but they gradually evolved into a polished part of the wider Apple ecosystem. That's hardly a bad thing, but somewhere along the way, some of the attitude that originally made Beats such an interesting brand became less obvious.

With the Beats 360, it feels like the pendulum is swinging back in the right direction. The brand’s latest premium headphones come with adaptive noise cancellation, Personalised Spatial Audio, automatic device switching and a fourth-generation proprietary Beats chipset.

On top of that, they're unapologetically fun and customisable, with ear cushions that twist off and headband cushions that pop out, letting you customise your headset any way you want.

More importantly, Beats has designed the 360 around something plenty of people already do, despite most manufacturers seemingly pretending otherwise. The cans are the brand's first over-ear model with an IPX4 sweat- and water-resistance rating, built from the ground up for workouts.

I’ve been wearing them all day for a week now for work and exercise, on the train, in the office and at home. And guess what? The Beats 360 are my new favourite headphones from the brand. They aren’t perfect – I dearly miss the cabled-in option that made the Beats Studio Pro so excellent for long-haul flights – but the new headphones are a lot of fun to wear and listen to audio with.

Beats 360 review

Price and availability

The Beats 360 launches at £299.95 in the UK, $349.99 in the US, €349.95 in Europe and AU$499.95 in Australia. Beats is simultaneously dropping Studio Pro to £249.95 / $299.99 / €299.95 / AU$479.95.

The price is almost identical to Bose's QuietComfort 2nd Gen and below Sennheiser's £329.99 Momentum 5 and the £349 Sonos Ace. Sony's WH-1000XM6 sit higher again at their standard pricing, while my all-time favourite cans, Apple's AirPods Max 2, remain significantly more expensive at £499.

Additional cushion kits normally cost £49.95, but Beats is running an introductory offer that drops them to £9.95 in the UK from 22 September until 31 October 2026, while stocks last. That’s a huge discount that I would seriously consider.

Even if the headphones’ price drops eventually – which is likely – getting two pairs of ear cushions will save you £80, and that’s quite something!

Design and comfort

Beats’ chunky new headphones were teased for months before the reveal in September 2026, which gave us a clear idea of how they will look. In most photos and videos, the bright colours and interchangeable ear cushions were evident, and while these are a key part of the Beats 360’s appeal (see below), they have much more to offer.

With the Beats 360, the company has moved to what it describes as a true wireless architecture, with each earcup containing its own battery, antenna and processing components. This approach reduces the hardware running through the headband and supposedly let designers make it thinner while shifting more weight to the cushions.

The finished headphones weigh 294.5g, which isn’t exactly lightweight in absolute terms, but it's competitive for this kind of premium over-ear headphone. The Beats are heavier than Sony’s and Sennheiser’s top-of-the-range plastic cans, but lighter than Sonos’ Ace and Apple’s AirPods Max 2, which comes in at a whopping 386.2g.

Despite the lighter construction, the Beats 360 feels light on the head without feeling flimsy in the hand, and I think that distinction matters.

Beats is famous for its headphones’ grip strength, and the 360 continues that tradition. That makes sense, especially since the brand wants people to use the over-ears for workouts. I've found the 360 stays reassuringly planted during exercise, from cycling to strength workouts and beyond.

The trade-off is pressure on the ears, of course, especially during and after long listening sessions. During testing, I wore the Beats 360 for hours on end, and I could certainly feel the cans pressing on the lower ends against my ears and neck.

It’s not the end of the world, and if I had to choose, I would probably say pressure on the lower side is better than pressure at the top, because that would press my glasses into my skull too much.

Beats launched the 360 with two types of ear cushions. The standard Performance Knit cushions use memory foam wrapped in a diamond-knit textile made from 36 micro-threads, which Beats says creates a softer, more breathable surface. The brand recommends these for workouts.

The UltraPlush cushions use engineered leather over the same memory foam. These are softer to the touch and lend the Beats 360 a more premium look and feel. I found both comfortable enough to wear, but I preferred the feel of the UltraPlush cushions more.

Sadly, neither completely solves the heat problem for me. Both ear cushion options seemingly provide a good enough seal for heat to build up. This forced me to take them off for a few minutes after a couple of hours to let my ears cool down. It goes to show that there isn’t a perfect solution: you either get a good grip and seal or better airflow around the ears.

Customisation

The large, interchangeable cushions not only give the Beats 360 its easily recognisable silhouette but they also expand the cans’ versatility. They release with a twist, and the padded headband, included in the box, snaps in and out using three attachment points. It’s all very straightforward.

Better still, the sensors identify which cushion type you've attached, and the headphones automatically adjust ANC, Transparency and EQ tuning to compensate for the different acoustic properties of Performance Knit and UltraPlush. Neat.

There are four frame colours – Black, Cloud, Sky and Pink – while additional Performance Knit kits come in six colours, and UltraPlush comes in Black and Cloud. Start mixing different ear and headband cushions, and Beats says there are theoretically 256 combinations.

(This would obviously involve mixing different colours for the two ear cushions and the headband, which I don’t think looks good, but it certainly is an option.)

If you want to use the Beats 360 for workouts, having a spare set of ear cushions is almost essential. Sweat and dirt will build up in these contact points, and trust me when I say that you don’t want to walk around with sweaty, smelly headphones on your head when you aren’t in the gym.

Having one set of cushions and headbands for workouts and another for everyday use makes the Beats 360 a truly “360” headphone option you can wear all day, every day. Beats says the Performance Knit cushions can be hand-washed in warm, soapy water, so having a spare set is great in the sense that it lets you wear the headphones for work while the other dries at home.

Controls and connectivity

The Beats 360 uses physical controls, something I prefer over the touch variety. Along the edge of the earcups, you’ll find four push buttons to turn the headphones on and off, switch between listening modes, adjust volume and start/stop playback. Beats says the rear placement is designed to make everything accessible with your thumbs.

And while it’s true, the button design is far from ergonomic. They are simply too flush, so I have to feel around the earcup to figure out where my thumb is supposed to go. Apple's AirPods Max 2 is considerably more expensive, but its prominent Digital Crown and separate noise-control button demonstrate how much easier headphone controls can be to identify without looking.

The Beats 360 is also notable for returning to the company's own silicon. Inside is the fourth generation of Beats' proprietary chipset, a welcome departure from Apple’s H-series chip. Don’t get me wrong, I have no qualms with Apple’s chips, but I’m glad Beats is pushing its own technology.

Thankfully, you don’t miss out on any native Apple features. There's one-touch pairing, iCloud pairing, Automatic Switching, Audio Sharing, Find My, hands-free Siri and Personalised Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. Android gets Fast Pair, Audio Switch, Find Hub and additional controls through the Beats app.

That platform-agnostic approach remains one of Beats' biggest strengths. You can use an iPhone without feeling like you've bought a second-rate Apple product, but switching to Android doesn't suddenly strip half the useful features away either.

Sound quality and noise cancellation

Thankfully, none of that personality comes at the expense of sound quality. The 360 uses a completely new acoustic platform built around 40mm dual-magnet drivers, a high-dynamic-range amplifier and triple-layer (!) diaphragms. Beats says the new transducer produces 12dB higher output than the Studio Pro driver while keeping distortion low.

This isn't the aggressively bass-heavy Beats tuning people might remember from years ago. The new setup has plenty of low-end weight, and the overall presentation feels powerful, but it’s far from muddy, with impressive clarity and separation (alongside the punch you'd expect from the brand, of course).

That said, the Beats 360 are enjoyable headphones and not analytical ones, but in all fairness, that's exactly how I'd want a pair of Beats to sound.

Active noise cancellation is another strong point. Beats claims the 360 delivers up to 1.75 times more total noise cancellation than Studio Pro, using eight ANC microphones and substantially more processing power.

It goes without saying that I can’t tell if the ANC is exactly 1.75x stronger than the Beats Studio Pro – what does that even mean? What I do know is that isolation is excellent, even in noisy environments like trains and offices.

Ambient noise barely comes through, which is great news as the Beats 360 lets you listen to music at lower volumes even in public. I appreciate good ANC, as I feel it helps preserve my hearing by letting me avoid high volumes.

The Transparency mode isn't quite as convincing. External sounds occasionally seem to arrive a fraction of a second later than I expect. It almost feels like the algorithm needs a bit more time to think about the noise before acting on it. As a result, the effect is slightly less immediate and natural than the best implementations I've used.

It's hardly disastrous, and it strikes me as something Beats could potentially improve through a software update, but right now it's one of the few areas where the 360 doesn't feel as polished as its ANC performance.

Battery life and charging

Beats says the headphones can last up to 32 hours with ANC and Personalised Spatial Audio enabled, which is not mind-blowing but still above average. Strangely enough, Transparency mode drains the Beats 360 faster and can fully deplete the battery in just 24 hours.

Fast Fuel provides up to one hour of playback from a five-minute charge. Thirty-two hours is competitive even before you remember that Beats is quoting that figure with ANC running.

Sony's WH-1000XM6 offers up to 30 hours with noise cancellation switched on, as does the Sonos Ace. Bose's new QuietComfort 2nd Gen manages 24 hours, while AirPods Max 2 is rated for 20 hours with ANC. Sennheiser remains the battery monster of this part of the market with the Momentum 5 promising up to 57 hours with ANC enabled.

So the Bats 360 isn't the outright endurance champion, but 32 hours puts it comfortably towards the stronger end of the premium ANC category. Better still, it works like a dream (see above).

It's hardly a major criticism when the overall battery lasts this long, but Beats' fast-charging figures no longer look especially fast. I’ve been listening to the Beats 360 for a week, and I only had to top it once. The quick charge function is particularly handy when you forget to charge the cans overnight.

Verdict

The Beats 360 is one of the most interesting headphones the brand has made in years. Sound quality is excellent, battery life is strong even with ANC running, and the comparatively lightweight construction combines with a secure fit that genuinely works for exercise.

They aren’t perfect, though, with their high clamp force and overheating issue. I also really miss the Studio Pro's wired listening option. Oh, and there are the issues with the buttons. However, the 360 feels like Beats returning to its roots by producing premium, cool-looking headphones that remain attainable for a wider audience. And I like that.

The Sonos Beam Ultra is a big release in my household, as someone who's had one Sonos Beam or another beneath his TV since 2018 – quite an innings for Sonos' compact soundbar. The first-gen version graced my flat for a very, very long time, and I was thrilled to upgrade it to the Beam (Gen 2) last year, hearing the upgrade immediately.

When Sonos announced the Beam Ultra, I was eager to see how much more of a boost it could give, especially since my living room is arguably the exact sort of space that befits a soundbar of this size; that's a polite way of saying it's not huge.

Well, I've had the Beam Ultra for well over a week now, and I've used it for dozens of hours already, and in the course of that week I've done more A/B testing than you can shake a hat at. That's involved some slightly draining HDMI swapping marathons, but it's what we do for the love of the game.

So, how does the Beam Ultra fare? Is it worth the chunky uplift in price? Read on for a proper comparison of these two compact Sonos soundbars.

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): Pricing

The Beam Ultra comes in to fill a fairly obvious gap in Sonos' lineup of soundbars. The Ray already took care of entry-level buyers, and the Arc Ultra is there for those with huge budgets, but the Beam Ultra comes in below that mark at £699 / $699 / AU$1099 / €699.

That's a decent uplift over the standard Beam (Gen 2), which launched back in 2021 at £449/$449/AU$699. Dropping an extra £250 is nothing to sniff at, and the gap is actually bigger than that given the Beam (Gen 2) regularly goes on sale for a decent chunk less, especially during big events like Black Friday or Prime Day.

Of course, you do get plenty of upgrades for that price, as we'll cover next.

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): Design and features

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) didn't change the footprint of its older sibling, the first-gen Beam, but did ditch its fabric cover in favour of a perforated grille around the outside of the soundbar. It paired this with a smooth plastic top that gave away its secret – there were no upfiring drivers here.

That meant that, while its big upgrade over its predecessor was the addition of Dolby Atmos sound, much of that sound was virtualised. Of course, we agreed with everyone else at the time of its launch that this virtualisation was really impressive, and we stand by that.

Now, though, the Beam Ultra brings actual, honest-to-goodness upfiring drivers, and that means an obvious change to its design to stop them from being muffled. The top of the soundbar is now perforated, too, with its touch controls therefore moved into some sections around its edge, which also features a slightly raised bump that looks quite funky.

The Beam Ultra is also bigger – and this surprised me in person. When I read that it was 10cm wider (which is the only meaningful difference in its dimensions), I thought that would look like nothing, but it's quite noticeable. Don't get me wrong, the Beam Ultra remains a compact solution of a soundbar, but it's less compact than before, and that could matter in tight spaces.

On the features side, those upfiring drivers are the single biggest thing for Sonos to shout about on the Beam Ultra, and they make a difference, as I'll cover in the sound quality section down below. That said, there are now nine drivers to the older Beam's five, so it's a more comprehensive refit than just adding a couple of new bits and pieces.

The Beam Ultra also adds Bluetooth, which the Beam (Gen 2) lacks, and that makes it more welcoming to those who might be in your home and fancy taking control of the playlist without being attached to your whole Sonos system. It also gets an upgrade to its Speech Enhancement feature, which gets AI feeding into it for better clarity compared to the older system. Finally, Wi-Fi 6 is here instead of the older Wi-Fi 4.

The longer list, though, covers what the soundbars both do. They both have TruePlay for room tuning; Night Sound to dampen bass when needed; voice controls for smart assistant use; and TV Audio Swap with Sonos Ace or Ace Ultra headphones.

So, on the features side, you're basically choosing between a slightly more compact 5.1.2 soundbar, or an ever so slightly bigger 7.1.2 one in the newer Beam Ultra – at a chunkier cost, but with a deal more future-proofing to keep it in the running for longer.

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): Sound quality

So, the soundbars look pretty similar but have a gulf in price – is that something that's immediately explained away when you start listening to the Beam Ultra?

Well, frankly, yes. I've been hugely impressed with the Ultra, whether it's from the point of view of detail, power or (obviously) verticality. I tested the Beam Ultra against the Beam (Gen 2) with some pretty detailed swaps, watching the same material over and over to check the differences.

Samples included various scenes from Blade Runner 2049 on 4K disc, which has a superb Atmos mix with a lot of verticality to it; I also used Top Gun: Maverick, which similarly has a great mix, and a whole heap of channel testing videos to isolate channels where possible.

That testing made it clear that the Beam Ultra is indeed quite a big step up – even if you just start with raw power. I kept the two soundbars on the same volume setting in the Sonos app when swapping between them, and the Ultra was consistently a good chunk louder, which made it booming at times.

Impressively, though, that added volume didn't muddy things, and detail was actually quite a lot clearer on the Ultra. Sonos says the new soundbar has a redesigned centre channel for clearer dialogue, but I found that even other sound elements were easier to identify and less liable to get lost in the background.

Of course, those vertical channels are also exactly the upgrade I'd hoped for, and they did indeed work a treat in well-mixed scenes. The Beam (Gen 2) remains an impressive virtual performer, but the difference is obvious when you have the real thing to play with.

That said, the Beam (Gen 2) remains a brilliant performer, and there were plenty of occasions when, despite the Beam Ultra's advantage, I was reminded by how great the older bar can sound. I've happily used this for nearly a year in my setup, and I would have no real issue with continuing that way.

It's still got plenty of headroom in terms of power, and detail isn't a real issue, either. It only suffers by comparison to a newer bar that costs £250 more, and I'd say that's a really good result for a soundbar that's been on the market since 2021.

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): Verdict

This is a complicated one – Sonos has made the buying journey a bit of a ladder now, since you can basically talk yourself into an upgrade all the way from the Ray up to the Arc Ultra. The Beam Ultra now looks like an obvious upsell from the Beam (Gen 2), and I do think you feel and hear the difference.

The simple fact is that I think the Beam (Gen 2) remains a superb choice for anyone looking to spend less than £500 on a soundbar that won't take up much space. Most of Sonos' new features work on it, and it's a looker, too.

However, if you do have a bigger budget, then the Beam Ultra clearly wins in terms of sound quality. It's an evolution of the Beam, and while I'd have loved to see it be the Gen 3, with a lower price, the world of tech pricing means that was always unlikely.

Whether that makes the Beam Ultra the overall winner might be in the eye of the beholder, but I think it confirms that Sonos' approach to its soundbar lineup is a sensible one. Filling in the gaps has, in this case, delivered a bit of a beauty.

Sonos has had a bit of a ride over the past few years. The audio brand has never stopped making great products at its core, though, with the current line of new 'Ultra' models turning the dial up (the Beam Ultra soundbar is well worth your attention).

Much as not everyone loved the brand's first headphones – the Ace, which I thought were super and incredibly comfortable – it has taken on abundant feedback and condensed those learnings into the follow-up model, the Sonos Ace Ultra on review.

These new over-ears aren't just an 'Ace+', though, as the Ace Ultra will act nice among your Sonos network via Wi-Fi, even handover audio to other Sonos products or groups in your system with the press of a button. The Ultra is just far more, well, Sonos.

It's also far improved in terms of hardware and features, with a new driver unit, the benefit of Grammy- and Oscar-winning audio engineers part of the tuning process, new adaptive active noise-cancelling (ANC) enhancements, and a new adaptive equaliser (EQ) too.

So how does all this newness fare? I've been testing the Sonos Ace Ultra for two weeks, both at home via my Sonos network, and when on the go – from lunchtime walks to public transport commutes and even long-haul flights – and must say that Sonos is back with a bang.

Price & Availability

Being premium headphones as they are, the Sonos Ace Ultra's launch price isn't small – set at £399 / $449 / €449 / AU$699 – but is competitive against its closest rivals.

You're also getting a lot more for your money compared to the original Ace model, without a price increase. Indeed, the UK market's RRP is actually lower by £50 for the Ultra.

At the time of writing this review we're in a pre-order phase, with the Ace Ultra set to go on sale on 29 September. You can purchase it in four colours: Black, Soft White, Agave or Sand.

What's New?

During my travels I've carted both the original Sonos Ace and new Ace Ultra in tandem, as a tried-and-tested comparison piece will be forthcoming – just as we've done with the Sonos Beam 2 versus Beam Ultra.

Regarding 'what's new?', however, and it might be easier to say what isn't new. While the Ace Ultra look really familiar, certainly akin to the original, they've been built from the ground up – yet maintain that similar aesthetic and 'Sonos look'.

Re-engineered, starting with that new 40mm driver, which is housed in user-replaceable earcups (same goes for the battery – which now also offers 35-hours per charge, up from 24 hours previously) that make for an incredibly comfy wearing experience.

More microphones have been added – there are now 10 in total – for noise-cancelling (ANC) that Sonos claims is twice as effective as before. It's also able to use those for beam-forming calls with higher clarity.

