Sonos Era 100 SL: two-minute review

The Sonos Era 100 SL is a wireless speaker that features nearly all the strengths of 2023’s original Sonos Era 100, but at a cheaper price. While it isn't a surprise that there have been some trade-offs to get that cost down, I doubt they'll be a dealbreaker for most people.

Sonically speaking, there aren’t many sacrifices at all. In the mid-range, the Era 100 SL is capable of impressive detail. When I played I Want You by Moloko, I was impressed by how well its funky guitar noises, strings and acidy synth line cut through the mix, without interfering with the wonderfully polished vocals.

However, I found the high end a little more cluttered on occasion: listening to The Gloaming by Radiohead, I did feel that the rhythmic pulsing static was a bit too forward, treading on the toes of the granular synth. It sounds great for the price, but you do get a finer presentation if you pay more.

Bass was always the original Era 100’s achilles heel. It often tipped into being brash, slightly swamping the rest of the mix. When I played Six Days (Machinedrum remix) by DJ Shadow on the SL, the low-end appeared slightly more dynamic when compared to the original Era 100, leading me to wonder if a software tweak to rein in bass was responsible, or whether it's part of the re-engineering inside that Sonos CEO Tom Conrad told us the company had done, to hit the lower price.

Either way, it still isn't great with sub, though: it falls away just when it hits the drop, that swelling bassline feeling nowhere near as substantial as it sounds on the best wireless speakers that are pricier.

Generally, though, the SL offers a spacious presentation, especially when fed high-quality recordings. Playing Wasting My Young Years by London Grammar from Tidal’s hi-res tier, I was struck by the airiness of the mix, which allowed the silvery vocals to stand apart from the piano and drums.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t quite extend to the speaker’s stereo field — as with its predecessor, I found it hard to differentiate a clear stereo separation unless I was very close. As such, you’re unlikely to get a clear sense of left and right from halfway across the room — but then, at this price, you could actually buy two happily.

So the Era 100 SL is as easy on the ear as its predecessor, albeit with some of the same drawbacks. But how does it look?

Given it’s largely decked out in the same getup as the Era 100, there really are few surprises here. It’s the same dimensions and has the same wraparound grille and matte-plastic top surface. The touch-capacitive control scheme is also largely identical — with the voice control button being the only real omission, because Sonos removed that feature. Otherwise, Sonos has stuck with what works for the SL, and I’d say that was the right instinct.

In fact, probably the only area where the SL makes a real departure from its namesake is in its feature set. Connectivity remains solid, offering Wi-Fi 6, AirPlay 2 and a whole host of built-in streaming services — although the only wired input you’ll get is if you splash extra cash on its USB-C to 3.5mm analog converter. EQ options are identical to those on the Era 100, offering just the option to boost or duck bass or treble.

But there are two significant differences. First off, as I alluded to above, voice control has been stripped out of the SL. This feels like a reasonable sacrifice to lower that price — and I’d rather that than weaker sound quality.

Slightly more an issue for me is the omission of Trueplay room correction for Android users (which is a consequence of dropping the microphones, since the Android solution relies on them). Those with an iPhone can still tailor the SL’s sound to their space using their device to track calibration sound as they walk around the room. Given how well this feature polishes its sound, it is a shame that you'll miss out if you're on an Android device.

Despite this though, the Sonos Era 100 SL is well worth it. You get the quality sound plus classic design of Sonos’s pricier speaker, for the reduced price of $189 / £169 / AU$289. That’s a pretty great bargain and ameliorates our biggest hesitation with its pricier predecessor. Yes, it's a shame that Android users miss out on a great feature but it's still the best home speaker you'll get for this price.

Sonos Era 100 SL review: specs

Sonos Era 100 SL review: price & availability

• Launched on March 31, 2026
• Costs $189 / £169 / AU$289
• Available in black or white

Having launched on March 31, 2026, the Sonos Era 100 SL is available now, at a cheaper price than its predecessor, the Era 100.

The SL comes in at $189 / £169 / AU$289, compared to the Era 100’s now-reduced price of $219 / £199 / AU$319. While not a huge gulf, it still amounts to a decent saving, especially given the near-identical specs.

And, as is usually the case with Sonos gear, for that price you have the option to pick up the speaker in white or black.

Sonos Era 100 SL review: features

• Good connectivity options and streaming service support
• Room correction only compatible with iPhone
• No voice control of any kind

So how does the Sonos Era 100 SL’s featureset differ from its spendier stablemate? Well, on paper, it’s very similar to the Era 100, with only a couple of key differences.

Let’s start with its drivers. The SL offers the same setup as as the Era 100, with a mid-woofer to handle both mid-range frequencies and bass, while two angled tweeters take care of the treble and help form its stereo field. These are all driven by the speaker’s three class D amplifiers, meaning you get decent volume and low-end heft.

Setting up Sonos products has always been a breeze, and the Era 100 SL is no exception. Simply plug it in, download the Sonos app, and select the system you want to add it to. Tap on your speaker when it appears, and it will play an audio pin to connect it to your system. After installing an update via the app, I was good to go.

The last (optional) step is to set up the SL’s Trueplay room-calibration tuning, which is designed to get you the best possible sound from the speaker, and that works much the same as it did on the Era 100.

Essentially, you point your iPhone’s mic toward the speaker, then walk around the room while whirling it around in slow circles with one arm, like a lopsided propeller.

Following calibration, the sound definitely seemed free of obvious acoustic issues — there wasn’t any boom back from the bass, nor any unfortunate reverberations off the surfaces or walls — so Sonos’ room correction seems as effective as ever.

Unfortunately, there’s a pretty major caveat here: unlike on the Era 100, the SL’s Trueplay tuning is only compatible with iOS. And that is a real shame, given it does help unlock the SL's best sound. However, it still offers great performance for Android users, even if the lack of Trueplay does add an asterisk there.

Trueplay for Android users isn’t the only feature removed to help reduce the SL’s price. The voice control offered by the full Era 100 has been omitted, too, saving you the price of the mic module and controls. Personally, it takes me far longer to horsewhip my thoughts into a spoken command than it does to simply pull out my phone, so I’m not all that bothered about the lack of voice assistant. But if you are, you’ll probably prefer the Era 100.

While I’ve mentioned how much I rate the Era 100 SL’s room-correction tech, I can’t really say the same for its EQ options. The Sonos app only offers the ability to boost or duck the treble or bass by up to 10 levels. While I do think Sonos’s speakers sound a lot better than some wireless speakers out of the box, plenty of rivals now offer nine-band or even parametric EQ — which makes the SL’s bass and treble sliders feel like old hat.

As far as connectivity options are concerned, the Era 100 SL offers a decent range. Using Wi-Fi 6, you can stream tunes directly from your devices using AirPlay 2, or from the speaker using built-in apps including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Soundcloud, Spotify, Tidal and a whole heap more. Meanwhile, Bluetooth 5.3 will allow you to hook up all your non-Apple devices, although there’s no support for higher-res formats such as aptX HD.

Sadly, the Era 100 SL is less well equipped when it comes to physical connections. Its USB-C port is only for plugging in adapters, so banish any thoughts of hooking up wired digital audio. So while it does allow you the option for plugging in either a 3.5mm jack for analog audio or an Ethernet cable, each of these requires you to buy a separate adapter. It’s a world away from the wealth of ports that a speaker such as the Bluesound Pulse Flex offers.

• Features score: 4 / 5

Sonos Era 100 SL review: sound quality

• Impressive detail
• Rich mids, and bass feels slightly less muddy
• Relatively weak stereo field

My big worry when preparing to test the Sonos Era 100 SL was that in trying to hit the cheaper price point, there would have been a negative impact on the quality of its sound. Fortunately, I’m pleased to reveal this isn't the case — the Era 100 SL happily holds its own against its predecessor and, in some areas, I actually wonder if software tweaks have reined in some of the Era 100’s worst impulses.

First, let’s start with the mid-range. When listening to Venera by George Fitzgerald, I was impressed with how much presence and detail the SL could squeeze out of the track’s vocal, pad washes and synth lines, making them sound like a richly textured whole. Admittedly, some of the percussion felt a little less punchy than I’m used to, but that was more than made up for by how well it balanced the saturated, arpeggiated synth and organic organic woodwind sounds that close out the track.

The original Era 100 came unstuck mainly in the bass — like an overexcitable puppy, it was both enthusiastic and yet lacking in discipline. Here, it sounds like the SL’s software has been tweaked slightly to rein this in.

Comparing Listen by Pola & Bryson and Goddard on both speakers, sustained bass notes sound less reverberant and flabby on the SL, while snarling distorted bass synths seem more tightly expressed. However, not that if you’re expecting super-low bass from either device, you’ll be left wanting: there’s very little in the way of sub from either.

I tested the SL’s treble by playing Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac — an exam it easily passed, even if it didn’t quite ace it. There wasn’t any unpleasant distortion or oversaturation to it, while the snare and toms had a delicious punch that kept everything moving forward. However, my one reservation was that the rhythmic punch and the polished vocals slightly outshone the twangy rhythm guitar — for me, they’re part of what makes the track so iconic, so it was a shame they didn't get to share as much of the limelight.

Given the Era 100 SL doesn’t exactly sit at the premium end of the market, it also does a good job of separating different instruments in the mix. Playing a hi-res stream of Clair de Lune by Kamasi Washington straight from Tidal, I was impressed by the clarity of timbre of each instrument, especially during the solos. The trumpet beautifully conveys the instrument’s rich harmonics, while the sliding strings of the double bass as the player launches into their solo are brilliantly expressed.

Like its predecessor, the SL is only capable of so-so stereo. Unlike some more premium speakers, it still largely feels like the sound is issuing from a single point. And when I played Manchild by Eels, I could appreciate the stereo separation between elements — with the guitars clearly panned to the right and the vocals to the left — but only when I was sat within a few feet of the device. At least listening angles are pretty consistent, with only a very slight drop off in the treble as you travel toward the speaker’s back.

All in all, my biggest worries going into this were ill-founded. Despite the cheaper price of the Sonos Era 100 SL, it doesn’t demonstrate any significant sonic sacrifices compared to its full-fat sibling. And there may have even been a few software tweaks behind the scenes to slightly rein in the wilder tendencies of the older speaker. Either way, it’s a very decent-sounding speaker for the price.

• Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5

Sonos Era 100 SL review: design

• Almost identical to the Era 100
• Solid, tactile build
• Effective touch-capacitive controls

When it comes to looks, the Sonos Era 100 SL remains almost identical to its older sibling. They share the same cylindrical ellipse shape, are wrapped in the same metallic grille, and arrive in the same black or white colorway. If you’ve ever gawked at the older Era 100, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting here.

All in all, the Era 100 SL is decently stylish, feels solidly built, and the matte plastic of its top surface is pleasingly tactile. While I’ve poured scorn on quite a few wireless speakers lately for defaulting to this same basic format, I’ll give Sonos a pass here. First off, it was largely the brand that coined this look in the first place — and, more importantly, the Era 100 SL is principally a cheaper speaker wearing its spendier brother’s clothing, meaning it was never going to break the mould of existing speakers.

In light of this, so not surprisingly, the Sonos Era 100 SL is the same size as its full-fat sibling, measuring 7.19 x 4.72 x 5.14 inches / 182.5 x 120 x 130.5mm. However, it's ever so slightly lighter — presumably thanks to its shedding of voice control mics — weighing in at 4.3lbs / 1.95kg compared to its predecessor’s 4.45lbs / 2.02kg. That makes it a pretty average size in the grand scheme of things, neither Lilliputian like the 0.96lbs / 0.44kg Sonos Roam 2, nor Brobdingnagian like the hulking, 3 lbs / 14.5kg Cambridge Audio Evo One.

With one notable exception, the erstwhile voice control button, the buttons on the Era 100 SL are the same. And that’s very much a plus: there’s no need to fix the Era 100’s control scheme since it definitely isn't broke. Its touch-capacitive controls are easy to activate, allowing you to play, pause and skip tracks, while swiping its touch bar lets you tweak its volume. Sure, it could offer light-up symbols for use in darker rooms or customizable shortcut keys, but it covers the core functions well.

Fundamentally, the Era 100 SL is the spitting image of the Era 100 before it. So if you were a fan of the older model, you can be sure you’ll like its younger sibling.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Sonos Era 100 SL review: value

In our review, one of our criticisms of the original Sonos Era 100 was its increased cost. Its initial list price of $249 / £249 / AU$399 presented a chunky markup on the Sonos One at $219 / £199 / AU$319 , but even more so when compared to the Sonos One SL's $199 / £179 / AU$289. Even though the Era 100 has now come down in price to $219 / £199 / AU$319, that’s still only roughly comparable to the Sonos One.

Conversely, the Era 100 SL has a list price of $189 / £169 / AU$289, making it the same price or even cheaper than the Sonos One SL but with many of the same features and the exact same sound quality as the Era 100. That’s not to be sneered at.

In fact, if you’re an iPhone user, the only real thing you’re losing here is voice control, something I’m personally happy to sacrifice for a bit of a bargain. And even if you’re an Android user, this price is still well worth it as you're unlikely to get much better performance by investing your spend elsewhere. Access to Trueplay is a definite bonus but that shouldn't detract from the fact the SL still offers great sound for its price.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

Should I buy the Sonos Era 100 SL?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Sonos Era 100 SL review: also consider

How I tested the Sonos Era 100 SL

• Tested it over four weeks
• Compared it to the Era 100 using a wide range of tracks
• Have decades of experience using audio hardware

I tested the Sonos Era 100 SL over the course of about a month. I made sure to utilize many of its key features, including room-tuning and EQ, and tried connecting to it through a range of options from direct streaming on the device through to connecting discrete devices using AirPlay 2.

To assess its sound quality, I played a wide variety of music, from classic rock to liquid drum & bass. I also compared the sound, side by side, with the Era 100 to see whether I could perceive any significant differences between their sound signatures. In addition, I compared each version’s stereo field and angle drop-off to see whether either revealed any issues with their soundstage.

As well as spending at least the past six years reviewing wireless speakers for tech publications, I have decades of experience using audio hardware in my home environment, including a range of wired and wireless speakers and headphones. I’ve also spent 20 years producing music from home, which has given me a firm understanding of how to assess the balance of frequencies and stereo elements.

• First reviewed: June 2026
• Read more about how we test

Klipsch The Nines II: Two-minute review

The Klipsch The Nines II are a tough pair of small speakers to beat for a large room. The amount of power and the clean, slightly overly bassy, sound are just some of what make these speakers special. There's also a ton of features on offer, including virtualized spatial audio (which is admittedly limited) Wi-Fi streaming, and even Dirac Live (though I couldn't seem to get it to work during my testing).

In fact, the buggy nature of the Dirac Live is my only real gripe with Klipsch's The Nines II (well, that and their cumbersome name if you're writing a review…), and the Dirac issue could be more due to environmental factors than a fundamental problem. My other issue — the fact that the speakers are heavy — is more just inconvenient than a real flaw.

Whenever I listen, I’m convinced that The Klipsch The Nines II are among the best stereo speakers to come out this year. And the amount of connectivity and features make them a nice alternative to the best soundbars, especially if you still want a bit of that more traditional stereo speaker setup.

Just be aware that these are quite a bit more expensive than the original Klipsch The Nines. That said, The Klipsch The Nines II offer a lot more than the first version as well.

Klipsch The Nines II review: Price and release date

• How much does it cost? $2,399 / £2,249 / AU$4,999
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The original Klipsch The Nines have been out for a few years now, so the Spring release of the Klipsch The Nines II in 2026 is perfect timing. Speakers may not benefit from the yearly iterations of something like phones or TVs, but it’s about time for the upgrade considering the improvements in Bluetooth technology and W-iFi streaming over those last few years.

Interestingly enough, the Klipsch The Nines II are more than an iterative upgrade. Dolby Atmos (even if it’s a virtualization) and Dirac Live support are on offer in the new version, along with support for more Hi-Res codecs and a wider frequency range, which is why this newer version also comes with a much higher price tag — they're $700 / £700 more than the originals. That’s quite a price hike.

Klipsch The Nines II Powered Stereo Speakers: Specs

Klipsch The Nines II Powered Stereo Speakers: Features

• Virtualized Dolby Atmos, and Dirac room correction
• Wi-Fi streaming for a bunch of different music apps
• App has a lot of functionality, including custom EQ

The Klipsch The Nines II speakers may be limited in terms of features just by their form factor compared to a soundbar system like the Klipsch Flexus Core 300, but they have the right amount of options for a pair of bookshelf speakers.

Dolby Atmos and DTX:S is available on these speakers, though the spatial audio support is virtualized due to the fact that there aren’t any upward-facing speakers, and obviously limited width. Still, the virtualization does give a sense of height to the audio that works decently with a blockbuster movie.

Along with Bluetooth connectivity (5.4 specifically), the Klipsch The Nines II also support Wi-Fi streaming, specifically Google Cast, Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect, and more. Since they work with Google Cast, they can be set up with Google Home for smart home users.

There’s a tiny bit of a lag between source and speaker when going wireless. However, there is a Lip Sync setting in the app to better synchronize when using the speakers with a wireless source with visuals, such as watching a video on a laptop with the audio coming through the Klipsches.

There will still be a lag between play, pause, etc. but that’s not something that I found to really affect my experience of the speakers.

Speaking of the app, this is the central place for any deeper fine tuning. If you want to tweak the audio, there’s a five-band EQ in the app along with some presets. If you want to set up or use Dirac Live, you do that through the app — by the way, the speaker comes with a limited license that will adjust the audio between 200 and 500 Hz (the full frequency is paywalled).

Lastly (well, I’m leaving a few less consequential things out), you can turn on a few different modes: Dynamic Bass, Dialog mode, and Night Mode, and they all work decently enough with the latter being the most effective at its purpose (bringing up quiet sounds and bringing down loud ones).

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

Klipsch The Nines II Powered Stereo Speakers: Sound quality

• Weighty, robust sound
• Lots of bass, mid-bass a bit too full
• Lots of dynamic headroom

Klipsch's The Nines II are really good sounding speakers, and they might be the most weighty sounding speakers I’ve heard for the size, too. Despite not having a subwoofer (or maybe because of it and still providing a lot of bass), every element seems to have a thickness or robustness to it that I usually don’t hear with a lot of audio equipment.

Listening to music the low end is there in spades, whether I was listening to pop, hip hop, or even Counting Crows. The massive bass gives a boominess to the mid-range that is not unpleasant, but is far from neutral or accurate. Using the app to bring the 400Hz slider down one or two notches does clean up the sound a lot, but know that this is fundamentally built into its audio profile.

The high end is slightly on the warm side due to that weightiness I spoke about. Boosting the 8kHz slider in the app does brighten the affair though, if you prefer. Regardless, the Klipsch The Nines II did retain all the detail in the high-end in elements such as the strings in Radiohead’s Pyramid Song or Joni Mitchell’s higher register in A Case of You.

The soundstage, while dependent on correctly setting up the speakers, is not only nice and wide but has good separation thanks to the amount of headroom on these speakers. After all, I never really had them higher than halfway up in volume and they filled a good sized room full of distortion-free, clean audio.

• Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5

Klipsch The Nines II: Design

• These speakers are big for bookshelves
• Few physical controls, lots of inputs
• There's a subwoofer output

The Klipsch The Nines II are big at over 18 inches tall, over nine and a half inches wide, and almost 15 inches deep, weighing up to 33 lbs per speaker (the one without all the controls is two measly pounds lighter). They’re also attractive, thankfully, coming in three colorways: walnut, red oak, and black (reviewed here).

In terms of controls, the active speaker only has a volume dial and a single power / input cycle button. There’s also an LED indicator above the power button that changes colors depending on the input selected and, while there may only be two physical controls (there’s also a pairing button on the back of each speaker labeled Utility), there are quite a few inputs.

There’s HDMI eARC, optical, phono, USB, Bluetooth, coaxial, and ethernet. It’s easier to select them through the app, because remembering which color corresponds to which port isn't easy to remember.

All the ports are situated on the back of the primary speaker. Besides the physical ports for the channels listed above that need them, there’s also a sub out and a mic in, the latter of which is for the Dirac Live feature.

Also included are speaker covers that attach magnetically, along with a matte black remote, the aforementioned wired mic, an HDMI cable, power cable, and cable to connect the two speakers to each other physically, if you don't want to have them speaking to each other wirelessly (they’re automatically paired with each other out of the box, so going wireless is no hassle).

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

Klipsch The Nines II review: Setup and usability

• Setup is made more difficult by the speakers’ weight
• App is intuitive to use for the most part
• Dirac Live is difficult to set up

The Klipsch The Nines II are both easy and not easy to set up, entirely based on their weight. The primary and secondary speakers are automatically paired out of the box and just need to be plugged in to power. Pairing via Bluetooth requires just being on the Bluetooth input and connecting via your smart phone.

And the physical connections just need their respective cables and possibly a settings change — changing a TV’s audio output to eARC, for instance. In terms of functionality, that’s all you have to do to use them.

That said, each speaker is heavy at over 30 lbs each (or over 14.5kg). That’s cumbersome to move. Even if that weight is not a problem for you, these are big boxes. Add in speaker stands, which I believe are ideal for getting the best sound out of these speakers (an additional $475 for a pair if you want Klipsch's own…) and setup becomes more of a physical challenge than it might be for some speakers.

The stand just takes time to assemble: connect the proper rubber feet based on flooring, the base to the stand, and the stand to the speaker. But if you connected the stand to the speaker upside down like I did, you’ll encounter my least favorite part… flipping the speaker over while connected to the stand, which weighs an additional 24.1 lbs (10.9kg), by the way.

Each complete 57 lbs unit was unwieldy, to say the least, and I felt like I had to be careful so as not to let these fairly pricey speakers accidentally fall and get damaged.

Outside of that, adjusting the speakers for placement is similar to any other pair of bookshelf speakers, if heavier, and it didn't take me long to get them situated for a listening sweet spot on the couch.

Using the speakers is likewise a slightly mixed bag. Using the remote is easy and I appreciate the ability to remap the two bottom buttons to my favorite inputs. The app is generally intuitive as well.

However, as much as I enjoy the difference Dirac Live can make with speakers, I had an incredibly difficult time getting the calibration test to run even though I had the upgrade for the full frequency range (an additional $99).

I know that the microphone is very sensitive so needs as much quiet as possible, but no matter how hard I tried, that degree of quiet threshold I just could not reach.

• Setup and usability score: 3.5 / 5

Klipsch The Nines II Powered Stereo Speakers: Value

• Comes with a premium price tag
• A lot of very good speakers available for much less
• Much more expensive than the original Klipsch The Nines

When the original Klipsch The Nines came out, they were priced similarly to the KEF LSX II LT, one of the most popular active stereo speaker systems out there. The Klipsch The Nines II are not only seven hundred bucks more than the original, but the KEF speakers have come down to $999 / £899 since they came out. That’s a massive price difference.

That said, the KEF LSX II LT are compact so are not able to really fill a room the way The Nines II can. Plus, there’s no analog connectivity or the extensive set of features the Klipsch The Nines II have.

When it comes to being a complete and yet powerful stereo system in two (reasonably) compact boxes, The Nines II are good value — but no one's going to claim they're a bargain.

• Value score: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Klipsch The Nines II speakers?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Klipsch The Nines II review: Also consider

How I tested the Klipsch The Nines II

• Used regularly for a few weeks
• Listened to all sorts of audio
• Used the various controls and ports

I used the Klipsch The Nines II for a few weeks, listening to all sorts of genres of music, such as hip hop, EDM, pop, rock, jazz, and folk to get a better feel for these speakers. They were also tested with some TV viewing and computer games.

I’ve tested a lot of tech gear over the years from laptops to keyboards and speakers, and so have been able to use my expertise towards giving an honest and fair opinion, not to mention a critical eye, to any product I test.

• First reviewed: June 2026
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Convenience has become a much more acceptable concept in hi-fi these days. No longer shorthand for compromise, its importance for modern listeners has instead inspired whole lines of products — and the impressive Cambridge Audio Evo range is one of the most impressive among them.

Initially made up of a couple of just-add-speakers streaming amplifiers and an all-in-one player, the line up has offered a great solution for anyone looking to simplify their setup since its launch five years ago.

Last year, Cambridge retired the lesser powered of the two streaming amps — the Evo 75 — leaving the reconfigured Evo 150 SE and the also-includes-speaker Cambridge Evo One holding the fort on their own… until now.

Cambridge recently unveiled the Evo 300, a brand new range-topping stereo streaming amp, promising to be twice as powerful and, the brand says, a “real step up” from last year’s Evo 150 SE in “pretty much every way”. I got to hear it at this year's High End Vienna hi-fi show, and we deemed it good enough to win one of TechRadar's High End Vienna Best in Show awards.

As much as I love the fun of system matching with hi-fi separates, it can be expensive and time consuming, so there’s a lot to be said for a the simplicity of a streaming amp — particularly one that is claiming a hefty output of 300 watts per channel of Class D amplification, all wrapped up in a seriously stylish design.

You even get to choose from interchangeable side panels for the Evo 300’s black aluminum body, with the option of a traditional real-wood finish or a more modern black slatted look. I’m partial to the wood look myself.

The Evo 300 is like a slightly stretched out version of the Evo 150 SE, measuring just a couple of inches wider. This means it also features the brand’s largest screen at 7.8 inches, which is an OLED that looks as bright and crisp as ever. This shows any changes to volume and input as they happen, but also displays album artwork or a choice of digital VU meters, if you prefer.

The same incredibly tactile dual-concentric control dial from the 150 SE sits along the front panel, for adjusting volume and choosing input, plus there’s a front-mounted 6.35mm headphone output and a handful of playback controls just to the right of the display.

While Cambridge told me that it’s managed to squeeze even more power from the same Hypex NCOREx amplification modules as the 150 SE, the company’s flagship streaming amp has had a DAC upgrade, with the improved 32-bit ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M now on board to support playback of just about any Hi-Res Audio you can throw at it.

It also now features a dual-mono layout under the hood, for maximum channel separation, and improved stereo imaging, alongside a balanced pre-amplifier stage. Plus there’s now the addition of HDMI eARC for the most up-to-date connection for your TV, and flexibility with independent volume and subwoofer controls.

These join the things we loved from the 150 SE, such as dual speaker outputs, optical, RCA and balanced XLR inputs, and a moving magnet phono stage for hooking up a turntable.

Comprehensive streaming support is of course offered via Cambridge Audio’s excellent StreamMagic platform, which includes Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connect, plus you can use AirPlay 2, Google Cast, and Bluetooth 5.4. It’s also Roon Ready for multiroom support with other Roon-compatible devices.

All of this points to a seriously capable centrepiece in a serious hi-fi system — particularly considering the much more powerful speakers it can now be paired with.

I got to listen to the Evo 300 hooked up to a pair of Dynaudio Contour Legacy floorstanders — which really aren’t messing around at $14,000 / £10,000 / AU$20,000 per pair. But the Evo 300 takes them in its stride, with a confident, full-bodied presentation, and volume to spare.

From a brief first listen, it’s easy for the power and scale that this relatively compact single box is capable of to be the main takeaway. Streaming from Spotify Lossless, the Evo 300 delivers an incredibly expansive and spacious sound, with a solid stereo image and good separation.

But the level of insight, clarity and detail retrieval also feels notable here. Combined with Cambridge’s reputation for musicality and what appears to be a more refined tonal balance — even at high volume levels — it all means that, on first impressions, the Evo 300 certainly sounds to be the substantial step up it is promising to be.

Of course, trade show demos offer far from perfect conditions for a truly critical appraisal of sound, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing how it performs in the real world.

The Cambridge Evo 300 is very much priced for its capabilities though, so at $3,999 / £3,499 / AU$6,399, you’re going to want to make sure your space or gear can really make use of these beefier specs before you invest.

If not, the Cambridge 150 SE remains a great option for just-add-speakers convenience, and at almost half the price in the UK and Australia (£1,999 / $3,299 / AU$3,849). In the US, the price is bizarrely close between the two models, though the Evo 150 SE often falls to $2,699.

Denon Home 400: two-minute review

The Denon Home 400 sits in the Japanese brand's completely repositioned Home 2.0 range for 2026, and it doesn’t take much to see the updates as a direct challenge to Sonos and the best wireless speakers on the market. The range features three speakers — the Denon Home 200, 400 and 600 — all of which promise spatial audio from a single box. They’re all tuned by sound masters, built for native stereo playback even as singular units, deliver an immersive experience, and have refined designs.

The Denon Home 400 sits right in the middle of the range, but occupies a bit of a sweet spot. Its $599 price tag puts it at the same ball park as the Sonos Era 300, and I think Denon comes out of the comparison looking like the better option.

Along with Sonos, though, there’s no shortage of competition from the likes of Apple’s HomePods, JBL’s Authentics 300 and the WiiM Sound smart speakers. While the Denon range technically supports Siri, this is a product that’s much more about the sound than it is the smarts.

