Are Sony's classic Walkman headphones about to make a comeback?

Sony headphones launch — (Image credit: Sony)

Yesterday evening I received a Sony marketing email to my personal inbox titled "New, yet familiar...". It would appear that Sony is stirring the nostalgia pot, with the imminent reveal of some new headphones.

And not just any old headphones, by the looks of things. The silhouette in the teaser image – and incoming YouTube stream (embedded below), for the event's scheduled start time of 5 November at 15:59 UK time – has a strong echo of the old Walkman on-ears.

Now seems like the perfect time for such a launch, with nostalgia riding high, CD sales up 16% year-on-year, and demand for wired products that don't cost a fortune also increased. You only need look to Bose's recent Noise Cancelling Wired Earbuds launch to see that.

New yet, familiar… | Sony Official - YouTube

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It also poses the question: will Sony relaunch (or at least redevelop) the MDR brand? There have been MDR launches in recent years, the last in September 2024, but those have been for studio monitoring headphones – which the Walkman on-ears were anything but!

The original Sony MDR-3 launched back in 1979 and was designed as the perfect pairing with a Walkman. Now they look super-retro – but other brands have identified such re-emerging trends, with Philips' 100th anniversary celebration launching a range that included The Ringo on-ears.

It could therefore make sense that Sony is about to deploy a 2026 rework of that classic headphone product, with some 2026 style, to fill out its more entry-level range. The brand has its higher-end range covered already, with the summer arrival of The Collexion covering that category.

We'll find out soon enough, as Sony's online showcase kicks off at 16:00 on 5 November. Which, of course, is Bonfire Night here in the UK, so perhaps Sony will have the first explosive bang of the night. Watch this space...

Mike is T3's Tech Editor. He's been writing about consumer technology for 18 years and his beat covers phones – of which he's seen hundreds of handsets over the years – laptops, gaming, TV & audio, and more. There's little consumer tech he's not had a hand at trying, and with extensive commissioning and editing experience, he knows the industry inside out. As the former Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint for 10 years where he furthered his knowledge and expertise, whilst writing about literally thousands of products, he's also provided work for publications such as Wired, The Guardian, Metro, and more.