The added points of measure available from these mics also means a new adaptive system that adjusts ANC automatically (and even EQ if you wish – it can be toggled off in the app), ensuring a better listening experience if, say, you pop your glasses on and add a broader gap between your head that the headphones can adjust for.

A key internal piece of hardware is a new chip that supports Sonos' Headphone Engine 2. This is what enables Wi-Fi connectivity so that the Ace Ultra can be seen as part of your Sonos ecosystem – they never show in the app per a Sonos speaker or group, though, which feels like a miss. Headphone Linking audio handover is the one benefit of this – and something the original Ace headphones will never offer, as the physical hardware isn't there to handle it.

Similar to Bose, Sonos also offers Dynamic Head-Tracking for added immersion – whether Bluetooth listening or for the TV Audio Swap feature (which also uses Wi-Fi, but with the soundbar rather than headphones handling the processing), when you can pass a Sonos soundbar's output to the headphones with three-dimensional audio.

Setup

Now, the one blip that I had with my Sonos Ace Ultra regarded the setup. Keep in mind, of course, that these review headphones are pre-release, with even a pre-release software activation to enable the Headphone Linking feature.

Because, for me, that audio handover feature didn't work at all with my first setup attempt. I had to reset the headphones multiple times, opted to run an iPhone setup for iOS after the initial Android failure, and found the whole experience really irksome.

However, it did work eventually – both on Android and iOS platforms – and Sonos even sent a second Ace Ultra to my colleague, who set up his product in an instant, with zero issues, and Headphone Linking working like a dream. Isolated and unfortunate experience for me? It would seem so. But it would be remiss of me not to mention it here, just in case others have a similar battle.

I've found Headphone Linking a fun feature, but it's a little slow – it takes a few seconds of pressing and holding the Content Key before an audible sound confirms success and your audio stream is sent over to the physically nearest group or speaker in your Sonos ecosystem.

Note: you cannot run the Ace Ultra as part of a group – it can only handover the audio and cease its own playback. I think more could be done there, such as offering grouped playback so someone could piggyback on a session in a different room while wearing the headphones.

I also think that more can be achieved in general in how the Ace Ultra are presented in the app. As the headphones feature the hardware to act like any Sonos speaker, their absence front-and-centre in the Sonos 27 app seems odd – you have to scroll down to the Bluetooth section to get a better look and dive into the available options.

Once there, however, there's a lot of control that's very handy. You can toggle between the ANC and Aware modes, decide if you want adaptive ANC and/or EQ to be active, toggle Head Tracking on or off, set up the Headphone Linking and separate TV Audio Swap feature, tweak the EQ (three- or eight-band are available), and view the battery life remaining.

Design

From a design perspective I've zero qualms with Sonos' vision in the Ace Ultra – except for calling one colour 'Agave' when I'd argue it's far from it. I did love the original Ace's look and feel, too, which certainly have a similar vibe – Sonos hasn't ripped up a very solid rulebook, which I can only commend.

The Ace Ultra manage to look distinctive without being outlandish; oozing class and consideration without shouting about it. From the subtle logo embossed on the right earcup's exterior, to zero screws or prominent seams being visible, the level of detail here is beyond many other headphone-makers – and I've tested pretty much all the best headphones of recent years.

It's not just for the sake of looks, though, with the Ace Ultra proving supremely comfortable. I'd said the same of the original Ace, and while the two do differ marginally in terms of physicality, I've worn these headphones on a 15-hour flight for the duration and largely forgotten they were on my head.

The physical controls are lovely to use, too, with that Content Key easy to locate due to its protrusion and just as easy to adjust – it can toggle up or down for volume control, or be pressed (in sequence) for play/pause/skip controls. Below it, the ANC button simply cycles through the available modes.

The fit is very comfortable, with no excessive clamping force, and the 322g weight is no burden either. A contender for the most comfortable headphones on the market, beyond even Bose, Sony and Bowers? I reckon so. That alone is reason enough to consider buying these, whether a Sonos diehard or a newcomer with no Sonos kit.

The only not-so-good part about the design? The case. It's basically the same as the original Ace's largely maligned one. The fact the zip can catch on the fabric of the case itself is a major annoyance. It can mark too easily, too, and then look scruffy as a result. The actual layout, size, cable inclusions and whatnot are all fine though.

Sound & ANC

The sound of these headphones depends on the quality of fit, which is where I've heard the adaptive ANC feature act in real-time to great effect.

While on a plane at 41,000ft, with that classic and almost 'fizzy' white noise in full effect, I woke up wearing the headphones and popped my glasses on. This added a gap and the background sound was more present – but then, just as quickly as I'd added my eyewear, it dulled somewhat due to the software.

The ANC is therefore highly effective, able to blot out bothersome external sound with confidence, creating an enclosed listening experience where you can focus on what's important – be that music, podcasts, your TV's audio or whatever else.

The original Sonos Ace was criticised by some for being a little too 'flat' sounding and not having default bass output as large as some rivals. The Ace Ultra is a more lively listen, thanks to that new 40mm drivers and tuning, but can be further tweaked as you please.

As I've said: the Sonos 27 app provides access to a detailed eight-band EQ, but there's even a loudness toggle to amp up the sound further, should you want. So whatever you're listening to and however you want the frequency range to be enhanced, it's all at your fingertips.

You may choose to make no adjustments and that'd be just fine, though. There's all the warm bass, broad soundstage, vocal cut-through and sparkling top-end output without needing to do a thing. Bluetooth has been my typical way to listen, but a USB-C-to-C is in the box for Hi-Res Audio wired listening (and a USB-C-to-3.5mm for other wired connections).

Sonos Ace Ultra: Verdict

The Ace Ultra introduce a feature that really should have been part of the brand's headphones story from day dot: Headphone Linking audio handover to other products in your Sonos ecosystem.

While I've found that feature to be charming (despite initial protestations in my personal setup) – as you can handoff from the headphone's Bluetooth connection to local network speaker Wi-Fi at the press of a button – I've typically used the Ace Ultra standalone wireless via Bluetooth.

In that format, however, I've found the Ace Ultra's astounding comfort, incredible battery life – 35 hours per charge is impressive – and both quality sound and enhanced ANC to be as good as – or often even better than – its key competition from Bose, Sony, Bowers, et al.

Whether you're a Sonos user who's been waiting for a more integrated pair of Sonos headphones, or you're just looking for a class act where design and audio are concerned, Sonos is back with a bang in the Ace Ultra.

Also Consider

Options, options, options. That's very much the case in the headphones market at this kind of asking price.

If you want to save money and care not for Headphone Linking then look to the original Ace to make savings. They still offer the brilliant TV Audio Swap with a compatible Sonos soundbar, which is great for private movie watching without disturbing others. Wider Wi-Fi compatibility isn't possible, though.

If you're not in on the whole Sonos game, however, there are plenty of alternatives. Bowers & Wilkins' PX7 S3 are the most luxurious-looking you could buy. Sony's WH-1000XM6 perhaps have the best ANC going. And Bose's QC Ultra Headphones will save weight for epic transportability – without costing you quite as much.

It's been almost half a decade since Sonos dropped the Beam (Gen 2) and made a lot of wishes come true by adding Dolby Atmos support for three-dimensional audio decoding.

That support relied on some impressive virtualisation, though, and ever since then we've been begging for a Beam with actual upfiring drivers to boost its verticality and immersiveness.

Well, here it is – and that's not the only upgrade Sonos has put on the table. The Beam Ultra isn't a Beam (Gen 3), obviously, and it's curious to consider why. It's certainly a contender for the best soundbar for most people, though, despite a notable price boost.

What I know for sure, though, is that after a week-and-a-half using it as my soundbar – and this is coming from a daily Beam (Gen 2) user – is that it's an incredibly interesting addition to Sonos' lineup, which might just make more sense than any other soundbar Sonos has ever made.

Price and Availability

The Beam Ultra was announced at the turn of September, and will actually go on sale at the end of the month – on 29 September, to be precise. You can pre-order it now, if you're eager and know you want it.

Pricing is straightforward, since the numbers are the same in a bunch of territories: £699 in the UK; $699 in the US; €699 in the EU; and, breaking the trend, AU$1099 in Australia.

That price makes the Beam Ultra a chunk more than the Beam (Gen 2), which remains on sale – and which it sounds like Sonos will continue making.

The Beam (Gen 2) came out back in 2021, so it's no longer a spring chicken, but that price gap is worth mulling over. I've written a comparison piece after A/B testing the two soundbars side-by-side, which should help on that front.

Design and Features

When Sonos first unveiled the Beam Ultra, I'll admit that I didn't initially read the fine print and assumed it would be almost identical to the Beam (Gen 2) but for the upgrades. In fact, Sonos has made more fundamental changes than the Beam label suggests.

The Ultra soundbar is a little bigger than both of the previous Beam generations, by around 10cm in overall width and by minuscule margins in a couple of other dimensions.

While that sounds like a minor difference, in person the Beam Ultra is indeed noticeably bigger. It remains compact despite this, but if you have a first or second-generation Beam that barely fits its space, you're going to need to measure to check if the Beam Ultra will work for you.

This change in dimensions also means that the Beam Ultra has a new mounting system for wall-mounting (which sees it 'float' when mounted, rather than sitting on a shelf-like design), as it won't work with the older Beam's mounts.

On the design front, it's not just bigger, the Beam Ultra also has a different look – emphasising the addition of upfiring drivers. The top of the soundbar now continues the perforations that run around its outside, to let that sound out upwards.

Touch controls persist, but they're now mounted around the edge of the soundbar's top, in a sort of raised ridge that runs around the outside. It's a neat solution, and while I barely use touch controls since the soundbar sits over by my TV, I've tried them out plenty for this review.

Underneath the bar, there are four raised feet to keep it stable, another subtle difference since previous Beams just sat completely flat.

On the back of the soundbar, a recess conceals the I/O on offer, which comprises a power port, an HDMI port for eARC connections, and a USB-C port that can take various adapters for optical or other connections (those adapters are optional extra purchases). Back there you'll also find a mute switch to turn off the microphones (which will disable various features, too).

The Beam Ultra comes in black and white, as with all of Sonos' recent launches, and in the white colour I've been testing, as provided by Sonos, it's a pretty lovely soundbar to look at. It's simple and elegant enough, but understated such that it doesn't draw the eye, to distraction which is just what I want.

On the features side, Sonos has added some new smarts. Those two upfiring drivers aren't the only additions, since the number of overall drivers now stands at nine, compared to the Beam (Gen 2) with five total. It's a 7.1.2 arrangement, with a new central channel design that Sonos hopes will make for clearer dialogue.

The Beam Ultra is part of the launch of Sonos27, a big update to the Sonos app (pause for trauma flashbacks here), and that brings some other smarts – or will do in the next few months. Sonos is promising AI-powered voice controls, for instance, but they're not here yet, and the same goes for Alexa+ integration.

What is here, though, is a new portable surround setting that lets you use a pair of Play or Move 2 speakers as surrounds for your Beam Ultra without them needing permanent resting spots – or, indeed, even fixed spots, as you can position them where you like.

Once added as surrounds, you can simply place them to your left and right, and they'll be auto-detected as rear surrounds when you're using your soundbar. Pick them up and move away, though, and they'll behave as they would normally.

Crucially, this feature will also work on the Beam (Gen 2) and Arc Ultra, so it's not locked to the Beam Ultra, but it's a cool little idea.

What is unique to the Beam Ultra for now is an upgraded version of Sonos' Speech Enhancement, now powered by AI for better results. You can choose between four levels to tune how noticeable it'll be, too.

One curious but welcome addition is Bluetooth, which had been absent from previous Beams, which were Wi-Fi only. That makes the Beam Ultra arguably more adaptable and straightforward for playlist-happy guests to use.

So, that's a nice list of new features, but there are also a couple of continued absences. Having brought Dolby Atmos well into the fold at this point, and with DTS Digital Surround support, it's a shame that DTS:X remains frozen out and unsupported. There's also no HDMI passthrough here, which is something Sonos seems not to want to embrace.

Sound and Performance

Much of the justification behind the Beam Ultra in the first place revolves around how much it can upgrade the sound quality of the Beam, a soundbar that has proven itself for so many people.

The Beam Ultra delivers, though. Even before turning to the verticality that it brings to the party, I found that its general sound quality was a clear step up compared to the Beam (Gen 2) when I swapped back and forth. Even without the speech enhancement mode, that new centre channel does indeed make for clearer dialogue in many scenes, and clarity overall was much better.

Early on in Blade Runner 2049, there's a scene where Dave Bautista handles some maggots before a car flies overhead and then lands. It's a sequence that goes from very quiet to very loud in a flash, involving a lot of overhead noise, and the difference when I swapped to the Beam Ultra was significant.

The overhead audio was clearly upgraded, as you would expect given the absence of physical upfiring channels on the older Beam, but I wasn't expecting that earlier part – with the details of the gloop dripping from Bautista's gloves – to be so much more clearly rendered at the same volume.

This was an impression that repeated throughout my testing. Top Gun: Maverick's vertiginous action sequences were clear and powerful, again demonstrating how much that vertical sound can improve matters. Finishing off The Wire (at long last), though, and simple scenes of dialogue were never muddled or muddy – something that plenty of other soundbars sometimes mess up.

The Beam Ultra can also get quite a chunk louder than the Beam (Gen 2). In my testing between the two, I routinely had to turn down the Ultra when I swapped to it, despite starting on the same volume rating in the Sonos app, and the ceiling it can reach is impressively booming.

I also got the chance to test the new portable surround setting that Sonos has added, using two of the five-star Play portable speakers as surrounds. This system is pretty terrific – put your Play or Move 2 in positions to make them rear channels, and when the speakers are both there and the TV's on, they'll automatically get used (and calibrate for their positioning).

Move them, though, and they'll function as normal, so you lose nothing by having them there when you want. The fact that you need a pair of these pricey portable speakers, though, does make me think that most people would be better off with some Era 100 SLs set up as traditional rear surrounds for a much lower price.

Beyond the portable surrounds, quite a lot of the hype around the Sonos27 app seems distant to me. The AI voice control features aren't live yet, so it's hard to judge what they'll really add to the party, and in regular use I tend to turn microphones off in as much of my home tech as I can, regardless.

Still, even without those bells and whistles, the fact is that I'm really pleased with the sonic performance of the Beam Ultra. It's a clear upgrade on the Beam (Gen 2) from a clarity and power point of view, while the addition of better overhead audio is another big step up to make the difference obvious.

Verdict

The Beam Ultra is a terrific proposition if you're in the market for a one-bar solution at this price, with the capacity to easily expand into a bigger system over time. It sounds phenomenal, remains impressively compact, and provides a clear upgrade over the Beam (Gen 2) from a quality point of view.

Of course, its price also means the 'Ultra' in its name is fair enough, and the premium it demands does mean that the Beam (Gen 2) will likely remain the best choice for a huge proportion of people – especially for smaller rooms or those simply less fussed about vertical audio.

For those who do care, though, I actually think the Beam Ultra is the best soundbar Sonos makes, pound for pound, at this point. It has such huge advantages in terms of installation and footprint, but doesn't feel like much of a downgrade compared to bigger options, especially if you have surrounds to pair it with.

Also consider

It's obvious at this point, but the Beam (Gen 2) is the clear alternative that most buyers will likely be considering as they look at the Beam Ultra, and the simple fact is that it remains a brilliant soundbar. It's smaller, significantly cheaper (and that gap will only widen during sales), and still sounds absolutely superb, making it a great choice if your budget is lower.

For those who want something quite different, I think the Marshall Heston 60 is well worth a look. It's also compact, but cheaper than the Beam Ultra, and brings impressively punchy audio and a design that's far removed from the clinical simplicity of Sonos. That could mean it's right up some people's street – but not for everyone!

Anyone who's sat in a proper racing simulator knows that there's quite a difference between a proper rig and the sort of setup that most of us could probably afford to build at home. I'm not knocking the sort of Logitech wheels and pedals that can instantly upgrade your home racing experience, but the sort of rig I drove last week is in a different category.

Over the course of nearly an hour in the rig at Sim Motorsport, a simulation centre at the ultra-historic Brands Hatch raceway in the UK's southeast, I got a sense for just how impressive modern sims have become, and how integral they are to the teaching process for aspiring racing drivers.

What took me by surprise, though, was how a recent upgrade in the sims' audio setup has helped those drivers (and, by a smaller margin, me) shave even more time off their laps.

It's now nearly a year since Sim Motorsport partnered with Innit Audio, a Swedish audio startup that's trying to get the word out about its new approach to spatial audio. Innit's founders have managed to effectively magic up an algorithm that can make two-channel audio sound drastically more realistic to the human ear.

The technical details of how its system works can get baffling quickly, but it basically comes down to more properly representing how sound actually travels to our ears when we hear it. Effectively, when you hear something on your right-hand side, you actually hear it through both your right and left ears, but when you listen to most audio in headphones, the right channel is exclusively in your right ear.

That makes headphones and gaming headsets often feel like bubbles that don't really represent real-world sound, for all that we're all really used to that feeling by now. Innit's system feeds the sound into both channels in marginal ways that mimic the real-world movement of sound waves around your head.

When you try it out, at times it can be like a magic trick – whether listening to music or in-game audio, turning it on can make for bafflingly fuller and more 360-degree sound, even though the audio input hasn't changed in any way.

In the context of a racing simulator, the benefits are marginal but crucial, as explained by a whole heap of testimonials that Innit has been gathering from pro drivers who train in sims constantly. The embedded clip below gives a taste of it if you have headphones on.

With the system turned off, you hear the game as you'd expect, and there's nothing clearly wrong with that. Turn it on, though, and you're suddenly hearing more detail with far clearer placement, including the audio of your tyres with more individual clarity.

That sort of audio is massive for natural and instinctive decision-making while racing, and means that you're basically even closer to the real experience of the race you're training for. Some drivers have told Innit that the audio upgrade gets them in the zone quicker, and others have said that it can shave an entire second off tight lap times.

In my time in the sim rig, I wasn't able to toggle Innit on and off, so I couldn't do any sort of scientific comparison – and I'm hardly an experienced driver in the first place. Still, there's no doubt that the audio coming from the neck-mounted gaming speaker being used was way more immersive than I expected, and did indeed, at times, let me make calls about my rear tyre positioning, in particular, with just a little less conscious thought than I'd have expected.

Innit's system was easier to get to grips with in a demo I tried later in the day, where I had the ability to toggle it on and off midway through audio – no matter where it was from. Playing music from Spotify or YouTube, the difference was stark each and every time I turned it on.

There were a couple of cases where I felt like it threw the mix of the music slightly off, but in most cases I heard fuller sound and got more of a sense of my own presence in the soundstage. That's pretty key to what Innit hopes to achieve – its team talks a lot about expanding the sound experience out so that it doesn't just seem like a bubble of audio around your head.