In use, it sounds tremendous and is highly customizable with a full spatial audio experience where you really can hear the difference. The HEOS app works brilliantly, and set-up is a doddle. It also has a sense of style. This is a speaker that looks premium rather than plasticky, and that alone may make it easier to recommend than Sonos for many potential buyers.

Is it worth the premium price, though? I’ve been hands-on to find out what the Denon does differently.

Denon Home 400 review: price and availability

• Released on March 24th, 2026
• $599 / £449 / AU$999 (approx.)

The Denon Home 400 costs $599 / £449 / AU$999 (approx.) and is clearly positioned to rival the Sonos Era 300, which costs $479 / £449 / AU$749 officially, but it is a bit more likely to be available on offer, having gone down to $379 / £339 on Amazon within the past six months.

Other similarly sized rivals include the JBL Authentics 300, which costs $450 / £380 / AU$600, or the bass-heavy Brane X for $599 / £475 / AU$915. Apple fans will also, of course, consider whether a HomePod 2 ($299 / £299 / AU$479) may better suit their needs, as it has a few clever tricks and perks for the iOS faithful.

Denon Home 400 review: specs

Denon Home 400 review: features

• Native Dolby Atmos with adjustable height and bass
• Several connectivity options
• Voice control only via Siri, and only if you already have a HomePod

The core selling point of all the new speakers in the Denon range is Dolby Atmos support with adjustable sound modes. I’ll go into that in more depth in the 'Sound quality' section below, but it is a meaningful differentiator between this speaker and most of its competition. The vast majority of other smart speakers will either not have Atmos or rely on (the admittedly clever) digital processing trick of spatial virtualization. That’s what the Denon Home 200 does, too.

The one option offering proper Atmos is the aforementioned Sonos Era 300. The Denon Home 400, just like this rival, packs in true Dolby Atmos with a six-driver setup: dedicated left and right drivers, upfiring drive units and two 4.5-inch woofers (all powered by six independent Class-D amplifiers). What this means is that you’ll get much more width — throw a Dolby Atmos track at this speaker and you’ll hear a wider soundstage — and real height, as it bounces sound off your ceiling. The adjustability in the Auto mode means you can dial in exactly how much bass extension, width or height you want.

You can use voice assistance on this speaker, but I’m not going to pretend it’s a headline feature. Apple’s Siri is the only voice assistant on offer, so you’re not going to find Google Assistant or Alexa as an option during setup. And, in order to set it up, you need to have an Apple HomePod or HomePod mini on your Wi-Fi network to handle the Siri requests you make on the Denon speaker.

Luckily, I’ve got some HomePods in another room, so I could test this, and it works fairly well, but I wouldn’t go around suggesting that this is a speaker with built-in voice control. It’s more of a niche added extra, as long as you already have an extra accessory that would cost you at least £99.

In general, the HEOS app (HEOS stands for Home Entertainment Operating System, thanks for asking) is excellent and great if you think you might set up a multi-room ecosystem of speakers after investing in this one. It covers multiple brands, not just Denon, and works with a wide range of speakers, soundbars and receivers.

Overall, the Denon Home 400 offers a broad range of connectivity options, including a 3.5mm AUX for use with turntables or MP3 players, and a simple native Bluetooth button to connect to other devices if you’re not using the app. Bluetooth LE Audio is coming via an update, and it has support for ALAC and aptX formats over Bluetooth. You’ve also got Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Qobuz Connect built in, too.

Through the USB-C port, you can deliver firmware updates via a pen drive or use wired Ethernet via any USB-C adapter, which is a nice benefit compared with others that might make you buy a proprietary dongle. Obviously, it’s not quite the same as built-in Ethernet, but it’s not a feature everyone would use.

There’s no remote with the speaker, it’s designed for use with the feature-filled HEOS app, where you can gather together your music services — including Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, Soundcloud, Tidal, Qobuz and TuneIn — and internet radio stations, along with control of the multi-room setup and audio customizations. I wish my choice of streaming service, Apple Music, were added to the picks, but it’s otherwise an app I find hard to fault.

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

Denon Home 400 review: sound quality

• Outstanding spatial audio performance from a single unit
• Excellent customization for height and width
• Pure mode for a more direct and balanced experience

We’re going to be talking a lot about spatial audio in this section, because that really is the Denon Home 400’s party piece. It can take a well-encoded Atmos mix and make it feel three-dimensional. It’s in the Auto setting by default, and that’s probably where I’d leave it in my environment, in which it’s more than capable of an immersive room-filling sound.

If spatial isn’t for you, you’ll prefer the Pure sound mode. This bypasses the DSP and works as a great mode for anyone wanting the typical stereo image experience.

I’d already had a chance to hear the Denon Home 400 in a London hotel suite, and that gave me a sense of just how impressive it would be. During Ed Sheeran’s Shivers, I could hear a noticeable height extension that makes it perceptibly different when compared with the Home 200. Listening to the Atmos mix of Riders on the Storm by The Doors reveals background vocals in the height layer, an element that’s harder to pick out in the neutral mode.

Having the speaker within my own apartment only further confirmed how adept it is with spatial sound. To test it, I mostly focused on playing Dolby Atmos from Apple Music over AirPlay, but I also used it with Spotify Connect, radio stations, and I set up both Spotify and Deezer within the HEOS app to test those, too. The experience is convincing, there’s a lot of clarity to be heard across the whole frequency range, and two woofers deliver significant bass oomph.

Listening to Raye’s Where Is My Husband! in Dolby Atmos is highly rewarding for how much extra detail you start to hear in the layers of instrumentation, all while keeping her powerful vocals right in the center. I used the HEOS app to dial up the width and height, and you can feel the backing vocals spread out on the soundstage, with the instruments becoming easier to identify in space.

Putting the 400 in Pure mode and switching over to Click Clack Symphony shows that there’s a place for both modes. Pure is much more direct and balanced. There’s clearly more vocal presence in this mode, and the stomps have far more impact. You can get a different sonic experience by switching between both modes, something this track shows so well — it’s bordering on ethereal in Auto with those spatial customisations, yet sounds intimate on the Pure setting.

In general, I find the sound hard to fault. By default, the Auto mode may have a smidge too much bass for my tastes, but it’s easily remedied by moving the slider down two notches in the app. The Pure mode is fairly neutral in its approach, but still has its fair share of energy and dynamism. If you listen to spatial tracks, play around with Auto, but most of us should find Pure less fatiguing, making it a better 'set and forget' option.

• Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5

Denon Home 400 review: design

• Durable and stylish look
• Two neutral colorways
• Will suit most living spaces

Immediately after unboxing, it’s clear that the Denon Home 400 is more than your average utilitarian speaker. The best thing about its design is the lack of visible plastic, which is only really visible on the speaker's top section. The rest is covered by a seamless piece of fabric with no obvious seams, and the bottom of the speaker — just like every model in the new Denon range — is a sturdy titanium base plate. It adds a little bulk, sure, but also the satisfaction of knowing that this is durable and not something that can be tipped over.

Underneath the speaker, a light glows to let you know it’s turned on. This was something that my wife initially felt ruined the look, but it’s easily solved because you can lower the brightness (or turn the light off entirely) in the app. Crisis averted. There are physical controls on the right side of the device, allowing you to control volume and playback, along with three quick select buttons (for your favourite internet radio stations or streaming services) and an action button to summon voice control.

The speaker also comes in the same two neutral colorways as the rest of the range – Charcoal and Stone (my review unit). I’ve got no complaints. It’s a speaker that’s designed to look good in the living room without commanding attention, and it does exactly that. It’s also worth noting that, on the back, there’s a switch to mute the microphone and that it’s a hard-wired off button that’s not connected to the network circuitry.

I find this looks much less plasticky in comparison to rival speakers (looking at you, Sonos) and that the Home 400's buttons and controls are easier to understand and use (looking at you, Apple). It ends up being a winner on multiple fronts.

• Design score: 5 / 5

Denon Home 400 review: Usability & setup

• Controls are easy to understand and use
• The HEOS app is intuitive and full of features
• But there’s not much voice control available here

The Denon Home 400 is an exceptionally straightforward speaker to set up and use. The box gives you the speaker unit itself and the power cable. Once it’s plugged in, you set it up with the HEOS app, a process that took me approximately five to 10 minutes, and connect it to your home Wi-Fi network, telling the app whether the speaker is away from walls, in a corner, or just in front of one wall, which helps it adapt its sound.

You do need to use the app so that you get all of the internet-connected features, but it doesn’t take long at all to get started. Once you pick some favourite radio stations in the app, you can also press and hold on the preset buttons to save them for quick access, and you can always just use the Bluetooth button to connect devices that might not be on your wireless network. The same applies to wired playback.

I tested both with my MP3 player, the Activo P1, and found it seamless in use. However, it’s worth mentioning that I couldn’t get the Denon to play back at one of its supported higher-res Bluetooth codecs over the P1; it stayed stuck in SBC despite supporting higher bandwidth options.

In day-to-day use, though, this is highly intuitive to use, both wirelessly and if you were to connect an AUX cable to an MP3 player, CD player or turntable. Denon has said a goal with this product is getting you to your music with minimal button presses, and that holds true in use, whether you’re using those quick select buttons, or just playing wirelessly over the HEOS app, Spotify Connect or AirPlay. The one downside would be for those who are used to voice control of their playlists. Unless you use Siri and already have a HomePod, this doesn’t work well for that.

If you were keen to set up multi-room groups, this would also work well, with controls within the HEOS app, plus the ability to create a stereo pair with two Denon Home 400s. It’s also a great feature that the ability to mute the microphone is a physical control, not something that exists only in software, something that’s great for peace of mind if you don’t want to use voice assistance or have your voice recorded.

• Usability & setup score: 4.5 / 5

Denon Home 400 review: value

• Premium price to match the Sonos Era 300
• Cheaper units don’t deliver spatial audio this good
• Rivals are a bit better for voice control, though

At $599, the Home 400 is priced at the top of the standalone premium home speaker market, making it a direct rival to the Sonos Era 300. For me, the Denon more than matches its Sonos competition when it comes to powerful spatial audio and is also a more stylish speaker with more intuitive control and better connectivity. The Denon gives you spatial customization missing from Sonos, and it also has built-in AUX, USB-C and the option of Ethernet.

While rivals like the Sonos Era 100 and Apple HomePod are cheaper, they’re also more locked into ecosystems. They’re good as affordable rivals, but the Denon offers the more powerful, more immersive and more customizable sound. And, while the JBL Authentics 300 also holds a lot of appeal, and I’m a particular fan of its style and retro controls, it lacks native Dolby Atmos, so it doesn’t feel like a direct rival.

The one thing you’ll want to keep in mind is the lack of capable voice assistance from the Denon at launch, but if that doesn’t matter to you, the customizable spatial sound, ability to connect to players and turntables, plus intuitive control make the Denon Home 400 a good value buy in this price tier. Just make sure you’re keen on spatial sound and know you want to hear the layers inside a mix, as that’s what sets this apart.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

Should I buy the Denon Home 400?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Denon Home 400 review: also consider

How I tested the Denon Home 400

• Tested with music streamed from Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music via AirPlay, and radio stations within the HEOS app
• Also tested Bluetooth and wired performance with the Activo P1 audio player
• Used Audio Pro A10 MkII for comparison during listening tests
• Tested over several weeks of both casual and critical listening

I tested the Denon Home 400 using a wide range of different music genres and styles, including popular hits, soundtracks, ambient playlists and classical. I listened to podcasts and radio content, too, over several weeks of testing. I primarily used the Denon Home 400 in one spot, on a table in my living room, and that gave me a sense of how well it was able to fill the space in my small flat.

I used Bluetooth and wired connections with my Activo P1 music player, and also streamed using the HEOS app itself, accessing Deezer, Spotify and radio stations from this interface. Most of my spatial listening was tested via AirPlay, playing tracks mixed for Dolby Atmos through Apple Music.

For some direct comparisons, I used the other speakers that I currently have in my flat, including an Audio Pro A10 MkII and a couple of HomePod Minis in a stereo pair. And, to get a great understanding of the speaker’s performance, I made sure to listen to the widest possible range of genres at varying volume levels.

• First reviewed: June 2026
• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee

The 2026 High End audio show is in full swing in Vienna. The show is a key fixture of the hi-fi enthusiast's calendar, and was previously held in Munich — this year, it made the big move over to the Austria Center on the banks of the Danube, and TechRadar followed it.

We've had our audio team on the ground, rapidly learning how not to get lost in the new layout and exploring the mix of returning companies and new players who've jumped on board as part of the change.

We explored as many listening rooms and headphones booths as we could, to identify our favorite products in the audio areas we cover here on TechRadar, so naturally we've got a mix of speakers, streamers, a soundbar-that's-not-a-soundbar, and headphones, rather than hi-fi cables and pre-amps.

So here, in alphabetical order, are the products our team picked as the products that really stood out to us at the end of the show days, all chosen based on listening to their performance.

Astell & Kern SP4000T and Clarus

Let's start with a double winner — we got to test these together, and while each seems phenomenal, the combination was the most impressive part. The SP4000T DAP is an upgraded version of the already fantastic A&K SP4000 player, now packing four vacuum tubes for a taste of the analog.

The Clarus are wired earbuds with nine drivers per bud, using a bunch of different technologies, each targeting different frequencies.

The combination of the two really leans into the 'clarity' suggestion in the Clarus' name — we were instantly taken by the pin-sharp attack in their dynamic range, and the fine detail that they were able to bring out of the music, all while giving every listener a huge sense of scale that feels well beyond something handheld or that fits right in your ear conch.

Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5

Bowers & Wilkins is celebrating its 60th anniversary, so what better time to release its new flagship 801 D5 loudspeaker? This model features B&W's famous Diamond Dome tweeter and an upgrade to its internal Matrix bracing, including a new Space Frame Bracing extension.

The aim is to deliver even more incredibly natural, generous, and immersive sound. During our demo with the 801 D5, we were blown away by life-like vocals, brilliantly regimented deep bass, and super-defined treble, as well as its sophisticated soundstage and spacious presentation.

Cabasse Pearl Pelegrina Édition Atelier

The High End show is always full of bonkers speaker designs, and Cabasse's spherical Pearl design is old news to hi-fi fans — but we can't help but be taken by the Pelegrina version's 'alien eyeball squid has come to Earth to negotiate a new intergalactic peace' design — and what's new this year is the Atelier system, meaning that you can have any finish you want on them, to make them fit your spaceship listening room perfectly.

But what's most important is the astoundingly powerful sound from a speaker cabinet that's actually amazingly compact. The front driver is a tri-coaxial system, meaning it's actually three drivers nested inside each other, and there's a hefty custom-design woofer on the rear capable of especially high excursion.

The end result is a set of speakers that look like an art installation, but can party like a warehouse rave. They can thump the low-end with the best of them, while delivering super-rich and detailed sound that wraps across the room despite their compact 'pupils'. And they're active speakers, so you can put them wherever you want in your home and just start playing.

Cambridge Evo 300

This is the artist formerly known as Cambridge Audio's new, more powerful compact streaming amp — if you've got a really beefy speaker. Still, if you don't want to dedicate too much space to components, then the 300W per channel you can get from the Evo 300 might be exactly what you want.

That's paired with Cambridge's excellent, super-comprehensive streaming platform and digital skills, so you've got easy access to Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Roon, and Deezer, with various casting options from your phone and aptX Bluetooth if you prefer. There are two sets of speaker outputs, plus a sub out; for input, you've got XLR, HDMI eARC, and analog options including an MM phono input.

It's just the ultimate all-in-one modern amp if you've got big speaker ambitions — and here in 2026, why shouldn't you?

Canvas Hi-Fi Canvas L

This is basically a pair of floor-standing speakers disguised as a soundbar for Halloween. You've got a stereo setup where each side has a tweeter, a midrange driver, and an 8-inch bass woofer with a matching 8-inch passive radiator. There's 1500W of amplification behind that, as well a necessarily well-braced cabinet — all of which are designed to attached to the rear of your TV using a mounting bracket, with the speakers sitting underneath the screen.

And it's in this list because it sounds like two excellent floorstanding speakers. It delivers unbelievably deep and resonant bass for a floating speaker bar, with the low end dispersed well throughout the room. There's phenomenal texture and realism to vocals, and it's all brilliantly musical and full of excellent rhythmic energy. It's delicate when it needs to be, but our overarching takeaway from listening to music is just how firm and 3D every instrument feels.

We didn't get to try it with music, but this is the first time we've heard something claim to be an audiophile soundbar and responded, "Yep, that's fair". It was electric, musical, and kind of addictive.

iFi iDSD GR 2

The iFi iDSD GR2 portable DAC is a considerable upgrade on its beloved predecessor, the venerable xDSD Gryphon, in a number of ways. It delivers far more amplification power, longer battery life, and even a touchscreen for a more user-friendly experience.

After trying it out at the show, we loved how it more seamlessly helps you to bring the very best out of a pair of premium headphones, and with K2HD tech for enhanced harmonics alongside a whole load of connectivity options, the GR2 has just about everything an audiophile needs, whether listening at home or on the go.

Meze Audio Arta

These new planar magnetic headphones come from a brand known for bringing high-end sound to a very reasonable price — but this time, Meze Audio just went all out, price be damned.

The result is one of the biggest and most cohesive soundstages we've ever heard from a pair of headphones. From the tinkliest treble with heavy sub-bass, these headphones deliver it all with total control and clarity, all at the same time if they have to. It's that cohesion that stands out, partly because it means individual parts don't stand out — everything sounds simply 'correct' in a way that deeply satisfies the brain. They deliver total audio order — a perfect, seamless whole.

Noble FoKus Artemis

These are wireless active noise-canceling headphones, from a company that most people will probably know best for putting improbably powerful driver arrays into earbuds. Well, it's now put an improbably powerful driver array into over-ears, including a dynamic driver, a planar driver, and a balanced armature — and somehow, the end result is pretty lightweight and comfortable, with a 50-hour battery life.

The end result is probably the most revealing noise-canceling headphones we've ever tried. They're utterly impeccable at picking out every nuance of instruments, even in the most dense mix, and even with the ANC mode activated (which is pretty good too).

There's a huge dynamic range, and really steep level of attack to them: every drum is hard, and every plosive is picked up with precision in a voice. The sound is maybe a little cooler than most people will be used to from ANC headphones, but that will be exactly their strength — they create the silence, and then fill it with tiny details you'd never heard before.

Ruark R710

The Ruark R710 streaming amplifier blends a beautiful retro-style look with an expansive suite of modern features — as well as some not-so-modern ones that we very much welcome. It builds on Ruark's previous R610 in a number of ways, packing in more power for the speakers, along with an integrated CD player, which has apparently been included by popular demand (and is hidden in the handsome wooden front grille, making it a fun secret touch).

When listening to the streamer alongside Ruark's new Talisman R speakers, we were impressed by the warmth and tonality of vocals, the high caliber of instrument separation in the mix, and the striking power of the overall presentation from a compact box.

Yamaha NX-70A

Yamaha's new active speakers have a very sleek and stylish look, but generally seem quite unflashy and demure — though in our demo at the show, they seemed like something of a wireless wonder.

They offer a lively, precise sound with really well-honed handling of transients, which helps them to build an excellent stereo spatial presentation. The diffusion of ambient sounds into the room while holding the tension on the sharper central sounds makes them a really exciting listen. There's so much detail, creating a really physical sense of texture to something like the hum of a saxophone reed. Add the pleasingly weighted bass response, and you get a set of active speakers that really grab your attention, in the best way.

WiiM is one of the most interesting companies in the audio world right now, breaking out in the last couple of years in no small part thanks to capitalizing on Sonos' disastrous app update, and the company's quieter period since.

In that time, WiiM went from offering add-on boxes for traditional hi-fi, to launching sleek integrated streaming amps, to launching its own wireless speakers and subwoofer, starting with the WiiM Sound, to unveiling its first soundbar.

Ahead of the soundbar's launch, I spoke to WiiM's CEO, Dr. Lifeng Zhao, about the decisions the company made in developing the soundbar, whether WiiM has a signature sound profile, and what it means to offer "simplicity" in the context of these products, among other topics.

TechRadar: Tell me why you guys have chosen to do a soundbar now.

Lifeng Zhao: WiiM is four years old; in terms of brands right now we are a new player. So we did a streamer and amplifier, which convert or upgrade your existing audio gear. Those get really popular among our users, who start to expand [where they use them] to more environments: their living room; their media rooms. So, we always get this kind of feedback — they ask "when will you guys launch home theater, because we already have your gear, but we don't want to have separate components".

To use our streamer or amplifier, you have to have passive or powered speakers, right? But many people want to have one powerful all-in-one device in their living room. So they don't really want separate components because you know there's messing [with wires, and aesthetics], so we are always getting this request.

I'm also a big fan of entertainment, so for myself I want something simple to use with Dolby Atmos that can fulfill my music and TV experience. So, it came both from our own use, as well as a request from our community.

TechRadar: So, did you consider making an AV receiver or something like that before you decided to go the soundbar route? You already made the amps, so an AV receiver seems like it might have been the obvious way to go.

Lifeng Zhao: We already have the AV receiver if you think about it, right? We have the amps.

TechRadar: Only two channels.

Lifeng Zhao: Yeah, 2.1. But you can expand it with your surrounding channels [using wireless WiiM speakers]. That's the beauty of our systems. We don't want to make a traditional AVR, but we have a solution for those AVR users. People want a multi-channel system, but they don't want messy wired solutions. It's not flexible, and there are many limits on the placement, so we already have 2.1, but you can expand it with the surround speakers.

We are looking at more possibilities, but we don't want to make a legacy AVR; we want to make compact powerful and wireless versions of AVR.

TechRadar: The soundbar you guys are releasing is very good value considering the amount of physical channels that you've built in, and the amount of technology. A lot of soundbars at a similar price to yours are quite small, whereas yours is reasonably big. Can you talk through the design process around deciding how big you wanted the soundbar to be, and how that paired with the price you wanted to charge?

Lifeng Zhao: First of all, let's go back to our target users. We want this soundbar for both needs: watching TV plus listening to music. We don't want you to have to have two separate devices just because you watch TV and listen to music in your daily lives. So then we were thinking about how if we make [a product] only for the TV, just to improve the voice clarity, then we don't really need to go big — but we see a lot of people really want to listen to music with good bass, so the physics of that means we cannot make it too small.

So then we are thinking we can make [a soundbar with a subwoofer] but many people prefer the simplicity of an all-in-one — so that also gives us a size limit. So for our first one we wanted [to make one] people can just buy for most use cases. So with the size, our main target market is the US and Europe, and in most of Europe people have a single family [room]. So they have 55 inches or up TVs. So we did some surveys, and we think this is the kind of right size which can capture the majority of our audience.

TechRadar: You mentioned trying to balance the bass with the size and the compactness. So, you've got the four passive radiators in there. Were you designing the size of the soundbar around the size of the speakers and radiators you wanted to use, or were you choosing the speakers based on the size you wanted the soundbar to be?

Lifeng Zhao: We start with acoustic criteria. We say how deep a bass we want, based on our [previously launched devices]. We launched the amps, and we see how people set up their systems. We want to go to 50Hz, so users could get good bass — so that kind of gives us an acoustic volume. We calculate size based on this volume, but we do want it to be a sleek soundbar, so we have some height limits. But we can calculate the length, depth, and the height while leaving space for the speakers.

I always say we start from the acoustic criteria, then we calculate the size, then we design the best speaker driver according to this size limit.

TechRadar: Do you have more than one HDMI port, for passthrough?

Lifeng Zhao: We have one HDMI eARC, we don't have passthrough. We are thinking that people will connect most of their devices through the TV, because you have multiple HDMI inputs in the TV.

TechRadar: A lot of your competitors also only have one HDMI port, but there's a large number of people who have had their TV for a long time and they've collected a lot of boxes to connect to it, and so it can be really difficult to lose one of your HDMI ports to your soundbar. So, is there a reason behind this decision: was it either to do with cost or technical design or simplicity that you chose to only have one port?

Lifeng Zhao: Design is always about trade-offs, right? So, here I would say we value the simplicity, so people aren’t confusing HDMI and HDMI ARC. Before this journey [at Linkplay/WiiM] I also worked on media devices a lot in my past career, so we know that simplicity is very important. This is a choice to value that simplicity more in this device.

TechRadar: One of the interesting things about your soundbar is that you have a screen on the front, like the Wiim Sound speaker. Screens on soundbars is always quite a controversial topic, because people feel very strongly about having a light in front of their TV. Tell us about how the screen will work when you're watching content, and why you decided to include it.

Lifeng Zhao: We actually debated a lot internally. Our first screen-enabled devices [were the streamer and the amplifier], then the Sound speaker. So we actually accumulated a lot of experience in how people use a screen. To go back to your question regarding why we put a screen on the soundbar: first of all, the soundbar is made both for people using it for music and also watching TV, and in both cases we see a need for a screen. To give you some examples, when you listen to music, people always look somewhere to see what's playing, and they like looking at their favorite album art. We see people will even build a separate display just for artwork while listening, so we see this, and we want to provide integrated solutions for that.

Then we go back to the soundbar. So actually we are saying two things. One is that if you don't really need the screen, you can turn it off. Another thing is that we really want instant feedback. Think about it: if you only have an LED light right there with so many inputs, output and functions, how do you know what the status of the device is? It's really confusing even for me when I look at the LEDs, you know? I always forget, like, [what would flash] when the network doesn't work, right? How do I know it?

So, we want to give people a simple and intuitive control plus the instant feedback, because the device is so powerful. There are many statuses that may be important to your use cases. In a simple device we can just use a very simple app, but when it becomes very powerful, like your smartphone, you have to have a screen for people to interact.

TechRadar: There are obviously two ways to think about simplicity. And one is to have less information shown to keep it simple, and to have users trust that they're in the mode they like and things won’t change. Whereas I think you're saying that the way to introduce simplicity is to make sure people have all the information in front of them, so they're not questioning what the options are. That more information makes it simpler. Is it fair to say that's how you feel about it?

Lifeng Zhao: What I'm trying to say is that there are certain use cases where you need more information, but we don't want to give people too many options. So if you don't want that screen while you’re watching TV, our system will automatically turn off for you because you can separately configure the mode for each of your watching needs. But you can do even more, or we can do it automatically for you by default. You just need to set up once.

We want people using the screen intuitively. We don’t want to cause confusion; we don't want to become complicated. But [instead of] only having a red or a yellow indicator, we will tell you, oh, your network is disconnected, or your format is not supported, right? Let's say you don't support DTS, right? If you just have a yellow indicator, people will not really understand, they'll get really frustrated because they don't have any audio. So that's the kind of simplicity we want to have.

TechRadar: When it comes to expanding the system, you've got the ability to easily go to 5.1.2 channels by adding on the other WiiM products. Did you consider going beyond that? Because presumably with your technology, you could offer 7.1 2 or 5.2.2. Did you think about offering these?

Lifeng Zhao: Yeah, that's the beauty of our system, right? We started from separate components, so we accumulated a lot of experience. Another thing is that if you look at our wireless technology, we invest a lot in terms of wireless infrastructure — we have Wi-Fi 6E, so if you have the best routers we can leverage your routers, so we don't really have a limit. If your wireless environment can support it, we can expand it more.

Yes, when we launch the soundbar it supports 3.0.2, but as you mentioned we can expand it beyond 5.1.2, so that's exactly what we are doing, with the latest Wi-Fi standard you know we can expand more and with low latency.

[Editor's Note: Since this interview, WiiM has changed its stance and is aiming to support adding front left and right separate speakers for use with the WiiM Bar at launch, which can be either WiiM's wireless speakers or can be any speakers attached to a WiiM amp. Dr. Zhao gave us this additional comment: "We can confirm the bar supports wireless front, left, and right speakers. This wasn't originally intended as a launch feature, but based on community feedback and the team's testing, we decided to share it. There seems to be a lot of interest from our community, so if feedback and internal testing continue to go well, we'll look to keep it in."]

TechRadar: So are you saying that actually someone can go beyond 5.1.2 channels?

Lifeng Zhao: Right now we are saying 5.1.2, but potentially, with the software update we can expand more.

TechRadar: Speaking of wireless technology, have you guys explored Dolby Atmos FlexConnect as an option for your products?

Lifeng Zhao: We always look at different types of connectivity and the multi-channel options. FlexConnect definitely is on our radar.

TechRadar: Is there any reason why you're not supporting it now?

Lifeng Zhao: This is our first one, right? As I mentioned, we can support it with a software update, so the hardware is there. It's just about whether we feel it's mature enough, or the user experience [is ready]. We don't really want to give people half-baked technology; we want to make sure it’s really good and people can easily use it. So there's a possibility that we can do it even in current hardware with the software update, but I cannot commit on this one yet.

TechRadar: Speaking of the ecosystem, it looks like this is another piece of hardware that doesn't support Apple AirPlay 2, which is true of a lot of the new releases WiiM has launched. Are you able to say why this hasn't been included in the last few products?