Bernt Böhmer, Innit's founder, told me that while sim racing is where they're currently showcasing Innit's potential to upgrade one's experience, it's far from limited to the track – and for him, the idea started with music: "It's kind of funny because having a background in music and music labs, and all of that, and creating that sort of equipment, I always approached this from a music point of view. So I wanted to recreate reality when music was playing back".

One huge challenge facing Innit is how it gets its audio renderer into people's ears. It could be included right on the chipset in earbuds and headphones, if it were licensed by a partner, but right now the only real route is to download its software to your PC and subscribe to use it there.

Innit's team is clearly hugely keen on the idea of getting the system onto smartphones, since that's where most of us consume the vast majority of our audio each day. That's a daunting process, though, with neither Apple nor Google making it easy to layer this sort of audio processing into their operating systems, for security reasons.

It's a little hard to know whether that means that in a few years I'll nod in recognition when I see Innit's logo attached to a big audio release from a brand like Sony or Sennheiser, swapping out more interventionist and obvious spatialisation tech for this lighter, potentially more accurate-feeling approach; or whether the tech will instead first end up in a phone, laptop, gaming handheld or some other device like it.

Either way, I came away from my demos and sim session feeling impressed by an audio solution that's clearly winning people over via word of mouth. If it can break out of the sim racing scene, it'll be fascinating to see where Innit ends up.

CDs are having a moment again. Sales in the US jumped 16% year-on-year to 16.3 million units in the first half of 2026, according to Luminate, while searches for CD players have also been climbing as younger listeners rediscover physical music.

That's where the Syitren R400 comes in. Designed by ORGDOT Design, it's a portable CD player that looks more like something you'd actually want sitting in your bedroom than the chunky hi-fi systems many of us remember.

A CD player with a bit of personality

The R400 has a detachable shell that separates the protective cover from the main player, letting you customise how it looks rather than being stuck with a single finish.

There's a transparent version designed to be decorated with stickers or doodles, while the player can sit on its included stand. A wall-mount bracket is also available, turning the R400 into something that looks more like a piece of room decor than a traditional CD player.

It has a built-in charging compartment with a cable groove, while the main body uses a dual-material construction that's intended to give it a sturdier feel than you'd expect from an entry-level player.

And unlike some of the cheap portable CD players currently appearing online, the R400 is built around physical CDs rather than pretending to be a Bluetooth speaker with a disc slot.

Bluetooth, headphones and your car

The R400 uses a custom "pure CD core" and has a 70dB signal-to-noise ratio, while anti-vibration technology is designed to reduce skipping when you're carrying it around.

There's Bluetooth 5.3 for connecting wireless headphones or speakers, but you can also use wired headphones and speakers. Syitren even says it can connect to a car stereo, giving those old CDs another way to get back into regular rotation.

Battery life is rated at more than four hours of continuous playback, so it's portable enough for a commute or an afternoon away from the house.

The timing is pretty good. John Lewis reported that searches for CD players had jumped 96% since July, while some of its popular models had already sold out.

There's clearly more going on here than a few people digging their old Discmans out of the loft. Luminate says Gen Z and millennials are helping drive the current CD boom, although around half of those younger CD buyers don't actually own a player.

That's partly because CDs have become collectibles as much as listening formats, particularly with special-edition releases from artists including K-pop acts. But the R400 feels like an attempt to close that rather amusing gap. If you're going to start collecting CDs, you might as well have something nice to actually play them on.

The R400 is positioned as an affordable alternative to Syitren's more expensive R300, and its combination of portability, Bluetooth and customisable design make it feel more suited to the way younger listeners actually use tech.

Streaming isn't going anywhere, of course. But if you're going to own the physical album, there's something satisfying about actually putting the disc in a player and listening to it from beginning to end.

Want to sound like a robot, a cartoon character or something completely unrecognisable when you're chatting online? Voicemod already lets you do that on PC, but its new Key Pocket is designed to take those tricks to places where software voice changers normally can't go.

The little device connects to your phone and works with the Voicemod mobile app, processing your voice in real time before sending the transformed audio back to your game or chat. That means you can use it with an iPhone or Android device, as well as consoles including PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2.

Your voice, changed anywhere

The idea is really useful for console and mobile gaming. Voicemod says the Key Pocket works with voice chat across games and apps, including Discord, Fortnite, Roblox and PUBG, without needing a PC sitting in the middle of your setup.

The device doubles as a physical soundboard, with 36 programmable slots spread across six pages, so you can trigger sounds and voice effects without leaving your game.

There's a volume wheel, a dedicated voice-changer switch and a quick mute button, while the buttons can be customised for different games or situations. The device connects to your phone over USB-C, while a console can connect through its controller.

The clever bit is that the phone is doing the processing. Voicemod says the Key Pocket acts as your microphone while the mobile app transforms your voice in real time, then routes the modified audio back through the device. It also says the processing happens locally on your smartphone rather than sending your voice data to its servers.

A tiny device with a big library

The Key Pocket gives access to Voicemod's library of more than 200 of its own voices, alongside a huge collection of community-created voices and sounds. The company's PRO subscription unlocks the full library, although the hardware comes with a trial and there's also a free tier with a rotating selection of voices.

It doesn't have its own battery, but rather the Key Pocket draws power from your smartphone through USB-C, while a second USB-C port lets you charge through the device if you're playing and chatting for longer periods.

Voicemod is currently taking pre-orders for the limited Founders Edition, with the standalone device listed at $99.90 and shipping scheduled for late October.

You'll need an iPhone with USB-C and iOS 16 or later, or an Android device running Android 10 or later, plus the Voicemod mobile app and a compatible headset. For console use, it supports PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2, while Meta Quest 2, 3 and 3S are also supported with the appropriate adapter.

Bose has announced the expansion of its open-ear range, building on the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds that launched in 2024. The additions expand on the trend for earbuds that don't cut you off from the outside world, without compromising on sound quality.

While the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) build on the predecessor, Bose is introducing an entirely new option, the Bose Sport Open Earbuds. As the name suggests, they are specifically designed for those exercising.

This lands exactly where the open-ear trend is so popular, with those running or working out who want to listen to music, but don't want to be cut off from the world around them.

The Sport Open Ultra retain the cuff design, leaving the ear canal clear, but have a softer design finished in silicone for a stable fit while active, while offering an IP54 rating to protect against sweat or that occasional rain shower.

There are custom drivers promising rich audio, with automatic volume to adapt to ambient noise levels. The battery is said to last for 7 hours, while the case will provide an additional 22 hours.

Textured buttons provide control with sweaty fingers, whether that's taking a call or switching workout tracks.

The Bose Sport Open Earbuds will be available for £179.59, on sale from 15 October.

Expanding on the flagship offering, the new 2nd Gen Bose Ultra Open Earbuds promise improved sound performance and call quality, while also addressing one of our criticisms of the originals by extending the battery life.

That results in up to 9 hours of playback, with the case offering an additional 19.5 hours. There are new drivers for deeper bass and increased volume, again with auto volume that will adjust to the ambient sound levels.

Adding to the feature set is Cinema Mode, which is designed to expand the spatial soundstage, boosting the experience of podcasts and video for more immersive audio. That's on top of support for aptX Adaptive and Snapdragon Sound for a great experience with compatible Android devices.

The design gets a tweak but sticks to the same overall aesthetic, but with a premium lift so they look a little better.

The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) cost £299.95 and will be available from 1 October.

Both new pairs of Bose Open Earbuds use Bluetooth Core 5.4, with support for SBC and AAC, while also offering Google Fast Pair for Android devices. There's support for Spotify Tap, while support for Google Find Hub and, Alexa+ and a shortcut for Apple Music will arrive via a future software update.

It might be overly simplistic to view the entire wireless earbud market as one big attempt to rival Apple's AirPods Pro, but as someone who returns to his AirPods Pro 3, I do sort of look at it that way. If you can rival Apple's convenience and at least match its sound quality and ergonomics, you're off to a good start.

Probably my favourite non-Apple earbuds ever are the Technics EAH-AZ100, and I think it's a little surprising that it's taken this long for another brand to get close to the high-water mark they set.

Sennheiser has done just that, though, with the Momentum True Wireless 5, a truly excellent new set of earbuds that deserve your attention. I've used them nonstop for a couple of weeks for this review – and they've made a lasting impression.

Price and Availability

The Momentum True Wireless 5 can be yours right now, having been revealed and released in late August 2026.

The asking price is £249.99 in the UK, $299.95 in the US, €299 in the EU and AU$499 in Australia. That means it's a chunk more expensive than getting a pair of AirPods Pro 3, and puts the earbuds on a par with flagships from Sony and a bunch of others.

That means these are obviously premium earbuds, as reflected in the fact that Sennheiser makes a fair few more affordable pairs you could also consider, including the Accentum True Wireless model from a couple of years ago.

Design and Features

There seems to be a bit of a rule in the audio industry about major redesigns of earbuds and headphones – each design gets at least a couple of outings before it's changed in a major way.

That's how I'd look at the Momentum True Wireless 3 and True Wireless 4, which were really similar to each other, and have now been completely rewritten in the form of these earbuds, the Momentum True Wireless 5.

Where those older earbuds tried to stand out from the crowd with a fabric-covered case that was quite interesting, Sennheiser has gone more mainstream this time around. That case is instead finished in matte plastic with a slight speckle finish, topped with Sennheiser's logo. It's also taller rather than flat and squat like the older one.

The earbuds themselves are also very different. The last two generations were quite square in their shape, but that shape has been shaved down into a far more bean-like look that's a little more obvious in its ergonomics. Sennheiser told me this didn't necessarily make each earbud smaller than last time, but that it would make them more comfortable.

Each earbud also has a circular Sennheiser logo on its outer edge, and this is the touch-sensitive zone for some customisable controls. You can tap up to three times on each side, with each of those being mapped to a different control.

As befits their price, active noise-cancelling (ANC) is present and correct, and probably the setting I've been cycling the most using those touch controls.

The earbuds and case have one massive trick up their sleeve that I want to spotlight and praise, too: repairability. We've heard a lot about the EU requirements around user-replaceable batteries recently, and indeed the number of exemptions that are going to be flying around (here's looking at you, Apple).

Sennheiser has embraced the opportunity, though, and that means the Momentum True Wireless 5 is hugely future-proof. Each earbud sports a couple of recessed screws to let you take them apart for battery replacement, while the case needs only one screw to do the same.

This is massive for longevity, with battery degradation being one of the very few flaws that can affect this sort of higher-end earbud over time. Once your earbuds no longer last a satisfactory span, Sennheiser will sell you a replacement you can fit yourself – what a step forward, and here's hoping it pressures other brands into following suit.

Out of the box, though, you can expect around 12 hours of use on a charge, with nearly three more full charges in the case making for about 40 hours without needing to plug it in. You also get IP54 dust and weather protection, meaning they're safe for use in workouts or bad weather.

Sound and Performance

It's nice to see Sennheiser putting the R&D work into adding repairability to its earbuds, but you wouldn't necessarily want that to come at the expense of sound quality. Luckily, I can't find much to fault in terms of how the Momentum True Wireless 5 perform sonically.

I've long been a fan of Sennheiser's neutrality and its calm approach to sound signatures – it avoids the temptation to pump the bass past reasonable limits, and tends to keep things sensible on a few fronts. That trend has continued with the Momentum True Wireless 5, which sounds pretty exemplary.

I've used the earbuds as my daily driver for multiple weeks, including on an overseas trip, so I'll cover off their ANC ability first. It's extremely solid, dulling the hum of a plane cabin really well for a few hours, but also making the London Underground far less of a sensory overload.

This was an area where there was improvement to be had from the Momentum True Wireless 4, so it's great to see a decent stride be made. It's probably still not quite up there with the AirPods Pro 3 in my experience, but I'd feel comfortable putting it in the same bracket, which is more than enough.

How do the Momentum True Wireless 5 fare with music? It's impressive. I've been genre-hopping with the earbuds, including quite a lot of mellow material like J.J. Cale's album Naturally and Green River from Creedence Clearwater Revival. The acoustic texture of both came across really clearly and characterfully with Sennheiser's default tuning.

Jungle's new album Sunshine is a warm delight, meanwhile, and its hints of bass were nicely nuanced and detailed. Going back to my most familiar ground, Justice's debut album Cross is a monster of bass deployed tactically, and it too was a punchy success on these Momentum earbuds.

That's a pretty great outlook, and the picture's further rounded out by Sennheiser's Control+ app, which gives you a bunch of tweaks to make and settings to figure out.

Being able to swap what the touch controls do is a great touch, although I can't pretend to love the controls themselves that much. They're a little finicky, and the reality is that few brands have nailed on-earbud controls at this point.

Verdict

I'm hugely impressed by the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 – just as I was with the over-ear Momentum Wireless 5 a few months ago. These are earbuds that do exactly what I need, whether that's because of rock-solid ANC or superbly balanced sound.

After a lot of noise about whether Sennheiser had a future at all around the turn of the year, this is a pretty phenomenal way to silence the crowd. The brand now has 5-star headphones and earbuds fresh out of the gate, and retains a pretty loyal following thanks to the work of previous generations.

If you need some new wireless earbuds, I think it would be crazy to ignore the Momentum True Wireless 5 moving forward – and I can only hope that they usher in a new era of user-replaceable batteries in earbuds.

Also Consider

I've mentioned them in this review already, and Technics still just about retains my personal award for "best non-AirPods earbuds", but it's by the merest sliver over the Momentum on review. The AZ100s are brilliant, comfortable, and because of their age, they're now cheaper – but they don't have those replaceable batteries.

Meanwhile, the obvious other point to make is that the AirPods Pro 3 remain phenomenally convenient and reliable, and if you're a big Apple user then their device-swapping smarts can't really be beaten. I still use them every day for music, media and when out running – and that probably won't change unless something big happens.

Ever reached for a portable speaker only to discover that you forgot to charge it? This is a pretty clever solution to that. The Battery-free Amplifying iSpeakers don't have a battery, Bluetooth or even a power cable, they simply make your phone louder using acoustics.

And that's it. No pairing, no app and no battery indicator to worry about. Just slot in your phone.

Designed by Ooi Masato and made in Japan, the iSpeakers use a precision-machined slot that holds your phone in place and channels the sound from its built-in speaker.

That means it works with virtually any phone, without worrying about compatibility or software updates. You simply put the phone into the slot and the acoustic chamber does the rest.

It's small enough to throw into a bag, too, so you could take it to a picnic, hotel room or even just keep it on your desk. There's no charging port because, obviously, there's nothing to charge.

The body is machined from Duralumin, a lightweight and vibration-resistant aluminium alloy, while the design follows the golden ratio. It certainly looks more like a piece of Japanese design than a conventional portable speaker.

There is an obvious trade-off here. Without an amplifier, battery or Bluetooth connection, this isn't going to compete with a proper portable Bluetooth speaker for sheer volume or bass.

That's not really what it's trying to do. The appeal is having something that can make your phone sound better without adding another electronic device to charge.

There are also optional +Bloom and +Jet attachments that change the direction of the sound, giving you more control over how it projects.

At $179, it's certainly not cheap for something that is essentially an acoustic amplifier. But unlike a Bluetooth speaker, there's no battery to degrade, no charging cable to lose and no wireless connection to set up.

In theory, it should sound exactly the same years from now as it does today.

If you’ve ever tried to take a keyboard on the road with you, it becomes pretty clear that keyboards are annoyingly big. Pianni’s Orphea solves this by shrinking a playable piano down to something only slightly larger than a smartphone. And now, I want one.

Orphea has 13 physical keys covering a full chromatic octave from C to C, including the black keys that tend to disappear on ultra-portable keyboards. You can then shift the octave up or down, with seven octave positions in total, so you’re not limited to the notes physically under your fingers.

It measures 170 x 78 x 28mm and weighs just 130g, making it actually pocketable rather than merely "portable" in the way that a 61-key keyboard technically is. There’s a built-in speaker too, alongside a 3.5mm headphone jack for quieter playing.

The rechargeable 1,200mAh battery is rated for up to eight hours of continuous use, while USB-C handles charging. There’s also MIDI In/Out, meaning Orphea can double as a tiny controller for other music hardware and software.

The obvious catch is that 13 keys aren't going to replace a proper piano. Orphea's keys aren't velocity-sensitive either, so this isn't going to give a pianist the expressive control of a full-size digital piano.

That's not really the point, though. Pianni describes Orphea as a portable musical sketchbook, designed for getting ideas down, practising or simply playing when you're away from a proper instrument.

The company says its founder Jordan Daniels has even tested the prototype with a three-voice Bach fugue, making it a seriously well thought out bit of kit.

There are still some unanswered questions. Orphea is currently a prototype, with Pianni continuing to refine the hardware before production, and there's no confirmed price yet. The company says it is preparing to launch the piano through Kickstarter.

But as a concept, I can see this working well. It's small enough that you might actually take it with you, rather than leaving it at home because carrying it is a pain.

Now all we need is a price that doesn't make that pocket look quite so much like a wallet.

Ever since British tech startup Nothing sprang up five years ago, its focus has largely been on releasing quality devices, with high-level components but at very competitive prices.

That has permeated its Android phones, earbuds and, more recently, over-ear headphones. The Nothing Headphone (1) was slightly different, in that it was more at the premium end of the spectrum – not least thanks to its partnership with audiophile brand KEF. But ultimately Nothing still managed to undercut similarly spec'ed rivals.

Now it looks like it's back for another stab, but this time it seems to be taking on the big boys directly.

The Nothing Headphone (1) Pro has leaked, with a report by Dealabs claiming that a follow-up is imminent. And considering it's specifications and, most significantly, the suggested price, we could be looking at the brand taking the next step.

According to the French tech site's sources, the Headphone (1) Pro will feature a triple-driver architecture, with bass, precision and XMEMS type treble drivers. This has the potential for a more refined and solid sound performance, to compete with the likes of Sony, Bose and Bowers & Wilkins.

It'll have Hi-Res Audio and LDAC support, it's claimed, along with spatial audio and sound customisation capabilities. And there will be improved noise cancellation, with real-time ANC using 10 microphones to block ambient sounds more effectively.

Battery life is said to last up to 60 hours of playback in the headphones themselves, while Bluetooth 6.1 will be on board for wireless streaming. Physical touch controls will also feature on the headset's aluminium shell, the the earcups will be covered by scratch-resistant glass. IP52 water and dust proofing rounds up the leaked specs.

Perhaps the most surprising element to the early information is its price. It is claimed that the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro will cost $399 / €349. That's also likely to translate to £349 in the UK too.

That's naturally a step up on the £299 of the original Headphone (1) and is considerably more than the Headphone (a) price, which started at £149.