Lifeng Zhao: We have many options on our devices, we support like more than 25 music services, then we have other ‘casting’ options there — and we value the people's content. If you're using Spotify, we want you using Spotify Lossless instead of a compressed [stream], and we see a lot of confusion, actually, of people using Spotify Connect with the other option you just mentioned [AirPlay 2]. So, it’s really a choice, like a design choice — we make it easy to use with high-res.

We really want people to leverage the best quality of their music on our system, and we also offer other options, which you can do very easily. We have multi-room no matter which source, via input to the Wiim. And with most of the music sources you can do lossless audio — so that’s the two options we offer right now.

TechRadar: You’re offering your RoomFit room correction here. I guess this is a very similar technology to what you've offered on the amps previously, but did you have to make any changes for working with Dolby Atmos and other formats you're supporting here?

Lifeng Zhao: It has to be different, right? Because in the soundbar we handle Dolby Atmos as a type of spatial audio, we also handle DTS, so we have multi-channel [sound to deal with]. Previously with RoomFit we started with like one device, then we expanded to 2.1 with a subwoofer — but now we’ve expanded RoomFit for the entire system. It's adding your surrounding speakers, adding your subwoofer, it’s not only doing stuff like balancing your SPL, or frequency spectrum, we also balance timing.

So we really expanded RoomFit for the spatial audio. We invested quite some time to get it right, and hopefully when we launch this soundbar people will be amazed by just how good it is. You just do one-tap calibration, it does everything for you: it calibrates the latency, the level matching, both for your front and surrounds and your subwoofer.

TechRadar: You mentioned earlier about designing the acoustic signature to deliver the right kind of sound that you wanted. And would you say that the new soundbar and the WiiM Sound speakers and your amps share a particular sound signature? Is there a sound signature that you believe is the WiiM style?

Lifeng Zhao: We are not really traditional hi-fi, if you look at our history. We really value the source. So that's why we always emphasize that, if you have a very good source, we want to replicate that in the original format. That means the resolution and in the bit depth, so we try to minimize the distortion when we do the [digital-to-analogue].

We do a lot of things mathematically to try to perfect the sound based on your existing system. In our amp we want to value your speaker signature you already have, so in our RoomFit we actually we want to just tackle the room mood most. So your high end, high frequency — we want to keep that signature [of your speakers] because that's what you paid for, right? So I would say we want to value people's preference more, and in the parts we can do well, we control that part — then we give people options. Simplicity, plus the powerful control.

If you go to advanced settings, you still can change your signature because if people whole, like, a warm sound they [can have it].

TechRadar: That makes sense, especially for the amps and things. But when you're making the soundbars and and WiiM Sound speakers, you're the ones choosing what the speaker output is going to sound like. So did you guys settle on a particular sound profile you wanted to make the default, or is it different for the soundbar than for the music speakers?

Lifeng Zhao: Exactly. Out of the box we want a really good sound, and if you talk about a sound signature, we do have different profile settings for the HDMI input or the music inputs. For the music inputs, we want to really have good clarity and a rich sound [with] respect to the original. Then for the HDMI, we tuned for more bass, for immersive audio. So we have a different profile, and I think it's a very good default for each of the sources.

TechRadar: It's interesting to talk to you about this element, because there are some companies I speak to where the speaker drivers are the things they really focus on, whereas your focus seems to be more on the processing and the signal pathway. Do you think that comes from the kind of company you are, as a digital platform company that has extended into speakers, instead of the other way around? Do you think that makes big difference as to how you approach your products compared to older hi-fi companies who did the analog part first and then are adding the digital in?

Lifeng Zhao: To make a better product, we need to marry the two sides. I would say we start from the digital world, but when we did the amplifier we actually [developed] a lot of analog, so we have a really good understanding of that digital-to-analog [process]. So we definitely are also analog people, and then when we do the speakers, our teams have people who worked in traditional [hi-fi] companies such as Harman Kardon, so we do have expertise on this area as well. Our talents will be in wireless, and in the DSP, and we also have a lot of acoustic engineers.

• Acoustune unveils new ATX001 hi-res Bluetooth dongle
• Plugs into USB-C port to enable aptX Lossless and LDAC wireless connections
• Costs $75 / £57 / AU$107, so it's pretty cheap

Acoustune is a Japanese audio company, best known for its wired and wireless in-ear monitors that look like they'd belong on the set of a Transformers movie (and cost roughly their budget too). But its new device looks a lot more normal — and surprisingly affordable.

The company has unveiled the ATX001, which is a wireless dongle you plug into a USB-C port to add aptX Lossless and LDAC audio streaming to that device. In theory you could any kind of device, but the real benefit would be for the best iPhones, which don't already have the features it enables.

The price of this dongle? It'll cost you $75 / £57 / AU$107, which is a small amount less than we imagined. Its Japanese price when it was announced pointed to it being closer to the triple-figure mark, which would still be affordable for this kind of gear — but this price is a real winner.

Repairing an iPhone flaw

The point of a dongle like the Acoustune ATX001 is to make your iPhone compatible with various Bluetooth codecs, that aren't supported natively by Apple.

The ATX001 facilitates the LDAC codec as well AAC, SBC, aptX, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD and aptX Lossless — as long as you have a pair of the best headphones or best earbuds that support these, which is a lot of them.

Unlike Androids, iPhones don't support LDAC or the various aptX codecs, so this dongle will make enjoying 'lossless' wireless audio a lot easier. Amongst audiophiles, such dongles are quite popular as a way to improve audio quality.

We found that Sony's 1000X The Collexion had a clear audio difference using these connections over regular Bluetooth, and iPhone owners couldn't enjoy that, just a recent example of why this kind of thing is useful.

The ATX001 works primarily through a smartphone app, but once it's configured on your mobile, you can use the dongle on other devices, and still control it with your phone. Acoustune lists games consoles or PCs as a possible extra use for the fob, with an in-box USB-A adaptor letting you connect it to various other gadgets.

One useful perk is that the ATX001 has pass-through USB-C. This means you can plug something else into the port — a charger, a connection to your Mac, a games controller — and still enjoy your improved Bluetooth audio.

• Sennheiser launches Momentum 5 wireless headphones
• Improvements to ANC, feature set and repairability
• Price bumps up against Sennheiser's premium cans

Better late than never, eh Sennheiser? The legendary audio brand took four years to bring its much-anticipated Momentum 5 Wireless to market, but they're finally here — and perhaps just in time to show the recently-released Sony 1000X The Collexion how it's done.

These new cans succeed the five-star Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, which we loved all the way back in 2022, and are still in use today by several members of the TechRadar team. Perhaps the brand was just waiting for its tenancy on our list of the best headphones to end, so it could reclaim the top spot.

Releasing in June 2026, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless are due to cost $399 / £329 / AU$749, which represents a little price hike from their predecessors. It's much less than Sony's fancy newest headphones — but it's basically right in line with the price of the Sony WH-1000XM6.

It puts them quite close to my favorite headphones from the company, the Sennheiser HDB 630, which sell for $499 / £399 / AU$999 — and I'd personally be tempted by the HDBs. But maybe I'll feel differently once we've actually tried the Momentum 5 Wireless and their new features.

Momentum? You barely know 'em

Sennheiser has given the Momentum 5 a 42mm driver again, like the Momentum 4, but has added certification for Hi-Res Audio, Snapdragon Sound and aptX Lossless codecs. The app also now has an EQ and presets, as well as a listening test.

Improvements come to active noise cancellation (which is now influenced by four microphones, over two in the last pair — but far fewer than the 12 employed by Sony), while Bluetooth is version 5.4 out of the box, but Sennheiser promises an upgrade to 6.0 in the future.

Other features include Dolby Atmos spatial audio with head tracking — we love this on the Sonos Ace, so hopefully it's just as good here.

The battery life is slightly lower than the previous model at 57 hours, but that's only three hours less than the Momentum 4's lasting power, and is still nearly double the 30 hours promised by the Sony XM6 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2nd Gen.

Sennheiser's making a point of repairability for the Momentum 5: apparently, it's easy to use a Phillips screwdriver to remove and replace an ailing battery. Since the battery is often the aspect of gadget which will stop working first, this will hopefully ensure your headphones keeping lasting for years.

There are three color options for the Sennheiser Momentum 5: black, white and blue (or 'Denim', according to the brand). Whichever you buy, you'll get a carry case, USB-C charging cable and 3.5mm headphone cable.

No matter how you shake it, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 don't look like huge reinventions of the fourth-gen model, but that's no bad thing. You can't argue with a perfect review.

Instead, it seems to update some of the Momentum 4 features which haven't aged well in four years, and if the sound's had a tune-up in the right places, we expect these to be pretty damn competitive.

• Dali unveils new Vega Wi-Fi speaker, on sale in September
• Works as a streamer, speaker and amp all in one
• Can be used wirelessly, and affixed to different surfaces

Does Dali even want you to buy its five-star classic-style speakers like the Dali Sonik 1 or Dali Kupid? Maybe not, because it's just unveiled a new all-in-one hi-fi system that steers away from traditional hi-fi altogether.

This is the Dali Vega, which the brand has shown off ahead of its 'proper' unveiling at the High End Vienna show at the beginning of June. But we already know basically everything there is to know about the device.

In short, the Vega is an all-in-one music system: it works as a streamer, a speaker system and a soundbar. When I first saw the picture above, I thought it looked a bit like an AC unit, but you don't have to affix it to a wall like that.

Dali's various pictures show it horizontal or vertical on walls and cabinets, with the unit recognizing its orientation and adjusting its output accordingly. It's also wireless, (other than the power cable), so you won't need to cover your home in messy cables.

It weighs 8.7kg, with a body that's 68.3cm long, 33cm wide and 20cm tall. Wall brackets come with the device, so you don't need to start planning your home renovation to hold it.

The Dali Vega is set to begin selling in September in some countries, and October and November in others (though Dali hasn't confirmed the order). It's set go sell for $4,500 / £2,599 / AU$4,499, in two finishes: Dark Oak and Natural Oak. So its price is pretty similar to a high-end AC unit too.

What happens in Vega...

Let's break down the Vega; firstly, its chops as a speaker. The unit houses ten drivers, all developed by Dali itself. There are four 25mm soft dome drivers, four 4.5-inch low-mid frequency drivers, and two passive radiators.

The 25mm soft-dome tweeters are designed to reduce resonant frequencies, and the low-mid drivers are arranged back-to-back, all of this with the aim of reducing resonance within the body.

These go hand-in-hand with Dali's Adaptive Stereo Enhancement tech, which apparently is designed to let each single speaker creative a wider soundstage, changing depending on the signal it's receiving. The Vega has 400W of amplification power across eight 50W channels.

Then, there's the Dali Vega's capabilities as a player. It has RCA and optical ports, as well as Bluetooth because yes, this is a wireless device too. You can use it alongside Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, or whichever piece of hi-fi gear you choose to plug it into.

It uses Bluesound's BluOS streaming system to connect to other sources, and buttons on the body let you set presets for inputs. There's also, as you can tell from the pictures, a nice big dial on the body, as well as an OLED display.

And it has an HDMI input, so you can use it as a soundbar with your TV too — something that's becoming more and more common among the best wireless speakers (above a certain size, at least).

• YBA unveils Design One, a new SACD player
• Claims it's the first "transportable" such model ever made
• It's not exactly an easily-portable model though

Despite the format dividing audiophiles, Super Audio CDs are apparently making a comeback, and the clear bellwether sign of a retro resurgence is when hi-fi brands start making tech to play retired formats. Well, that's happening with SACDs, sure enough.

French hi-fi brand YBA has just unveiled its Design One, which is apparently the world's first-ever "transportable" SACD player, running on its built-in batteries, and the company claims you can bring it to cafes and offices to use.

Banish from your mind the kind of retro-inspired compact model or feature-packed portable player that we've been covering quite frequently over the last few months — those are pocketable, but this one is not so much.

It weighs 1.34kg, measures 18.8 x 16.6 x 4cm, and has quite an angular body with sharp corners and easy-to-accidentally-press buttons. I don't see myself slipping this in my backpack when I'm off to do some work at the cafe, but then I feel less strongly about SACD compared to some in the TechRadar office.

Perhaps that's why it's billed as a "transportable" model rather than a 'portable' one; an elephant is technically transportable if you have enough tranquilizer and a crane, but you wouldn't call one portable. But beyond the eyebrow-raising description, it seems like it has a few specs that'll impress certain audiophiles.

A feature-packed SACD player

The Design One has quite a few outputs for a portable model: you can output through 3.5mm or 4.4mm for headphones, RCA, SPDIF coax and USB-C (though it doesn't support SACD on the latter).

It has an AKM DAC, frequency response of 20Hz-40kHz, output impedance of 0.4 ohms (that's with 3.5mm; it's 0.8 ohms for 4.4mm) and a signal-to-noise ratio at 125 decibels.

The unit will, apparently, last for up to 5.5 hours on a single charge, and can be plugged in via USB-C to power (via a separate port than the USB-C audio out, so you can do both at the same time). There's a 2.79-inch screen, and beautifully retro mechanical switches which can be customized in use.

Given the shape and size of Design One, it's hard to view it as being a portable CD player akin to many of the other new models being released. But it does still clearly to have value as a smaller-sized player of SACDs, and regular old CDs. It could fit quite nicely into a desktop set-up, or in a compact hi-fi setup, to save you buying a bigger option...

...if you can stomach the price. It's set to cost $1,699 (about £1,250, AU$2,500) when it goes on sale later in May. So it's certainly not a budget model.

• Sony unveils 1000X The Collexion headphones for $649 / £550 / AU$999.95, available in May 2026
• Custom 30mm driver, and new processor with DSEE Ultimate and '360 Upmix' spatial audio modes
• Design focuses on comfort, with gentler clamping force and larger earpads

Sony has just unveiled its most expensive (and possibly most-leaked) wireless headphones to date, which it's calling 1000X The Collexion. If you just want to read whether they're any good, then you can go straight to our Sony 1000X The Collexion review, because we've been using them for a few weeks.

But if you want to know more about what makes them different, and why Sony produced them in the first place, stick around here — I spoke to Sony insiders from the UK and Japan to hear more about what makes them worth their high price tag.

And what is the Sony 1000X The Collexion's price tag? That would be $649 / £550 / AU$699 when they're available sometime during May.

That price is a major leap over the $459 / £349 / AU$699 you now pay for the Sony WH-1000XM6. But Sony hopes that you'll think The Collexion (as I'll call them from here) are worthwhile — the company told me "we wanted to go further then ever before, to create something that isn’t just the next in our line-up, but that represents 70 years of audio mastery."

Building on that, Sony's Personal Entertainment Product Manager, Mike Somerset, said: "Is this just the 1000XM7? The answer very clearly is: no. It’s aimed in a totally different direction… We’re bringing some new things to these headphones that we have never done before."

The Collexion being a "different direction" makes them interesting to compare to the XM6, because they're an improvement over the XM6 in several ways — but are actually a step back in others, and that's not an accident. So here are the upgrades and arguable downgrades you need to know about.

1. A striking new look (and case)

The Collexion's look is very Sony if you've been following the evolution of the Sony WH-1000XM5 and then the XM6 — but it's clearly a little more premium and full of flourishes.

Sony says the name for the design "theme" used for The Collexion is: "Resonate".

It comes in Black or Platinum (ie, white) finishes, and a key element according to Sony is that "every visible part is made from two materials," with the intention of creating "contrasting textures".

There's a new case design too, with a handle — it's more 'handbag-like' in some ways.

That even runs through into the metal detail in places — for example, the hinge connecting the earcups to the headband is "hand-polished by skilled craftspeople", and mixes a sand-blasted finish with glossy chrome.

Sony says that the faux leather material alone was two years in development. The company also put in a lot of work, such as working with a split-design battery for the first time, to reduce the thickness of the earcups to just 40mm for a sleeker profile when wearing them — that's compared to 45.4mm in the XM6 cans.

The combination of the slimmer earcups and the metal detailing gives them a look that's more than a little reminiscent of the Sonos Ace, and that's no bad thing.

Sony also said that the goal here was to create a "timeless design", and I think there's something to this: the matte metal headband reminds me of the metal headphones you'd get with a Sony Walkman in the '80s, yet the rest of the design is undeniably modern Sony.

2. A focus on comfort

The redesign isn't just about the aesthetics, of course. Sony also said that it's particularly focused on comfort here, so that you can wear them for hours and hours, and barely notice they're there.

Specifically, the gap in the earpads is larger in these headphones than in the XM6, so they're less likely to touch the outside of your ears, and they give you a little more breathing room — and are likely to fit better with glasses.

The headband is also a little thicker, so the pressure is distributed a little more evenly — and the clamping force of the headband has been reduced, so you'll feel less pressure wearing them. This last point will come back later, though, because it's a double-edged sword…

3. A more powerful processor

Sony is introducing a new audio processor for the first time in The Collexion: the Integrated Processor V3. This is then combined with the same QN3 noise-cancellation processor used in the Sony XM6.

The V3 is Sony's most powerful headphone processor yet, and it means that these are the first headphones to include DSEE Ultimate. DSEE is Sony's audio upscaling tech, meant to take limited-quality Bluetooth streams and to upscale and add back in detail and dynamic range that's been cut out by compression.

"DSEE Ultimate is the best that Sony has ever done, and we’ve never put it in headphones before," the company said — DSEE Extreme was the previous best tech in its headphones, while Ultimate was limited to its music players, such as the Sony NW-A306.

The key difference is that it's powerful enough to upscale both the sample rate and the bit-depth of the sound at the same time — Sony says this is thanks to AI, as so many things today are. Sony says the sample rate will be upscaled to 96kHz, and the 16-bit depth will be upscaled it to 24-bit.

Sony says that it also brought a bunch of other audiophile engineering developments over from the Walkman line to the V3 processor design, including a low-phase-noise crystal oscillator for “perfect timing”, advanced solder containing gold at “key audio points on the circuit board”, and various component optimizations to improve “the signal to noise ratio across all frequencies”.

The V3 processor also enables new spatial modes, so let's get into those, because they're important enough for Sony to have devoted a whole new button to them.

4. Spatial Audio 'Upmix' modes

Sony is going big on spatial audio in The Collexion, and is using the power of the new V3 processor to offer four "360 Reality Audio Upmix" modes, which can take any audio source and turn it into spatial audio, but with a different kind of signature to the space depending on the mode.

There will be a Cinema mode (which the Sony XM6 also have) to feel like you're in a home theater, but now also a Music mode (designed to sound like you're in a live venue), and Game mode. There will also be the great Background Music mode from the XM6, which sounds like you're listening in a café or somewhere with soft ambient music.

There's a new button on the headset to switch between these modes, though by default it'll cycle between Music, Cinema and the mode being off. You can customize it to add Game or Background music in the Sony Sound Connect app.

Unfortunately, we don't think these are very good — you can read all about that in the full Sony 1000X The Collexion review.

I asked Sony why it doesn't support Dolby Atmos for this, since the experience there tends to be great. It said that there were several factors, ranging from how Android itself and different phones deal with Atmos encoding, to what’s possible in chipsets it's using — but Sony also said it wanted to give the same experience to all users, regardless of your device of streaming service of choice.

5. New speaker driver and sound tuning

Sony said that its goal with The Collexion was to "faithfully reproduce sound as the creator intended" and to “allow listeners to relax and immerse yourself in the lingering resonance of the music".

To do that, it developed a new "bespoke" 30mm driver, which has a similar design principle to the one used in the Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds: it's a dual-material design, with a very hard central dome to improve detail, and a softer outer edge for better bass response.

The harder center is made using a "unidirectional carbon-layered core composite", which apparently means it's made from long carbon strands — "like hair", Sony said. The XM6 headphones' driver also uses carbon, but a lower percentage of it in the mix of materials (including paper). More carbon means more rigidity.

Sony said that the sound character it's aiming for includes "perfect balance, and really fantastic sound and detail" that is "toned to reproduce the sound as artists intended".

Sony also said that it was focusing on "a wider stage, and greater separation between instruments and vocals" with "a smoother, more pleasant bass" that it described as "appropriate fullness".

In comparison to the XM6, Sony said the older model is "in between the monitor and the consumer" in terms of its profile, and that the sound is "punchier" (which is exactly how my colleague Harry Padoan described the difference in his Sony The Collexion review) — but The Collexion has a wider soundstage and more focus on "natural-feeling" sound.

6. Shorter battery life

OK, it's time to move onto the areas where The Collexion are (arguably) a step down from the XM6 headphones. First up is the battery life, which is rated at 24 hours — Sony's other 1000X headphones have clocked in at 30 hours.

That's below average compared to basically all the best noise cancelling headphones — even Bose, which was happy offering 24 hours for years, raised its game to 30 hours for the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2nd Gen. Pretty much the only competitor it's not lower than is the AirPods Max 2, which offers a measly 20 hours.

Sony told me that this change was due to making the earcups slimmer, and acknowledged that it was a compromise compared to the usual amount — but it also noted that it was sufficient for the longest flights.

Sony also highlighted that the batteries can be replaced in the future without trouble, because they're just held in with screws, rather than glued in.

7. Not optimized for noise cancellation

The Collexion have the same general noise-cancellation tech as the Sony XM6 — including the QN3 processor and 12 microphones — plus an improved driver, so you might assume it would Sony's best noise-cancellation yet… but Sony was clear not to expect this.

Sony emphasized that it would still steer you to the XM6 if you want its top ANC power. The reason is that the focus on comfort — elements such as the lighter clamping force and change in earcup material and design — means that these headphones won't have quite as strong a physical seal against outside sounds as the XM6.

Again, in our The Collexion review you'll read they're actually very good for noise cancellation, and are on par with AirPods Max 2 — but yes, the XM6 are noticeably better when it gets loud. It's a fair trade-off for the comfort, though.

8. They're not foldable

This won't be a dealbreaker for everyone, but some people really prefer headphones that fold for travel, and we were really pleased that Sony added this feature back into the XM6 headphones, having dropped it in the Sony XM5.

The Collexion don't fold, but Sony said that portability was something it had in mind when creating the slimmer earcups, and between that and the case being a little smaller, it's still a nice small thing to put in a bag — and also of note for travellers, the wider headband means they're more comfortable to wear around your neck.

• Campfire Audio unveils new Chimera in-ear monitors (IEMs)
• Nine-driver tech includes bone conduction woofer and electrotatic tweeters
• Premium design that makes each unit unique

Everyone's talking about ditching Bluetooth in headphones these days. Well if you're looking for the best wired earbuds around, then Campfire Audio has a very interesting proposition for you, but it'll cost you.

It'll cost you a lot.

The new Campfire Audio Chimera cost $7,500 / £6,999 (about AU$14,000). That's 30 times the $249 / £219 / AU$429 price of the AirPods Pro 3, which I use as a reference since they're the most popular model of buds on the planet. Suffice it to say, they're not for the average consumer — it's likely to be professionals and the most hardcore of head-fi enthusiasts who'll pick them up.

But boy, what you get for that money is hard to argue with. These IEMs look fantastic, made of carbon-fibre and brass, adorned in a magnesium shell. According to Campfire Audio, every single unit made will look slightly different, with the production method resulting in subtle differences.

You can see how good they look in images; apparently they're designed to catch the light, so will appear even better in person.

The cable included with the IEMs uses four copper conductors, and two 50/50 copper and silver ones. And you get a lot more in the box: loads of eartips (including silicone and foam options), a cleaning tool and cloth, and a carry bag.

But the real draw to the Chimera is the audio.

Driver? I barely know 'er

The Campfire Audio Chimera has not one, not two, not… okay, it has nine drivers. And there are some real surprises in that list.

You're getting a 10mm dynamic driver for low-end, dual-diaphragm balanced armature driver for midrange, two balanced armatures for clarity, four electrostatic "super-tweeters" for high-frequency sound, and a bone conduction driver too.

This latter sounds like one of the most interesting selling points of the Chimera: it'll let you feel, not just hear, low-end sounds, to add a little extra physicality to sub-bass.

That's a bold choice, but it could pay off big time. We've previously knocked the brand's IEMs for their bass, like the Campfire Audio Solaris Stellar Horizon, and maybe Campfire Audio has fixed that problem in style.

For those who don't care about bigger bass, the draw lies in the use of four electrostatic drivers per bud — it's not a tech that gets out much, so we love to see it.

To keep the show on the road, Campfire Audio has given the Chimera a pressure valve to keep the airflow correct, and a tuning damper to make sure sound quality is as good as it could be. Given the specs list, these could sound like some of the best IEMs out there (and you'd hope so, for that price).

Many people review tech so they can test fancy and expensive new gadgets, but I love the cheapies; the affordable yet competitive tech that most consumers actually buy, that offers you actually exciting value for money.

Because of that, I've always had an aversion to expensive audio products. Sure, the best headphones may sound amazing, but if they cost more than a month's groceries, then I'm not convinced.

No; give me a pair of the best cheap headphones and I'll be a happy chappy (whose wallet will be equally chipper). I don't mind sacrificing on some audio quality and noise cancellation, and I love how affordable tech often has a more hardy build and longer-lasting battery.

Recent headphones such as the OneOdio Focus A1 Pro, Soundpeats Cove Pro and Soundcore Space Two have all impressed me more than the next audiophile headset would.

Unfortunately, extra groceries are not the only thing I get to consume this week, because I'm now having to eat my words. A year ago I tested the AKG N9 and, without exaggeration, I've used them (almost) every day since.

AKGee whizz

As smart readers will have gathered from the headlines, the AKG N9 are two things: a) headphones and b) expensive, retailing for $399 / £299 / AU$499 at the time of release, rarely seeing discounts from that retail cost.

The picture above shows you what they look like; they have a premium finish, comfortable pads and fairly reasonable weight for what's within. I know many audiophiles lament AKG's free-wheeling pre-Harman/Samsung acquisition days, but I'm still pretty fond of what its created since then.

One of their best specs is the battery life, which goes to an astounding 100 hours if you've got ANC turned off (55 hours with it turned on, which is still two straight days of listening and then most of The Lord of the Rings). It's a fantastic figure which lets forgetful people (two thumbs pointed straight at me) avoid charging them for weeks on end.

Despite my distain for pricey tech (and despite the existence of fancy multi-thousand-dollar headphones, these still are expensive), I gave the AKG N9 four and a half stars out of five in my review, which took a lot for someone as cynical as I. And that's all because of the killer feature which has cemented these as my favorite headphones.

Dongle breakin' my heart

Nestled inside one of the AKG N9's cups is a little USB-C dongle. If you plug this into a device, it'll override that device's audio output so that sound will come out of the AKG N9 instead.

This has three benefits. Firstly, for the headphones, it lets you quickly connect them to whichever device you want to use, without the arduous Bluetooth pairing game, or for work devices where maybe that's not an option. Secondly, for a device, it lets you easily switch from your current speaker or earbud to the AKGs.

Lastly, the connection is also higher-quality and lower-latency than Bluetooth, which is always welcome.

It's a novel feature, which the N9 shares with its sibling earbuds the AKG N5 and only a handful of gaming buds, and I waxed lyrical in my review about how cool it was. I talked about how being able to switch between your various gadgets easily, or borrow other people's, could be incredibly convenient.

A year later, and I'm back with actual experience of all that. Not only have the AKG N9 shown themselves for even more handy use cases, but I've used them probably every day since.

Flatmate bane

I use the Creative Pebble Nova on my PC: I like the way they sound, I like the way they look, and may have conveniently 'forgotten' to give them back to TechRadar after my review was published. However they don't get as much use as they deserve, because of the AKG.

The N9's dongle now takes an almost-permanent place in the USB-C port atop my computer, so I can pull it out if I want to use the speakers or push it in when I want the headphones. And most of the time, I want to use the headphones.

I've got a flatmate and I don't want to annoy him by using the loud and bassy speakers; when I hear him come home, I can slip in the dongle and play games or watch a movie from the headphones instead. Likewise when he leaves, it's only seconds before I'm listening to my videos with the speakers.

It helps that the AKG sound amazing and have hardy noise cancellation, which help me forget that my house borders a train line and is under a flight path. I find it easier to hear videos and get immersed in games when I'm using them.

For various tasks, I've also got my iPad, laptop and phone, so if I need to I can also start using the N9 on these devices with no re-connection fiddling; likewise my partner can borrow them for her tablet without any fuss. I've taken them on holidays, on coffee-shop work trips, and to friends' houses.

As I use them, more handy use cases for the AKG N9 crop up; only the other day I used them (with a converter) alongside an audio field recorder to check a mic was working. I could have spent ages trying to find my wired headphones, or some seconds with the N9.

The only thing I can't use them for is exercise, but thankfully I test plenty of open earbuds for that.

If I calculated the price of individual headphones or earbuds for the various tasks I use the AKG N9 for, it'd certainly be more than the cans themselves cost. I may hate expensive headphones and still consider the vast majority unnecessary, but versatile headphones like these will save the right buyer loads of money.