Indeed, if genuine, it puts the Headphone (1) Pro on a par with the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QC Ultra 2 alternatives. So it'll be interesting to hear them in action to find out whether they can match or even beat those hugely popular pairs.

We have a few weeks to wait before then though – Dealabs says that the launch won't be until 29 September. We'll keep our ears to the ground until then.

Apple has announced its fifth generation AirPods and they blur the line between the entry and pro models more than ever before.

More durable and with live translation capabilities – much like the AirPods Pro – the AirPods 5 also feature better active noise cancellation. Apple claims that it works 50% more effectively than the last-gen, and with improved audio playback.

The design is largely the same, but the new AirPods are now rated IP57 for dust and water resistance. There's a bigger battery offering up to five hours of playback time with ANC activated, while the USB-C charging case expands that to up to 20 hours.

Another new feature of the upgraded buds is that they support the new Siri AI functionality coming with iOS 27. And there are two models that will be available – with a standard variant and a step-up pair that come with a wireless charging case.

This additional version also features volume controls on the stem of the right AirPod – a feature also migrated from the AirPods Pro.

The standard Apple AirPods 5. are priced at $129 / £129 and they're available to pre-order from today. They'll ship on 18 September 2026.

The step-up model with on stem audio controls, wireless charging case and longer battery life are priced at $149 / £149.

There is no new AirPods Pro version announced as yet, but with the features added to these entry buds, you have to wonder whether we need a new Pro. At least until the variant with an AI camera in the buds arrives (likely early next year).

T3 is covering all of the new Apple announcements live – just follow the news as it happens in our regularly updated blog.

Marantz has just revealed its latest compact music system, the MCR 60n, which combines CD player with network streaming, Phono (MM) and HDMI eARC for connecting your other hi-fi kit.

Marantz, the world-renowned Japanese audio brand, is no stranger to making some of the most desirable high-end hi-fi kit on the planet – and the MCR 60n updates the earlier MCR 612 with a bunch of enhancements.

CD players are hugely in demand at the moment, as an increasing movement towards 'proper album listening' has seen more artists releasing on the format – and more listeners enjoying the experience of taking in a full release, track by track.

The MCR 60n offers one of the more luxurious ways in which to enjoy your CDs, thanks to a built-in player, which now offers a dual-plate design for greater rigidity and better isolation for improved playback.

The brand's latest HEOS model, meanwhile,supports PCM up to 384kHZ/32bit and DSD up to 11.2MHz for streaming, should your preference be the highest available audio formats on a network-attached drive.

Much as the CD format is in demand, the vinyl resurgence hasn't slowed either – and the MCR 60n can cater for this format, whatever your kit. The Phono connectivity supports Moving Magnet (MM), if that's the kind of record player that you possess.

Marantz has souped up the audio quality in the MCR 60n, too, with more linear Class D amplification than its 612 predecessor, at two lots of 65W stereo output (marking a 30% increase). There's a subwoofer output with adjustable crossover settings, too.

The Marantz MCR 60n will be available from 15 September, priced at $1000 in the USA. The UK/European version gains DAB radio, too, with its asking price set at £800 / €900.

Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit when you've made a device so good that retiring it makes no sense. Sony's basically doing that by acknowledging that its flagship headphones from two generations ago, the WH-1000XM4, remains its most popular model ever. Now it's bringing them back.

The WH-1000XM4 has apparently sold over 10 million units by Sony's own reckoning, which is a fairly huge threshold for some headphones that were really quite premium in price for much of their shelf-life. As a result of the enduring popularity of the design (since modernised in the XM5 and XM6 models), Sony's now launching the WH-1000XM4C, which changes very little about the older cans.

Sony says the new model is "based on" the older one, but in truth it's almost identical, featuring the same sound and noise-cancelling from back in 2016. You will now get 10-band EQ control, though, which could be welcome, and a new RRP accompanies the launch – £219.

It'll be fascinating to see whether bringing in this newer tier of essentially an older headphone will undercut the momentum of the XM5 and XM6s, but maybe this is a sign that said momentum wasn't all that powerful in the first place.

It's not the only set of headphones Sony is putting out this month, either. It's also launching the £100 WH-CH730N, a revision that puts a surprisingly lovely design on some affordable over-ears. Then there's the £50 WH-CH530, an on-ear option that similarly refreshes an existing model.

This all adds up to mean Sony's headphone lineup covers pretty much every price bracket from the very high-end (represented by the super-premium WH-1000XX The Collexion) right down to the very entry-level, and it's hard to argue with the idea behind that move.

At a time when people are watching prices get hiked on all manner of tech devices and launches, having options for those who want to spend less is hard to argue with. That said, this is also the first time I've seen a big tech brand bring out a new version of a 10-year-old product like this, so it'll be fascinating to see whether the XM4's popularity waxes or wanes as a result.

All of these headphones will be available later this month, according to Sony's estimates.

The beginning of September was huge for Sonos, which revealed a new Sonos 27 app architecture, new Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar, and new Sonos Ace Ultra headphones.

It's the last of those that I got to try in Berlin, at an event running adjacent to the IFA tech expo's calendar. These new headphones play nice with other Sonos products, able to handover audio with ease – which is what I was keenest to test out.

The feature is thanks to the new Headphones Engine 2, which sees the Ace Ultra act, in part, like other Wi-Fi-capable Sonos speakers to connect to the wider Sonos system – something that previous Ace product couldn't deliver.

I had many questions about how the feature would function, however, so have broken down in Q&A style below to explain how it all works.

What is Headphone Linking?

If you have a variety of Sonos speakers in your home, whether setup individually or as groups, then you're able to pass over what you're listening to on the Sonos Ace Ultra to those – it's called Headphone Linking.

There's no restriction on the product, so long as it's a Wi-Fi-capable Sonos – the Bluetooth-only products, like Roam, won't function in this way (just as they don't function in the same way in Sonos' overall setup).

To action this is simple: you simply press-and-hold the physical action button on the Ace Ultra, wait until it beeps, then it'll ping over to your nearest Sonos system. It's really simple to use.

What if I've got multiple groupings?

But what if you've got multiple groupings in your home? Say one kitchen setup, one bedroom, and another larger home cinema system in the lounge?

This is where the new Sonos 27 app will identify through your Wi-Fi network the nearest signal to you.

Can you fool it or can it mess up? I asked a Sonos engineer and the answer was only if you were perfectly equidistant would the system need to make a 'choice', but the company spent a long time testing to deliver the most fluid result.

Can you play on headphones and speakers?

As Ace Ultra have the hardware on board to act like a speaker, can you listen on the headphones whilst other Sonos speakers output audio – in a separate room in the house, for example?

While this could theoretically be possible, Sonos took the decision to disable such functionality. The Ace Ultra are either playing your source audio, or you hand it over to another system – you can't run the headphones in tandem with a speaker grouping.

What about the original Ace headphones?

Will this functionality be coming to the original Sonos Ace headphones? The short answer here is 'no'.

That's because the Headphones Engine 2 is part software, part hardware solution. And the chip required to run the calculations and Wi-Fi operability isn't in the original headphones.

If you want the most functionality, you'll therefore want the Ultra headphones, not the original product.

Has the TV Audio Swap feature changed at all?

One thing that the original Ace did do – and while niche, it's a feature that many love – is TV Audio Swap. This enables you to nab the audio from your soundbar and deliver it straight to the headphones.

It's also activated by a press-and-hold of the action button on the Ace Ultra (just as it is on the original Ace), but rather than functioning Headphone Linking and passing the audio over to another Sonos grouping, the app will know that audio is via an HDMI signal.

It's that HDMI hard-wiring that overrules the usual functionality, enabling the Ace Ultra to run TV Audio swap in the same way as the original Ace. As the majority processing is done on the soundbar, not the headphones, there's no disparity between Ace and Ace Ultra here.

Should I buy the Ace Ultra?

I'm not going into detail about how the Ace Ultra sound in this feature – a quick listen and I think they're superior to the original product thanks to a new driver and new tuning – but should you consider buying the latest headphones?

Absolutely. If you're a Sonos power user then the new Headphone Linking feature will expand your usability considerably. TV Audio Swap remains in tact and is still great. And the comfort of these headphones is second to none.

I'll be reviewing the new headphones in the coming weeks ahead of their 29 September on-sale date, digging into the design differences, long-term wear functionality, sound quality and ANC in minutiae detail.

The Philips Fidelio name has been around for years, generally attached to more premium audio kit. The new L5 headphones take some of that high-end heritage and put it into a much more affordable pair of wireless cans.

The L5 use custom 36mm ceramic-coated dome drivers with woven silk suspension, designed to deliver detailed sound with controlled bass and natural mids. There’s also support for LDAC, Bluetooth 6.0 and Auracast, while USB-C lets you listen to lossless hi-res audio at up to 24-bit/96kHz.

The L5 also get Philips’ most advanced active noise cancelling system yet. Adaptive Noise-Cancelling responds to changes in your surroundings, while a new leakage-detection system monitors the seal between the earcups and your ears and adjusts the ANC accordingly.

There’s also an Adaptive Awareness Mode, which can automatically switch on in quieter environments when you need to hear more of what’s going on around you.

The headphones use memory-foam ear cushions and a soft protein-leather headband, with touch controls and wear detection that automatically pauses playback when you take them off.

Battery life is another strong point, with up to 60 hours of playback or 50 hours with ANC enabled. A five-minute quick charge adds up to eight hours of listening.

The L5 support multipoint connectivity, allowing two devices to remain connected at once, while Spatial Audio modes are available through the Philips Headphones app. The app also includes AI Neural EQ, which gives you a simple way to adjust the headphones’ tonal balance, alongside Adaptive EQ.

Philips has also made the ear cushions and rechargeable battery replaceable by the owner, which should help extend the life of the headphones.

The Philips Fidelio L5 launch in October 2026 for €199.99 / £179.99.

CDs might not be enjoying quite the comeback they were promised, but there’s still something appealing about a proper stereo system, especially when it doesn’t require a rack of separates to house it.

Philips’ new Fidelio FA7 takes that approach, squeezing a serious hi-fi setup into a compact system. As such, this should appeal to those who still have a CD collection but spend plenty of time streaming too.

The FA7 is a genuinely stereo-focused system, with two separate amplifiers delivering a total of 120W RMS through an active crossover.

Each speaker gets a 5.25-inch woven glass-fibre mid/woofer and 1-inch titanium dome tweeter, with dedicated amplification for the two driver types. Philips says the result is a wider soundstage, controlled bass and more precise treble.

The speakers also get a tapered bass port and can be used with or without their magnetic grilles, while the main unit has a brushed-aluminium finish designed to echo traditional hi-fi separates.

The FA7 isn't stuck in the past, either. Alongside CD playback, there’s DAB+ and FM radio, internet radio and podcast support.

For streaming, it supports AirPlay 2 and Google Cast over Wi-Fi, alongside Spotify Lossless, Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connect. Bluetooth 6.0 adds multipoint connectivity, LDAC and LC3 support, while Auracast lets compatible devices share audio with multiple speakers.

There’s also optical, RCA, USB-A and 3.5mm connectivity, plus a headphone output, giving you plenty of options for hooking up a TV, turntable or other kit.

The Philips Fidelio FA7 launches in October 2026 for €599.99 / £509.99.

Earlier this year, Shokz, the well-known open-ear earbuds brand, revealed its 5-star OpenDots 2 product.

Now the brand is elevating its partnership to premier levels, with a newly announced limited-edition version and collaboration with England star Chloe Kelly.

The England forward – whose famous Euro Championships-winning goal broke the internet in 2022 – is now breaking the mould of what Shokz has delivered before.

Modelling the limited-edition OpenDots 2 in signature pink, this new addition to the product line – under the 'Always More' campaign banner – will be a big hit for footie fans.

The tie-in makes sense: the OpenDots 2 are ideal for running and training without blocking out the outside world, so you can remain aware of your surroundings – while listening to your favourite tunes.

Kelly says: "'Always More' really resonates with me because football is a huge part of who I am, but there’s of course more to me than simply the player you see on the pitch.

"I’m always pushing myself to perform at my best, while also enjoying everything that matters to me away from the game.

That’s what I like about Shokz: it’s made for performance, but fits naturally into everyday life too.”

You can buy the limited edition pink colourway right now from uk.shokz.com, with the Shokz x Chloe Kelly Limited Edition Clutch Gift Box priced at £179 in the UK.

Be quick, though, as when that Gift Box version sells out, that's the end of availability – although the pink colourway will continue to sell thereafter, joining the current pearly white, grey and black options.

If you still have a shelf full of CDs but spend most of your time streaming music, Majority has a new hi-fi system that could save you from having to choose between the two. The new Quadriga Maxi combines a CD player, Spotify Connect, DAB radio, Bluetooth and more in a single 200W sound system.

It's a pretty substantial box, measuring 50 x 28 x 13.3cm and weighing 6.4kg, but that's still simpler than building a system around separate components and speakers.

Inside, you get two 3-inch full-range drivers and a built-in 5.25-inch bass woofer, making it a 2.1-channel system designed to deliver enough sound to fill a room without needing a separate amplifier or pair of passive speakers.

There's a slot-loading CD player supporting CD, CD-R, CD-RW and MP3 CDs, while Spotify Connect handles streaming. Bluetooth 5.2, USB MP3 playback, internet radio, podcasts, DAB/DAB+ and FM radio are also included.

An optical input, stereo RCA and 3.5mm AUX input mean you can connect other sources, while a 4.3-inch colour display, remote control and Majority's OKTIV app handle the controls.

If an all-in-one system isn't quite what you're after, Majority has also launched the Fitzwilliam range of three full-width hi-fi components.

The £179.95 Fitzwilliam CD is a streaming CD player that can be added to an existing system, with Spotify Lossless through Spotify Connect, Bluetooth, USB, DAB/DAB+, FM, internet radio and podcasts. Digital optical and coaxial outputs give you plenty of options for connecting it to an amplifier or active speakers.

For £199.95, the Fitzwilliam AMP adds a 200W Class-D amplifier for passive speakers, alongside the same broad selection of streaming and radio options. It also has optical and coaxial inputs, RCA connectivity and a headphone output.

The £229.95 Fitzwilliam CD AMP combines the two, adding a CD player to the 200W amplifier in a single full-width component.

All four products are available now, with the Quadriga Maxi priced at £349.95. It's not the cheapest way to listen to Spotify and CDs, but for anyone who wants one straightforward system rather than a pile of separate boxes, it could be ideal.

After Sony said it had new Ult speakers for me to check out at a hands-on event in late August, it was a bit of a surprise to walk into their event space and see speakers about ten times bigger than I was expecting.

I was faced with the new Ult Tower lineup – the Tower 5, Tower 7 and Tower Max, and from where I was seated, even the smallest was a little hard to imagine making sense in my admittedly compact living room.

These are party speakers that make absolutely no apology for their size or scale, not least because they're aimed squarely at those who want such power. Listening to each one in turn, it was pretty easy to see the appeal, too.

The "smallest", the Tower 5, was still hefty enough to need a sensible approach when you pick it up to move it, and had impressively full and rounded sound in its default "flat" mode, which still has more bass than many other speakers would tune for.

Swapping up to the Tower 5, which expands the size of its main driver and adds some more tweeters for precision, you indeed get a pretty significant boost in overall volume and depth. That middle size looks relatively modest in the lineup photo below, which is pretty hilarious – it would be the biggest speaker anyone you know owns, and only looks small because the Ult Tower Max is so absurdly massive.

The Tower Max was my favourite demo of the three, not least because I got to choose a track to listen to. Justice's Waters of Nazareth is a go-to for bass testing, and its crackly yet precise beats were fairly monstrous, in a good way. This sort of track can help sift out speakers that dial up the bass while losing any detail, and the Tower Max passed that test with flying colours.

That said, its chunky price and enormous size mean that it's really only going to make sense for professional use. That might mean DJs who bring their own kit to venues, touring companies, or party planners, but it does also ensure that any event with sound running through Tower Max speakers will be able to get ridiculously loud.

In a soundproof basement, each speaker tended to be running at around 60% of its maximum volume, and that was generally more than enough to be antisocial in the wrong setting. My downstairs neighbours wouldn't thank me for testing any of them, frankly.

I was also thoroughly impressed by the new design of the three speakers, unified with their metal front grilles and LED fringes. Party speakers can often be a little too poppy and unserious for my tastes, whereas these are among the more mature and industrial I can remember seeing.

That said, I'm always fascinated by the concept of party speakers in the first place, from a marketing and sales perspective – how many units will these Ult speakers sell? It's a question I probably won't get an answer to, but I'd love the insight. Speaker-makers clearly know something I don't, though, because they keep on making new ones.

From what I've seen, the Ult Towers will be impressive new competitors in the market when they arrive later this month.

Sony's getting in on the pre-IFA action by announcing a revamp of its biggest party speakers, confirming that its Ult branding is very much how it sees the path forward for its audio business outside of the very biggest hitters (namely the WF and WH-1000XM series of headphones and earbuds).

The new speakers are all pretty big, but the biggest of them is frankly massive, so these are launches aimed very much at those putting on proper parties, raves, and events.

• Check out my full impressions of the new Ult speakers here, from a recent hands-on demo

All three speakers also share the same design language, and it's one that brings impressive unity to the previously various designs used by Sony's largest speakers. Each is fronted with a pretty transparent metal grille, and ringed by LEDs that can sync to your music or play pre-arranged lighting medleys.

They're all really industrial and modern-looking, stripped of much of the ornamentation that can make speakers look a bit overdone. Each also has an Ult-branded dial to the top-left of its drivers, letting you adjust through different sound modes (largely to decide whether you want punchy bass or chest-shaking ultra bass).

Crucially, they also all have the same array of connectivity options – XLR, RCA and USB-C, along with Bluetooth. That means they should be reliable in a variety of setups.

The smallest of the three is the Ult Tower 5, and it'll come in at €400 when it launches this month. It's clearly the most approachable of the three, but still brings pretty powerful sound for its size. Carrying handles make it easier to use than you might expect, and it gets 20 hours of battery life for flexibility.

Next in the lineup is the Ult Tower 7, which is a good chunk bigger and increases the number of drivers for a big boost in power and sound output. It costs €600, and might be the most sensible choice for event planning, since it's super powerful but still not the craziest piece of kit to move around. It has 30 hours of battery life, meanwhile.

Finally, the Ult Tower Max is a genuine beast, with wheels on one side so that you can cart it around carefully. It has power that needs to be heard to be believed (and I have indeed heard it), and it's no surprise that it therefore comes in at €1,500, a big jump that makes it far more of a niche option. It's also exclusively mains-powered, which makes sense given its size.

Sony says all three will be available later this month, but also that this is part of a strategy to take previously diverse branding decisions and make far more of its speakers Ult-branded. That might indeed be a winning play over time, since Sony's naming conventions have long been a little arcane.