• Denon unveils new X2900H and X3900H AV receivers
• Both have new audio architecture for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X sound
• X2900H is 7.2 channels; X3900H is 9.4 channels

Denon has unveiled two new AV receivers, including an update to one of the most popular bang-for-buck models around — and it's a pretty strong upgrade based on my early impressions from a demo session.

The new models are the Denon AVR-X2900H and the AVR-X3900H, and they're similar in a lot of ways, with the X3900H promising more "scalability" and "flexibility" over its little sibling.

They replace the X2800H and X3800H respectively, and Denon says they've been updated internally to improve the sound, including sharing a new 32-bit DAC system designed to deliver "improved imaging, clearer high-frequency detail and more confident low-frequency energy across every channel."

Both receivers support Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and include Dirac Live and Audyssey support for sound correction. They both have six HDMI inputs and multiple HDMI outputs, with support for 4K 120Hz passthrough with Dolby Vision HDR (and 8K video at 60Hz). New this year is support for 1440p and AMD FreeSync passthrough, which is nice for PC gamers.

They also have Denon's HEOS wireless platform on board for music streaming over Wi-Fi, with support for major streaming platforms to play in hi-res — plus Bluetooth connectivity.

The differences come in just how elaborately all this is implemented. The X2900H supports 7.2 channels of sound at up to 95W (at 8 ohms) per channel, while the X3900H supports 9.4 channels at up to 105W (at 8 ohms) per channel.

The pricier X300H includes Auro 3D and IMAX Enhanced support as well as the two standard spatial formats, and offers more Dirac tools as optional extras. The X2900H offers two HDMI outs (one of which is eARC), while the X3900H has three HDMI outs (again one eARC).

The extra channels of the X3900H obviously require a load more speaker connections on the back, but the X3900H also includes more RCA inputs, including an MM phono input, and more pre-amp outputs.

Both models launch today, May 14. The Denon AVR-X2900H costs $1,349 / £899 (about AU$1,680), while the Denon AVR-X3900H costs $1,849 / £1,299 (about AU$2,430).

So, you've got the run-down on what they can do — but how do they sound? Happily, I got to hear them before their launch.

What are the Denon X2900H and X3900H like in action?

Denon's listening room at its Kawasaki office — used by its current Sound Master, Shinichi Yamauchi, to refine and provide feedback on the performance of its products — provided the setting for an all-too-brief demo of the new AVR models.

They were connected to the room's array of Bowers & Wilkins 801 speakers, which are probably a little more hardcore (at $55k / £34k per pair) than most people will connect to these amps, but at least I could be sure that the speakers weren't going to impose any kind of limitation on what I was hearing.

First, Denon gave me a demo comparing the existing X2800H AVR with the new X2900H that replaces it, showing a scene from Dune in the ornithopter (a word I'm now able to spell first time consistently, thanks to how frequently scenes featuring it in appear home theater demos).

This was a 5.2.2-channel demo in Dolby Atmos, maxing out the X2900H's 7.2-channel capacity with the five surround channels plus the two height channels, and then two subwoofers.

The key theme here is that small changes add up to a clear improvement. The dialogue clarity is a little stronger, standing out slightly more prominently from the beating wings of the ornithopter while still feeling natural.

The spatial effect of the surround channels is a little stronger as well, feeling like there's a touch more dynamic range and expansiveness to envelop you in what's around you.

The bass transients and low-end power also feel — say it with me — a little stronger. There's an extra step of liveliness and control to bass impacts that make them feel more tactile

Adding together multiple elements that are a little stronger, though, creates a whole that feels bigger, meatier and more complete. The upgrade from the X2800H to the X2900H isn't game-changing, but it's weighty.

After that, we got a comparison of the new step-up X3900H against the X2900H. The demo was Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert, which is a movie score concert film (but sounds like an animated movie where Hans and his team solve a Scooby-Doo-like mystery).

The X2900H played through the same speaker setup as above, but when we switched to the X3900H we added a couple of extra surround channels, taking us to 7.2.2 channels, in Dolby Atmos.

Interestingly, though, in the section of the Inception medley that Denon demoed for us, I couldn't hear as much difference between these two AVRs as I could between the X2800H and the X2900H, even though in this case two extra speakers were being added.

It may have been partly to do with the arrangement of the song just not taking that much advantage of the extra channels, but in general I'd say I didn't feel much of a difference in the expression and clarity of the instruments.

It's obviously very possible that further reviewing with more scenes will reveal more nuance, so I'll have to reserve full judgment on the X3900H — but obviously, at the very least, even if its performance turns out to be very similar to the X2900H, it still provides more channels and higher power output for speakers that really benefit from it, so may be worth the upgrade anyway.

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• Shanling releases new, retro EC Play portable CD player
• Lightweight, but with many connection options
• Sells in May for $199 / £209 (about AU$420)

CD players have remained in vogue despite the rise (and fall?) of streaming, but now retro audio tech is making a comeback (including cassette players, somehow), so too are '90s-inspired CD players.

Chinese hi-fi company Shanling has just announced the EC Play, a new and understated disk machine coming in silver, black or green.

It's set to sell from May, for $199 / £209 (about AU$420), less than the firm's higher-end portable players like the ECZero AKM which goes for $319 (about £244 / AU$490).

As you'd hope for a portable CD player, it's a little thing. It measures 14.2 x 12.5 x 2.6 cm — little more than a CD itself — and weighs 418g. That makes it lighter than the average regulation FIFA soccer ball, which are allowed to be between 410g and 450g. [Editor's note: I have no idea why we are now measuring our CD players in soccer balls, but I have decided to allow it.]

It has a clean shell, rather like the FiiO DM13, without the see-through section or design flair we often see from this kind of tech.

Yet a glance at the above picture shows various buttons, displays and ports. The thing may be lightweight, but it hides plenty of features.

A CD player with plenty of tricks

The Shanling EC Play doesn't just work with your standard 3.5mm headphones, but also has a 4.4mm port, and a Coax output too.

If you like retro but you've not gone all the way to the wired-only life, it also handles Bluetooth playback. It supports AAC, LDAC and SBC codecs, and is on the Bluetooth 6.0 standard.

The Cirrus Logic DAC supposedly is designed for a "natural and fun sound", and there's a built-in dual headphone amp that can cater for IEMs and headphones that need a bit more oomph, as well as your standard wired bud.

You can also plug the player into a PC, laptop or phone via USB, and it'll act as a DAC for PCM 32-bit/384kHz and DSD256 playback.

The EC Play's battery life is, according to Shanling, 12 hours. Naturally this'll vary based on how you listen to your music, but it's above average for this kind of gadget.

According to Shanling, the EC Play is designed not for top-end audio specs and unique features, but "to recreate the days of old", which is apparently "when portable CD players were convenient and a common part of daily life".

I'm not holding my breath to see this kind of tech commonly used on public transport, but Shanling's right in one way. Its EC Play seems convenient to use on the go or at home, with that versatility likely to win over some buyers.

• Sivga unveils M260 wired earbuds with huge 14.2mm driver
• They come in USB-C or 3.5mm versions
• The fit is like the old Apple Earbuds design from before AirPods

It's been 14 years since Apple discontinued its classic iPods earbuds, which had a circular speaker grille — ditching them for the still-sold EarPods — but other brands occasionally still release earbuds in this style, and the latest one takes advantage of the design to whack in a huge driver.

Audio company Sivga has unveiled a new pair of cheap buds which share a lot of design traits with the older earbuds, except their clean white design and the sheer size of the driver involved.

These are the Sivga M260, which are newly on sale in two iterations. There's a version with a 3.5mm plug, which costs $44 / £33 / AU$62, and one that connects via USB-C, which goes for $50 / £38 / AU$70.

We've mostly tested the brand's over-ears, like the classy wooden Sivga Oriole or Sivga Robin SV021 Pro, but it sells plenty of earbuds and in-ear monitors too.

Budget buds with a big driver

The Sivga M260 gets a 14.2mm driver, which is on the big side for in-ear buds like this. It uses a dynamic driver with neodymium magnet and copper composite diaphragm.

According to the brand, the tuning is aimed towards a smooth and natural sound, with controlled bass.

In the box, you get four different pairs of ear pads, so you can make sure the M260 lock in your ears, and to block out a little bit of surrounding sound.

The cable's another element that differentiates this from the cheapie earbuds that came in-box with your iPod. It's a 4N silver-plated, oxygen-free copper cable, and it's detachable from the buds so you can replace the cable or buds if one or the other is damaged (or if you make an upgrade).

There are some small differences between the two on-sale models. The USB-C version has a small control panel, with volume rocker and microphone, and it has a built-in DAC for hi-res audio.

Given how many products are losing the headphone jack nowadays, I imagine most people will opt for USB-C… unless you're one of the people still holding onto your iPod and you want these to bring back that classic feeling.

• JL Audio, owned by Garmin, unveils new hi-fi products
• Two speakers: T6 and S3, each with high prices
• Also unveils CS Stereo Centerpiece preamp and streamer

Everyone's favorite smartwatch brand Garmin has taken a break from wearables, such as the recent Tactix 8, to release a series of home audio gadgets with bank-breaking prices.

This is JL Audio's Primacy range, and this is one of Garmin's sub-brands. You'd be forgiven for not having heard of them, as their chief areas are car and maritime audio, and this jump into luxe hi-fi is sure to raise some eyebrows.

Don't expect these gadgets to price similarly to the best Garmin watches, though. They're seriously expensive pieces of hi-fi gear — priced to match the elite stuff from the likes of Bowers & Wilkins and Wilson Audio — that you can only pick up from specialist audio dealers.

Meet the Primacy pals

Let's talk about the Garmin JL Audio Primacy T6 first (just above). This is the priciest of the bunch, retailing for around $90,000 per pair.

These floorstanding active speakers have six drivers each: a 1-inch carbon tweeter, a 5.5-inch mid-range driver, and four 5.5-inch woofers. These are three amps per unit, totaling 1000W of output, and each amp has its own DSP and DAC, with support for 32-bit/192kHz audio.

The JL Audio Primacy S3, selling for $35,000 per pair, drops the specs a little. They're active speakers again, with the same 1-inch dome tweeter as the bigger model, plus a 5.5-inch woofer, and two amplifiers per unit.

Both speakers have various refinements such shaped enclosures and audio filters to offer tuned sound. They connect via XLR, RCA or Cat 6

Rounding out the trio, ostensibly to control the others, is the $15,000 CS Stereo Centerpiece. This is both a streamer — with compatibility for various audio services — and a preamp. It has all the trappings you'd hope at the price, such as room correction, user profiles, Bluetooth compatibility, and a built-in screen.

None of Garmin's new devices are available from its website. Instead, the listings guides you to your local retailer, who you can pick them up from.

• Sony WH-1000XX The ColleXion all but confirmed
• Spotted on Hollywood star's head in NYC
• Seems to give a wink and nod to previous leaks

If there were any doubt that Sony was cooking up something special, it should now be dispelled. We've reported on 'Sony WH-1000XX The ColleXion' leaks before, and now it seems like the brand's 10th-anniversary super-premium headphones could be real.

They haven't been officially announced yet, but they seem to have shown up in public, all but guaranteeing a release is on the horizon.

Specifically, they were seen worn by F1 star Damson Idris, in several photographs which were shared by various fashion pages on X. Case in point:

Over on the r/headphones Subreddit, audiophiles were quick to note that these aren't a known pair of headphones, with a Sony logo making it clear that these are the product of the Japanese brand, but several design differences from the likes of the WH-1000XM6.

It seems, then, that we're looking at Sony's as-yet-unannounced premium option. The pictures give us a look at a few key design features, including an interesting metal headband/hinge, an audio jack, some grilles and a carry case too. Thankfully, the latter looks a lot more sensible than the AirPods Max 2 'bra' case.

Tin-foil hat time

Ostensibly, this could be a simple leak. We occasionally hear cases of tech testers snapped with upcoming gadgets in public: companies do need to let their devices get real-world testing, after all.

But you probably don't use Hollywood stars to do said testing. The fact that it was Damson Idris who was spotted with the cans, in very professional-looking photographs, makes me think it wasn't a massive coincidence — and then there's the fact that an official Sony account replied to the above X post with the 'eyes' emoji, drawing attention to the whole thing rather than avoiding it.

My conspiracy theory (and that of most of the Reddit commenters)? Sony has started sending out the WH-1000XX The ColleXion headphones to certain people, in the hopes that they'll get pap-snapped with the cans to raise intrigue.

We've seen it before, with brands such as Beats giving its audio products to influential people, to tease the imminent launch of an exciting new device. Even if not true, and this was just a happy coincidence for the brand, Sony's clearly leaning into it.

The rumor mill says that these headphones will be announced on May 19. Since we're getting these 'candid' teases of the cans, that launch date is looking increasingly likely.

So far we've heard that these will be top-end cans selling for around €629 (about $740, £550, AU$1,030), that could have advanced ANC and audiophile-quality specs, but perhaps a worse battery and heavier weight than Sony's other headphones.

If the rumors are correct, we won't have long to go until we discover the truth in these whispers.

• Topping announces the DX9 Discrete DAC and headphone amp
• Uses delta sigma processing like an integrated DAC, but in discrete components like an R2R DAC
• Going on sale for £1,299 (about $1,750, AU$2,600)

Topping Audio may not be the most prolific hi-fi company, but when it strikes, it strikes hard; a recent DAC, amp and preamp combo called the DX5 II proved that. And its latest piece of gear is just as ambitious.

The brand has announced the Topping DX9 Discrete, which is now on sale in the UK for £1,299 (about $1,750, AU$2,600) — that's not cheap, but given the tech inside, it's also kind of a bargain.

This combination DAC and headphone amp builds on its predecessor in a few key ways, most crucially introducing Topping's proprietary PSRM architecture for digital-to-audio conversion (which I'll come back to in a moment), and support for a 10-band PEQ. Thankfully, it retains the older version's design, including a cool see-through build.

The DX9 has a display on the front that lets you monitor various factors and change settings, and it has a wide range of inputs and outputs including USB, optical, coax and HDMI, hitting up to 32-bit 768kHz PCM / DSD512 decoding.

The Topping DX9 Discrete supports Bluetooth 5.1 with LDAC, various aptX standards, AAC and SBC, and works as a headphone amplifier with six channels, capable of driving even particularly fussy cans. But easily its coolest feature is in the DAC space.

The company keeps Topping itself

As audio fans might know, picking an audio system can be hard, with many fancy techs solving one problem only to raise another. Do you go for an R2R DAC, with is discrete architecture creating a warm harmonic sound but often more distortion, or an integrated chip that has less distortion but can feel like a colder and more digital sound?

Topping thinks it can deliver the best of both worlds using its PSRM system. The uses discrete components, similar to R2R DACs, but uses them for delta-sigma processing, like an integrated chip — all through a 1-bit pipeline at extremely high sample frequencies (purportedly in the megahertz range).

According to Topping, this is a bit like it's converting all your Hi-Res Audio files into DSD, which is natively based around the idea of 1-bit, high-frequency files.

The promise is that this all results in greatly reduced distortion compared to R2R DACs, while retaining a slightly more analogue-feeling sound for your music.

It's a neat trick, and one I'm sure audiophiles will flock to, if at least to see just how well it works. But selling points aside, this still seems like a sold DAC-amp combo which should sit well against other other favorite options…

EarFun Clip 2: Two minute review

The Earfun Clip 2 buds are the latest entry in the wave of clip-style options among the best open earbuds. They're Earfun's second go at this form factor after the original Earfun Clip, following the brand's OpenJump ear hook design.

And the big pitch of the Earfun Clip 2 is price, because they cost $79 / £69 / AU$120 at launch. With early discounts already appearing on the Earfun website, they undercut much of the competition.

Now, that budget positioning does come through in places. The plastic build feels a little cheap in the hand. The sound profile, though energetic and punchy for workouts, has some limitations at volume that I'll get to, which means you’ll want to tweak the EQ.

There are some notable features here that I really rated, including an impressive 11 hours of battery life, Hi-Res Audio and LDAC support, multipoint connectivity, and a smart AI translation tool, which could just be a nice-to-have for some or genuinely useful for others. For cheap open-ears, there’s a lot here.

Open-ear designs are a bit of a gamble when it comes to comfort. Do you go with a neckband, ear hooks, or clip-on? Well, I’m firmly in the clip-on camp, and I found the Clip 2 buds mostly secure, light, comfortable and easy to forget about once they're in. I did notice some slight slippage, but only on sweaty runs when I pushed their grip to the limit.

However, after a lot of time testing audio gear, I've learned that ears are subjective little things. Some people love the clip-on feel and others find it irritating. That subjectivity runs through the whole experience here, from fit to sound to whether you mind the build quality at this price.

Overall, the Earfun Clip 2 aren't trying to compete with similarly style buds, like the Bose Ultra Open or the Shokz OpenDots One, on refinement. Instead, they’re asking: hey, do you want a decent pair of open earbuds without spending very much?

If the fit works for you and you're willing to play with the settings, the answer could well be yes — I've tested a load of clip-style buds, and these are the cheapest option I'd happily tell people to buy.

EarFun Clip 2 review: Price and availability

• Price at launch: $79.99 / £69.99 (about AU$120)
• Launched April 2026
• Already discounted at launch

The Earfun Clip 2 buds launched at $79.99 / £69.99 (about AU$120), but there's already an early bird discount on the Earfun website bringing them down to $55.99 / £49.99, which probably tells you what price you can expect to see them fall to in any sales events.

The headline here is they significantly undercut much of the competition. The two clip-on open earbuds we'd most readily recommend right now are the Shokz OpenDots One at $199 / £179 / AU$339 and the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds at $299 / £299 / AU$449.95.

The Earfun Clip 2 cost less than half of the Shokz and roughly a quarter of the Bose. Even the Edifier LolliClip, which does pack in extras such as noise cancellation, heart rate and blood oxygen tracking, come in at $129.99.

Which means that if you've been curious about the clip-on design but reluctant to spend big on an experiment, the Earfun Clip 2 make a very compelling entry point on price alone.

That said, they're not the only budget option in this increasingly crowded space. For example, the Soundpeats Clip1 are currently our top pick for open buds in a clip-on design for under $100 costing only $69.99 / £74.99 / AU$79.99 and we gave them a solid 4 out of 5 star rating.

What’s more, the JLab Flex Open earbuds come in at $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$129.95. We haven't reviewed those, so can't speak to quality, but it's worth knowing that cheap clip-on open earbuds exist beyond the Earfun. Granted, not all of them will be worth your time and money, and as we'll get to, the Clip 2 do pack in some great features to back up that low price.

EarFun Clip 2 review: Specifications

EarFun Clip 2 review: Features

• 11 hours battery life (40 hours with the case)
• AI translation across 100+ languages
• Solid app to tweak settings

The Earfun Clip 2 buds were easy to set up: just open the case and they connect, with Google Fast Pair support speeding things along if you’ve got an Android phone. Multipoint connectivity worked reliably throughout testing too. I spent a full working day moving between my laptop and phone across cafes and a coworking space, and the switch took under five seconds each time.

Battery life is a strong point. With LDAC off, you get up to 11 hours from the buds and 40 hours total with the charging case, and during testing I got close to 10 hours, which tracks enough for me. Switch LDAC on and that drops to six hours (22 hours in total), which is still reasonable. The case supports wireless charging, and the buds fully recharge inside it in about an hour.

For context, the Bose Ultra Open manage 7.5 hours (27 total), the Shokz OpenDots One offer 10 hours (40 hours in total), and the similarly-priced Soundpeats Clip1, offer eight hours from the buds (32 hours in total). so the Clip 2 hold their own against pricier rivals.

The standout feature here is AI translation, covering more than 100 languages. There are two modes: face to face, which translates in chunks after each person speaks, and real-time, which handles continuous one-way speech with a slight delay. Both worked well in my testing.

AI translation is appearing in other earbuds too, but finding it in a pair this affordable and in an open design feels like genuine added value.

There's Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification and LDAC support too, which is rare at this price, though the drivers and open design don't fully capitalize on that extra bandwidth.

The Earfun app is clean and easy to navigate. The 10-band custom EQ works well, alongside presets like bass boost, treble boost, vocal enhancement and genre options like rock, pop and classical. As we'll get to, I needed to tweak the EQ to get the most from the Clip 2, so this was welcome.

You'll also find a game mode for reduced latency, a theater mode that widens the soundstage, and a privacy mode that drops volume and reduces sound leakage.

Other extras include hearing health settings with volume limits and left/right balance, auto-shutdown timers, and a 'find my earbuds' function that worked reliably every time for me.

Connectivity was solid around the house, though I noticed occasional brief drops in the left earbud when I was walking through the city, where there could be more interference. They reconnected within a second or two, but it’s worth noting, since not all earbuds have this issue in the city when I use them.

There's no active noise cancellation here, and you're not getting heart-rate sensors or a personalized hearing test, or anything like that — and that's absolutely fine, given the price.

• Features score: 4/5

EarFun Clip 2 review: Sound quality

• Punchy bass for open earbuds
• Treble turns a little harsh and fatiguing at high volumes
• Mid-range can get buried

As you'd expect from the open design, you can still hear your surroundings with the Clip 2, whether that’s conversations, alarm or traffic. Not as much as buds that sit further from your ear, such as a bone conduction pair, but enough for situational awareness.

That said, don't mistake open-ear for transparent. You're still listening to something, and I found myself distracted enough by the audio that I wasn't hearing everything around me, even with my ear canal relatively free.

As with any open earbuds, you're trading fidelity for that awareness of your surroundings here. The question isn't whether the Earfun Clip 2 sound as good as in-ears (they don't). It's whether they make the most of the form factor at this price.

At lower volumes, the answer is yes. There's separation, a sense of space, and a brightness that keeps things lively without feeling thin. Listening to Tame Impala's Dracula at a comfortable level, the bass came through with some presence, which is not always the case in open earbuds.

Budget open options like the Huawei FreeArc, our current top pick at this end of the market, have never really satisfied fully on the low end. The Clip 2 have noticeably more punch.

However, push the volume and things can start to unravel depending on what you’re listening to. Treble takes over, cymbals and hi-hats become sharp, vocals and guitars turn brittle, and the midrange almost gets buried underneath.

I put on Death From Above 1979's Turn It Out, a track I've listened to hundreds of times, and at first the crashing drums and heavy low end landed brilliantly. But the moment guitars and vocals came in, it became harsh enough that I didn't want to keep listening. That's a problem when it's one of your favorite tracks.

So there’s a bit of tension with the Clip 2. These are earbuds mostly designed for outdoor use, like running, walking and commuting — ie, environments where you might really need to push the volume to hear them. But they sound their best when kept a little lower.

Now, I’m happy to report that the custom EQ helps a little. A treble reduction preset warmed things up, and pulling back the highs further with the 10-band EQ created a smoother, flatter listen. But even with adjustments, that midrange muddiness didn't fully clear up.

Podcasts sounded decent, with enough vocal clarity to follow speech comfortably. That same treble harshness crept in at higher volumes here, though in noisier environments the extra edge actually helped voices cut through in busy environments.

As you’d expect from open buds, there was some detectable sound leakage, but not that much. Unless you're listening at volume in a very quiet office or train carriage, I'd say you'll be fine.

They're not a great-sounding pair of earbuds in the grand scheme of things. But for the form factor and the price, they are more capable than much of the competition, as long as you don’t need to pump up the volume too often.

• Sound quality score: 3.5/5

EarFun Clip 2 review: Design

• Clip-on design that's surprisingly secure
• Comfortable for long sessions, though fit is subjective
• Plastic build feels budget compared to rivals

The Earfun Clip 2 use a clip-on design that hooks over the cartilage at the side of your ear. The chunkier rectangular section housing the controls and battery then rests behind the ear and the spherical driver unit sits in your concha. Each bud weighs just 5.5g, and a Ni-Ti (nickel-titanium) alloy frame helps the clip hold its shape over time.

After reviewing plenty of open earbuds, I've come to accept that fit preferences are deeply personal. Some people swear by hooks behind the ears, others prefer neckband-style fits.

For me, the clip-on is actually my favorite form factor, partly because I have thick hair and sometimes wear glasses, both of which can make hooks and neckbands less comfortable and secure. But your experience may really differ, all of our ears are unique after all!

That said, the first day or two I spent convinced they were about to fall off. They didn't, and once I'd stopped second-guessing them, I found the Clip 2 surprisingly secure and comfortable for long listening sessions.

The only time they shifted around to the point I wanted to take them off was during sprint intervals in a sweaty HIIT session, and I'd expect that from most earbuds.

There's IP55 dust and water resistance, so they'll handle sweat, rain and the odd splash without any trouble, just don't submerge them. Combined with the (mostly) secure fit and light weight, they make a solid workout companion.

Looks-wise, I've always found the clip-on design quite cool, like something out of Star Trek. But the Clip 2 are simple, black and plastic, and some might find them a little cheap-looking compared to shinier rivals with more colour options, like the Bose Ultra Open or the Shokz OpenDots One.

Controls are handled by a physical button on the back of each bud rather than touch surfaces, which I preferred. It's easy to find by feel when you're moving, responsive enough that I never had to fumble, and you can customize single, double-, triple- and long-press actions in the app.

The charging case tells a similar story to the buds themselves. It’s pill-shaped, black, plastic, but with a solid hinge and matte finish that make it look plain and purposeful if I’m being polite, a bit cheap if I’m not.

• Design score: 4/5

EarFun Clip 2 review: Value

For the price, the Earfun Clip 2 deliver, and they’re the clip-on open earbuds I'll be recommending if anyone needs a budget pick.

The value here is strongest when you look up the price ladder. The Shokz OpenDots One offer a similar experience for more than double the price. The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds do justify their premium with noticeably better sound, but they cost almost five times as much.

This means that if you're curious about the clip-on design and don't want to gamble serious money on finding out whether it suits your ears, the Earfun make that experiment much easier to stomach.

Yes, the price shows at times. The plastic build feels budget, and the sound has limitations at higher volumes that the pricier rivals handle better. But you're not buying these expecting premium. You're buying them because you want open earbuds with a clip-on fit, decent bass and a whole shopping list of useful features without spending much. On all of those terms, they deliver.

• Value score: 4.5/5

Should I buy the Earfun Clip 2?

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

Earfun Clip 2 review: Also consider

How I tested the Earfun Clip 2

I tested the Earfun Clip 2 for two weeks to write this review. I mostly had them paired with my iPhone 16 Pro, but also used them with my MacBook to test the multipoint connectivity.

I used them mostly to listen to music and podcasts while I was working out of the house or exercising. But I also tried listening to TV shows and movies with them to see how the different modes sounded.

I’ve been testing and writing about tech for nearly 15 years. I’ve reviewed wearables, health tech and smart home products. But I’ve recently been focusing on fitness audio and open earbuds, especially headphones and buds on the more affordable end of the spectrum.

I’m especially interested in how tech actually feels to use day to day, rather than how it performs against a spec sheet.

• First reviewed: April 2026
• Read more about how we test

• A Redditor built a tool to let you blind ear test FLAC and different MP3 quality levels
• Crucially, you use your own music, rather than samples you don't know well
• It's humbling a lot of audiophiles

In a bid to work out whether they had the hearing chops to tell the difference between FLAC and MP3, a Redditor recently built a tool to let you do a 'blind' listening test. It's not the first tool for this, but it addresses common pain points with these tools, to make it easier to directly compare and contrast songs — and most crucially, you use your own songs, so you're testing with tracks you know inside and out.

You upload a FLAC and the tool will create 16, 64, 128 and 320kbps MP3 copies. Then you can seamlessly switch between the lower bitrates and original, with randomized labels not telling you which version you're listening to. Changing won't jump you back to the start of the song, so you can hear excerpts in different streams.

The tool does the rest, and it's all processed in your browser, so your data won't be uploaded to the cloud or anyone ready to sell it. Just note, you'll actually need a lossless file to do the test, and for best results you'll want to be outputting to a good DAC – either in a hi-fi system or powered speakers, or one of the best portable DACs and some of the best wired headphones.

But why I am I talking? You can test out the tool yourself, by browsing to it right here. It's free to use, although there's a donation link for the creator if you find it useful.

Hearing a difference?

Most audiophiles will probably assert that they can always hear a difference between lossless and lossy, but this test might cause some to doubt their own ears. The owner himself said jokingly "turns out I'm deaf I guess", when describing how they can't hear the difference between 128kbps, 320kbps and FLAC.

The original poster's not alone, with other users confirming that they've struggled to hear a difference. One poster simply said "this is very humbling", communicating in four words what many other responders took paragraphs to say.

Another commenter described doing the test on $25,000 monitors, and not being able to tell 320kbps files from lossless.

As many point out, MP3 takes up less space than FLAC, making it ideal for space-conscious listeners.

This isn't exactly breaking news. Sound engineers have long rumbled about the differences between higher-quality compressed audio and full lossless being impossible to pick out. Famed producer Steven Wilson who recently admitted that he can't tell the difference between CDs and high-res audio any more (though I should point out that none of the options in the comparison tool are as high-quality as CD, which is around 1,400kbps).

There is plenty of defense for lossless, though, beyond audio fidelity. Posters point out that storing the best-quality FLAC files means you can easily convert to other file types without introducing artefacts, because while you can convert lossless to lossy MP3, you can't convert back and regain the information you lost.

So for audiophiles, having your music collection in FLAC is still a safer choice, even if it eats up that storage space. But this tool is a reminder that a good MP3 can still sound great, and even on par with lossless in real terms.

And at the very least, it asserts that 16kbps and 64kbps MP3s still sound garbage.

Sonos Play: two-minute review

The Sonos Play is one of the few products I've tested recently that really converted me to its cause over time. It's a product that Sonos pitches as a home speaker that's also portable — the one speaker you can use everywhere.

I started off thinking that the Sonos Play was struggling for value, because it's more expensive than Sonos' small purely home speaker, the Sonos Era 100, but doesn't sound quite as good. And it costs a lot more than most of the best Bluetooth speaker options, such as the excellent JBL Charge 6.

But over time, I realized that the Sonos Play excels in subtlety. Despite Sonos' claim, I don't think of it as a home speaker first and a portable speaker second. I see it as a portable speaker that's good enough to justify a place out on your furniture all the time, rather than being relegated to a drawer when you're not using it. And as a result, I started using it as both a home speaker for the room its in, and I started grabbing it to take with me to other rooms simply because I could, and it sounds good.

The charging cradle is vital to this. With no cable to fiddle with, you can just grab the Sonos Play and go without pausing your stride. It lasts for ages once it's away from the cradle (24 hours, and it turns itself off when not in use to keep going over days), so you don't need to be precious about returning it for a charge. It's solidly waterproof so you can use it anywhere without fear — It's a great shower karaoke companion.

And the Sonos Play does sound good — better than most portable speakers of its size. It's really well-rounded, with solid mids, clear treble and plenty of bass. It lacks some dynamic edge (though improves as the volume goes louder), but is still a really enjoyable listen.

It's become my speaker buddy — the one I'm using most, because it's so versatile. It's ready to go anywhere, to play in the house on Wi-Fi or out of the house on Bluetooth. You can achieve everything it does from other speakers, and arguably in a way that's better value — but not with this efficiency.

Sonos said it wanted to make a speaker that could be the one you need — powerful enough to fill nearly any room, and easily portable to take to nearly any room — and I think it nailed it.

Sonos Play review: price and availability

• Released on March 31st, 2026
• $299 / £299 / AU$499

The Sonos Play's $299 / £299 / AU$499 price is a fine balance. When it comes to Sonos' portable speakers, it sits neatly between the Sonos Roam 2's $179 / £179 / AU$239 and the Sonos Move 2's $449 / £449 / AU$799.

When it comes to Sonos' home speakers, it sits neatly between the $219 / £199 / AU$289 price of the Sonos Era 100, and the $449 / £449 / AU$749 price of the Era 300.

The difference, of course, is that the Play's performance sits correctly between the two portable speakers, while it doesn't perform any better than the Era 100 — what you get instead is a smaller design and a battery.

There are tons of competing speakers at this size, but few that offer the combination of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and battery portability. Portable competition includes the Bluetooth-only Marshall Middleton II, which is similar in price at $329.99 / £259 / AU$499, or the JBL Charge 5, which costs $199 / £169 / AU$229.

On the non-portable side, there's the JBL Authentics 200, which is $349 / £299 / AU$449 officially (but can be found for a lot less these days) or the BlueSound Pulse Flex for around $349 / £279.

Sonos Play review: specs

Sonos Play review: features

• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C line-in connectivity, 24-hour battery life
• Charging cradle included, but no power adapter
• Stereo pairing option, or share over Bluetooth with other Sonos speakers even when not on Wi-Fi

The Sonos Play is the company's most versatile speaker to date. It works as a normal Sonos home speaker, complete with Wi-Fi connectivity and support for Sonos' network and app, which support Hi-Res Audio playback from compatible services. You can play to it directly over Apple AirPlay 2 or Sonos Connect as well.

There's also Bluetooth support to play from any other device, and the USB-C port on the back can be connected to an adapter to offer a line-in port for a turntable or other audio source, which then becomes available to all your other Sonos speakers on the network.

Sonos also has a new feature that enables you to group portable Sonos speakers when you're out of the house, so you connect to one of them over Bluetooth, and the sound is shared with the other speakers. There's no Auracast support, though.

The speaker setup consists of two angled tweeters facing slightly left and right, a single midwoofer facing forward, and then two force-opposed bass radiators on the left and right.

You can use a Sonos Play on its own, or you can put two into a stereo pair. You can also use a pair as rear speakers in a Sonos home theater setup.

But it also has a built-in battery, which can last up for up to 24 hours, and the speaker can still play over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth when it's running from battery power alone. The Sonos Play comes with a little battery charging cradle, which you just slot it onto to charge, and you can grab it straight off at a moment's notice without fiddling to unplug.

It's a small thing, but I think it makes a difference to its perceived versatility compared to it being plugged in to charge — I'll dig into that more in the Design section.

Be warned, though, that the cable just has a USB-C connector on the end, and no plug to connect to an outlet. Any USB-C port with 20W of charging power should work, so it could be connected to a device like a computer, or to a power adapter.

The Sonos Play can also be charged using its USB-C port, so you don't need the cable if you take it away for a weekend. You can also charge another device from the USB-C port, if you like, so it can work as a power bank for your phone.

The exact battery figure you get will depend on how you use it (Wi-Fi is more battery-consuming than Bluetooth), but I think Sonos' estimate is about right. I took it off its cradle for three days, using the speaker on Wi-Fi by my desk while I worked during the day for intermittent periods, without charging it at all. At the end of that time, it had 21% battery left.

You can get better battery life from the Marshall Middleton II (30 hours), but only over Bluetooth, not Wi-Fi. I think Sonos has found a good balance of longevity compared to size here.

The one thing about portable use that annoyed me a little was that it turns itself off a little faster than I would like, despite me making sure that the option in the settings to turn off faster to preserve battery life was off. To turn it back on, you need to use the on-off button on the back, and it takes a moment — I'd much prefer a button on top to make this feel less like a hassle.

There can also be times when the flexibility of the speaker conflicts with itself. For example, I put my two units into a stereo pair to test the sound, planning to live with the setup for a few days. But once they're in a pair, the Sonos app (and AirPlay) only want to treat them as a pair, meaning that the idea of grabbing one to take into another room on a whim no longer works. Take them both, or don't bother.

I ended up doing a more intensive stereo audio test, and then switching them back to individual speakers because I was enjoying them more in their most flexible form.

I'll finish this section by touching briefly on the Sonos app. It remains one of the best when it comes to streaming service support, and I've had no problems when it comes to reliability testing either these speakers, or with my current Sonos soundbar/home theater setups.

Setting the speakers up was absolutely seamless, and it was then easy to activate Automatic TruePlay tuning, in which the Sonos Play speaker listens to its own sound output and adjust the sound to better fit the space it's placed in.

The Sonos app can be a bit slow to load new music or screens, though, and there are some design issues that seem needlessly confusing. Sonos CEO Tom Conrad identified some that he plans to fix in an interview with me ahead of the launch of the speakers, though my own gripes are that it's silly that if you tap the cog icon in the top corner to be taken to the Settings screen, the cog icon stays in the corner, meaning it's possible to open the app, tap that because you want to go to the Settings screen, and nothing happens because you don't realize you're already in part of the Settings screen.

I also hate Sonos' design for its on/off switches. They go from black with a white dot, to white with a black dot, depending on whether they're on or off. But which is on and which is off? It's a terrible piece of user communication, you have to play to figure it out. (Black with a white dot is on.)

Now, a lot of other streaming device apps are equally flawed — some have better interfaces, but worse streaming support, for example — so at this point I find the app far from a dealbreaker, but I'm looking forward to seeing it get better. I actually nearly always use AirPlay for playing music anyway, so after setup, I don't interact with it much.

For those who don't want to use an app at all, the Sonos Play support Amazon Alexa and Sonos Voice Control options — but its mic can also be disabled using a switch on the back (which also disables Automatic TruePlay, since it fully disconnects the mic from the system).

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

Sonos Play review: sound quality

• Bass is powerful, but a little heavy handed
• Very well-rounded sound, but best with the volume over 40%
• About as good as speakers of this size sound

The Sonos Play sits in a slightly odd position when it comes to judging its sound quality, because it's a hybrid home and portable speaker. I'm going to mostly judge it based on comparisons with other portable speakers, rather than home speakers, because the design constraints of being portable affect what sound quality you can reasonably expect from it — but I will also compare it to the Sonos Era 100.

As is standard from Sonos, there's a really well-rounded sound with a fair amount of heft across the whole frequency range. The thing that immediately jumps out is the amount of bass depth there is for something pretty small, thanks to its dual passive radiators.

Much like the Era 100, the bass is controlled a little more loosely — a little more heavy-handedly — than I'd like. As with a lot of passive radiator-based speakers, it can feel boomy depending on what surface you place it on, too, but that's situational. It's a trade off in exchange for the punch it provides, and I'm quite happy with it on balance.

The second thing that jumps out is the overall power, which the bass only helps emphasize. This speaker can fill any room in my house without coming close to breaking a sweat or over-stretching itself — in fact, as I'll come back to, it's at its best once you dial up to a certain volume.

The two angled tweeters serve up high frequencies that sound clear and well elevated out of the rest of the mix, with this likely aided by the use of two angled tweeters pointing left and right.

Sonos has also claimed that this set enables stereo sound from a single speaker, but this is, alas, a fantasy. Firing up Crooked by Smilk, the opening of which is basically ‘Now That’s What I Call Stereo Imaging’, reveals only the most minimal stereo effect even from a song that really push separation to the max.

The mid-range is able to find a good amount of detail and solidity in different elements, so that even complex mixes still feel like that have all their constituent parts, rather than getting mushed together in the way that some portable speakers are prone to.

The mid-range and treble are both relatively tame and a little softer on dynamic attack than larger and more expensive portable speakers, or non-portable home speakers. That's a compromise here compared to the Sonos Era 100, for sure — that speaker just has the extra edge in enough areas of sound reproduction to feel like a slightly more robust, more gripping, more revealing listen.

However, compared to the JBL Charge 6, the Sonos Play is a significant step up in the overall reproduction of a song, with the mid-range the clear area of difference. On the JBL Charge 6, it's simple way too thin, lacking in expression, presence within the sound balance, and really limited in range — in particular, the Charge 6 really struggles to ramp from mid-range down through to bass, compared to the Sonos Play.

Young Blood by The Naked & Famous relies on a foundation of lower-mid synth in its verses, and without this, the song is unbalanced. The JBL Charge 6 just doesn't have this balance in its register, but the Sonos Play is able to add the weight.

The Charge 6 also has less deep bass reach than the Sonos Play — it handles its bass well, but there's just less lower-frequency grunt going on.

I should note here that we have highly rated the JBL Charge 6 for its sound reproduction compared to other portable speakers — this is just what spending the extra on the Sonos Play gets you.

That said, the JBL Charge 6 has a slightly more dynamic treble than the Play, though, with a little better handling of transients (ie, handling the sudden start of a sound) that make it feel more detail-rich. I still prefer the Sonos Play overall, for sure.

However, I mentioned above that going above a certain volume opens things up for the Sonos Play. Pushing past the 40% mark leaves the bass working in the same way that it was before, but suddenly the upper-mids and treble get a boost — a subtle but clear change in profile when ticking up.

This adds to the expansiveness of the sound, and where certain songs that should be thrilling could feel tame at times at lower volumes, they all really wake up past 40%. The Sonos Era 300 had this trait as well, when I tested it.

The only question is whether you want the Sonos Play that loud all the time — in my bedroom, 25% was the volume where I mostly wanted to use it, for example. But again, I still think the sound is very good for a portable speaker even at the lower volumes. It's just that when you can let it off its leash, it improves further.

Speaking of letting it off its leash, I also tried the sound in a stereo pair. As is often the case, it gives the speakers room to do a little more by sharing the burden, and in particular I noticed that the bass felt like it was able to be a little more controlled at the same level of power, but the mids came across weightier, again improving on the lower-mids particularly.

I don't think it opened up more detail in the treble or anything like that, but two of these are really good at filling even a large room with well-rounded, well-dispersed sound, without pushing themselves hard in a way that can affect the sound quality. You'd rarely need to push them even as far as the 40% volume mark — a pair of Plays is such a powerful system consider how small they are.

For my last sound comparison, I broke out the Sonos Roam 2. This comparison actually made the Sonos Roam 2 look impressive, because it's remarkable how close its sound signature comes to the Play. But the Play's audio is much bigger, much deeper, and more refined in all areas.

• Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5

Sonos Play review: design

• Home-friendly design, but still IP67-rated and drop-proof
• Great size, weight and charging design to grab quickly
• Buttons aren’t as clear as they could be

The design of the Sonos Play sits very much in line with other Sonos speakers. It has a hard dotted grille like most of its designs, with a rubbery top and bottom, like the Sonos Roam 2. The rubberized portion has a hefty lip at the top where it overlaps with the hard grille, and this makes me thing more of older Sonos speakers (like the Sonos One) than the Era 100, in a fond way.

I like the size of the Sonos Play a lot. I can grab it easily in one hand from the side, thanks in part to a smart concave groove on the back that's also rubberized, giving you a little grip aid.

It's weighty, but not too heavy to happily grab and carry around. It's about a third heavier than the JBL Charge 6, but is nearly a third lighter than the Marshall Middleton II, so finds itself in a good balance.

It has a flexible hook on the top of the back, which can use to carry it around or to hang on a bathroom door or something. This feels nice and sturdy.

It's IP67-rated, so should be able to handle all but the worst of water-related accidents. It should be able to handle complete immersion for a short time, so it's no risk for baths or for pool parties.

The charging cable is a little oval of plastic with a lip, and there's not much to it, but it holds on surfaces well enough when you're removing or replacing the speaker, and the charging points always line up perfectly.

I really think Sonos has nailed it with the core physical design here, and not just in a physical sense. Yes, it's durable, it's got a hook, and perhaps most importantly it looks nice — you'll happily have this thing out on a shelf, whereas a lot of people would choose to hide the JBL Charge 6 in a drawer.

But the design also make a different to my mentality, I've found. It's about how its size, weight and charging cradle lodge into my mind that this is a speaker that I not only can grab to take with me for a music blast, but that I should grab because it's so easy. There's no downside.

The Sonos Move 2 has an identical setup — durable, powerful, portable, easy charging cradle — but it's too large and heavy. You have to reach around to carry it from the back using its carry handle. If I'm taking that anywhere else, it's because I'm committing to being there for a while. I plan ahead.

And I have small portable speakers already in my house (shout out to by beloved B&O A1) that I could grab and take anywhere with me easily — but they're stored in a drawer upstairs, because I don't have them out most of the time.

But the Sonos Play has become my new kitchen speaker, so it's always out on the side, ready to grab. And it's so grabbable because it's about the thickness of a drink can, and I don't need to fiddle to unplug it because it uses a charging cradle, so I can just swipe it one-handed as I walk past. And it's already turned on and ready to play, assuming it's not already playing, because it's the main speaker in that room.

These are small, subtle design elements that add up to me feeling quite differently about the Sonos Play than almost any other speaker I've had, from the many Wi-Fi options to many portable Bluetooth speakers. As the weather where I am improves, the Sonos Play has quickly become my buddy that I take with me more; I grab the one from my kitchen to take outdoors when I sit out there, and I grab the one from my bedroom to take to the bathroom to blast tunes while I shave.

There must be a 'however', though, and it's the controls. I already mentioned that the on/off button is on the back, and while it's large and easy to find, I would prefer that you could get it to turn back on just by pressing something on top.

But the top buttons are also annoyingly disguised. They're distinguished only by symbols, not any kind of actual raised button element. And 'distinguished' is far too strong a word, because they're the same color and matte material as the rest of the top, so they're genuinely hard to see in some lighting conditions.

They also don't feel super distinct under the fingers. You get used to it, because you've only got four controls — volume down, play/pause (which also skips tracks with a multi-press), volume up, and voice assistant activation — but they just seem unnecessarily disguised.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

Sonos Play review: value

• It's pricey for a portable speaker…
• But few things are as versatile for the same cost
• It's priced in line with competitors at the same audio level

The Sonos Play is not cheap. For only a little more than the Sonos Play, you can get both a Sonos Era 100 SL and the JBL Charge 6, providing you with the core versatility of the Sonos Play — a powerful home speaker and robust portable speaker. But that's two devices, and part of the draw here is one device that can do both — simpler and more efficient.

But the price is also right in line with other powerful speakers at a similar level of audio quality, like the Marshall Middleton II — and it does things the Marshall doesn't. The JBL Charge 6 is a five-star portable speaker that's nearly half the price, so if the portable side is your priority, it makes sense to get that and save so much money… but the Sonos does sound better, offers more versatility, and looks way nicer to have as a home speaker.

When I look at other options at the same price, is anything ticking as many boxes as the Play? Pricey, yes, but more than justified. I'm not sure I'd buy a stereo pair over other wireless options you can get for $600 / £600 though, such as the Kanto Ren, since you lose some of the versatility in a pair.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Sonos Play?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Sonos Play review: also consider

How I tested the Sonos Play

• Tested over three weeks at home
• Compared with other Sonos speakers, and options from other brands

I had two Sonos Play units at home to test, over the course of three weeks. They were updated with the same software that the products will launch with, including all the various features.

I tested over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and using the Sonos app and Apple AirPlay 2. I mainly listened to music on Apple Music.

I've been reviewing speakers for 15 years, and I test audio products of all kinds, from Bluetooth speakers to floorstanding passive speakers.

• First reviewed: March 2026
• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee

• Elipson's Prestige Facet II 6 Active BT launch for £599 (about $799 / AU$1,130)
• 2 x 50W power with MM phono, hi-res USB-C and HDMI connections
• Bluetooth 5.3 with aptX HD for wireless sound

Elipson has added a new speaker pair to its impressive Facet II range with powerful amplification and excellent connectivity. The Prestige Facet II 6 Active BT speakers are powerful bookshelf models that promise the same high standards as the Facet II 34F floorstanders and Facet II 8B bookshelf speakers.

The new Prestige Facet II 6 Active BT speakers come with 2 x 50W Class D amplification, plenty of wired inputs for both digital and analogue needs, Bluetooth for wireless connectivity, and a choice of three colours: black, black/walnut and white.

This means they'll work with a ton of tech, including turntables, computers over USB-C, all kinds of stuff over Bluetooth, and even your TV over HDMI ARC, with Elipson pitching the speakers as a superior soundbar alternative.

Elipson says it's France's oldest hi-fi manufacturer, with a portfolio that includes plenty of sensible speakers as well as much more out-there options. These new speakers are in the former category.

Elipson Prestige Facet II 6 Active BT speakers: key features and pricing

Designed for wired and wireless use, the Prestige Facet II 6 Active BTs feature an MM phono input for the best turntables, RCA line in, optical S/PDIF, and a USB-C audio input for Hi-Res Audio up to 24-bit/192kHz. There's HDMI ARC for your TV, and you can stream via Bluetooth, including higher-resolution with aptX HD.

Each speaker contains a 25mm tweeter and a 140mm mid/woofer and delivers a claimed frequency range of 57Hz to 25kHz. If you want to add some more low-end thump there's a subwoofer output with 120Hz filtering.

There are on-board EQ controls with a range of +6 / +3 / 0 dB on the bass, -3 / 0 / +3 dB for the mids and -3 / 0 / +3 dB for the treble, and the included remote control enables you to change the source, Bluetooth functions and volume.

The Elipson Prestige Facet II 6 Active BT will be available from late March 2026 with a price tag of £599 / €699 (about $799 / AU$1,130).

• AirPods Max 2 are available to order March 25th for $549 / AU$999
• New H2 chip brings tons of smart features and '1.5x' better noise cancellation
• There's a new amplifier for improved audio quality

Apple has just announced AirPods Max 2 at long last, just over five years after the December 2020 launch of the original AirPods Max.

The new model will be available to order on March 25th for $549 and March 26th in Australia for AU$999, with Apple promising a release "early next month", meaning April 2026.

The AirPods Max 2 include Apple's H2 headphones chip, the same as in the AirPods Pro 3, plus a new "high dynamic range amplifier" for improved audio.

The H2 chip means a ton of new features are coming to this model, including Adaptive Audio, so Transparency mode can adjust itself to block some unnecessary sounds; Conversation Awareness so the headphones can let sound in if you start talking to someone; and Loud Sound Reduction and Personalized Volume to help protect your hearing and to keep the sound profile to your liking.

There's now Live Translation as an option, where the AirPods will pipe a translated version of what someone says to you into your ears if it's in a supported language; Voice Isolation to improve your call quality when it's loud around you; and "Studio-quality audio recording" right from the headphones' mics.

You can now respond to certain things Siri says to you with a nod or shake of the head, and you can now control your iPhone camera using the Digital Crown — something Nothing's just added with its mid-range Nothing Headphone (a) offering.

Apple also says that the active noise cancellation is now "up to 1.5x more effective than the previous generation" — and when I recently re-tested the original AirPods Max against the rest of the best noise-cancelling headphones, I found them to still hold up very well, so they could go straight to the top of the pack here.

Apple hasn't said whether there's any change to the audio drivers in the AirPods Max 2, but says that there's a "new high dynamic range amplifier" with the aim of delivering the same kind of sound signature as the previous AirPods Max, but "cleaner."

The original AirPods Max's sound signature was always one of the more neutral-sounding options among the mainstream headphones brands, though Sony has moved move in that direction recently with the Sony WH-1000MX6, so it'll be interesting to see how well Apple has maintained this.

The AirPods Max always did a great job with offering a natural and expansive sound, so if Apple really as added an upgrade to the 'cleanness', these could be very revealing indeed, depending on how they handle different sources.

Speaking of course, there is — disappointingly but unsurprisingly — still no word on any kind of higher-res wireless audio support here, but there is 24-bit/48kHz Hi-Res Audio support available over USB-C, which TechRadar's audio editor tried in the older-gen model's update and really loved. As before, there's no pure 3.5mm headphone jack — you'll need a USB-C adapter.

Apple says they'll have lower wireless latency when playing in Game Mode on compatible Apple devices.

They promise 20 hours of listening time, with spatial audio and active noise cancellation enabled, which is pretty disappointing. We really expect 30 hours as a minimum these days (though I'd expect more than that figure if you have spatial audio turned off).

The design looks like it hasn't changed at all, though Apple has history of quietly reengineering things that appear to be the same as the previous generation, so it have subtle changes that aren't obvious until we try them.

Notably, and again disappointingly, they haven't shed any weight. In fact, at 386.2g, they're 1.4g heavier than the original.

And yes, they still come with the little Smart Case (which some of the team call the 'AirPods bra') for travel.

They're available in Midnight, Starlight, Blue, Purple and Orange colors, and I'm at least glad they kept a nice range of hues available for the new version — though my favorite was always the green, which seems to have disappeared.

KEF Coda W: Two-minute review

KEF, it seems, has identified a customer for whom its existing lineup of wireless stereo speaker systems is not absolutely perfect. This customer can live without network streaming, but would like to be able to listen to a turntable. They don’t need their system to work on a desktop, but they would like it to be available in a fairly wide choice of finishes. And so here’s the Coda W.

As well as the network streaming/phono stage trade-off and the ‘regular’ size of the cabinets compared to the dinky dimensions of some predecessors, the Coda W has cutting-edge Bluetooth connectivity (the aptX Lossless codec is supported), an HDMI eARC input and properly hi-res functionality via its digital optical and USB-C inputs. Four discreet modules of Class D amplification power the 12th generation of the company’s Uni-Q driver array – 30 watts goes to each 25mm aluminium dome tweeter, 70 watts to each 130mm magnesium/aluminum mid/bass driver. And if that all sounds a bit tentative, there’s a pre-out for a subwoofer too.

In practice, it works either ‘pretty well’ or ‘very well indeed’, albeit maybe not quite well enough to sit among the best stereo speakers on the market. The phono stage is probably the least effective of the input options, which is a pity, when you consider it’s one of the real differentiators between this system and the slightly more expensive KEF LSX II LT, its most obvious stablemate. If, however, you switch to one of the digital inputs (either wired or wireless) and the Coda W has plenty going for it. There’s detail and drive, plenty of well-behaved low-frequency presence, a really even-handed attitude towards tonality and frequency response, and a level of energy and engagement that’s a match for the best that any even remotely price-comparable rival can muster.

Turn the volume down to the sort of level that conversation can easily be heard over, though, and quite a lot of this attitude is replaced by a more pedestrian, less energetic character that sucks some of the animation out of recordings. Mind you, if you want to listen at low levels in order to engage in conversation, it could be argued that this isn’t all that much of an issue.

KEF Coda W review: Price & release date

• $999 / £799 / AU$1449
• Released in October 2025

The KEF Coda W wireless active stereo speaker system is on sale now, and in the United States it costs $999. The asking price in the United Kingdom is £799, while in Australia it goes for AU$1449.

There are a few very credible alternatives around, of course, not least from KEF itself in the shape of its slightly smaller, slightly pricier, slightly differently specified LSX II LT wireless stereo speaker system. So does the Coda W have what it takes to, um, undermine its sibling and cannibalize its sales?

KEF Coda W review: Features

• 200 watts of Class D power
• Wireless and wired connection options
• 12th-gen Uni-Q driver array

In most respects, the Coda W is specified as extensively as seems reasonable, given the asking price. Then you consider the way its (admittedly more expensive) LSX II LT sibling is specified, and you realize you’re engaged in a game of ‘swings and roundabouts’.

Still, the gain outweighs the pain here more than a little. The Coda W is an active stereo speaker with 200 watts of Class D power available – naturally enough it’s divided half-and-half between the two speakers. Slightly unusually for an active – rather than a powered – system, is that only one speaker requires mains power. This ‘primary’ speaker connects to its ‘secondary’ partner via a supplied length of USB-C-terminated cable which transfers power as well as digital audio information.

The secondary speaker has just a USB-C input on its rear panel – it’s positioned beneath a bass reflex port that vents from higher up. The primary speaker, by way of contrast, is all action. It has a USB-C output for connection to its partner and a matching bass reflex port, of course, but in addition, the rear panel features (in no particular order): a connection for mains power and an ‘on/off’ switch, an HDMI eARC socket, a digital optical input, a USB-C slot for data transfer, a line-level stereo RCA input, a moving magnet phono input (also on stereo RCAs) with a ground post, and a pre-out for a subwoofer. There are also buttons to initiate Bluetooth pairing (the KEF uses Bluetooth 5.4 with aptX Lossless codec compatibility) and to reset the whole shebang. There’s a switch to turn the ground lift circuit on or off, too.

What’s missing? Well, there’s no Ethernet socket, and no Wi-Fi connectivity either. So network streaming is unavailable, which puts the Coda W at a disadvantage compared to the LSX II LT, although it hits back with its integrated phono stage. No network capability means no Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect etc, so if you’re using Bluetooth to enjoy some wireless tunes, it means your smartphone (or what-have-you) will be fully occupied.

The input resolution of the USB-C is 24bit/192kHz, while the digital optical is 24bit/96kHz and the HDMI eARC operates at 16bit/44.1kHz – analog signals are digitized on entry to 24bit/96kHz. All these wired sources are (re)sampled to 24bit/96kHz before being decoded to the analog domain the driver arrays can understand.

Unlike the LSX II LT, which features a compact version of the 11th generation of KEF’s instantly recognizable Uni-Q driver arrangement, the Coda W is packing the 12th version. There’s a 25mm aluminum dome tweeter behind an elaborate waveguide and positioned in the throat of a 130mm magnesium/aluminum mid/bass driver. Each tweeter is in receipt of 30 watts of power, while each mid/bass driver gets 70 watts. This arrangement, reckons KEF, is good for a frequency response of 41Hz - 20kHz.

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

KEF Coda W review: Sound quality

• Energetic and confident sound with detail to spare
• Loses some animation at low volume levels
• Phono stage is nothing special

At its best, the KEF Coda W sounds very, very good indeed. Unlike some of its most obvious rivals, though, getting away from ‘its best’ is not especially difficult to do.

With a genuinely hi-res (24bit/96kHz) FLAC file of Prince’s U Got the Look incoming via the USB-C socket, there’s plenty to enjoy about the way the system performs. It maintains a strictly neutral tonality, adding no discernible heat to any part of the frequency range and not cooling any part of it down either. The top end attacks with crisp determination, but despite what you might have read about metal tweeters, there’s no suggestion of hardness or glassiness to the treble sounds the Coda W delivers.