There's no skirting around the fact that Sonos had a debacle with its attempted app update a couple of years ago. But that's now behind the company, which has changed leadership, invested time, and forged forward for the better.

Now, Sonos has revealed its latest new software vision, Sonos 27, the redesigned app set to act as the hub for all things Sonos. Its reveal arrives in tandem with two new product launches: the Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar and Sonos Ace Ultra headphones.

But just what's the core purpose of Sonos 27 and what does this software set out to do differently than what came before? The new iterative approach – 'Sonos 28' will follow next year, and so forth – is akin to Apple's iOS updates for its iPhone products.

That means you can expect an evolving network of updates and additional features, expanding the practicality of what your Sonos ecosystem can do over time. Here are 5 key takeaways from the new Sonos 27 app:

1. Sonos Fabric

Starting with what you probably know Sonos best for: grouping speakers together. But that didn't have a specific marketing name. Until now.

Which is what 'Sonos Fabric' is all about – it's the underlying architecture of all things grouped, paired and bonded together across your Sonos products and ecosystem.

Keep an eye out for that name change, therefore, as you'll need to get used to it as being the main hub of your Sonos connected family.

2. Design & Controls

With a new app invariably comes a new design. And Sonos 27 has got a bunch of new visuals and features, which I've summarised in bullet points below.

• Tab navigation
• Lockscreen controls
• 'Room Sort' organisation
• Virtual knobs for volume control
• Forthcoming (Q3/4): System Health views; Presets

As you can see from that list, Sonos 27 will offer layers within the app, more controls, and a greater sense of 'tactility' to its use.

Furthermore, the iterative approach is clear: later in the year Presets and System Health Views will follow, showing that persistent feature updates are part of the ongoing package.

3. Sonos 27 Voice

Building upon the original Sonos Voice is the updated Sonos 27 Voice control. It's a new voice assistant that's even more advanced.

You can prompt it into action using the "Hey Sonos" wake word, or you can bypass Sonos' system for a preferred Amazon Alexa or Google Gemini integration if you wish.

The goal with Sonos' new voice control is for more organic, conversational requests and further humanised context – less of the defined rigidity of the earlier system.

4. AI Agents

Speaking of choice, Sonos is also to expand its connection with artificial intelligence – with Sonos 27 MCP allowing you to connect to external AI systems of your choice.

Later this year Sonos Custom Agents will preview, pulling on Agentic AI to manage requests in more specifically targeted ways – a 'Movie agent', perhaps, as one example.

There's not much more information around this as yet, as it's a forthcoming feature. But effective results in other apps/services based on your Sonos use would be one likely potential.

5. Headphones & Surrounds

This one ties directly into the addition of Sonos' new Beam Ultra soundbar and Ace Ultra headphones being revealed alongside the new app announcement.

The Ace Ultra headphones can act like any other Sonos speaker, using its Headphones Engine 2 systen, so you can group or handover audio as you wish through the app.

The Beam Ultra, meanwhile, enhances its surround sound proposition, as it's now compatible with wireless (Wi-Fi capable) Sonos speakers – i.e. the Move 2 and Play speakers.

That means you can add a Sonos Play to your Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar and the app will understand its position relative to the setup. It's like a more advanced version of Trueplay.

This feature isn't Dolby Atmos FlexConnect – which allows you to freely position surround speakers anywhere you please – but a similar functionality using Sonos' proprietary technology.

Sonos is back with a major hardware announcement this September, revealing the all-new Beam Ultra soundbar.

Consider it the uprated version of the classic Beam original and follow-up Beam 2 soundbars, which have been a major success for Sonos over the years.

The key difference? The Sonos Beam Ultra adds upfiring channels to its audio arrangement, bringing more immersive audio for better Dolby Atmos experiences.

Small 'bar, big sound

The system is a 7.1.2 arrangement, so seven speakers for the front soundstage (including centre, left, right, and sides), one central sub/bass, and two upfiring outputs.

"Big sound. Not-so-big soundbar": That was Sonos' goal in the Beam Ultra. It occupies a similar footprint to the other Beam products, but has been redesigned internally.

Note, however, that it's not the same footprint. That's why a new wall-mount (sold separately) is also available, should you wish to have the Beam Ultra up on the wall.

The Ultra's internal arrangement features nine drivers in total – which is four more than in the previous Beam (Gen 2). So it's not just new upfiring speakers that complement the audio offering here, helping to deliver a bigger, broader sound stage.

The Beam Ultra offers an HDMI eARC, but there's no additional HDMI passthrough – long a dream request, but absent in all Sonos soundbars – for an easy TV connection.

A new app, too

Sonos has also revealed its latest app, Sonos27, which will take on an iterative format – similar to Apple with iPhones in iOS26, 27, etc – with updated annual future versions expected.

The app is the hub to control various features, including Sonos' new AI Speech Enhancement. This offers four customisable levels for dialogue enhancement, depending on environment and preference.

You can also use the Sonos Beam Ultra with other speakers. The new 'Portable Surrounds' feature, will mean that even Sonos' portable Wi-Fi speakers – i.e. the Move 2 and Play products – can be used as surround sound speakers.

If you have a Sonos Play, for example, that can be integrated as a rear speaker. Sonos' in-house software solution will measure the additional speakers' positions, similar to Dolby Atmos FlexConnect (but not using this specific system) for ideal output.

All in all, the Beam Ultra sounds like a huge new release for Sonos. It betters the good of the previous Beam 2 product, with true upfiring channels and beefier audio overall.

It will cost you a fair bit more than a 2nd Gen Beam, however, with pre-orders open now for an on-sale date of 29 September. Retail pricing is set at £699 / $699 / AU$1099 / €699 – so the UK gets the rawest deal in terms of value.

Sonos has gone all-out this week with major new reveals, adding its second-ever headphone product, the Ace Ultra, to its incoming future line-up.

That follows the all-new Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar, which brings upfiring channels to the mid-size soundbar range for the first time, improving its immersive Dolby Atmos credentials.

While the Sonos Ace Ultra may look similar to the original Sonos Ace over-ears, this newer product has been "built from the ground up" and uses an all-new 40mm driver within each earcup.

Audio handover

Crucially, however, the Ace Ultra introduces what Sonos calls its 'Headphone Engine 2', enabling the Ultra to handover audio to your other Sonos speakers.

As the Ace Ultra can act as a full-scale node in Sonos' platform, you can link them to your system in myriad ways.

This expands beyond the established TV Audio Swap feature, where the headphones can wirelessly receive three-dimensional audio from a connected Sonos soundbar.

Note, however, that as the Headphone Engine 2 feature requires specific hardware to operate, this handover feature will not be available on the original Sonos Ace product – as it doesn't have the necessary chip to operate this way.

New and improved ANC

Elsewhere, the Ace Ultra also up their active noise-cancelling (ANC) game, thanks to a new microphone arrangement – with 10 in total, marking two additional ones over the original Ace product.

An Adaptive EQ feature is designed to measure how well the earcups are sat on your head, adjusting the ANC profile accordingly based on the seal – and that'll act as a big benefit for glasses wearers.

Battery life has also been considerably improved, offering 35 hours per charge with ANC active. That's a far superior claim to the 24 hours achievable with the original Ace. There's also boost charging, said to offer up to 3 hours of use from just 3 minutes at the plug.

While the wireless format is the Ace Ultra's forte, these over-ears can also be used wired via the USB-C port. That offers Hi-Res listening up to 16-bit/48kHz for those who can serve it the correct audio formats.

Upgraded design

It's not only the drivers within that are new. Sonos has further improved the ergonomics, with the earcups' connections even more adaptable and with improved rotation

Making the most comfortable headphones even better was surely no small order, but Sonos looks to have pulled out all the stops in the Ace Ultra.

How much will a pair set you back? You can pre-order right now for the 29 September on-sale date, with retail prices fixed at £399 / $449 / AU$699 / €449.

If you were in any doubt that Sonos is looked at by the rest of the audio industry with some envy, all you really have to do is watch what other brands launch. I've seen a fair few home speaker announcements in my day, and JBL's new Cove speakers are just about as direct in competing with Sonos as any I can remember.

JBL says that Cove is a new "whole-home Wi‑Fi audio system" and, to be fair, I'm a huge fan of Wi-Fi speakers in general. Their convenience is hard to match when you're at home, and their connectivity is superior to Bluetooth-only models in my experience.

Cove launches with three models – M1, P1 and X1. To start with M1, it's a fixed-in-place speaker that needs mains power and is very much the entry option to the range. That doesn't mean it's all that cheap, though, at $219.95 in the US, £199.99 in the UK and €229.99 in the EU. Think of it as JBL's equivalent to the Sonos Era 100 SL.

The most interesting speaker in the lineup is the JBL Cove P1, which is the competition for the five-star Sonos Play. Like the Play, the P1 is portable with a charging dock that you can put where you want. It's a bit more powerful than the M1, too, and has Dolby Atmos support thanks to an upfiring tweeter. It gets 14 hours of use on a charge, and has water and dust resistance at an IP56 rating.

That bump in specs and options also makes it quite pricey – at $399.95 in the US, £399.99 in the UK and €449.99 in the EU. That's significantly more than even Sonos' equivalent, which is punchy.

Finally, there's the biggest speaker of the lot, the Cove X1, which reverts to powered use and looks more like the Sonos Era 300 equivalent. It offers 3D sound, apparently, and therefore also has Dolby Atmos support, and comes in at $379.95, £429.99 or €499.99 depending on your region.

All of the speakers can be grouped in multi-room setups and controlled through JBL's app, and the two smaller speakers can also be used as surrounds with the JBL Bar Mk2 soundbar, which is welcome. They'll all be available from JBL in October this year, with a precise launch date likely to follow fairly soon.

They'll also all become smart speakers later this year with Alexa+ integration, which might be of interest to plenty of people. They actually launch with a wide range of connectivity options, too, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Roon Ready, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Qobuz Connect.

To be clear, too, it's probably a good thing that Sonos' reputation for multi-room audio is prompting this competition. While I use its speakers happily, I've thought for a long while that more Wi-Fi speakers need to flood the market to make it easier to get multi-room setups without breaking the bank.

For now, JBL's route isn't one that seems to prioritise affordability, but give it a couple of years, and it'll be fascinating to see where the Cove lineup ends up sitting in the market.

FiiO has been making portable audio gear for years, but the EA13 is about as far removed from a pocket-sized DAC as you can get. This is a big, heavy analogue amplifier designed to put the tubes firmly on display, right down to the glowing valves and mechanical VU meters.

There are six tubes inside the EA13: two Sylvania PCF80 tubes handle the preamp stage, while four JJ Electronic EL34 tubes provide the power amplification. They're arranged in a Class A push-pull configuration based on amplifier designs from the 1950s.

The EA13 produces 28W per channel into 8-ohm speakers, although that figure comes at 5% distortion. At 1% distortion, the output is 18W per channel. FiiO provides separate outputs for 4-ohm and 8-ohm speakers, so you can match the amplifier to your setup.

It's also a decidedly analogue affair. There are four RCA inputs, a 6.35mm headphone output and a 12V trigger, but no DAC, Bluetooth, network streaming or phono stage. If you want to connect a turntable, you'll need a separate phono stage.

The design is clearly part of the appeal. The EA13 has a CNC-machined aluminium chassis, two illuminated VU meters and backlit controls, while the tubes sit prominently behind a protective cover. At 17.7kg, it's also not something you'll want to move around very often.

The FiiO EA13 costs $769 (around £610), putting it well below many traditional EL34 tube amplifiers. It's also the first full-size tube amplifier from a company better known for portable players, DACs and headphone amps, making it a fairly clear sign that FiiO wants a bigger presence in conventional hi-fi.

Whether you want that classic tube setup is another matter. Modern amplifiers can give you considerably more connectivity for the money, but they don't tend to look quite as good sitting on a shelf with six glowing valves and bouncing VU meters.

Recently, Bose launched the QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) – sometimes abbreviated as 'QC Headphones 2' or, per the app, 'QC 2 HP' – and I've been using them for a full week.

However, over the years I've used the original Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones for hundreds of hours since their launch.

Whether at home, on walks, commuting, or flying dozens of hours on a plane – those headphones have been with me every step of the way.

Thing is, the 'basic' QC Headphones 2 are mighty similar to the pricier QC Ultra Headphones 2. So what exactly is the difference and which one wins?

I've side-by-side tested Bose's two QC Headphones so you don't have to, highlighting their differences to help in your purchase decision.

Price

The Bose QC Ultra Headphones 2 went on sale in September 2025, priced at £449 ($449). They've since dropped in price in the UK, however, and you can buy for £349.

The newer Bose QC Headphones 2 (i.e. not the Ultra) went on sale this month, in August 2026, priced at £299 ($359).

Even with price drops, however, the Ultra ultimately still cost more – so just what more do you get and is the extra outlay actually worth it?

Design & Controls

I'll caveat this section by saying that I really don't like the silver finish of the Ultra headphones that I possess – I think they look tacky. Go with one of the other colourways would be my suggestion.

In terms of weight – and I put each pair on my digital kitchen scales to check this – the Headphones 2 come in at 239g, while the Ultra are a little more, at 263g.

That weight difference ultimately comes down to the material choices in construction. While the Ultra may look plasticky in places, it's the only product with aluminium as part of its build makeup – the QC 2 HP is all plastic.

The weight difference is marginal for comfort, with both headphones using protein leather coatings on their earcups and headband areas. Both offer the same slide-adjustable headband mechanism, too, which feels great.

So which is more comfortable? I prefer the Ultra, for the simple reason the earcup openings are deeper. The base QC 2 HP have a 'step' behind the mesh within, and I find them slightly inferior as a result. It's a close race, though.

Controls are another considerable part of the difference: the Ultra has touch controls, whereas the base model has a trio of buttons for play/pause and volume up/down; it also has a physical switch for Bluetooth pairing – the Ultra opts for a simple button instead.

Sound Quality

As you might have guessed by my earcup depth comment above, the Bose QuietComfort Headphones 2 and the Ultra 2 don't possess the same drivers – although Bose doesn't state that anywhere on its website.

I'm claiming this on the basis of listening, because these two headphones do not sound the same. They both sound great, granted, but the sound profile is different.

In short, the Ultra is the better-sounding pair, with greater expansiveness across the higher frequencies. It just delivers a bit more bite and depth – which I've checked again and again by switching between the two headphones across various tracks.

However, whichever you choose you can guarantee great bass and great overall clarity. Both are also USB-C compatible for wired listening should you prefer.

Active Noise-Cancelling (ANC)

When I first received the QC Ultra Headphones 2, I was disappointed by the active noise-cancelling (ANC) – as my side-by-side tests against the first-gen QC Ultra Headphones proved it to be a downgrade in blocking out external sounds.

Software updates have progressed, though, with Bose's systems and app now in a greater place of parity. And it's fair to say that's largely the case with the ANC systems on both the QC Ultra Headphones 2 and QC Headphones 2.

Both are very good at blocking out external sounds, as I've tested at home with various degrees of fans whirring, TV noise in the background, and when commuting out and about through London.

However, the Ultra visibly feature more microphones, so ultimately have the more advanced setup. The only way I've perceived this, however, is with the QC 2 HP getting gazumped by pressure changes when on the Tube network in London – the Ultra model seems to withstand this better (although not always entirely).

Battery Life

While both these headphones are pretty close in their runtime, the official take is that the Ultra offer 30 hours of use to the QC 2 HP's 24 hours of use. The Ultra therefore take it.

Note, of course, that battery longevity will depend on listening volume and whether you activate Bose's Immersion feature within the app – which depletes the battery even more quickly (but gives an awesome three-dimensional sound stage enhancement effect).

In Conclusion

For me, both these headphones deliver 5-star sound and active noise-cancelling (ANC).

The Ultra is the better product, however, on account of its sound profile delivering slightly more bite, its higher battery offering, and greater comfort due to interior earcup structure.

Side by side the two look very similar, aside from the extra physical buttons on the QC Headphones 2 – which may be an upsell if you don't like touch-based controls – and I'd think carefully about which colourway you choose, too.

So it's a close run race, but the Ultra take the crown. Whether those slight gains are enough for you to pay the extra is another question entirely, though – because the lower price point adds obvious appeal too.

When I first received Bose's QuietComfort Headphones Ultra a few years ago, I was blown away by the comfort, portability, sound quality and just absolutely on-point active noise-cancelling (or ANC, for short).

Later, Bose released a pair minus the 'Ultra' name, trimming back on some of the finer aspects of its top-tier travel headphones. While I didn't get to see those original QC Headphones, however, I've had the updated '2nd Gen' pair on review for a week.

What you need to know about the Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) is that these updated over-ears take many cues from the superior Ultra model – including many trickle-down features that, in some cases, put these headphones on par with the best.

Indeed, if you're a fan of physical buttons rather than touch controls, then these over-ears arguably make the better choice. That said, with the Ultra – which features a slightly nicer finish – now down from its original price, you're spoiled for choice.

Price & Availability

The Bose 'QC 2 HP' – that's the shorthand name, per the Bose app – are on sale now, with an asking price of £299.95 in the UK, $359 in the USA, AU$549.95 in Australia, and €349.95 in wider Europe.

That's actually a lower price for the UK market than the original, but that's an integral move to provide an ample gap between these QC Headphones 2 and the Ultra version (which is also a '2nd Gen' product).

That said, you can find the original QC Ultra Headphones on significant discount, making those an even more affordable purchase – see in the shopping widget embedded above.

That creates some confusion, perhaps, as while the 2nd Gen Ultra isn't quite as close yet, the asking price is very tight between it and these QC Headphones 2 on review.

Features & What's New?

• Updated design with adjustable sliders and new faux-leather cushioning
• Addition of Bose's TrueSpatial technology (Still, Motion, Cinema)
• Active noise-cancelling (ANC) said to be improved
• Battery life reduction (18h using Immersive)
• Lossless playback via wired USB-C

I've included a series of bullet points above to summarise what's different between the original and 2nd Gen model of these Bose headphones.

The more interesting comparison, however, might be between these headphones and their Ultra equivalents – as the gap between the two is fairly close.

I've used the Ultra extensively over the years, so can tell you that its touch-sensitive controls and improved padding are the two aspects that set it apart.

If you prefer physical buttons, however, then that's what the QC Headphones 2 put pride of place – a hark back to the earlier models, such as Bose's QC45.

Design & Usability

I don't mind using those physical control buttons at all, though, with the left earcup housing a Bluetooth connect switch and single button for cycling between the ANC modes (Quiet, Aware, Immersion).

The right earcup, meanwhile, features a play/pause that's straddled by volume up and volume down buttons. This trio lives near to the exposed USB-C port. And that's your lot – no other major distractions to get in your way.