The transition into the midrange is smooth to the point of inaudibility, and once there the amount of detail the KEF is able to extract and contextualize allows both the voices in the recording to come across with all their attitude (horny, mostly) and character intact. Beneath here, the lowest frequencies hit hard but control their attack well, so the four-square rhythm is expressed confidently. As with the rest of the frequency range, detail levels down here are high, with plenty of subtlety and variation to go along with the straightforward punch available.

The frequency response is even-handed, with no area underplayed or overrepresented, and the soundstage the KEF creates is big and plausible. Like all the best Prince songs, U Got the Look sounds like an expensive demo, with great big spaces and silences playing their part. The Coda W has no problem laying the stage out coherently, and it gives just as much emphasis to the absences as it does the actual occurrences. Dynamic headroom is significant, and the lower-key dynamics of harmonic variation are also paid close attention. The KEF sounds keen to entertain, and it preserves all the energy the recording wants to communicate.

All of this is true, to a lesser or greater extent, when listening to the same song wirelessly via a FiiO digital audio player running the Tidal app or to a CD-borne copy of the song delivered into the system’s digital audio input. The Coda W remains a lively, informative and quite vibrant listen that seems to revel in the vivid and upfront nature of the recording.

It’s possible to move away from this best-case scenario, though, either by turning the volume down to a modest ‘background’ sort of level or by listening to a vinyl copy of the song through the integrated moving magnet phono stage.

The differences are probably less pronounced when playing the record, so I may as well start here. The phono stage fitted to the Coda W just isn’t anything special – for all of the cliches regarding the vinyl format and its facility with rhythm and tempo-management, the song sounds just fractionally lumpy and leaden-footed when heard this way. It’s from the 80s, sure, when every rhythm was mechanical and regimented, but there was always more swing to Price than the Coda W is willing to reveal via its phono stage. The knock-on effect is a minor dialling down of the energy in the recording, and a mild loss of engagement as a result.

Turning down the volume results in a slightly more fundamental shift in emphasis. I know it’s quite easy to argue that ‘background’ levels would tend to imply that not all that much attention is being paid to the music, and certainly no critical listening is likely to be happening, but there are more than enough systems around that don’t change their sonic character at lower volumes to understand that the changes that the Coda W goes through aren’t inevitable or, to a lesser extent, excusable.

Turning the wick down means a lot of the system’s previously vivid and energetic attitude towards music goes astray, replaced by a slightly matter-of-fact and unengaged alternative that’s not especially welcome. Particularly not when you know what the system is capable of if only it were playing a little louder.

• Sound quality score: 4 / 5

KEF Coda W review: Design

• 285 x 168 x 268mm (HxWxD)
• Choice of five finishes
• Optional SQ1 stand

The Coda W may cost less than the LSX II LT, but there’s more of them. At 285 x 168 x 268mm they’re bigger than their siblings in every direction – if you were hoping to position these on a desktop, think again. Unless you have a mahoosive desk, anyway.

A pair of speaker stands is the way to go. Any decent product will do, of course, but KEF will happily sell you a pair of its SQ1 stands that have been developed with the Coda W (and a few other KEF models) in mind.

The standard of build and finish is well up to standard. The Coda W may lack the exciting curves of their LS and LSX stablemates, but they look and feel good. And the choice of five finishes – my review sample's dark titanium, midnight blue, moss green, nickel gray and a vintage burgundy version that’s only available from very select outlets – means there really ought to be something to suit your mood and/or decor here.

• Design score: 5

KEF Coda W review: Usability & setup

• Truncated version of the KEF Connect control app
• Physical controls on the primary speaker
• Small remote control handset

KEF supplies a little remote control handset to operate the Coda W. It deals with ‘power on/off’, ‘volume up/down/mute’, allows you to cycle through the inputs and, if you’re streaming via Bluetooth, to access ‘play/pause’ and ‘skip forwards/backwards’.

The controls, with the exception of the Bluetooth stuff, are duplicated as touch-controls on the top of the primary speaker - although you can only scroll through your inputs in one direction, which is a (very) mild irritation.

There’s also a very brief version of the KEF Connect app available too. It connects via Bluetooth, offers input selection and volume control, allows you to check for updates, and also features a balance control and rudimentary EQ adjustment in the shape of ‘treble cut/boost’ and ‘bass cut/boost’ controls. It’s also where you can let the Coda W know if it has a subwoofer attached.

• Usability & setup score: 4.5 / 5

KEF Coda W review: Value

• Very high standard of build and finish
• Enjoyable sound quality...
• But it's variable depending on the output used

It’s difficult in the extreme to suggest the KEF Coda W is anything other than very decent value for money. It has some real highlights where specification is concerned, is built and finished to a very high standard, and is capable of uncomplicatedly enjoyable sound quality too.

The fact that it lacks some features available in a very similarly priced product from the same manufacturer is, ultimately, less concerning than the fact that its sound is quite variable depending on the input you’re using.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy KEF Coda W?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

KEF Coda W review: Also consider

How I tested the KEF Coda W

I positioned the speakers on a pair of Custom Design speaker stands, connected them together using the supplied USB-C cable and plugged the primary speaker into the mains.

Then I connected a Technics SL1300G fitted with a Goldring 1042 cartridge to the phono input (and also to the line-level input, having positioned a Cambridge Alva Duo phono stage between the two), and plugged a Rega Apollo CD player into the digital optical input.

I used an Apple iPhone 14 Pro and a FiiO M15S digital audio player as Bluetooth sources, and connected an Apple MacBook Pro (running Colibri software) to the USB-C input. After this, I put the speakers either side of my Philips 48OLED806 TV and connected them via HDMI. Lots of sources, meaning lots of content – and for quite a length of time.

• Read TechRadar's Reviews Guarantee
• First reviewed: March 2026

After teasing them for weeks, Nothing has officially unveiled its first budget-focused headphones, the Headphone (a). It had previously launched the premium-priced Nothing Headphone (1) for $299 / £299 / AU$549, but the Headphone (a) are launching for just $199 / £149 / AU$329.

So the (a) are a third cheaper than the (1) in the US, and half the price in the UK — but having already used the Headphone (a) extensively, I can tell you that they're somehow better than the Headphone (1). You can read my full Nothing Headphone (a) review if you want the in-depth low-down, or keep reading for the key info about the new model.

The Nothing Headphone (a) have 40mm drivers, and active noise cancellation. There's standard Bluetooth support, higher-res wireless using LDAC, or full-fat Hi-Res Audio over USB-C, plus a 3.5mm jack.

They have device-neutral spatial audio, elaborate EQ settings via the app, and customizable controls. Nothing promises 135-hour battery life with ANC off, and 75 hours with it on.

Here are the 5 elements I particularly want to highlight based on my testing that, in my opinion, make the new model better than the Headphone (1) — and you can read my full Nothing Headphone (1) review if you want more on that model.

1. The sound is better, even though it's not by Kef

Nothing made a big (ahem) song and dance about working with British hi-fi great Kef on a range of new audio products, and the Headphone (1) was the first of them. However, I ended up being disappointed by the sound of those, while I found the sound of the Nothing (a) to be superior, thanks to its far more expansive soundstage.

They're energetic and dynamic, and just great fun to listen too. Mine came with the EQ set to a bass-boosting mode, which wasn't bad, but got a little hot and heavy in some tracks. Switching to the 'Balanced' mode calmed this down, though.

2. The design is less divisive this time

Nothing has made interesting changes to the design that make them look less aggressively 'techy', even though not that much has changed overall. They still have flat-sided earcups with rounded corners and an oval sticking out of them, but this time Nothing has used plastic rather than aluminum, rounded off the ovals, and made the ovals a plain color, and as a result the (a) strike a better balance between Nothing's traditional 'you can see the tech' appearance and a regular headphone style.

They're still the same size overall, they're a little lighter (but still heavy compared to the competition) and fit snugly to the ears. But the build quality feels just as good as the Headphone (1), just in plastic rather than aluminum.

3. The battery life is class leading

135 hours of battery life with active noise cancellation turned off is basically as high as I've seen from anything on the market today. (I saw a pair of headphones offering 200 hours at CES, but they're not available yet; and they also double as Bluetooth speakers, so it's cheating.) The same goes for the 75 hours with noise cancellation on — it's huge.

Bear in mind that the super-premium Sony WH-1000XM6 offer 30 hours. 60 hours is common from other headphones. 75 hours is… big. And from my testing, it seems to be realistic.

4. Nothing kept all the best parts of the Headphone (1)

When I reviewed the Headphone (1), I said they were "so close to being the best headphones debut I've ever seen" despite being disappointed by them in a few areas, and that was thanks to a few really excellent features. The app is best-in-class when it comes to making it easy to access all their cool features, for example, and that's true here as well.

But it's the controls I really want to talk about. I love the roller button that does volume, play/pause and switching ANC modes. It feels so high-quality, and requires none of the guesswork of touch controls. The paddle control to change tracks is equally clear and useful, and the customizable button on the side is great for adding control for whatever app-based feature you like the most.

The icing in the cake is that they have my favorite sound for communicating whether you've switched to ANC on or off. It's just a short noise, but unlike most headphones, the two are absolutely unmistakeable. It's a breath of air rushing out for enabling transparency mode, and then a sucking down and slamming sound for active noise cancellation. A little thing that makes you realize how mediocre everyone else is when it comes to handling this key feature.

5. This all makes the price kind of a steal

As part of my review, I tested them against not just the Headphone (1), but against other headphones you can buy in a similar price bracket, including the Sennheiser Accentum Plus and Sony WH-1000XM4 (which are still around, bless 'em).

When you look at the features, the build quality, and the sound quality of the Nothing Headphone (a) — and bearing in mind that this is the launch price, and they'll surely drop over time, just as the five-star Nothing Ear (a) earbuds did — they're going to be incredibly hard to beat on value.

Nothing Headphone (a) review

The Nothing Headphone (a) are just about the dream tech version 2.0 launch. As the follow-up to the Nothing Headphone (1), launched in 2025, they fix the sound problems I had with those headphones, they keep the excellent stuff I liked, and they somehow cut the price in half in the process (in one country, at least).

What more could you ask from something that's looking to go from audio also-ran to ranking among the best headphones available today? At their official price of $199 / £149 / AU$329, I think the Nothing Headphone (a) are arguably the best cans in their category — just with a few reasons why you might want to choose something else over them.

Let's start with the most important area: the sound. As soon as I fired these up, I felt a sense of relief. Nothing's first headphones baffled me in my Nothing Headphone (1) review with their oddly narrow soundstage that felt like the breadth of a song's traffic was being crammed down a single-lane road.

The Nothing Headphone (a) immediately feel like a big expansive highway in comparison – it's an open, wide and free-flowing soundstage that allows songs to spread out and to feel more energetic, emotive and satisfying. And when I say "in comparison", I mean I broke out the original $299 / £299 / AU$549 model for a listen, and while they have their strengths (a nicely refined frequency balance), the new model is so much more enjoyable to listen to.

And this improvement has come without any major downsides, though there's one quirk worth discussing. My unit came with the 'More Bass' setting activated out of the box, and this was certainly much more generous with the bass than the Headphone (1) was, to the point of wandering into the 'bass-heavy' category.

This was no problem at all with electronic or pop music — the strength of the lower frequencies gives a glorious foundation to deep drum machines or sinking synths. It's also well integrated into the overall balance, despite being so muscular, with the Headphone (a) having no problems delivering lower mids that can stand up to, or transition from, the bassier parts.

But it was too much for some tracks with real instruments. In Regulars by Allie X, the double bass that opens the song sounded like the instrument was collapsing under its own vibrations. I pulled up the EQ in the Nothing app, saw it was set to 'More Bass', switched to 'Balanced' instead, and immediately the double bass went back to sounding like a double bass, instead of a quadruple bass.

This took a bit of a punch out of electronic songs when I switched back to those, but the bass still had good depth, its integration with the rest of the sound was still excellent. But Nothing's superb app gives a nice option here that I decided to take it up on: I set one of the controls to be an instant EQ switch, so I could get the extra bass if I wanted it.

The Headphone (a) provide loads of space for the mid-range to express itself, with a nice chunkiness to guitars, the ability to handle a lot of complex instruments going on at once, and a nice clarity to vocals through it all.

Moving to the treble, it's again just very well worked into the sound, able to stand up for itself without ever feeling harsh or like it's overblowing in order to be heard even when songs get really energetic.

But there is a slight softness of detail to the Headphone (a)'s sound. They're not poor in this area by any means, but switching to the similarly-priced Sennheiser Accentum Plus reveals a slightly more convincing edge to the guitar strings and tambourine in Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way, and more texture to the beat of sticks on drumskins in Sonny Rollins' St. Thomas. There's also better instrument separation in the mix.

The Sennheiser Accentum Plus also have a more neutral sound overall, but this comes alongside a shortfall in bass depth and less dynamic attack in playback. I probably prefer the Nothing Headphone (a) overall for sound given my personal predilection for electronic music, but if you're more of an acoustic fan, you may be better off leaning towards the Sennheiser.

This doesn't change when switching to Hi-Res Audio and listening over USB-C, or with LDAC higher-quality wireless, both of which are supported here (along with a 3.5mm headphone jack). The USB-C mode maybe had a little extra lightness of touch with instrument separation and detail, but any difference was minor.

The Sennheiser cans are also much lighter than the Headphone (a) at 227g, versus 310g for the Nothings. That's an improvement on the 329g that the Headphone (1) weigh, but is still higher than most of the competition, and means they still need a stronger clamping force to stay on your head than lighter competition.

Again, this isn't inherently a bad or good thing, but you will 'feel' them more than other headphones, and the synthetic pads aren't designed to be particularly breathable, so left the sides of my head feeling warm over time.

It's probably worth talking about the overall design for a moment here, which is very similar to the original, but has been 'softened' in a way that makes them feel less like they make you look like a cyborg (a good thing), but the ear cups look less like cassette tapes (a shame). Aluminum is now plastic, and gentler curves to the raised section in the middle of ear cups makes all the difference.

Sadly, I don't love the new yellow and pink colorful options. I think there's not enough color for it to really work – the yellow in particular looks like a fried egg, because the rounded yellow mound is surrounded by white. I think there needed to be more color throughout. I love the changes in the white and black models, though – undeniably Nothing, but more mainstream than the divisive Nothing Headphone (1).

Nothing has kept a quirk of headphone design that I don't like here, in that the size is adjusted at the top of the head, rather than by the ears, which I find makes it harder to make micro-adjustments, but isn't a big deal overall.

What is a big deal is that Nothing has kept the fantastic set of controls from the Headphone (1). In particular, the roller for volume control is my favorite control system on any pair of headphones, period. It feels so high quality, it moves reliably under the thumb, and audible clicks tell you that it's moving up through volume tiers. Anything else feels crude in comparison.

That is paired with a 'rocker' control underneath, which is also super-intuitive. Nudge it one way to skip forward, and the other way to skip back. At the top of the right ear cup is a round multi-function custom button that was set to trigger your Voice Assistant by default; I changed it to EQ control, as I mentioned, but it can also work as a camera remote trigger (a new feature for this model) or a mic mute button, or a few other options.

And you'll absolutely want to play around with this, because Nothing's app is so good. Not only are the headphones customizable in so many ways — different noise cancellation options, different spatial audio types, multiple EQ controls — it's also just really simple to find the key features you want to turn on and off, such as the low-lag mode for gaming, or dual-device connectivity (which really should be on by default, but most devices have it off, so I won't knock Nothing hard for that).

We recently knocked the Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds for making it hard to find its essential features, so it's nice to see Nothing show how it should be done.

I mentioned spatial audio options before, and while you don't get head tracking or Dolby Atmos here, there are two options with processing handled by Nothing: Concert and Cinema. Concert does a good job of moving sound out from the ear cups, and making it feel like more of a speaker setup across and in front of you.

Cinema adds more left and right sound to that, while also pushing the EQ a little more towards the treble — going for more of a 'surround sound' experience and boosting voices, I suspect — and I found it useful for picking dialogue out of movie soundtracks, so I'd happily use it when watching while traveling.

Speaking of traveling, the noise cancellation here is strong, though not mind-blowing, and that's just fine for this level. Walking along a busy road while listening to music, I wasn't bothered by outside sounds at all. I could hear podcasts clearly while on public transport. The Transparency profile also works as advertised, and never makes things robotic or tinny.

But I want to briefly call out here that Nothing provides the best sounds to indicate what noise mode you're in. Switching to Transparency is announced by an exhaled breath as if sound is escaping; noise canceling is announced by the sound of something being sucked down and then slammed shut. There's no ambiguity here, and no annoying voice.

Nothing promises a phenomenal 75 hours of battery life with active noise cancellation turned on, and 135 hours with it turned off. I couldn't possibly test both claims fully in my time with them so far, even if I used them every waking hour. But I can say that they seem to live up to it, with the battery indicator dropping by 20% after around 13 hours of use.

This makes them essentially best in class, and phenomenal value. In general, I'd say these are about as good as headphones value gets in this space between the budget and premium options. There are only really two knocks against their value worth mentioning.

The first is that it's a shame they don't have an auto-pause feature (also called wearer detection) for when you take them off. It's pretty standard even in affordable stuff these days and while I'm not mad about it since they offer so much elsewhere, it's still surprising.

The second is that in lieu of a hard case (presumably dropped for cost reasons; again, it's understandable) they come with what I can only describe as a swimbag. Yes, it's like a smooth plastic fabric. Yes, it closes with a drawstring. Yes, it made me kind of nostalgic. No, it doesn't feel like a premium addition.

The thing with the Nothing Headphone (a) is that all the knocks I have against it are either minor like the above, or are more subjective, like the weight and clamping force.

There are enough little downsides or quirks that I can't quite give them full marks, but make no mistake that I think these are excellent headphones, that they'll be ideal for a lot of people, and that they're superb value.

Nothing Headphone (a) review: Price & release date

• Released on March 13th, 2026
• $199 / £149 / AU$329

The Nothing Headphone (a) arrive with an impressive price of $199 / £149 / AU$329, meaning that they come in at half the price of the earlier Nothing Headphone (1) and their £299 launch price in the UK, while they're a third cheaper than the $299 Headphone (1) price in the US. In Australia, the drop from AU$549 for the Headphone (1) is between those two percentages.

I should note that they Headphone (1) have been available for as little as $254 / £199 / AU$350 in sales events, though — but I have no doubt the Headphone (a) will see juicy discounts too.

Instead of putting them in direct competition with high-end releases from the likes of Bose and Sony, the Headphone (a)'s mid-to-low price tag puts them up against the likes of Sennheiser's Accentum Plus or Soundcore Space One Pro.

Nothing Headphone (a) review: Specs

Should I buy Nothing Headphone (a)?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Nothing Headphones (a) review: Also consider

How I tested the Nothing Headphone (a)?

• Used for a week in my day-to-day life
• Tested largely over standard Bluetooth and USB-C hi-res wired audio
• Tested with a pre-release update to the Nothing X app

To test the Nothing Headphone (a), I started carrying them everywhere with me and made them part of my normal life. I used them on both walking and public transport commutes, around the house, and at the office.

I compared them directly to the Nothing Headphone (1), Sennheiser Accentum Plus and Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, switching back and forth, as the headphones I think are the biggest alternative options. I had access to an early version of the Nothing X app with support for their features, so some details may change there before launch.

I lead TechRadar's AV team, and I've been reviewing audio gear for well over a decade, from the budget end of things all the way to up to high-end audiophile tech. I reviewed the earlier Nothing Headphone (1), as well as this newer model.

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• First reviewed: March 2026

Cambridge L/R S: Two-minute review

The Cambridge L/R S is the first out of the gate of the British audio brand's new ‘L/R’ wireless range to attack the best stereo speaker systems market. It's also the most affordable: this L/R S sells for Ruark MR1 Mk3-adjacent money, which seems less than accidental.

The money buys a crisply accomplished standard of build and finish, as well as some proper specification highlights — not least of which is that this is an active, rather than a powered, speaker system with a dedicated block of amplification for each of its drivers and an active DSP crossover. A choice of five quite fetching colors doesn’t do any harm, and neither does the option of a real walnut veneer alternative — even if the latter comes at additional cost. Support for aptX HD Bluetooth connectivity, along with line-level analog, USB-C and digital optical inputs, means the L/R S can support a reasonably diverse and expansive set of sources. The provision of a pre-out for a subwoofer is a nice touch, too, although (as we shall directly see) not super-necessary.

No matter the source of the music it’s playing, the L/R S is a big, bold and quite assertive listen; but that’s not the same as saying it’s unsubtle. There’s plenty of detail retrieved to go along with the attack, good insight to complement the dynamism, and a fairly natural and neutral way with frequency response and tonality. Or, at least, there is until you reach the bottom of the frequency range — here the L/R S is rather too confident, and gives a little too much weighting to bass information. This isn’t at the expense of rhythmic expression or forward drive, though.

All of which means the Cambridge L/R S is immediately one of the very best pound-for-pound desktop stereo systems around, and one that demands very careful consideration indeed.

Cambridge L/R S review: Price & release date

• $549 / £399 / AU$949
• Released April 1, 2026 (in US/Europe)
• Originally announced in January 2026

The Cambridge L/R S wireless active stereo speaker system is on sale from April 1, 2026 in Europe and the USA — in APAC (Asia-Pacific) countries it’s already available.

In the United States it will cost $549. Or, at least, it will in any of the five colors in which it will be available — if you fancy the real walnut veneer you're looking at $599. In the United Kingdom it's going to go for £399/£449, while in Australia it is already selling for AU$949/AU$1049.

So the price, as well as the basic configuration, is very close indeed to Ruark’s class-leading MR1 Mk3. Coincidence? Hmm…

Cambridge L/R S review: Features

• 100 watts of Class D amplification
• 21mm tweeter, 76mm mid/bass driver
• Wired and wireless input options

First things first: this is a genuinely active, rather than a powered, stereo speaker system. Any rival product at this sort of money uses one powered speaker to deal with inputs, outputs, amplification, decoding and all the rest of it, and then sends amplified analog information to a passive partner.

With the L/R S, though, Cambridge has gone another, more complex and inevitably more expensive way: although only the primary speaker receives mains power, there are two channels of amplification for each speaker, and a full DSP crossover which serves a PWM (pulse-width modulation) signal to each of the amplifiers. A bespoke four-conductor cable connects the primary speaker to the secondary, along which all power and digital audio signals travel. I don’t think I can be criticized if I use the word ‘over-engineered’ here, so I will – but I am also quite happy to use the word ‘admirable’.

The rear of the secondary speaker features a screw-down socket for connecting that inter-speaker cable, and a bass-reflex slot along the top. The primary speaker has these features too, but it also includes USB-C, line-level stereo RCA and digital optical inputs, plus a pre-out for a subwoofer, and Bluetooth wireless reception (with aptX HD codec compatibility). The optical and USB-C inputs support resolutions of up to 24bit/96kHz PCM – every incoming signal is resampled to 24bit/48kHz in the DSP before its delivery in PWM form to the amplifiers.

Power, incidentally, is of the Class D variety, and there’s 100 watts of it. Each driver gets 25 watts to play with — there’s a 21mm hard-dome tweeter behind a waveguide and phase cap above a 76mm mid/bass driver in each speaker. Cambridge suggests this layout results in a frequency response of 55Hz - 24kHz. The rear of the primary speaker also includes a button that operates as both a power on/off switch and as an input selector. It also features three toggle switches: one to let the speaker know if it’s the left or the right channel, one to tell it if the system is being used on a desktop or not, and one to let it know if it’s in free space or near a wall. And there’s a figure-of-eight socket for mains power, too.

• Features score: 5 / 5

Cambridge L/R S review: Sound quality

• Expansive, detailed and upfront sound
• Direct and positive sonic attitude
• Slightly overplays its low-end hand

Yes, the L/R S is on the larger side for a desktop system but the sound it delivers is appreciably larger than that. Connected via USB-C and with a 24bit/44.1kHz FLAC file of Cate Le Bon’s Are You With Me Now? incoming, the scale and spaciousness of the presentation is initially quite startling.

The overall sense of scale is complemented nicely by the Cambridge’s ability to generate an organized, convincing soundstage and to focus well. There’s a fair amount of separation to the overall presentation, but at the same time a decent sense of singularity that prevents even complex recordings from sounding disjointed or untogether. Add in sufficient dynamic headroom for when the going gets especially loud or intense, and the Cambridge system sounds both bigger and more confident than its physical dimensions might suggest.

The tonal balance is fairly neutral despite a suggestion of heat at the bottom end, and frequency response once you get above the lowest of the low frequencies is smooth and even – the crossover between the two drive units is all-but imperceptible. The top of the frequency range balances attack against substance nicely, while the midrange communicates in a manner easily described as ‘lavish’. The system’s ability to reveal detail of any significance and give it appropriate weighting means voices are delivered with plenty of character and attitude.

There’s a little issue at the bottom of the frequency range. Basically, the Cambridge is slightly too pleased with the amount of low-frequency presence it’s able to liberate from recordings and just fractionally overplays its hand. There’s a little too much emphasis on the bottom end in the context of the overall frequency response available here, a minor bloom at the very bottom of the extension that can make bass sound just a touch too prominent and therefore slightly too remote from everything that’s going on above it.

Despite this, the L/R S controls its low-end activity carefully enough to ensure rhythms are expressed convincingly and momentum levels never dip below where they should be. And besides, I know perfectly well that if it comes to a straight choice, there are plenty of listeners who would choose ‘a little too much bass’ over ‘not quite enough bass’ every time.

All of the above applies if you choose to listen at volume levels somewhere between ‘background’ and ‘really quite loud’. Go beyond that and the L/R S loses a little of its admirable composure and its previously nicely open stage starts to sound a little flat and two-dimensional. It’s hardly a fatal flaw, though, and besides… it’s easily fixed. Just turn it down a touch.

• Sound quality score: 5 / 5

Cambridge L/R S review: Design

• 226 x 134 x 180mm (HxWxD)
• Choice of six finishes, including a (cost-option) real wood veneer
• No grilles supplied

It is, admittedly, a little larger than the Ruark MR1 Mk3 that would appear its primary target, but the Cambridge L/R S is nonetheless compact enough at 226 x 134 x 180mm (HxWxD) to sit happily on even a modestly sized desk (as long as it’s reasonably tidy). At the same time, it’s just about big enough to not look too lost on a pair of regular speaker stands.

No matter where you want to position it, though, there are lightly rubberized little feet integrated into the bottom of the recessed plinth on which the main body of the speaker sits (which is why, from some angles, it seems to float), and there will be the option of a pair of angled ‘tilt’ stands to help aim the tweeters more overtly at your ears if the system is on your desk. These stands, of course, are a cost option.

There’s not even the option of any grilles, though. Having said that, there’s a hint of visual interest thanks to the identically sized black circles on the front baffle inside which the drivers are positioned which wouldn’t be available if grilles were fitted. Nor is there much to be gained in aesthetic terms by hiding away the orange tweeter or its waveguide, either.

The standard of construction is beyond reproach. The cabinet edges and corners are crisp rather than pointy, the recently updated brand logo at the rear of the top surface looks confident, and the sort-of kind-of matte finish feels as good as it looks in any of the five colors that are available. Take your pick from the white of my review sample, black, a bright orange, a fairly dark green or an unarguably dark blue — or if you don’t object to some extra expenditure, you can choose a real walnut veneer that tackles the L/R S even further into Ruark MR1 Mk3 territory.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

Cambridge L/R S review: Usability & setup

• Bluetooth LE remote control
• Selection of EQ presets
• ‘DynamEQ’ technology included

First of all, of course, the primary speaker must be plugged into the mains. Then use the supplied 2m length of cable to join the two speakers together (Cambridge is readying a 5m alternative, for which it will naturally want some more money). After that, it’s just a question of establishing the physical or wireless connections you need to make.

There is no control app here, of course — this is not a networked system, after all. Nor are there any physical controls on either of the speakers (except that trio of toggle switches that help orientate the system before it’s running, the on/off power button or to cycle through the inputs), which could be considered an oversight. The only way to control the L/R S is by using the remote control handset that’s supplied in the packaging.

The handset itself is small, made of quite hard plastic and is not backlit but it covers off every function, and because it’s a Bluetooth rather than an RF device it’s far less reliant on having line of sight to the ‘primary’ speaker. It also gives access to a trio of EQ presets: they’re designated ‘normal’, ‘movie’ and ‘voice’.

Cambridge has included its ‘DynamEQ’ technology here, which is a gesture towards automated usability. It’s described as ‘intelligent optimization’, and makes bass and treble adjustments in response to any changes in volume you might indulge in.

• Usability & setup score: 4.5 / 5

Cambridge L/R S review: Value

• Excellent sound for the price
• Lots of colorways, even if you have to pay extra for the walnut finish
• Expansive specification

Judge it in terms of engineering excellence, obvious competence where construction and finish are concerned, and the useful and reasonably expansive nature of its specification, and it’s hard to suggest the Cambridge L/R S doesn’t represent decent value for money.