The QC Headphones 2 come with an included carry case, in which is a little pouch with USB-C-to-C and separate USB-C-to-3.5mm cables. That's handy for different outlets, should you want to use a wired connections, such as on planes.

The headphones feature a folding design, so the earcups fold towards the headband, minimising their size for stowing. They sit in the case slightly differently to that, but everything is held nice and secure.

The updated Bose app can register your product, which will give you app-based controls to adjust the Modes, tweak the EQ, customise (or deactivate) the Shortcut button, and toggle between Source options.

The majority of that can be achieved without the app, of course, but it's a good visual way to delve into those settings – especially the EQ, which can't be controlled any other way. There's also a battery percentage visual, which is handy.

I will say that the general feel of the headphones, given their plasticky frame and light weight, might not make you think 'top tier' immediately. But the earcups and headband are well supported, with the slide mechanism of the size adjustment proving smooth and elegant in use.

Performance & Sound Quality

While some aspects of the product's feel – as in, to touch – might not be hyper premium, you'll totally forget about that when wearing these over-ears.

I've already worn them for dozens of hours, whether at home in the office, out on morning walks, or commuting by train and tube, and they almost dissolve away – they're that comfortable.

The sound is truly epic, too. Big bass, enthusiastic mid and high frequencies combine to output a wide soundstage with settings at their most basic.

Play around with the Immersion aspect, however, and this feature – which was originally reserve of the Ultra model – gives you a three-dimensional uplift that makes you feel as if you're moving through the music.

You can adjust Immersion to be static, or based on your motion, which changes the experience. It can over-sharpen some higher frequencies, while battery life is more limited when it's in use – but it's a totally optional processing feature, so up to you whether it's active or not.

Whether it is or isn't, however, doesn't affect just how capable the active noise-cancelling (ANC) system is here. Ideal for blotting out surrounding ambient sound, I've found it ideal to escape the outside world and get focused.

Bose is master with ANC, as the company has long proven, and the version in the QC Headphones 2nd Gen is mighty impressive – no 'downgrade' blips, as I experienced with the Ultra 2nd Gen (issues which, via the power of over-the-air updates, Bose has since ironed out anyway).

There's one thing that can gazump the ANC, however, and that's changes in pressure. That's by no way unique to this product, I just felt it more sensitive and therefore pronounced with some wind-tear issues, or with passing trains causing one side of the ANC to cut out and reset. No biggie, but something you might notice on public transport.

Battery life is technically worse for this generation product, because the addition of the Immersive ANC option dictates that. You'll still get 18 hours at a decent volume, though, and that's been feasible by my in-use calculations – and I don't listen quietly, so Bose isn't pulling your leg here.

Verdict

While the Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) don't have 'Ultra' in the name, there are plenty of ultra features on show here.

If you're looking for lightweight and supremely comfortable travel headphones with decent sound quality, exceptional active noise-cancelling (ANC) and strong battery life, then these tick every box.

If anything, it's only the proximity to the higher-spec QC Headphones Ultra (2nd Gen) that makes purchasing these questionable – given the close pricing between the two.

Should you prefer physical buttons to touch-sensitive ones, the non-Ultra model is actually your best match. And while the build might not look great at every turn, the cushioning materials and wear factor are second to none.

Also Consider

One of the QC Headphones 2nd Gen's issues is that the original 'Ultra' version is now available for less. They look a bit smarter, with fewer visible buttons, and on a price basis are the most logical buy.

There's also a heap of competition in this market, with many worthy competitors to consider. The Sonos Ace is supremely comfortable, for example, while Sony's WH-1000XM6 offer arguably the supreme travel headphones design.

Every time I test a bit of Marshall kit, whether it's a new speaker or some headphones, I tend to say a similar thing at the start of my review – that few audio brands have anything like the defined visual identity of its lineup. That cursive Marshall logo, generally in brass or white, atop either a grille or some leatherette, makes for a genuinely iconic look.

It's one that's seen the brand carve out an impressive niche for itself among those who want punchy audio and a more old-school aesthetic, and that's getting a further twist with the release of three new parts of its ongoing tribute to Jimi Hendrix.

It's apparently 60 years this year since Hendrix used a Marshall amplifier to level up the sheer noise of his sound, and Marshall's already released a couple of tributes, but the newest ones include probably the most approachable and attractive designs yet.

They include new versions of the very solid Emberton III Bluetooth speaker, along with the ever-popular Major V headphones. In both cases, purple is the name of the game.

They've both been given new colours; in the case of the Emberton III, it's a more all-over job, with a new purple-hazed colour that Marshall calls "psychedelic graphics", along with a Hendrix-themed version of the brass control knob on top of the speaker. Even the status lights have been turned purple instead of red.

The Major V has the same purple accents, but it's a little more subtle, since it's only on the ear cushions of the headphones, rather than the outside. This might make it the most sleek of the lineup, since it's different but doesn't shout about it.

There's a third part of the tribute, but it'll ship in far smaller quantities – a hand-assembled JMH Studio amp, with that gorgeous purple design all over it. It's genuinely staggeringly cool to look at, but obviously will be a far more niche prospect aimed at real musicians.

To that end, the Emberton III and Major V versions can be ordered from Marshall today for £129.99 and £149.99 respectively, while the JMH Studio amp comes in at a cool £1749.99 and will be available from 9 September.

The Fidelio FA3 wireless active stereo speaker system and the Fidelio FT1 Bluetooth-equipped turntable with integrated CD player are available separately, but Philips is pretty sure they were made for each other – and if anyone should know, the company that builds them should.

In today's world of super-pricey separates, and with retro nostalgia seemingly at an all-time high, this mid-price system seems a smart move. Which is why I’ve reviewed these two products as if a complete system, to find out if putting your would-be cash into Philips’ pocket is money well spent or a rash investment.

Price & Availability

Both the Philips Fidelio FA3 wireless active stereo speaker system and the Fidelio FT1 Bluetooth-equipped turntable with integrated CD player are on sale now.

In the United Kingdom the Fidelio FA3 sells for £349, which translates to around $399 in the United States and AU$499 in Australia.

The Fidelio FT1, meanwhile, goes for £269 in the UK, something like $349 in the US, and around AU$469 in Australia.

For the sake of both brevity and sanity, for the rest of this review I’m going to refer to these products simply as ‘FA3’ and ‘FT1’. We all know what they are by now, right?

Features & What's New?

Philips Fidelio FA3 speakers

The FA3 are two-way speakers, each of which features a 25mm titanium dome tweeter above a 127mm glass-fibre mid/bass driver.

Each speaker is home to 50 watts of Class D amplification and, in partnership with a small reflex port at the rear of each cabinet, Philips reckons this layout is good for a frequency response of 40Hz to 40kHz.

Both speakers need to be connected to mains power – this is an active system, after all. And both speakers have an RCA socket on the rear which can be used to connect the two together – that’s how truly hi-res playback can be achieved, although the system will work just as happily (but at a lower resolution) with the speakers wirelessly paired.

One speaker does the heavy lifting where connectivity is concerned, though – the ‘primary’ speaker features a USB-C slot (available for both playback and servicing), a digital optical input, an HDMI ARC connection, and a line-level analogue input on stereo RCA sockets.

This primary speaker also takes care of wireless Bluetooth connectivity – the FA3 features Bluetooth 5.4 LE Audio and compatibility with SBC, AAC, LC3 and LDAC codecs. It’s also packing Auracast technology, so it can easily become part of a multi-speaker system if given appropriate speakers to partner with.

It’s worth noting the speakers can be connected using a length of coaxial cable with an RCA connector at each end, or wirelessly using a 2.4GHz wireless connection. Most unusually, there’s no trade-off in maximum resolution if you choose to go down the ‘wireless’ route – the FA3 operates at 24bit/96kHz natively, and anything that comes in via digital optical, USB-C or HDMI ARC of greater size is downscaled to this resolution.

Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable-CD system

The Fidelio FT1, meanwhile, is something that might have been called a ‘music centre’ back in the day. It’s a belt-driven turntable, a CD player, and a Bluetooth transmitter – with an integrated phono stage, Auracast connectivity, and a headphone socket thrown in for good measure.

It arrives with an Audio Technica AT3600L moving magnet cartridge pre-fitted to its straight aluminium tube tone-arm – all that needs to be done is to fit and adjust the supplied counterweight, slip the belt over the motor pulley, and your record player is ready to go. Or, at least, it is once you’ve positioned the aluminium platter and put the rubber slipmat on top.

The FT1 will convert an analogue signal from your vinyl to a digital equivalent and then send it to a pair of wireless headphones (or speakers, obviously) via Bluetooth 5.4 using the SBC, AAC or LC3 codec. And as it’s also Auracast-equipped, it’s able to transmit whatever it’s playing to as many appropriate speakers as you have access to.

There’s a compact disc drive built into the FT1, too, accessed via a drawer integrated into the front of the chassis. The door of the drawer is where you’ll find the system’s LED display – it can give confirmation of the selected input as well as the usual ‘track number, time elapsed, etc’ stuff when a CD is playing. All the usual CD player modes (‘shuffle’, ‘repeat’, ‘random’ and what-have-you) are here, and the drive itself is compatible with CD-R/RW and MP3-CD as well as your regular discs.

Performance

Obviously I’m testing the FA3 and FT1 components as an entire system, and that’s the way I’m going to discuss the sonic pros and cons.

In the course of this test, I spent some time listening to the FA3 speakers with other sources of music, just as I did the FT1 with different speakers (and with headphones too).

So I think I’m qualified to say that everything this system does, both good and bad, is a more-or-less equal result of the characteristics of each component. They’re both in this together, for better and for worse.

What’s most immediately impressive and engaging about this set-up is the sense of energy and animation it creates. There’s a forward and quite direct character to the system’s sonic presentation, a kind of positivity that makes every listen to any recording above the tempo of a dirge an invigorating event.

Not everyone will be enchanted by what I can quite easily describe as the relentless nature of the system’s attitude, but those who enjoy a vivid and quite forceful presentation will be very happy indeed.

No matter if you decide to listen to CD or to vinyl, there’s a fair amount of detail available in almost every respect, and an unarguable dynamism that allows the distance between the least and the most intense sections in a recording to be absolutely apparent.

Midrange resolution is accomplished too, and the way the system handles voices is very enjoyable as a result. The soundstage that’s available is quite wide and fairly well defined – and the midrange gets enough space in which to properly communicate.

Combine that with the amount of detail that’s revealed, and it follows that voices are both eloquent and direct, so it’s possible to discern plenty about their character and attitude – just as readily as about their technique and their texture – as a result.

At the bottom of the frequency range there’s a quite startling amount of substance given the size of the driver and the cabinet that’s producing it – but bass is not a blunt instrument here.

Confidence and presence are not in doubt (although a little more solidity around the edges of low-end sounds wouldn’t go amiss), but the attack is leavened by a fair amount of detail and variation.

Control is good too, and the Philips has no problem expressing rhythms with confidence and no little positivity. Leave the EQ settings in their most benign, ‘balanced’ setting and low-frequency wallop and momentum is the result.

Bass sounds have plenty in common with the midrange where tonality is concerned, and that’s also the case at the top of the frequency range. The 25mm titanium dome tweeter serves up shining, crunchy and detailed high frequencies that have the substance to balance out their latent bite.

Detail levels are high again, and though the tweeter is just as assertive as the mid/bass driver it sits above, it steers clear of glassiness and hardness right until the moment you start listening at ill-advised volumes.

Context is everything, though, and the FA3/FT1 system is never less than enjoyable and generally quite invigorating to listen to. Is it perfect, sonically speaking? No, and I get the strong impression that ‘outright fidelity’ was sacrificed in favour of ‘excitement’ quite early on in the voicing process. Does it offer plenty of sonic verve, as well as a stack of flexibility, for the money? Most certainly.

Design & Usability

Each of the speakers is a fairly substantial 303 x 170 x 211mm (HxWxD), which means the FA3 is not exactly a candidate for desktop use – and besides, given that I’m considering this as a complete system along with the FT1, you’d have to have a very big desk indeed if it’s going to accommodate all three components.

It seems more likely the entire system will be used either on an equipment rack and some speaker stands, or on an appropriately deep shelf or piece of furniture. The only drawback here, though, might be the fact the speakers are designed to lean back a little and fire upwards rather than directly outwards.

If the surface they’re on is fairly low, this is a helpful little design feature – but if you have the speakers on stands or a slightly higher shelf, the FA3 will direct sound above your ears rather than towards them (unless you like to listen while standing up, that is).
For all their slightly strange orientation, though, the speaker cabinets are properly made and finished in that special high-gloss black that looks great but collects fingerprints like no one’s business. The plastic shell features 45% recycled material in its construction, and each one is supplied with a magnetically attached grille.

The primary speaker is doing further heavy lifting where control is concerned. As well as all the physical inputs, its rear panel features a volume dial (it takes a fair few rotations to elicit a proper response), a button to initiate wireless pairing between the speakers, a button to cycle through the available inputs, and a power on/off switch.

All of those functions can also be achieved using the small remote control that’s supplied – it also includes independent bass and treble controls, and a button to cycle through the six EQ presets (‘balanced’, ‘warm’, ‘bright’, ‘powerful’, ‘clear’ and ‘custom’). For some reason, though, it crams selection of the six different inputs (which includes Auracast) onto just three buttons.

Both the FA3 and the FT1 are compatible with the Philips ‘Entertainment’ control app that’s free for iOS and Android. It’s a thorough, if not especially intuitive, interface and as well as playback control, EQ presets, source selection and the usual stuff, it’s where you can check for software updates (in the case of the FT1) or pick from a selection of sonic soundscapes (‘generative’, ‘ambient’ or ‘nature’ are the categories) for a more soothing experience than, um, listening to music.

The FT1 also has a selection of physical controls on the surface of the plinth. There’s a fairly large ‘power on/off’ button, a control dial to select between 33 and 45rpm, and buttons to handle Bluetooth pairing, source selection, Auracast, play/pause, and the opening and closing of the CD drawer.

On the rear of the plinth there are a couple of analogue outputs – a 3.5mm socket for use with wired headphones and a pair of stereo RCA connections, in case you want to join the FT1 to a traditional amplifier. There’s also a switch for defeating the integrated phono stage, which makes the player even less fussy about the equipment it’s partnered with.

The FT1 is made mostly from the same shiny black plastic as its partnering speakers, and is supplied with a clear plastic dust cover that somehow contrives to be just as reflective and fingerprint-hungry as the black plastic it sits on top of. Build quality is perfectly fine, although an all-in weight of comfortably less than 4kg makes the player seem slightly insubstantial.

Verdict

The Fidelio FT1 and FT3 combined deliver an awful lot for your money – with more extensive functionality than this sort of money can buy anywhere else.

In the context of the asking price the standard of build and finish is very acceptable, and the general sense of vigour and dynamism to the overall sound is enjoyable and commendable, too.

That's as long as you’re happy with ‘a good time all of the time’ in terms of the system’s overall character, and you can position the speakers as they need to be, then there’s plenty to enjoy here.

Also Consider

I think it’s fair to say that like-for-like comparisons are pretty thin on the ground.

Something like the Ruark MR1 MkIII is a very good pair of wireless speakers and has the inputs to support both a turntable and a CD player. The Sony PS-LX310BT, meanwhile, is a turntable that can connect wirelessly to appropriate speakers or wireless headphones.

But as far as finding a Bluetooth turntable with an integrated CD player and matching speakers? It seems to me that Philips has basically cornered that market.

CMF, the affordable sub-brand of Nothing, has announced the CMF Buds Neo, a new set of earbuds that include active noise cancellation at an incredibly low price.

With CMF stepping away from smartphones (for this year, at least), the focus appears to be on accessories. CMF recently announced the Clip Pro, its new open ear model, but this new addition returns to CMF's traditional earbud design.

As such, there isn't a huge change to the aesthetic, with CMF sticking to a two-tone case, the earbuds themselves offering contrasting bodies and silicone tips. Three tips are supplied to make sure you can get the right fit.

That's where the price comes in: they launch at ₹1999 (about £15), which is really affordable. CMF says that the whole aim is to make the CMF Buds Neo easily accessible.

There's a 12.4mm driver, but it's the active noise cancellation that's impressive at this price, said to offer up to 35dB noise reduction, with a choice of two different strengths.

The sound can be changed using the EQ in the Nothing X app on your phone, while the battery is said to last for 11 hours (without ANC) on a single charge - and up to 52 hours total thanks to recharging via the case.

With ANC on that drops to a total of 30 hours, but that's still fairly typical for earbuds that cost a lot more. Recharging the case via USB-C takes 70 minutes, while 10 minutes in the case will give the earbuds 5.5 hours of playback.

CMF's existing Buds 2a are the next step up, costing ₹2499 (£29) offering 42dB ANC, but otherwise appear to be much the same, perhaps making the Buds Neo an easy choice.

The CMF Buds Neo are listed as being exclusive to India, although it's not clear if that's just launch exclusivity or if that's going to be for the life of the product. With the Buds 2a currently priced at £29 in the UK, coming in at around £15 would be about right for the UK - the question is whether CMF offer the new earbuds outside India.

The CMF Buds Neo can be ordered from Flipkart.

Sennheiser might have just fixed one of the few remaining problems posed by true wireless earbuds in 2026 – when their batteries degrade, in most cases they're rendered near-useless. For a long time, when your earbuds started to barely hold a charge, you were toast.

Now, with the newly unveiled Momentum True Wireless 5 (joining the five-star over-ear Momentum 5 Wireless from earlier this year), we finally have a mainstream earbud that features a fully user-replaceable battery system.

With just a regular (albeit small) screwdriver, you'll be able to replace the battery on each of these earbuds when it's degraded, with Sennheiser committed to selling that spare part. In fact, the charging case itself will also feature the same boast, so you can take care of all parts of the earbud system.

Anyone who remembers the last two generations of Momentum True Wireless will also easily spot a very new design for the earbuds, too. Gone is the squared-off shape, replaced by a far smoother and more ergonomic one. Sennheiser told me that the overall volume of each earbud hasn't changed much, but that this new version should be more comfortable for most people.

Excitingly, Sennheiser is also bucking its former plans and launching a range of colours immediately, rather than drip-feeding them over the next two years. You can choose between Graphite, Cream, Copper, Denim and Lavender, with that blue denim colour looking particularly handsome to our eyes.

It's also upgraded the earbuds' actual battery life, which now stands at around 12 hours on a charge with ANC on, and a total of around 40 hours including the power in the case.

That ANC should also be improved, too, with extra microphones, one of which is a bone-conduction mic to help the earbuds pick up your voice more accurately and reject outside noise better for your call quality.

Another headline addition is full Dolby Atmos compatibility, which could make these an immersive choice for your commute movie-viewing if you're using a compatible service (like Apple TV in many cases).