And when you factor in the sound it’s capable of producing, well, it then starts to put it squarely in the 'market leaders' bracket for active speaker systems.

• Value score: 5 / 5

Should I buy Cambridge L/R S?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Cambridge Audio L/R S review: Also consider

How I tested the Cambridge L/R S

I tested the L/R S on a desktop, where it was wired via USB-C to an Apple MacBook Pro running Colibri software.

It was also connected wirelessly to an Apple iPhone 14 Pro (via the AAC codec) and a FiiO M15S (using aptX). It was also tested when positioned on a pair of Custom Design speaker stands and with a (pre-amplified) Technics SL-1300G turntable and Rega Apollo CD player connected to the analog RCAs and the digital optical socket respectively.

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• First reviewed: March 2026

• Astell & Kern PD20 is here
• Offers a listening test and triple-amp design
• On sale in late March for $1,970 / £1,799 (about AU$3,000)

I can't say I'm the core target audience for the best digital audio player — I don't have thousands (or even hundreds) to spend on kit like this, so it's the ultra-cheap options like the Majority MP3 that I end up focusing on. But a new release from Astell & Kern is really catching my attention.

Just a few days after its new copper DAP was one of the gadgets I played with at a high-end audio show, A&K has revealed a new device. Meet the Astell & Kern PD20, which is set to go on sale in mid-March for $1,970 / £1,799 (about AU$3,000).

The headline feature of this new digital audio player (often shortened to DAP by people who know about such things) is that it comes with a "Personal Sound" system, as A&K is calling it. This uses the packaged in-ear headphones — yep, no need to worry about buying separate IEMs — to analyze your hearing, and create a bespoke listening profile just for you. The idea is that it can compensate for any flaws or shortcomings in your own hearing; after all, our ears are all unique. For example, if you struggle to hear bass, it could boost it a little bit.

This feature was designed with Audiodo, another testament to its usefulness: this company also designed the build-in listening test in headphones like the Nothing Ear (3), CMF Headphone Pro and Noble FoKus Amadeus. We praised all three, so expectations are high.

It sounds like the listening test requires the dedicated earphones, so make sure not to lose them: it could affect resale value, and cut you off from the key feature.

I absolutely love listening tests, and while a growing number of wireless earbuds come with their own proprietary solutions, they're rather hit-or-miss. I imagine a respected company like Astell & Kern will get it right, especially when working with a reputed audio design brand.

Sounding PD good

Beyond its listening test, the A&K PD20 has a few other draws. It uses a triple-amp design, with a slider letting you easily switch between three listening modes, and a second slider letting you adjust the amp's current to get even more control over your sound.

There are four built-in DACs, and the device uses the Digital Audio Remaster tech that also came in the fantastic SP4000. This creates a more natural sound by putting the audio signal through several stages of processing to restore lost sound.

You can use the PD20 as a USB-connected DAC for computers (both Windows and Macs) which is a neat extra. It offers 2-channel stereo sound and EQ control that doesn't interrupt your playback. There's a sound wheel,

The PD20 has 256GB memory and you can bump that up to 2TB with microSD cards, and it supports aptX HD, LDAC and BT Sink wirelessly to act as a Bluetooth DAC too.

The device itself has a 6-inch FHD+ screen and, according to A&K, lasts for about 14 hours of playback if you're not listening to high-end codecs. It has both 3.5mm and 4.4mm out jacks, and a USB-C port for charging or computer connection.

It all sounds pretty neat, but we'll have to let our dedicated audio reviewers get their hands (and ears) on it, to see how well it runs. Watch this space… 

Philips Fidelio FA3: Two-minute review

I don’t often think ‘this is too good to be true’ when confronted with the details of an audio product’s make-up, but a glance at the spec sheet accompanying the Philips Fidelio FA3 made me double-take.

The Fidelio FA3 is an active wireless speaker system that can connect its speakers together either wirelessly or via a cable, that has high-end Bluetooth connectivity along with a fistful of physical inputs to handle hi-res content, that is controllable by an extremely extensive app, has Auracast functionality in order to become part of a multi-speaker set-up, and uses a lot of recycled material in its construction, with full-range frequency response. For $399 / £349 / AU$499? Really?

Then the system comes out of its packaging and the price still seems like it might be a misprint compared to most of the best wireless speakers. It’s nicely made and finished, looks and feels good, and arrives with a physical remote control to augment the app functionality – it even has grilles that attach magnetically to its high-gloss cabinets.

No, the slight ‘wedge’ shape that angles the speaker’s drivers upwards rather than straight ahead isn’t as useful in all circumstances as Philips obviously thinks it is – but still, the FA3 seems to have an awful lot going for it.

And that’s the case where sound is concerned, too. The Philips is a positive and quite forthright listen, with plenty of detail available in most areas of the frequency range and a very enjoyable facility with soundstaging and dynamic response. It allows itself to get carried away where low-frequency response is concerned, though, and its over-egged bass presence makes for a rather lop-sided, bottom-heavy presentation.

If that low-end enthusiasm could be dialled back a little, perhaps to be replaced with a more subtle and detailed low-frequency attitude instead, the FA3 could really go places. As it is, the Ruark MR1 Mk3 remains our favorite option in this kind of price range, even it's not quite as impressively specced.

Philips Fidelio FA3 review: Price & release date

• $399 / £349 / AU$499
• Released in January 2026
• Originally announced in September 2025

The Philips Fidelio FA3 wireless active speaker system is on sale now, and in the United Kingdom it costs £349. In the United States it sells for $399 or thereabouts, while in Australia it goes for something like AU$499.

This puts it in line with a lot of single-box wireless speakers, such as the JBL Authentics 200 – and a bit cheaper than the Sonos Era 300. But these are stereo speakers, and when it comes to the best stereo speakers in this price range, they're usually passive or not as quite well-equipped as this when it comes to features and options.

Philips Fidelio FA3 review: Features

• Bluetooth 5.4 LE Audio with LC3 and LDAC codec support
• Auracast-enabled for multi-speaker connectivity
• 24bit/96kHz via HDMI ARC and digital optical inputs

The specification of the Fidelio FA3 would be perfectly acceptable in a product costing a great deal more than this. To understand what Philips has included for the asking price is to be properly impressed.

The FA3 speakers are a two-way design, with a 25mm titanium dome tweeter above a 127mm glass-fiber mid/bass driver at the front, and a small reflex port venting towards the top of the rear of the cabinet.

Philips says this arrangement is good for a frequency response of 40Hz - 40 kHz — which, if it’s anything like accurate, is very impressive from such a relatively modest arrangement.

This is an active system, which means both speakers require power. After that, it’s very much a ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ speaker arrangement — the rear of the secondary speaker features just a coaxial input for a wired connection to its partner in addition to the reflex port and its power socket.

The primary speaker, though, adds a USB-C slot (which can be used for playback and for servicing), a digital optical input, an HDMI ARC connection, and a line-level analog input on stereo RCA sockets.

In addition, the primary speaker is where Bluetooth pairing takes place — the FA3 features Bluetooth 5.4 LE Audio connectivity and is compatible with SBC, AAC, LC3 and LDAC codecs. The system also features Auracast technology, which means it can easily become part of a multi-speaker system if given appropriate partners to work with.

As well as via a coaxial cable, the speakers can also be connected to each other wirelessly using a 2.4GHz wireless connection. Regardless of the method of connection between the speakers, though, the digital-to-analog conversion circuitry operates at a native 24bit/96kHz resolution, and anything that’s coming in via HDMI ARC, digital optical or USB-C that’s of higher resolution will be downsampled to 24bit/96kHz.

The ability to wirelessly connect a pair of speakers and still enjoy authentically high-resolution sound is not all that common, and rarer still in this area of the market. Streams coming in via Bluetooth using the LDAC codec will be served up at its maximum 990kbps resolution.

No matter the resolution of the stuff you’re listening to, it’s given the benefit of 50 watts of Class D amplification per channel. Philips is claiming a THD (total harmonic distortion) figure of less than 1%.

• Features score: 5 / 5

Philips Fidelio FA3 review: Sound quality

• Direct and full-scale presentation
• Low-frequency response is a blunt and oversized instrument
• Somehow able to sound loud even when playing quietly

If you’ve come for an assertive, positive sound that’s delivered at significant scale, stick around. The Philips Fidelio FA3 has you covered in quite some style.

No matter if you’re listening to something that sounds like a glorified demo (Boys Don’t Cry by The Cure, for example) or that’s dressed up to the nines (Nuits Sonores by Floating Points, say), the FA3 take it by the scruff of the neck and serve it up in the most direct and unequivocal manner.

Their fundamental character is confident, and they are capable of generating a large and quite nicely defined soundstage on which the action can occur. The Philips seem to genuinely revel in big dynamic shifts in attack or intensity, and are more than capable of summoning the sort of energy and momentum that makes for a lively and positive presentation.

The tweeter does fine work in delivering bright, crisp and detailed high frequencies that carry enough substance to balance out their undoubted bite. There’s plenty of variation in treble sounds and, even though the FA3 somehow contrive to sound loud even if they’re playing at quite low levels, the brilliance of the top end here is never problematic.

There’s scant suggestion of hardness or glassiness, even if you choose to listen at quite oppressive volume levels (and don’t for a moment doubt the Philips are capable of quite significant volume).

The handover to the bigger mid/bass driver is smooth, and the midrange is served up with a similarly careful attitude towards detail and variation as the top end demonstrates. There’s a stack of information made available regarding the tone and timbre of voices, and the FA3 are just as capable of teasing out the attitude and character in a voice as they are the minutiae of technique or texture.

Those more minor (but no less significant) dynamics of harmonic variation, those over- and undertones that exist either side of the fundamental, are put into quite convincing context, and the Philips are able to preserve a sense of singularity and togetherness from the very top end down towards the bottom of the midrange.

Beneath here, though, the speakers don’t so much ‘overplay their hand’ as seem to be engaged in a different game altogether. Low frequencies are overstated and overbearing, and exhibit less of the dexterity and variation that’s apparent further up the frequency range.

The quest for ‘punch’ seems a preoccupation, and the rather blunt and overstated nature of the bass response here makes for a lop-sided overall frequency response that seemingly prioritizes the low end at the expense of everything else.

This trait is obvious enough when listening to music, but if anything it’s even more apparent when listening to spoken word — especially with male voices. The moment the register of a speaking voice dips towards the bottom of the midrange and below, the bloom in that area of the frequency range becomes all too apparent.

The result is far from naturalistic, and it serves to undermine all the good work the FA3 does elsewhere in the frequency range.

It’s possible to mitigate this by dialing ‘bass’ response right back in the control app, but it doesn’t eradicate the issue — and it’s an issue that’s more apparent at lower volumes than it is at bigger levels.

Despite this rather pear-shaped frequency response, though, the Philips manage to express rhythms in a fairly convincing manner and somehow maintain a degree of momentum despite the drag those oversized bass sounds create.

• Sound quality score: 3.5 / 5

Philips Fidelio FA3 review: Design

• 170 x 303 x 211mm (WxHxD) per speaker
• 3.4kg per speaker
• Each cabinet features 45% RCS-certified recycled material

If you were considering the FA3 as a desktop audio system, I’d urge you to think again. Given the size of each speaker, you’d need a notably large and conspicuously tidy desktop to comfortably accommodate them — much better to consider this system for use on speaker stands or a shelf of appropriate depth.

The problem in this scenario, though, is that the cabinets are designed with a kind of ‘wedge’ foot integrated into the base which angles the speaker baffle so the drivers are firing slightly upwards rather than dead ahead. If the surface you’re putting them on is reasonably low, then this is definitely a good thing — it's somewhat common on desktop speakers.

But if you put them on stands or on a shelf that’s at a kind of regular shelf height, then the FA3 will be pointing above, rather than at, your ears. Unless you do all your listening while standing up, anyway.

The cabinets are very nicely built and finished, though, with gentle curves at each corner and that special sort of high-gloss black finish that’s very shiny and very keen to collect fingerprints.

They are supplied with magnetic grilles to cover the driver array if that’s your preference, and the plastic shell of each cabinet includes (deep breath) 45% RCS-certified recycled post-consumer acrylonitrile butadiene styrene in its construction.

• Design score: 4

Philips Fidelio FA3 review: Usability & setup

• Remote control handset included
• Philips Entertainment control app
• Physical controls on the primary speaker

To its credit, Philips has provided several options for taking control of the Fidelio FA3 — and each of them is reasonably well-implemented and reliable.

There’s a small and unremarkable remote control handset included in the packaging — it’s of quite hard plastic and has no backlighting. It doesn’t have quite enough buttons, either, since one button takes care of selecting the optical or the HDMI ARC input, another has to deal with selecting between USB-C and analog inputs, and a third chooses between Bluetooth and Auracast.

Still, it’s reliable enough, and the ability to raise, lower or mute the volume, play/pause, skip forwards or backwards, cycle through half-a-dozen EQ presets, and trim bass and treble independently of each other, is all very useful.

There are some controls on the rear of the primary speaker, too. These consist of a volume dial (which needs much too much turning to deliver any meaningful effect), a button to initiate wireless pairing between the speakers, a button to cycle through the inputs, and a power on/off switch.

You can exercise the greatest amount of control over the system, though, by using the Philips Entertainment app that’s free for iOS and Android. It offers playback control, those EQ presets (‘balanced’, ‘warm’, ‘bright’, ‘powerful’, ‘clear’ and ‘custom’, the last of which employs user-controllable ‘bass’ and ‘treble’ adjustment dials), enables you tell the primary speaker if it’s the left or right channel, and lets you dial through your input selection options.

It also gives access to a suite of ambient sound settings (everything from ‘ancient wind’ and ‘ocean’ to ‘bubbles’ and ‘sonar’) in case you’ve misplaced your collection of Brian Eno LPs. It can duplicate the layout of the remote control handset (except with a single button for each input, mercifully) and enables you to check for software updates too.

• Usability & setup score: 4.5 / 5

Philips Fidelio FA3 review: Value

• Big and powerful for the price
• Very well equipped and with a great app
• But the iffy bass pulls the down from being a bargain

Judged either by the size of its specification or by the size of the speakers themselves, there’s really no arguing with the value for money the Philips Fidelio FA3 represents — the sheer amount of glossy black finish your money buys is considerable all by itself.

It's reassuring to have a great app, too — it's something that companies often don't manage to achieve. If only the remote control was as neatly laid out.

The bottom-heavy nature of the sonic character you get for your outlay, though, is quite a bit more difficult to make a case for than the above.

• Value score: 3 / 5

Should I buy Philips Fidelio FA3?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Philips Fidelio FA3 review: Also consider

How I tested the Philips Fidelio FA3

I connected the speakers together using their cable, but also wirelessly. I connected an Apple iPhone 14 Pro and a FiiO M15S digital audio player via Bluetooth, a Rega Apollo CD player via the digital optical input, an Apple MacBook Pro using the USB-C slot, and a Philips OLED806 television via the HDMI ARC socket.

I positioned them on the same equipment rack as the TV — I also used them on my desk (not for long, though; they’re pretty big when you put them on there) and on a pair of Custom Design speaker stands.

I listened to music streamed from Qobuz and Tidal apps, from my collection of compact discs, and to content from a Panasonic 4K Blu-ray player and Sony Playstation 5 connected to the TV.

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• First reviewed: February 2026

Eversolo DAC-Z10: one-minute review

Never let it be said that Eversolo is not ever so serious. The Eversolo DAC-Z10 is an extremely well-specified digital-to-analogue converter, headphone amplifier and system preamplifier in a single package – and while it sells for a significant sum, even compared to the best DACs around, it turns out to represent unarguable value for money.

As well as the full-on specification (which includes four AKM DAC chips, twin RSR ‘ladder’ volume control modules, and no fewer than three independent and heavily shielded linear power supplies), the user interface (via a big touch-screen) is excellent even before you realize it offers a choice of virtual VU meters and dynamic spectrum displays.

There are more than enough digital inputs, plus balanced and unbalanced analog outputs, and an extremely capable discrete headphone amplification module.

And it all works very well indeed. The DAC-Z10 is almost fanatical when it comes to detail retrieval, really holds its own where rhythmic expression, soundstaging and dynamic impetus are concerned, and maintains the tonal balance of the music as originally recorded as much as possible.

In fact, about its biggest shortcoming is how overtly intolerant it is of inferior partners – don’t imagine the DAC-Z10 is about to make a silk purse out of the sow’s ear that is sub-par electronics or loudspeakers. But that's not a real flaw for something that costs this much anyway – you'd expect an expensive DAC to sing with expensive other components, wouldn't you?

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Price & release date

The Eversolo DAC-Z10 launched during November 2025 and in the United Kingdom it sells for a strangely specific £1,939. In the United States it’s $1,980, while in Australia the going rate is AU$3,339 or thereabouts.

This puts it in line with options from the likes of Denon and NAD – big names in the hi-fi separates space.

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Features

• Numerous digital and analog inputs
• Independent left and right channel AKM digital-to-analog conversion modules
• Three independent power supplies

Even by Eversolo’s established standards, the DAC-Z10 is extensively specified – ‘lavishly’ may not be too strong a word. It’s difficult to know where to start, really. Maybe on the outside would be best…

At the rear of the DAC-Z10, there are numerous digital and analogue inputs, alongside balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA analogue outputs for connection to a power amplifier, powered speakers or what-have-you. There’s also a grounding post for channeling even the most minor electrical interference out of harm’s way.

The digital stuff consists of an IIS (aka I2S) input (featuring eight switchable modes, naturally, and capable of dealing with digital audio resolutions of up to 32bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512), HDMI eARC, USB-B (with multi-core audio processor and again supporting 32bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512), a fully isolated AES/EBU input, and a pair of coaxial and a pair of optical audio inputs (all of which support 24bit/192kHz PCM and DSD64). There’s also wireless connectivity via Bluetooth 5.0, with SBC and AAC codec compatibility.

There’s a further analog output on the fascia: a 6.3mm single-ended headphone socket. It’s powered by a dedicated amplification module, and automatically detects the impedance of the headphones it’s driving and adjusts gain accordingly.

The internal layout of the Eversolo is no less thorough. Built on the company’s ‘Fully Isolated Architecture’ platform, which isolates the digital and analog domains in a drive for optimal signal purity, the DAC-Z10 features three linear power supplies. One is for the left channel, one for the right, and one for system circuitry – each is isolated from the others in an effort to minimi`e interference.

The DAC-Z10 is big on the concept of independent left and right stereo channels elsewhere, too. For instance, each stereo channel has a dedicated pair of AKM DAC chips – an AK4191 and an AK4499 – so left and right digital signals are kept completely separate from input to conversion.

Volume control uses an independent R2R ‘ladder’ module for each channel, so signal integrity and phase alignment should be uncorrupted, even if the selected volume level is very low or very high.

The Eversolo ‘Precision Core’, which features a temperature-controlled crystal oscillator, phase-locked loop technology and FPGA clock reconstruction, makes up the DAC-Z10 clock system. Despite the extremely thorough attention it has paid to this critical componentry, though, the Eversolo also has an input for an external clock – and with multiple impedance options.

This allows the DAC-Z10 to integrate into super-high end systems that have even more effective clock systems than the one specified here. Either way, though, the DAC-Z10 seems extremely well-served where clocking, and by extension the imaging and transient response of its sound, are concerned.

• Features score: 5 / 5

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Sound quality

• Profoundly impressive detail retrieval
• Expansive, organized and front-foot sound
• Not especially tolerant of less-capable partners

Let’s get the minor negative out of the way first, shall we? The Eversolo DAC-Z10 is not about to indulge in partnering equipment that is less capable than it is. The DAC-Z10 punches above its weight, not below it – so it can hold its own in systems with high price-tags, but it’s not about to make your run-of-the-mill power speakers or wallet-friendly amps into world-beaters. If anything, it’s more likely to expose their shortcomings.

But as long as the stuff before and after the Eversolo in the chain is up to scratch, there’s a whole lot to enjoy about this device – especially where its powers of digital-to-analog conversion are concerned.

Where detail retrieval is concerned, the DAC-Z10 is as good as anything I've heard at anything like the price. No event in a recording is too minor, no harmonic variation is too subtle, no over- or undertone surrounding the fundamental note of an instrument or a voice is too muted to elude it.

The production of Horsegirl’s Phonetics On and On is open and so spare that you might think every shred of information is available even when it’s playing on an unremarkable system – but the Eversolo demonstrates that even deeper subtleties and transients are there, and it has the power to reveal and contextualize them. If you’re after the most complete image possible of your music, the DAC-Z10 is ready and able to give it to you.

It’s more than willing to get out of the way of the music, and of the source machine that’s playing it. So when it comes to tonality and frequency response, the Eversolo tries its utmost to have as little input as possible even though it’s responsible for D-to-A conversion – the sound you get, in these respects, seems very much to be the sound stored on the disc, the digital file or whatever.

What the DAC-Z10 will do is ensure that low frequencies are shaped and controlled to the point that rhythmic expression is coherent and momentum levels never dip below what is appropriate.

It takes care of the minor dynamic variations with just as much ease as it does with every other aspect of detail retrieval – and when the music undergoes big shifts in intensity or volume, as it does during a listen to Daniel Blumberg’s soundtrack to The Brutalist, the Eversolo is able to describe them in full, and in the most articulate manner.

It ensures the top of the frequency range always carries enough substance to prevent its bite becoming problematic, and allows the midrange to project with real confidence.

And the bigger and more information-packed the audio content you serve it, the more impressive the DAC-Z10 sounds. A DSD64 file of Michael Jackon’s Off the Wall sounds positively ferocious once the Eversolo has done with it – the clean, open and pristine recording (especially in 2024 remaster guise) sounds more animated, more immediate, and more engaging than it does via any even vaguely price-comparable alternative. And there are plenty of very capable, vaguely price-comparable, alternatives around.

• Sound quality score: 5 / 5

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Design

• Aluminum chassis
• A choice of VU meters, spectrum displays and control dial colors
• 310x88x365mm / 12.2x3.5x13.4in (WxHxD)

As is only to be expected, given the asking price, the Eversolo DAC-Z10 is carefully constructed from premium materials, and finished to an extremely high standard. Fundamentally it’s simply a rectangular box in the established ‘hi-fi’ manner – but in terms of look, feel and finish it’s a fairly upmarket proposition.

It’s not quite as wide as your average hi-fi separate, but nevertheless Eversolo has found space for an 8.8-inch touchscreen that’s bright, clear and responsive, and is able to display a great deal of information without looking in any way crowded.

It forms the majority of the fascia of a chassis built from aircraft-grade aluminum and coated in a soft(ish)-touch finish that only adds to the impression of refined good taste.

Eversolo has remembered to make sure the design of the DAC-Z10 is enjoyable as well as admirable, too. As well as an exhaustive amount of relevant information, the screen can display a number of different VU meters or dynamic spectrum displays – and the single ‘turn/push’ control dial alongside it can be illuminated in one of quite a few different colors.

• Design score: 5 / 5

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Usability & setup

• Remote control, app and touchscreen control options
• Some end-user tweaking available
• Switchable XLR polarity

Despite its wealth of features and extensive functionality, setting up and operating the DAC-Z10 is pretty straightforward. And you have plenty of options, too.

Obviously the first thing to do is make your relevant connections into and out of the device. The DAC-Z10 will support plenty of digital devices, of course, and there’s the ability to route a single analog source through too – which is useful if you’re connecting directly to a power amplifier rather than a pair of powered or active speakers.

It’s worth noting the XLR connections have switchable polarity, which makes system-matching a great deal more straightforward than it otherwise would be. After that it’s just a question of trimming each individual input in terms of volume – every digital input can have a choice of six filters applied, which allows the end user a fair amount of input into the way the quartet of DAC chips performs.

In terms of control, you’ve a gratifying number of well-implemented options. The control wheel, which is a turn/push number, is responsive and reliable, and the same can be said for the weighty little remote control handset that is, in its own way, just as tactile a device as the DAC-Z10 itself. The touchscreen is equally simple and logical to use, and just as reliable in the way it reacts.

Best of all, though, is the ‘Eversolo Control’ app that’s free for iOS and Android. It’s far from the most visually exciting control app around, it’s true – but once you get beyond the relative lack of visual stimulation you’ll find a thorough, stable and eminently useful interface that enables you to control every single aspect of the DAC-Z10’s performance.

• Usability & setup score: 5 / 5

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Value

• It costs a lot, but it does a lot
• Performs as well or better than anything else at the same price
• Versatility really adds to its value as a long-term buy

Obviously spending this sort of money on a DAC with preamplification functionality means you have a system that justifies the outlay, and in that case there’s really no arguing with the value for money that’s on offer here.

The amount of things it can do, the range of connections it has, the usefulness of its various control options, and the impeccable quality of its audio mean that its price is very agreeable… to people with this kind of money to spend.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Eversolo DAC-Z10?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Also consider

How I tested the Eversolo DAC-Z10

I slotted the Eversolo DAC-Z10 into my reference system – so it took care of the digital-to-analog conversion required by a Rega Apollo CD player, a Naim Uniti Star (meaning internet radio, network streaming and music streaming service content was available), and an Apple MacBook Pro via USB to access digital audio of the highest possible resolution.

It also accepted an analog signal from a pre-amplified Technics SL-1300G turntable. It was connected to a Cambridge Edge W power amplifier via balanced XLR connections, which in turn was connected to Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3 Signature loudspeakers on their bespoke FS-700 S3 stands.

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: February 2026

• Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds launch today (Feb 12th) for $329 / £249
• They promise improved noise cancellation and audio quality
• The new design is 11% thinner, with a bigger antenna for a better connection

Sony has revealed its new WF-1000XM6 earbuds – its latest high-end noise-cancelling true wireless offering. The Sony WF-1000MX6 cost $329 / £249 (about AU$475), and are available immediately from major retailers.

TechRadar has already spent several weeks testing the new earbuds, and you can read our in-depth Sony WF-1000XM6 review if you want to get straight to our verdict, or you can watch our video review just below.

Or, if you want the headlines on the key areas Sony has changed in the new model, to help them compete with the best earbuds on the planet, read on below!

1. Improved noise cancellation

Sony says that the new earbuds will deliver a 25% improvement in noise reduction compared to the Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds, with particular improvements in mid and high sounds. There are now eight mics on the earbuds to detect sounds, combined with a new processor called the HD Noise Canceling Processor QN3e – a variant of the chip in the impressive Sony WH-1000XM6 over-ear headphones.

There's improved real-time optimization of the active noise cancellation, and Sony says that its new ear tips should also create a better seal to boost noise blocking, too.

2. Better audio quality

Sony has developed an interesting new speaker driver for these earbuds, with a dual-material design. The outer edge is softer, intended to help deliver deep and controlled bass, while the center is rigid for crisp mids and highs. Like the WH-1000XM6, Sony also has a new approach to tuning in conjunction with studio sound engineers for a more neutral audio profile.

Sony also notes that its audio processing has been upgraded from 24-bit to 32-bit, though any Hi-Res Audio support is still limited to LDAC.

3. Upgraded call quality

Sony says that the new earbuds use two mics on each bud for AI-boosted beamforming to pick up your voice more clearly, plus a bone conduction sensor to add extra clarity, with the goal of making speech clearer on calls.

There's also an AI-powered background noise reduction system, again similar to what you get on the Sony WH-1000XM6 over-ears.

4. A new design

Sony has made the point that the new earbuds are 11% "slimmer" than the previous model, though the new shape also makes them larger in other ways – but Sony says the overall effect is that they should be more ergonomic.

One advantage of the new design is that the antenna is now significantly larger, which Sony says will improve connection stability and reliability.

That's certainly true when taking them out of the case – Sony has added a little ridge so they're easy to grip when removing them from the case. The case is larger than the XM5 earbuds' case, but it is tall and slim – still very portable.

5. More features and a different app

What Sony launch would be complete without new smart features? The XM6 earbuds have a few tricks up their sleeve – some practical, some more interesting.

You'll need to use the Sony Sound Connect app instead of the old Sony Headphones app, and in here you'll find a new 10-band EQ to customize the sound if you want, as well as a good 'Find My EQ' feature that lets you change the sound to your preference without having to know what you're doing.

There's also a Background Music Effect feature, which makes music sound more ambient (like it's coming from the speakers in a café, say), which can be great for when you're working.

Sony is also supporting Bluetooth LE Audio and the LC3 codec here, and offers the ability to set the earbuds to prioritize audio quality over Bluetooth connection stability, or vice versa.

A lot stays the same

The battery life from the buds is still a quoted 8 hours (24 hours from the case), they have Sony's DSEE Extreme audio upscaling to improve low-quality streams, they have Sony features, including a customizable Ambient Mode, Quick Access, and so on.

Sony WF-1000XM6: Two-minute review

The all-new Sony WF-1000XM6 an impressive set of earbuds with a formidable set of features – especially formidable for tech journos such as me, who are obliged to stick within some sort of length limit for these reviews – but as Sony seeks to recapture class-leading greatness with its 1000X series lineup, I can't help but wonder whether at some point we'll reach a case of diminishing returns.