All of this adds up to quite an exciting launch for Sennheiser, after the superb Momentum 5 Wireless, and the earbuds will be available to order from 3 September, coming in at £249.99, €299.90, $299.95 and $479.95 AUD (the same as the last generation at launch).

You may have seen Sonos in the news a lot lately. It's because rumours have been circulating about a big new launch – and with the IFA technology show in Berlin just weeks away, the timing makes sense.

Initial rumours, however, suggested that this would be a launch around artificial intelligence. Whatever that means. Sonos is an audio company, not the next Google, so if you ask me, I think we can forget about the AI buzzwordery and focus on the real matters at hand.

Fortunately, said rumours have rapidly evolved – and it now looks as though more Sonos hardware could be on the near horizon. Now that's what I'm talking about. I also don't think it's a surprise, given the app debacle that saw a leadership shake-up and a refocus on what Sonos is particularly good at – i.e. making great products.

Show me the HDMI passthrough already

However much AI may (or may not) be integrated into forthcoming Sonos products is by the by in my view, as what really matters is getting the core hardware correct. And if there is to be a Sonos Beam (Gen 3) incoming then, well, there's one feature that I really want to see implemented – daresay 'fixed'.

Sonos has been rather stubborn in its approach to HDMI ports to date. All of its soundbars – the Beam and Arc and their derivatives anyway; the Ray only has an optical connection – feature one individual HDMI eARC to connect to a TV. There's no second HDMI for passthrough.

Now I, for one, would pay more to shun the AI and have a second HDMI added to future Sonos soundbar hardware. Such an addition effectively frees up one of the ports on the rear of your TV – which, if you're like me, are in excess demand anyway – and creates a better flow in usability.

The approach to HDMI ports has been getting slightly better, though. It was earlier this year that Samsung's 2026 flagship fixed my biggest bugbear with HDMI ports – namely the lack of them – by introducing an option for four additional ones, making eight total, on its S95H/S99H TVs.

HDMI 2.2 incoming – but does that even matter?

Most people looking to buy a Sonos Beam aren't going to need eight HDMI ports, fair enough, but many of them will want to connect up a 4K/120Hz games console and separate TV Box with best possible resolution and frame rate. Adding a passthrough on the next Sonos soundbar would solve that.

It could well be this is nothing more than wishful thinking on my part, of course. It could be that a future, higher-end Sonos product won't opt for an HDMI passthrough addition at all. Or, who knows, perhaps the brand is just waiting – after all, the HDMI 2.2 standard is imminent.

However, HDMI 2.2 is going to be seen in high-end gaming monitors first, as its 96Gbps bandwidth is largely there to support very high refresh rates at higher resolutions – the kind that movies, sport and TV shows don't require. You could, therefore, call it a niche format – certainly at its launch stages.

Really, at the core of it, Sonos products are about simplicity. Customers don't want to fret about "2.0 versus 2.1 or 2.2", they just want to plug and play, enjoy great sound and a quality experience. But I do think the addition of an HDMI passthrough would quietly enhance that, without making a song and dance of it.

Let's not forget about headphones...

Seeing as I'm spinning the rumour mill's outpourings of late, let's not forget that there might be no new Sonos soundbar at all. Indeed, other rumours point strongly to new headphones: the so-called Sonos Ace Ultra, expected to be a step above the original Ace model.

When Sonos made the big dip into headphones, it seemed like a genius idea. The product didn't please everyone – we loved it at T3 for the sheer comfort factor – and, as mentioned earlier, timing for the company turned out to be poor.

I think Sonos will be looking at this market sector and scratching its head, though, as there's clearly greater potential for the brand to win bigger here – especially with its integration between home cinema and personal audio.

And, just to be clear (as if not obvious enough), I most certainly don't want to see an HDMI port on any pair of headphones. But I'd keenly see a new pair of step-up Sonos over-ears to fill a gap in the brand's line-up.

All of which, in summary, suggets that Sonos is about to have a very busy 12 months or so. If any of these rumours are true, then we could be seeing new hardware, new innovations and, yes, new AI integrations.

But let's get the hardware nailed first and foremost, eh? That'll make me and many existing and prospective customers very happy indeed.

You might not have heard of Ruka before, but the audio brand describes itself as a "collective of former Apple engineers and designers", and its first turntable is certainly a head-turner. The TD-1 is a vertical deck that makes your records into wall art as you play them,

Available to pre-order at a founder price of $1,399 (around £1,033), the player has a machined aluminium body that can be hung on a wall or stand. And while modern looking, there's a touch of the retro about it too, with physical knobs and clickable switches.

Once you've loaded a record, you secure it to the player with a magnetic clamp and the belt driven motor does the rest. The platter is acrylic and you can choose your own cartridge, with automatic calibration to your stylus of choice, too.

Power is supplied through USB-C and there are both wired and wireless connections to hook the TD-1 up to speakers or a sound system. On-board Bluetooth also means you can enjoy playback through wireless headphones.

Of course, the better-looking the LP, the better the aesthetic, but the Ruka certainly looks impressive. We've seen a few vertical turntables recently, including the Trettire TTT-LP3 and CoolGeek VS-01, but this looks the most understated. That means it should suit most living spaces.

Ruka plans to ship the first production run of just 500 units in 2027, with another batch to follow after. Pre-orders can be secured with a $100 deposit on the company's dedicated website.

As for what to play on it, why not get the coloured vinyl version of Bob Marley's Sun is Shining. It comes with three LPs in red, green and yellow.

Or there's The Rolling Stones' Forty Licks box set – a best-of featuring yellow, red, blue and orange LPs.

Next month marks the on-sale date for Technics' much-revered classic turntable, the SL-1200 series, which returns in a 55th Anniversary Edition in celebration of five-and-a-half-decades in the market.

The chosen weapon of many vinyl-based DJs – and still the hardware partner of the DMC World DJ Championships – the SL-1200 and SL-1210 models have seen many iterations of progression over the years.

Indeed, the direct drive turntable, well known for its precision, first adjusted its +/-8% pitch control (with a double-up to 16% function) to a digital mechanism in the SL-1200MK5G. Since, the sixth-gen and seventh-gen models have been released, further refining the product.

The 55th Anniversary Edition is a collectors' version of the latest, limited to just 12,000 units worldwide in total, and available in a variety of colours – Gold, Blue, Red, Black, Green, White, Grey (see all seven in the gallery above) – to give a whole new look to the classic turntable.

Each of those 12,000 units will feature an "individually engraved anniversary badge with its serial number, underlining the collectable character of this commemorative release," says Technics in its official press release.

Whether you choose the Gold model as your preference or not, all models feature gold detailing and accents, including a gold anodised aluminium tonearm, a platter with gold-coloured rim and strobe markers, plus gold knobs and buttons all round. Details are shown in the gallery below:

Beneath the bling, however, is the real reason the SL-1200 became – and still remains – a classic piece of kit. The pioneering direct-drive technology was a world-first, able to connect motor directly to platter for reduced speed fluctuations and rapid acceleration to rotation target thanks to high torque.

The Technics SL-1200 55th Anniversary Edition will first be on public show in Poland at the DMC DJs Day, Warsaw, on 20 August. It will go on sale the following month, with pricing yet to be confirmed – but with such limited volume in this run, chances are they'll sell out quickly.

Pro-Ject is not one to sit still when it comes to its turntable lineup. It regularly updates and upgrades products with new features and capabilities.

This time it has taken a look at its hugely popular and reasonably priced E1.2 model, with two new variants being added to the range.

The Pro-Ject E1.2 BT has arguably the most significant upgrade – Bluetooth. It has been fitted with a Qualcomm Bluetooth 5.4 transmitter module that's capable of aptX HD and aptX Adaptive streaming to compatible headphones or sound systems.

It comes with a dedicated pairing button that simplifies the process of connecting to devices, and that includes Pro-Ject's own line of wireless products – such as the Uni Box S3 or Wireless Box E.

The turntable itself is the same E1.2 we all know and love. It is plug and play, with a 730g die-cast platter and a pre-adjusted Pro-Ject Pick it MM E cartridge.

Different colours and options

There are three standard finishes available – High Gloss Black, Satin White, and Walnut – plus a variety of coloured versions, including Satin Golden Yellow, Satin Steel Blue, and Satin Fir Green.

Prices are £399 / €399 for the standard finishes, £449 / €449 for one of the coloured options. US prices are yet to be confirmed, but we expect them to be an equivalent $399 / €449 respectively.

In addition to the Bluetooth model, an E1.2 Phono variant is also now available. It adds a switchable phono preamplifier so the turntable can be connected directly to any line or CD input.

This includes sound setups without their own amplification.

You can expect to pay £319 / €359 for the E1.2 Phono on High Gloss Black, Satin White, or Walnut. The original Pro-Ject E1.2 is also still available from multiple retailers.

Sonos has finally brought Live Activity to the iOS app, meaning you'll get Sonos control from your lock screen and Dynamic Island on compatible devices.

Sonos says that the feature has been widely requested and after a slightly tumultuous couple of years, it's going to be welcomed by those using Sonos on an iOS device.

Live Activity will mean that you can glance at what's playing and get immediate controls without having to open the Sonos app.

The new additions come to the latest version of the Sonos app for iOS and the feature is turned off by default, so you'll need to switch it on to get it working. Head into Account > App Preferences > Live Activity.

Live Activity will appear from Sonos when you open the app and start playing music. At the moment there's no support for album art, although Sonos says that work is in progress to explore other ways to "enhance the lock screen".

Once you stop listening, the Live Activity will stay in place for 15 minutes before it disappears.

The Live Activity is also supported on Apple Watch and in Apple CarPlay, although currently the playback controls aren’t supported, so it's sort of pointless. A fix is expected in the future to change that.

Sonos, reporting on the changes on Reddit, also mentioned that there could be more coming with the arrival if iOS 27 later in the year. For those with the app already installed, make sure that you update it to get the latest feature.

Sonos is also thought to be working on an updated version of the Beam, potentially with more AI skills to support better voice control, while new Ace Ultra headphones are said to be in the works too, with the new hardware potentially appearing in September.

Sonos has been plagued by setbacks over recent years, from ending support for older speakers, an app update that broke everything and plenty of changes in the C suite, but it now looks like the company is getting back into its stride.

Apple has long been rumoured to be working on next generation AirPods that house cameras to see the world around them. This will allow the wearer to engage Visual Intelligence features – much like the cameras on smart glasses, like the Ray-Ban Metas.

It could make street navigation suggestions more accurate, with the buds seeing landmarks and signs, or you could find out more information on objects around you.

The only issue is that this has been just rumour and speculation. Until now, that is.

MacRumors has discovered an instructional video clip inside the latest release candidate build of macOS. The short demo shows a man allegedly wearing the new AirPods and being able to "save" a physical book "for later".

We assume that using Visual Intelligence, Siri AI will be able to log that book in a diary or calendar entry so you can be reminded to check it out again when you're free. And while we don't know for sure, maybe this feature can be used to look at a book cover in a store, but then check it out online too when you get home.

This could help you check out alternative prices or buy a digital equivalent. There are plenty of other use cases that could be unlocked too.

According to MacRumors, the AirPods will also inform you if the cameras have been obscured by objects, such as long hair or a hat. It's claimed that you'll receive an alert: "To get the most accurate information about things in your environment, make sure AirPods are not covered," it says.

It's not yet known when the new AirPods will launch, nor what they'll be called. It's believed that they'll look like AirPods Pro and the cameras will be hard to detect.

Apple will undoubtedly host its annual iPhone launch event in early September, so we could find out more then. And with the iPhone Ultra also likely to appear, it could be the most exciting presentation in a few years.

As someone with a living room full of its speakers, if you asked me what device I'd most like Sonos to release next, it'd be a refresh of the Beam. Time flies, and it's now been ages since the second-generation Beam was released in 2021, after all.

While the compact soundbar has been basically my default pick as the best soundbar on the market for most people since then, it's still not completely flawless, and there's always room for improvement.

Now, a report from Bloomberg indicates that we might be getting a new Beam very soon, with Sonos gearing up to make some hardware reveals this September. Filings with the FCC in the US indicate that a device with dimensions that look nearly identical to previous Beam soundbars is on the way.

That would make for a five-year gap between generations for the Beam, and it's interesting to consider what might get upgraded in a new version. The big upgrade that came in the second generation was Dolby Atmos support, but a lack of upfiring drivers meant that it was virtualised.

If Sonos could squeeze in extra drivers, that could make for a big boost to vertical sound – although it would also raise the question of whether the price would bump accordingly. Given that the Beam sits as the deliberately mid-level option between the Ray and the Arc Ultra, Sonos probably won't want to push its price up much.

My second-gen Beam replaced a first-gen model, and both have been basically pretty beloved. The size of the soundbar is nearly ideal, in my view, since it gives a huge sound upgrade for almost any TV without taking up a huge slice of real estate.

Sonos is apparently going big on improved AI integration for this slate of new hardware, so it's possible that upgraded voice controls and integrations are on the cards, too. I'm unlikely to use that much, but I appreciate that people do want it.

The other big hardware rumour is that Sonos will also drop a new pair of headphones – Ace Ultra, upgrading the existing Ace. That's another bit of sound kit that we use most days in my flat, since its sound-sharing feature with the Beam makes it so convenient to get personal audio from the TV. That means movies can be watched as loud as you like, without anyone else needing to hear every detail.

Quite what the Ace Ultra will upgrade, beyond apparently improved integration with Sonos' non-soundbar speakers, isn't clear. With all of this likely to be unveiled in September, though, we won't have to wait too long to find out.

Nothing's cheaper sub-brand CMF teased a new product yesterday, which led to online speculation – we also covered it. However, it now seems more clear what the company has up its sleeve.

A second tease has been posted on X with a brief video clip showing a volume rocker on what looks to be the corner of a charging case. The text is even more precise: "Buds Neo. 20 August," it says.

Basically, as we guessed yesterday, it looks to be a new pair of earbuds from CMF by Nothing, which will launch properly this Thursday.

We still haven't got many details, nor have we seen anything but the original vague image of what looks to be an earbud, but the video clip does hint that the CMF Buds Neo will borrow something from the open ear CMF Clip Pro pair released recently.

The charging case that comes with the Clips Pro has a dial on the front that can be used to manage playback, change the volume and even answer calls. That seems to be the case (literally) here too.

We can also see that the new buds will come in three colour options – white and orange, cyan and black, and simply black.

Other than that, we'll have to wait for more information. But that won't be long considering the launch is just a couple of days away.

It'll be interesting to see where the CMF Buds Neo fit in the lineup. The label already has earbud models for most affordable price points, starting from just £29 / $29. Will the CMF Buds Neo replace the Buds 2 Plus or Buds 2a, for example? Or are we looking at a new entry-level pair?

T3 will let you know the minute we find out.

It's only been a couple of weeks since Nothing's budget brand CMF launched the Clip Pro open earbuds, but it seems that's not the only product on the horizon.

An official X post from CMF by Nothing has revealed "a hint of what's next", but without furnishing followers with any further information.

Comprise of what looks like three elements, the "device" is seemingly capped off with a silicone ear tip. So maybe that points towards newly-designed CMF Buds. Maybe even buds that can swivel into different shapes to fit your ears better.

However, others provide more radical speculation – @pauwmaa suggests it's CMF's answer to Star Wars droid BB-8, for example.

It's certainly not of anything currently in the CMF stable, and won't be anything to do with a new CMF Phone. It's already been confirmed that we won't see a new budget handset from the brand until next year at the least – when RAMageddon and the components crisis hopefully starts to turn around.

It also doesn't really look like a replacement for the CMF Headphone Pro over-ears, which have proved excellent for the price.

So that doesn't really leave much other than new earbuds. Sadly we might have a few more weeks of teases (and inevitable pictures of Pokémon) before we find out for sure.

CMF Clip Pro open earbuds now available

At least the CMF Clip Pro earbuds are now available to buy, so that should keep us all amused in the meantime.

Priced at £79 / $99 a pair, they are the label's first open ear buds, with an innovative clip that secures them around each ear. They are designed to be worn when you need to also hear your surroundings, so don't expect any noise cancellation wizardry.

You do instead get IP54 protection, making them sweat and rain resistant if you're in the gym or out for a run. And battery life is an impressive 10 hours, with a further 22.5 hours in the included charging case.

Justifiably encouraged by its domination of the ‘wireless stereo speaker system’ scene, KEF has decided to see what sort of damage it can do even further upmarket.

The LS Luxe system, on review here, wants to combine outstanding sound with unique aesthetics – and half of that battle is won before it’s even plugged in!

Price & Availability

The KEF LS Luxe wireless stereo speaker system is on sale now, and in the United Kingdom it costs £3499.

It sells for $3999 in the United States, and in Australia the going rate is AU$6399.

Push the boat out yet further by opting for a pair of the bespoke S-Luxe stands and you will add another £799 / $799 / AU$1199 to the bill.

Features & What's New?

Everything about the LS Luxe is striking in one way or another – but perhaps it’s the 12th-gen Uni-Q driver array that’s the most visually dramatic thing about this system.

KEF has been perfecting this driver arrangement since the first Uni-Q made an appearance back in 1988 – and here this coincident-source layout features a 25mm aluminium tweeter in the centre of a 165mm mid/bass driver.

As with every Uni-Q array, the idea is to offer outstanding time-alignment and top-notch driver integration by having the tweeter and the mid/bass driver occupy the same point in space.

Of course, there are some rather newer technologies deployed here in order to get the best from this array. KEF has positioned its ‘metamaterial absorption technology’ behind the tweeter, where it can negate the energy travelling backwards from the tweeter and prevent it corrupting treble response.

‘Velocity Control Technology’, which was first deployed in 2025’s XIO soundbar, assesses the speed of movement of the mid/bass cone and compensates for differences between the actual and the expected values in real time.

The ‘Music Integrity Engine’, meanwhile, is in charge of maintaining tonal consistency at all volume levels.

The Uni-Q array is mechanically decoupled from the body of the cabinet, and a separate chassis within the driver assembly minimises any and all vibrations produced by the motor system – both of these measures are intended to keep vibration in the cabinet structure to a bare minimum. This way, goes the thinking, clarity can be maximised and distortion minimised.

The audio information that’s going to feel the benefit of this very thorough demonstration of engineering can be fed to the system in a few different ways.

Wireless connectivity is handled by the ‘primary’ speaker. It includes Bluetooth 5.3 and, more importantly, dual-band Wi-Fi on KEF’s ‘W2’ wireless platform – which means that Apple AirPlay 2, Google Cast, the ‘Connect’ versions of Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal, and internet radio are all available. In addition, the LS Luxe is UPnP-compatible and will be Roon Ready before very much longer.

The ‘primary’ speaker is also where all the physical connectivity lives. There’s an Ethernet socket, naturally enough, along with digital coaxial and optical inputs, an HDMI eARC socket and a 3.5mm analogue input at line level.

A USB-C slot looks like it might be another digital input, but in fact is a 5V charging slot. There’s also a pre-out for use with a subwoofer and an RJ45 socket for connection to the ‘secondary’ speaker. This ‘secondary’ speaker has a corresponding RJ45, of course, and also features a subwoofer pre-out of its own.

If you use the cable KEF provides to join the speakers together, they operate at 24bit/192kHz resolution. If you prefer a wireless connection, the resolution is cut to a still-healthy 24bit/96kHz. The LS Luxe can deal with resolutions of up to 24bit/384kHz and DSD128 through its network inputs, 24bit/192kHz via digital coaxial and HDMI, and 24bit/96kHz via digital optical.

Once the audio information is on board, decoded and ready to go, it’s amplified by two different types of power. Each mid/bass driver can call on 280 watts of Class D amplification, while each tweeter is driven by 100 watts of Class A/B power – an all-in total of 380 watts per channel really should be sufficient unless you’re trying to fill an aircraft hangar with sound.

Performance

Position the KEF LS Luxe as you would almost any other pair of stereo speakers – toed in so that a line drawn from each driver array would cross just in front of your seated position – and the sonic performance is not all you might be hoping for. In this orientation the sound is narrow and confined.

Get them to the point where they’re almost, but not quite, pointing straight ahead and they‘re much happier – and so, as a consequence, will you be.

The soundstage is still not the widest you ever heard, but it’s nevertheless appreciably taller and more confidently and convincingly laid out. The LS Luxe has a quite narrow ‘sweet spot’ where positioning is concerned, but it’s worth putting in the time to find it – because the rewards are significant.

It’s actually difficult to know where to start when discussing the things the KEF is good at. There’s detail retrieval, of course – this system is alert to even the finest, most minor details in a recording, and is more than capable of teasing them out and putting them into convincing context.

It’s analytical in this respect, sure, but it’s not in any way prissy, or uptight about it, and it never becomes the whole point of the LS Luxe’s performance. It simply reveals absolutely as much detail as possible, because it’s keen to give you as complete a sonic picture as possible.

And then there’s frequency response. At the bottom-end the KEF digs deep, hits with determination, and thanks to those sky-high detail levels it makes a stack of information regarding tonal and textural variation available too.

At the opposite end it attacks treble sounds with gusto – but it’s never hard or edgy, even at the considerable volumes the system is capable of achieving, and there’s plenty of substance to balance out the bite and shine of the top-end response.

In between, it communicates eloquently through the midrange, allowing voices to express the secrets of their technique and timbre just as readily as of their emotional state of overall character.

But the LS Luxe never underplays any area of the frequency range, just as it never seeks to push any area into the spotlight. It’s even, smooth and balanced from top to bottom, and back again.

Dynamic headroom is considerable – so even if you’re listening at quite big volumes to start with, the KEF is able to track upticks in intensity and attack in a completely unstressed manner. It’s equally adept with the more nuanced dynamics of tonal and harmonic variation – because that extraordinary attention to detail is apparent at every turn.

Control and balance are apparent everywhere – but no more so than when it comes to rhythmic expression. The LS Luxe does great work when controlling the decay and, especially, the attack of low-end information – and because every note or hit at the bottom of the frequency range is straight-edged at the point of attack, rhythms are handled with a confident, naturalistic attitude that makes for a fluent account of rhythm-centric recordings.

Overall, the KEF LS Luxe is a decently energetic, impressively insightful and, ultimately, endlessly entertaining listen. Once its speakers are pointing in the correct direction anyway.

Design & Usability

Between the Uni-Q driver array and the edgeless, seamless, slippery look of the LS Luxe cabinets, it seems fair to say that some designing has gone on here. Which is more than you can say about most of the more functional-looking alternatives to this KEF system.

KEF has again collaborated with Ross Lovegrove for the design of the LS Luxe, and the curvily organic shape of the speakers is easily recognisable as his work. It’s the use of BMC (‘bulk moulding compound’) in their construction that allows for this fairly elaborate shape – and it has advantages to its malleability beyond its willingness to form distinctive shapes.

The cabinet shape here is less susceptible to the build-up of internal standing waves than the more usual ‘box’ shape. The rigidity of the material means that less internal bracing is required than is the norm, which liberates greater internal volume than would be the case in a straight-edged cabinet of similar dimensions.

The rear of the cabinet has a degree of visual drama, too, as you can see from the images scattered throughout this review.

Each speaker features a heat-sink to help disperse the heat generated by the internal electronics – and here it’s chanelled and swoopily curved, which increases its surface area as well as making it look mildly unusual.

Each speaker’s bass reflex port divides its heat-sink - it’s a relatively large port and it features KEF’s ‘Flexible Port Technology’. This is another way of saying the walls of the port are less than rigid, and this configuration intends to keep internal resonance down to a minimum.

Three finishes are available: as well as the Eclipse Black of my review sample, Mineral White and Dusk Titanium are also available.

This isn’t the first pair of speakers I’ve encountered that look better in some finishes than in others, of course – but it might well be the pair that is most affected by the colour they’re finished in.

For my money, at least, Eclipse Black makes the speakers look bulkier and chunkier than either of the other two alternatives. You are, of course, very welcome to disagree – and might want to get to a KEF showroom to check out the whole range with your own eyes.

Verdict

There’s more than a normal amount of legwork to be done when setting up the LS Luxe, but don’t be discouraged – putting in the required effort to position the system correctly allows it to perform in the most engaging and impressive way possible.

Yes, this is one of the more expensive products of its type around (as long as you discount some couture outliers), but it’s also one of the very best.

Also Consider

In its own way the Sonus Faber Duetto is just as distinctive as the LS Luxe – more readily identifiable as speakers, sure, but elegantly shaped and beautifully made, and with almost as much credibility as furniture as it has as an audio system. The sound is more easy-going than the KEF equivalent, but some listeners are sure to count that as a positive.

By way of contrast, the JBL 4329P couldn’t look any more like a purposeful, functional pair of loudspeakers if it tried. But while its potential as decorative items hovers around ‘zero’, it has an awful lot going for it where sheer sound quality is concerned. If you’re all about the listening and unconcerned about the looks, this system deserves serious consideration.

There are plenty of things I didn't expect to get excited about this year, and a record player the size of a shoebox was probably one of them. But Tiny Vinyl has somehow made miniature vinyl look ridiculously appealing, and now there's a tiny turntable to match.

The Tiny Vinyl Player is an all-in-one manual belt-drive turntable made specifically for the company's four-inch records. It spins them at 33⅓rpm and has a built-in speaker, so you don't need to connect it to a separate hi-fi system just to hear your tiny collection.

There's Bluetooth too, so you can send the audio to a wireless speaker or headphones if the built-in speaker isn't quite enough for your listening session. There's also a wired audio connection on the back for hooking it up to a larger system.

And yes, the records really are tiny. Each one has a single track on each side, with around four minutes of music per side, and the format has already attracted releases from artists including Chappell Roan, BTS, The Rolling Stones, Sabrina Carpenter and Noah Kahan.

The records are also designed as collectibles, with individual releases numbered and officially licensed. Tiny Vinyl says it has now pressed more than one million of the little discs, so this isn't quite the novelty format it might initially sound like.

There's an important catch: the Tiny Vinyl Player can only play four-inch Tiny Vinyl records. You can't put your prized copy of Rumours on it and expect the world's smallest Fleetwood Mac listening session.

That's actually part of the appeal. Tiny Vinyl records can already be played on many conventional turntables at 33⅓rpm, so this player isn't a necessary purchase for existing vinyl fans. It's more of a fun, affordable way to build a dedicated little collection around the format.

The player itself is about the size of a loaf of bread, with a faux-leather exterior and a simple control panel. There's even a storage slot integrated into the platter area that can hold around five or six Tiny Vinyl records, depending on the packaging.

Tiny records, tiny accessories

Tiny Vinyl has also introduced a couple of accessories to turn the player into a miniature music system. The $20 (£15) Crate sits underneath the Player and can store up to 30 of the four-inch records, while the $15 (£11) Frame displays four of your favourites on the wall.

It's a cute setup, but there's more thought behind it than simply shrinking a normal record player. The platter, tonearm and controls have all been designed around the smaller format, while the motor has been calibrated to keep the records spinning at the correct 33⅓rpm.

The obvious compromise is sound quality. This isn't intended to compete with a proper hi-fi turntable, and hands-on testing found the built-in speaker to be rather tinny and muffled, although the player itself runs quietly and Bluetooth gives you the option of using much better speakers.

How much does the Tiny Vinyl Player cost?

The Tiny Vinyl Player costs $49.99 (£38) and is currently available exclusively through Target in the US. A UK release is reportedly being considered for later in 2026, although there's no confirmed UK launch date yet.

At $50, it's cheap enough to feel like a fun impulse purchase rather than a serious hi-fi investment. And while you could quite reasonably argue that you don't need a dedicated turntable for records that already work on a normal one, that's completely missing the point.

Although the AP30 Music Boy looks like a miniature retro gaming handheld, and comes with a built-in game, it has a hidden secret... it's not really a gaming handheld at all.

The clue is in the name. The Music Boy is actually a Hi-Res digital music player and USB DAC that can be used to clean up the audio from your phone or laptop. Its design is inspired by the Game Boy and handhelds from the 90s, but it has more in common with an iPod nano.

Soon to end a funding round on Kickstarter (via Yanko Design), the AP30 has a 2-inch IPS display with a 296 x 240 pixel resolution. supports Bluetooth 5.3 for music streaming, and comes with a microSD card slot for your lossless music files.

It is Hi-Res Audio certified (up to 192kHz/24-bit), with the Cirrus Logic CS43198 DAC and RT6963 amp chip on board. You also get 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced audio outputs, plus USB-C for both charging and to use the AP30 as a processing DAC.

Its 1,200 mAh battery is claimed to last up to 12 hours when using the single-ended audio output to wired headphones. And the software even supports e-book reading, so you can check out your book files on your travels.

The gaming aspect is through the one preinstalled game, which is a block building puzzler in the style of Tetris.

There are two versions of the AP30 on offer – one plastic, one aluminium. They weigh 56g and 80g respectively. Multiple colour options are also available.

A magnetic protective case can also be found in the box, which will snap to the back of a MagSage compatible phone – such as an iPhone.

The Kickstarter funding round has just less than a week to go at the time of writing. It's raised more than 84 times the original goal, but there are some models left with early bird pricing.

You can get the plastic version from just £64 / $85 per Music Boy, and the aluminium model from £70 / $93.

CD players are having a bit of a comeback, and Syitren's latest is clearly not interested in pretending it's a piece of invisible hi-fi. The RM1 makes the mechanics of playing a CD part of the experience, turning the physical appeal into something you can actually see.

The RM1 sandwiches its electronics and disc mechanism between two transparent acrylic panels, giving you an unobstructed view of what's happening inside. That includes the CD itself, making the act of putting an album on feel considerably more tactile than tapping a playlist in a streaming app.

The player can be positioned in three ways. You can lay it flat on a surface, stand it upright or mount it on a wall, so it can become part of your room rather than something that gets hidden away beside the TV.

There's more to look at than the spinning disc, too. The exposed mainboard includes a yellow LED matrix that displays information such as the track number, volume and battery level, alongside small animations.

It gives the RM1 a distinctly retro-futuristic look while also making the electronics part of the design. Instead of hiding the technology behind a plastic shell, Syitren has essentially made the circuitry part of the album artwork.

The RM1 isn't trying to replace a full hi-fi system. It doesn't have built-in speakers, but instead offers a 3.5mm AUX output for wired setups and Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless speakers or headphones.

Playback is controlled using a separate remote, keeping the front of the player clean and uncluttered. You get the usual playback controls along with repeat, sequential playback and shuffle modes.

The rechargeable player is rated for around six to eight hours of continuous playback, making it portable enough to move around the house even if its wall-mounting option makes it tempting to leave it on display.

And the price makes the concept even more interesting. The RM1 is currently available to pre-order through Kickstarter from $89 (£66), putting it firmly into impulse-buy territory for anyone who wants to get back into CDs without buying another anonymous black box.

Physical music doesn't have to mean going completely old-school. The RM1 keeps the CD, but turns the player itself into something you'd actually want to look at.

More than just a Bluetooth speaker, and with the talents and chutzpah of a soundbar, the Music Studio 7 (officially the HW-LS70H if you enjoy a codename) smart speaker sits at the top of Samsung’s new Music Studio family.

Its stablemate is the related but less well-endowed Music Studio 5. Both models share a similar aesthetic, but the flagship boasts a far more ambitious acoustic architecture, with Dolby Atmos support, HDMI eARC connectivity and Q-Symphony compliance.

The brief may be a little confusing, but there’s no doubt this is one of the more intriguing premium wireless speakers to find its way onto the T3 test bench in 2026.

Price & Availability

You can pick up a Samsung Music Studio 7 in the UK right now, priced at £499 in the UK. It sells for $499 in the United States, and is AU$599 in Australia.

These tickets place it firmly in the premium wireless speaker category, which could be considered a little rich, until you factor in its Dolby Atmos and HDMI functionality.

Features & What's New?

There’s quite a party going on inside the Music Studio 7.

Samsung has crowbarred in a five-driver array for 3.1.1 Dolby Atmos playback.

Samsung kettles these front, side and upward-firing drivers with proprietary Pattern Control Technology, designed to minimise acoustic interference between drivers and improve directional accuracy.

A dedicated Super Tweeter extends frequency response to 35kHz, allowing support for 24-bit/96kHz Hi-Res Audio, if you have the source material. Power comes from a 150W Class D amplifier.

Alongside the Dolby Atmos there’s support for Eclipsa Audio, making this one of the first standalone wireless speakers ready for Samsung and Google's emerging immersive audio format. This may or may not prove significant, but time will tell.

Artificial intelligence (AI) also features prominently, selectable from the Samsung Sound app.

SpaceFit Sound Pro employs an onboard microphone to calibrate the speaker automatically to its surroundings. This happens in the background, optimising playback without requiring manual intervention. I’m not too convinced of its impact either way, but left it on for the bulk of this audition.

Active Voice Amplifier Pro uses AI processing to improve dialogue intelligibility when background noise rises. Not an issue in my case, so not routinely used.

Sound Quality

The Music Studio 7 has been voiced with entertainment in mind.

As a music speaker it produces an impressively large soundstage for its size. Those side-firing and upward-firing drivers extend well beyond the cabinet.

Samsung has always been good at needling out fine detail, and has produced an impressive line of low-cost, high-performance super tweeters over the years. That lineage continues here.

Bass is plentiful. Sometimes very plentiful. This low frequency bloom is more noticeable on some content than others. On piano recordings, low frequencies can become more dominant than ideal. Jon Batiste's meditative Always Know is robbed of its delicacy, sounding heavier and thicker than intended.

Modern pop and rock are much more natural companions. My Chemical Romance's pacey anthem Na Na Na arrives with tremendous energy, the speaker maintaining composure even at enthusiastic listening levels.

Film scores also play to its strengths. Hans Zimmer's Stay, from the movie Interstellar, benefits from the Music Studio 7's generous low-frequency extension. The ominous bass foundation and swelling organ notes create a genuinely cinematic sense of atmosphere.

Switching from streams to HDMI transforms the speaker's character again. With a Dolby Atmos bitstream, bass becomes noticeably tighter and more disciplined. Channel steering snaps into focus. Effects spread wide, while the up-firing driver introduces a tangible sense of height.

Is the Music Studio 7 a realistic alternative to a soundbar? I’d say conclusively it is. Helpfully, the speaker has a very wide sweet spot. That patented Wave Guide does a great job filling the room, making it ideal for a family audience.

The opening introduction to Stranger Things (season 1), on Netflix, is particularly immersive. The soundtrack's unsettling groans, distant rumbles and pulsing score are not squandered.

Dolby Atmos-encoded music proves equally rewarding. The spatial mix of Elton John’s Rocket Man, streaming from Amazon Music over HDMI, is fresh and airy, while Pink Floyd's Time alarm clocks are distinct and separate, before the track digs into David Gilmour’s opening vocal.

Design & Usability

The Music Studio 7’s distinctive Dot Design is the work of Erwan Bouroullec. He’s one half of the Paris-based Bouroullec brothers, who were also responsible for the look of Samsung’s The Frame and Serif lifestyle TVs.

Available in either black or white, the cabinet combines gently curved surfaces with perforated metal grilles. I like it, but can see it might prove divisive with bookshelf speaker traditionalists.

Build quality is reassuringly solid: at 5.6kg, the speaker feels substantial. A recessed carry handle at the rear helps to manoeuvre it around. The footprint is a tidy 185 x 269 x 190.5mm.

Controls line up across the top, including volume adjustment, microphone muting and a programmable shortcut button. Spotify Tap support allows users to launch personalised playlists with a simple double press.

Placement obviously deserves some consideration, and is a key part of the soundbar replacement debate, since much of the speaker's spacious presentation depends upon its side-firing and upward-firing drivers. These therefore need to remain unobstructed for the soundstage to work.

Connectivity is comprehensive. HDMI eARC allows direct TV integration, with optical digital audio as a legacy set backup. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 6.0 provide flexibility for music streaming. HDMI eARC is particularly welcome, not least because it allows volume adjustment via a TV remote.

Owners of compatible Samsung televisions also gain access to Q-Symphony, allowing the Music Studio 7 to work alongside compatible Samsung soundbars and TV speakers as part of a larger sound system. Great for additional height to the front soundstage.

Software setup involves Samsung's Sound app alongside SmartThings, and feels slightly less streamlined than it should be. Once configured, daily operation is relatively straightforward though.

Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Roon Ready certification all get Hall Passes, as does Alexa, which is built in. Samsung's own smart assistant, Bixby, is notably absent (he’s been playing truant quite a lot lately).

Samsung Music Studio 7 review: Verdict

The Music Studio 7 is an excellent wireless music speaker. Bouroullec's industrial design is nothing if not elegant.

It’s also a capable TV sound upgrade and a foundation for Samsung's wider Q-Symphony ecosystem. Few rivals can multi-task so convincingly.

Its sonic personality isn’t without foibles, though. Bass can dominate more delicate recordings, yet this same authority becomes an advantage when watching a movie, or grooving with your mates.

If your listening habits span albums, streaming services and blockbuster movies in equal measure, the Music Studio 7 is well worthy of consideration. Just don’t park it on a crowded bookshelf.

Also Consider

If you like the idea of a versatile all-in-one, the Denon Home 400 is a strong alternative. It also looks great and supports Dolby Atmos. There's no HDMI though.

Another contender is the Sonos Era 300. This also delivers excellent spatial audio, and has top-notch multiroom capabilities, but once again it lacks HDMI eARC.