Here, for example, Sony once again provides us a smaller earpiece. It's 11% thinner but somehow contains a 1.5x larger antenna for better connection stability, an extra mic per bud to equal eight in total, and two processors. One of these is called the QN3E (to take care of the eight mics and facilitate a new auto ambient sound mode) and the other is the V2, to enable 32-bit audio support (with Sony's LDAC codec) using the new 8.4mm unique driver and introduce a new 10-band EQ tab with a 'Find your EQ' tech plus new 'gaming' EQ preset.

But how many mics per bud is enough to facilitate fantastic ANC? And how much do we need our earbuds to shrink before the listener decides enough is enough – because they're actually not sure it's made the product that much better?

But before I answer those questions, know that for sound quality alone, the Sony WF-1000XM6 are a very good set of earbuds.

Some of the best earbuds on the market then? Well, Sony has certainly sought to stuff these buds with every upgrade it can (and every feature you can possibly imagine) using its own proprietary technology.

But there's the rub; the company that brought us 360 Reality Audio with head-tracking would absolutely love for you to use it, but the format is no longer supported on nearly as many of the big music streaming sites as it used to be – Deezer dropped it in 2022; Tidal gave up its support for the 3D format in 2024.

And in terms of hi-res Bluetooth chops, LDAC is of little use to iPhone owners, although Sony's DSEE Extreme upscaler is here again and it does make Spotify streams sound a lot better.

So what's excellent about the WH-1000XM6, what's less so, and are they worth their refreshingly approachable asking fee? The design of the buds is now pill-shaped, and while the earpieces are thinner, the units are also taller with a little notch halfway up to help them fit.

Because they're slightly more raised from their charging nest and covered entirely in a matte plastic for better traction, they boast what Sony calls "easier pick up" from their case – and I can confirm that while I wasn't convinced about the overall fit in the ear, I didn't drop them while first grabbing them half as much as I did the older XM5.

Sadly, the active noise cancellation didn't live up to my expectations in real-world testing. That said, the battery life, at eight hours from the buds and up to 24 with the case – and yes, that is with noise cancellation deployed – isn't bad at all.

Do I love them? Having spent over two weeks with them, I like them a lot, and that new antenna does provide rock-solid connection that never falters. I also liked the new Background Music Effect perk much more than I thought I would – it's a great focus aid, allowing you to push the music back just slightly, so you can hear yourself think.

Also, Sony's Quick Attention feature, wherein you simply cover the left earbud to lower music and quickly filter in ambient sound around you, is a winner, although this isn't new for Sony – we've loved it on the Sony WH-1000XM6 and previous headphones too.

Ultimately for me though, the noise cancellation isn't the class-leading triumph it is billed as, and competing options such as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen (and Apple AirPods Pro 3, if you've got an Apple source device) are offering better access to spatial audio formats and that cocoon of silence noise-nixing you may prioritize.

Add in the Technics EAH-AZ100 as an alternative – offering triple device multipoint, clearer calls and a more comfortable fit – and ultimately, while the WF-1000XM6 are talented and capable earbuds in many respects, there are other buds I would still nudge you to reach for, at this level.

Sony WF-1000XM6 review: Price and release date

• Released on February 12, 2026
• Priced $329 / £250 / AU$499.95
• Available in Black or Platinum Silver

Thankfully, Sony's kept a lid on price increases here here. The older flagship Sony WF-1000XM5 launched in July 2023 for $299.99 / £259 / AU$499, so the WF-1000XM6 are only slightly more expensive in the US, and are actually cheaper in the UK.

That said, Sony's hand has been somewhat forced, because Apple's AirPods Pro 3 came with a $249 / £219 / AU$429 price tag when they hit shelves back on September 19, 2025 – ie. cheaper or the same as the AirPods Pro 2's $249 / £249 / AU$399 price tag in the UK and US (although in Australia, they did come with a more expensive launch price).

Other direct competition at this level? The closest rivals are most pressingly the aforementioned AirPods Pro 3, followed by premium offerings such as the Technics EAH-AZ100, which are $299 / £259 / AU$478 or the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) for $299 / £299 / AU$450. I might even mention the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 although those are a fair bit pricier, at $399 / £349 / AU$599.

So as you can probably deduce, Sony has actually gone in quite aggressive with the asking fee here.

Sony WF-1000XM6 review: Specs

Sony WF-1000XM6 review: Features

• 10-band EQ tab with 'Find My EQ' and new Gaming preset
• DSEE Extreme upscaler, LDAC, LE Audio and 360 Reality Audio
• Background Music Effect is surprisingly useful
• …but the noise cancellation isn't the smash-hit it's billed as

Sony has once again stuffed these earbuds with all the perks and extras it knows, but a lot of them will be a case of "Yes, we know about that – what's new?" to fans of Sony's WF-1000XM lineup.

So what is new? The 10-band EQ tab (it used to be limited to five) is one upgrade, plus a specific Gaming EQ preset. Sony's more recent Sound Connect app is also newly used with the flagship lineup (this used to be the Sony Headphones app, until October 2024) but Sound Connect was already around for the budget-friendly Sony WF-C710N, which landed April 2025 – so anyone who owns those will be familiar with the 'Find My EQ' tab.

If you're not one of them, I can tell you that it's still good here: you tap on various sound profile bubbles and the software continues to supply more, based on your preferred listening choices, until it presents a personalized profile you can save as a preset.

But again, it's something that is also available in much cheaper Sony earbuds. It's also not a hearing test, as such (there are no diminishing tones to engage with; no analysis of your hearing and curation of a truly unique profile with augmented tones for you) and while you may not want a full hearing test, it's worth stating that competing options I've mentioned do offer it, for similar money. And if you're hoping for a huge app overhaul from the older Headphones app, you won't get it sadly.

For me, this companion app isn't the most intuitive. For example, the home screen is essentially a list of tabs – you can assign elements to be placed at the top of this, from the depths of the device settings, although for me this sometimes just further complicates things – but along the bottom are four smaller tabs labelled 'My Device' (the one you're brought to upon launching it); 'Scene', which attempts to work out what you're doing physically and also suggests profiles that can be deployed at specific times, such as 'Gym' or 'Commute Home', if you feel you need them; 'Discover' for your listening history (Sony likes to offer logs and 'badges' for listening) plus the option to deploy a gentler Safe Listening experience; and lastly, 'Menu'.

Now, you'd think 'Menu' is where all the good stuff lives, but this is basically just a home for the support bot, a 'Help' function, backups and 'About this app' info.

This means that what you need to do in order to get to any tweakable features is to scroll down to a small tab at the bottom of the 'My Device' toggle labelled 'Device Settings' and from there into the minutiae of customization tabs.

It just feels like a lot of taps. It also presents many chances for newbies to venture down the wrong route, to a dead end, and then wonder how to get back to what I like to call 'that long list I had before'. A reshuffle of the app might be sensible, to bring the user more quickly to the perks they actually want to find quickly.

At the top of these Device Settings is 'Noise Canceling/Ambient Sound', but although Ambient Sound has a manual incremental 20-step slider, a 'sensitivity setting' which can be either Standard, High or Low, an auto toggle, and an option to toggle on Voice passthrough (to filter in voices while still suppressing noise), your actual noise cancellation options are still just 'on' or 'off', which feels a little disappointing, especially given the extra mic per-bud onboard here.

Sony hasn't listed a figure for the noise-nixing power in decibels, but the company is keen to tell us that the WF-1000XM6 are the "best noise-cancelling" earbuds it's ever released.

Sadly, I need to manage your expectations here, because although certain sounds are indeed dulled when I deploy ANC, when I switch to the AirPods Pro 3 and it's a different level. Want that bubble of silence feeling where the noise drops and extraneous sounds simply melt away? The kind of ANC that makes you genuinely surprised at how noisy your immediate surroundings have become, when you remove them? Sadly, the Sonys are fairly good, but they're not that good – Bose and Apple both have them beat.

Call handling? This is also a bit of a let down – and not just because it's been so hyped by Sony in these new buds. Although Sony couldn't wait to extol the talents of the new mic on each bud, the new wind-nixing structure around them, plus a new AI algorithm with beamforming and bone conduction sensors to aid with both ANC and call-handling on those four mics per earpiece… in practice, callers said I sounded "muffled" when using them for voice calls, especially when compared to my regular Technics EAH-AZ100.

While I'm on the comparison, Sony's answer to Technics' excellent Sidetone tech, to amplify your own voice in calls, is an on/off toggle called 'Capture Voice' in the app, but I couldn't detect much difference either way when trying to use it. And because I had to really screw the earpieces quite far into my ears to get a secure fit (more on this later), I think I would have benefitted from more of a boost here.

All of this aside, a lot of things are really enjoyable about the WF-1000XM6 – and Background Music Effect is top of the list. To find it, you have to scroll down that thin tab at the bottom of the 'My Device' tab, labelled Device settings > Sound Quality/Volume > Listening Mode > Background Music – see what I mean about decent features being somewhat hidden away?

Only then will you be able to select from 'My room', 'Living room' or 'Cafe', which spreads and pushes your music just a little further away from your ears each time. I thought it'd be gimmicky; I was wrong. If you're someone who sometimes turns the TV on just for a bit of background noise to focus, or simply can't concentrate if lyrics are too prominent in your ears, say, this feature is for you.

I also like that the on-ear controls are now fully customizable, once you've delved into Device settings > Controls > Change the touch sensor function > Custom. The one caveat is that if you set a long-press of the left earbud to be volume decrease (which is always my preference) you lose Quick Attention, which is one of my favorite Sony-specific earbuds features because it's so useful – if someone starts talking to you or there's been an announcement about the late arrival of your train, say, simply press and hold the left bud and music is pushed low while ambient passthrough is boosted.

Other pleasing notable mentions go to the app's ability to corral my Apple Music subscription to the fold so I can see some playback information in the My Device tab, the 'Optimal Earbud Tips' wearer test (it's quite strict, you know) and the option to prioritize either a stable connection or audio quality. And I should probably mention that thanks to that bigger antenna, I never once experienced any dropouts in connection with this iteration (which was an issue with the older Sony WF-1000XM5 when I reviewed them, initially).

I've also long been a fan of Sony's DSEE Extreme upscaler, which takes your lossier music streams and does remarkable things to add detail and nuance. Here, it is very well implemented; I had to check more than once that I hadn't switched over from Spotify to one of the more audiophile-friendly streaming platforms, and that is something I don't say lightly.

There's also multipoint to two devices and Auto Switch, for handing off the audio from your buds to your Sony Linkbuds Speaker when you come home – but that's the only Sony speaker currently supported, so is pretty niche as an option.

Spatial audio? Ah. Yes, it's technically here, because you can have 360 Reality Audio – if you can find any content presented in the Sony-made format, given that Tidal and Deezer both dropped support a little while ago…

• Features score: 4 / 5

Sony WF-1000XM6 review: Sound quality

• Crisp bass that neither bloats nor overstates itself
• Plenty of texture through upper mids
• Beaten for dynamic nuance and detail across the frequencies

Switching all sound profiles to 'standard', with a neutral EQ and making sure I've selected the connection profile that prioritizes audio quality (rather than a stable Bluetooth connection) in the Sony WF-1000XM6, I cue up Sevdaliza's Mad Woman. The clock chimes in the opening of the song simmer beautifully initially, with razor-sharp leading edges of notes from the buds. And that note goes all the way down to the abyss without issue too, which is more than can be said for entry-level (and even most mid-range) earbuds.

I'm just missing an extra ounce of build and intentional distortion through the belly of the note that I know to be there – and it's confirmed when I switch to the Technics EAH-AZ100, which have no trouble revealing it.

If you've heard Harry Styles' new track Aperture, it's a similar idea; the timing ticks along beautifully and the Sony buds never shy away from a bass drop, but I can't help but notice when they gloss over a marginal inflection or pop within a gloriously imperfect synth note – because that wants to be remembered as such, and the buds aren't quite recreating it perfectly.

I'm being hypercritical, of course. The sound here is very good indeed – in fact, in instrumental works such as Nicholas Gunn's Campfire there's an expansive and emotive soundstage wherein each musical strand is held together in a cohesive and rewarding mix.

Human breath feels three-dimensional and, for want of a better word, real. It's just that when the flute comes in, I'm missing an iota of excitement as the soundstage builds in intensity and the shaker comes in.

That said, I'll caveat all of this with one potential reason: I did struggle to get the Sony WF-1000XM6 to fit perfectly, even after a week with them… but that's for the next section. If you can achieve a secure fit and seal, I do think there'd be very little in it between them and the best-sounding earbuds in their class.

• Sound quality: 4 / 5

Sony WF-1000XM6 review: Design

• On-ear controls are reliable and the headshell is grippy
• Divisive fit and ear-tip material – although plenty of tips are provided
• Case magnets feel a little weak

Sony has once again reworked the shape of its earbuds and I have to say that the company's commitment to tweaking and amending the fit in the pursuit of excellence is commendable. These earbuds are 11% thinner than the older model and are very much pill-shaped from above, but they are taller.

That means – and there's no pretty way to say this – they stick out of your ears a little more (as well as from their taller case), and there's a little notch or nub halfway up the housing, to nestle into your outer ear.

Far from being disappointing to me, this initially quite bulbous-looking fit can work very well (see the 'concha fit' style pioneered by the aforementioned Technics EAH-AZ100), however, in this thinner shape, I found that getting a secure fit did involve a fairly rigorous push and twist into the ear, to get them to 'lock in', as it were.

I worry that in the pursuit of a positive 'they're smaller!' goal, Sony hasn't quite achieved the aim of a better fit – although fit is a very personal thing.

I eventually achieved the best fit using the 'S'-sized small tips (not the XS, which is unusual for me), backed up by Sony's in-app ear-tip fit test tech, but after several hours of listening, the lower part of my antihelix and on to my antitragus did ache a little.

I also think there's a small chance that the shape of these buds affects the efficacy of the noise cancellation – their thinness perhaps means they didn't fill my outer ear fully, quite where they should? It's hard to know for sure, but as someone who's testing more buds than I can count, it felt a little off.

One good aspect of the taller buds, along with the fact that there's no shiny plastic involved in the design, is that I never once dropped an earbud while getting them out of the case, and that is a comment often levelled at the older XM5 buds.

The ear-tips are again memory foam in style, and while I like them a lot and found them very easy to switch out (particularly thanks to the little colored bands on the bottom, so you don't mix them up), unlike silicone options you do need to give them a moment to re-form if you inadvertently squish them while fitting.

The case is much more angular and a little taller, but maintains a USB-C charger and reset button on the back (it'll also charge wirelessly) plus a solo green LED light on the front. It can charge wirelessly too.

My only point on the case is the magnets that snap the case lid shut; given the extra height and bulk on the top, it feels as if they could be stronger. I did an initial drop-test and it did stay shut, but I didn't feel as confident of this happening consistently as I have with other class-leading buds.

In terms of battery life, their claim of eight hours from the buds with ANC and 24 from the case equals that of the AirPods Pro 3, which means it's good – but this is a standard rather than outstanding figure. In testing, I got a little less from them, at seven hours before they needed charging – but my testing does often involve boosting the volume above 50% and scrolling through features and profiles.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Sony WF-1000XM6 review: value

• Stuffed full of features and far from the most expensive buds around
• …but the ANC isn't class leading, and spatial audio might be hard to access

Do you want the best noise-cancelling earbuds on the market for noise-blocking power? If so, the WF-1000XM6 are not my first choice – but that's not at the top of everyone's list, and doesn't mean you should discount them.

For sound, there's plenty to celebrate. These earbuds offer an expansive and pleasing soundstage with neutrality and plenty of options to further tweak the sound to your liking. If pushed, I could've used a little more energy and oomph to allow for an extra ounce of dynamic nuance, but it's my job to nitpick and I maintain that for sound, they're still bang on the money. Buy them, and you won't be disappointed in the WF-1000XM6 sonically.

But do you want device- and streaming-service agnostic spatial audio profiles with dynamic head-tracking? That's more of an issue sadly, since 360 Reality Audio isn't what it once was (Deezer and Tidal no longer support the format) and as such, you might feel you're missing out – where options such as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) do offer that, in various guises and in conjunction with tweakable ANC.

• Value: 4 / 5

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Sony WF-1000XM6 review: Also consider

How I tested the Sony WF-1000XM6

• Tested for two weeks
• Tested at home, on a plane, on long train journeys, and while running (occasionally in the rain)

I used the Sony WF-1000XM6 for two weeks to complete this review. My testing process involved listening to new music on Tidal, Qobuz and Apple Music as well as podcasts and plus streamed TV shows from my Apple iPhone 15 Pro (I'm catching up on Married at First Sight UK, please don't judge me) on long train journeys to and from London. I also paired simultaneously to my MacBook Pro and both connections were easy and solid.

I listened at home, on a quiet train, on admittedly half-hearted runs in the constant UK rain, and I even taught myself to make natural soy wax candles from YouTube videos with the WF-1000XM6.

I've been testing audio products full-time since 2019, firstly at TechRadar's sister publication What Hi-Fi? as a staff writer, then as senior writer and now audio editor here at TechRadar.

My background as a professional dancer means I never tire of listening to music, and my still-insatiable need to move to what I'm hearing is what drives me to search for faithful timing, neutrality, precision, clarity, energy, and good old fashioned fun in recorded audio.

• First reviewed February 2026

• Read TechRadar's review guarantee
• Learn more specifically about how we test earbuds at TechRadar

• The Primare Allt-i-Ett combines speaker, streamer and amp
• Designed as an all-in-one audio device, including touchscreen for streaming
• Sells for $3,500 / £2,700 (around AU$5,200)

If you don't like poring over speaker specs list, trying to discover whether it has whichever connection or port you need, here's a new gadget for you. The newly-unveiled Primare Allt-i-Ett has basically every modern connection you could want from one of the best wireless speakers.

The Allt-i-Ett — a phrase which apparently translates to "all-in-one" in both Norwegian and Swedish — is no budget Bluetooth speaker. It costs $3,500 / £2,700 (roughly AU$5,200) and takes up an entire cabinet-top, as you can see in the picture above – it looks very much like the five-star Cambridge Audio Evo One, but with a good-size touchscreen to make it even more versatile.

For that price, you get a speaker, streamer and amplifier all in one.

Let's look at the first: a speaker. The Allt-i-Ett has six woofers, two mid-range drivers and two tweeters with waveguides, and outputs 300W of power. It really is an all-in-one speaker setup, though you can also connect a subwoofer.

Staying connected

As mentioned, connectivity is the real draw. Primare has allowed for – deep breath – USB-A, coaxial, optical, HDMI eARC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM and DAB+ radio, and 3.5mm input – as well as support for AirPlay 2 Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connect. Oh, and there's input from RCA stereo or a phono preamp, if you want to connect one of the best turntables.

In short, you can connect (wired, or wirelessly), almost any other device, to get the Allt-i-Ett to play your music. HDMI eARC also points to this being able to operate as one of the best soundbars, despite that not being the primary function – though perhaps that's where you'd most appreciate the sub output option.

To try and manage some of those connections, the Allt-i-Ett has a range of control options. You can use a phone app, a remote or a touchscreen that's built into the body. You can use them to manage a few extra features: an 11-band equalizer, auto room calibration, 3D sound and various placement modes.

Despite the high price, the Primare Allt-i-Ett seems designed for people who want a room-encompassing audio set-up, but can't fit (or simply don't want) a multi-unit setup. The speaker lets you manage various media sources all in one model, without needing to buy a separate amplifier, adaptor or receiver – we hope we get to try it out, to see if it can best the might of the Cambridge Audio Evo One. After all, that 'only' costs around $1,599…

Sonos had a quiet 2025. After the company got a new CEO, having fired the one who oversaw the app update debacle that turned the brand's most ardent fans against it, it's been licking its wounds. It canceled an ill-fated streaming TV device, and didn't announce any new hardware at all last year – its last consumer product was the Sonos Arc Ultra.

But now it appears that Sonos is ready to get back to business, and reportedly "hardware launches will ramp up in the second half of its fiscal 2026" – which in Sonos' case, means between April and September.

Sonos has already started by unveiling the Amp Multi, which is a niche music amp designed for custom-install needs, capable of powering lots of speakers in multiple Sonos zones from a single box.

There haven't been many leaks on what to expect for more mainstream releases (which is maybe a sign things are changing for Sonos on its own; it used to leak like a particularly structurally compromised sieve ), but here's what I'm hoping to see.

1. A 'Sonos Era 500' hi-fi focused speaker

The Sonos Five has been around for a long time, and is surely due for its retirement. The Sonos Era 300 isn't quite the same kind of thing – its focus on spatial audio means that's impressively expansive, but it doesn't have the pure focus on detail and depth that a real hi-fi speaker offers.

Sonos' Sound Motion bass speaker is the cool addition I hope to see as the foundation here. It debuted in the Sonos Arc Ultra, and is basically an ingeniously small dual-diaphragm low-end speaker with a force-opposing design, so it can move a lot of air in a small space, without shaking the unit.

I'd love to see this used with a traditional forward-facing driver system, rather than the angle speakers of the Era 300. Allowing this driver to handle the low end would leave the other drivers to handle mid-range without also needing to wade into the low-end, hopefully allowing for really strong mid detail reproduction, but with a bigger dynamic range overall.

And I'd be happy for this speaker to borrow the compression driver and horn system used in the Era 100. This is the kind of system used in studio monitors, so would be a great fit for a hi-fi focused speaker.

Naturally, I hope that instead of needing a dongle to connect a turntable or other wired input (as the Era 100 and 300 do), this would just have a range of inputs on it, like the Sonos Five does.

2. A Sonos Beam Gen 3 soundbar with Sound Motion and upfiring speaker

The Sonos Beam Gen 2 is still a great soundbar that we highly recommend, following its price drops. It produces impressively full sound from its small frame, but it's a shame its Dolby Atmos support is totally virtual, when the Bose Smart Soundbar is able to fit in real upfiring speakers for a better 'dome' of sound effect.

I hope a new Beam could use the Sound Motion bass driver again to add even richer bass, but in a small space that hopefully leaves Sonos free to add upfiring speakers, and to make even better use of its forward speakers.

I'd personally also love if Sonos would finally start adding HDMI passthrough ports to its soundbars, but that seems like a distant dream, alas. I'll settle for the audio upgrades.

3. A wireless home theater HDMI dongle

Speaking of soundbars, for the last few years, they've slowly but surely been going wireless. Samsung and LG both offer wireless connections from their TVs to their soundbars, and LG in particular has gone to the next level by offering Dolby Atmos FlexConnect in its new soundbar and speakers. TCL is also on board with Dolby Atmos FlexConnect's wireless speaker skills. You can get wireless surround speaker system from both Sony and Hisense.

Sonos clearly should have been the leader in fully wireless home theater (sort of its raison d'être, you know?), but lacking the ability to transmit from the TV to its soundbars/speakers means it hasn't made progress. All it needs to start is a little HDMI attachment, so I'm hoping we'll see one soon.

I'd also love for this attachment to offer the ability to have wireless surround sound using satellite speakers only, no soundbar – and this apparently was on the cards with the canceled streaming box, and I said at the time that the company shouldn't abandon this feature.

4. A portable speaker between the Roam and Move

Sonos has two portable speakers: the Sonos Roam 2 and the Sonos Move 2. The former is pretty small and costs $179 / £179 / AU$299, while the latter is large and costs $449 / £449 / AU$799. So there's a big gap in terms of both size and price for something else – something closer to the JBL Charge 6.

Maybe this is a good size to include a mini version of the Sound Motion speaker, which Sonos told me it's exploring: "We're exploring all kinds of applications, whether it's more bass, more compact form factors, more energy efficiency."

One of the nice things about the Roam and Move is that they can work as a home speaker most of the time, and then you just grab them to go out. There's definitely scope for something with a meatier sound than the Roam but a lower price than the Move that could fill the bedroom, office or kitchen of most people.

5. An Era 100 with a screen

The WiiM Sound is a direct competitor to the Sonos Era 100, with a nearly identical speaker setup and multi-room skills – but with the addition of a touchscreen on the front to add some personality and easy control options to the whole package. And we really liked it!

It made it notably more expensive than the Era 100, so we still preferred Sonos' option for value. However, just as WiiM then followed that up with the Sound Lite, which omits the screen and competes with the Era on price, we'd love to see Sonos go the other way and offer an Era 100 with a touchscreen.

The screen doesn't need to function like a full Sonos app, but the Sonos app already has a 'Favorites' bar, so it could replicate that part only on the touchscreen, so you can easily find your favorite streaming stations, playlists or artists – and control which speakers the music is playing on.

6. A big party speaker

The Sonos Move 2 is a very powerful portable speaker, but I've been told by many audio companies that huge party speakers are getting more and more popular – the kind of thing that sometimes comes with wheels, and is for mid-size events (parties in a hall, weddings, and big outdoor parties) more than home listening. The likes of JBL, Anker Soundcore, LG and many more make these.

It'd be great for Sonos to get in on the action too – waterproof, beefy, great sound quality, and perhaps a classier design than most of these have. It could be another good fit for Sound Motion – maybe in a bigger guise, or even multiple of them to provide a ton of bass kick – but it'd also be fun to again see Sonos use the pro-like compression drivers used in the Era 300, to bring a touch more 'studio' accuracy to the sound than these big speakers usually strive for.

Those are the picks from me and the TechRadar AV team – we'd love to hear what products you hope Sonos will launch or update in the comments!

• USB-C upgrades for Sennheiser's popular headphones and earbuds
• Wide compatibility and up to 24-bit/96kHz audio
• From £34.99 / $39.95 / €39.90 (about AU$69)

Sennheiser has updated its fan-favorite CX 80S and HD 400S earbuds and headphones with USB-C connections that deliver 24-bit/96kHz Hi-Res Audio directly to your ears, with no lossy wireless tech involved.

The new models, dubbed CX 80U and HD 400U, work with a wide range of devices including smartphones, handheld gaming consoles, tablets and PCs, and they're clearly aimed at cost-conscious customers.

USB-C is a welcome upgrade to these well-liked models, and a necessary one: the existing models require 3.5mm headphone sockets, which are an increasingly rare sight, especially in portable devices (much to many people's on-going chagrin).

New boss, same as the old boss

Other than the hi-res upgrade, the specs are largely the same as before. Both models are compatible with iOS, Android, ChromeOS, macOS, Windows, SteamOS and more, and both feature a microphone for calls.

The HD 400U are closed-back over-ear headphones with passive noise isolation, and they promise to deliver the same rich bass as the previous model. They come with a detachable cable and a storage pouch, like many of the best wired headphones.

If you prefer in-ears listening, the CX 80U come with three sizes of ear tips and promise a "balanced yet punchy" audio experience to compete with the best wired earbuds.

As before, the headphones and earbuds are priced competitively for buyers on a budget: the CX 80U earbuds have a recommended price of $39.95 / £34.99 (about AU$69) and the HD 400U headphones are $99.95 / £69.99 (about AU$138). Both models are available now.

Wish you could add USB-C Hi-Res Audio support to your existing 3.5mm wired headphones? Check out list of the best USB DACs:

• All your analog, digital and wireless audio through a single pre-amp
• 13 inputs and outputs including streaming from aptX HD
• £499 (about $685 / AU$985)

Pro-Ject – maker of some of the best turntables available – has announced a new compact stereo pre-amp that's designed to make today's hi-fi systems simpler. The Pre Box S3 unites your vinyl and digital sources, your TV's audio and your wireless streaming in a single component that acts as a control centre for all your audio needs.

This is a pre-amp so it doesn't contain its own amplification for passive speakers, but you can use it to connect to active speakers or a power amp, as well as to be the source and controller for an existing hi-fi setup. And it looks like a smart option for those of us whose audio diet isn't limited to a single source or to streaming audio.

Design-wise, it's a typically minimalist Pro-Ject affair reminiscent of previous products such as the recently launched Pro-Ject Head Box S3: Pro-Ject likes to keep things clean and uncluttered rather than add unnecessary bells and whistles.

Pro-Ject Pre Box S3: key features and pricing

The Pre Box S3 features a phono stage for moving magnet turntables, a DAC for digital sources delivering up to 24-bit/192kHz audio, an analog preamp with a motor driven volume control, HDMI with eARC for your TV, Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD receiving up to 24-bit/48kHz audio, and a headphone amplifier designed for headphones of 16 to 600 ohms, which covers even very demanding models among the best wired headphones.

There are plenty of connections here: two line-level RCA inputs for CD players and other external sound sources, a MM phono input, two optical Toslink S/PDIFs, a coax S/PDIF, USB-C supporting PCM up to 24-bit/192kHz, and that aforementioned HDMI.

Outputs are generous too. There's a variable RCA for your power amp, a 6.3mm headphone out, a fixed-level line out for second zones or external equipment and a dedicated subwoofer out. There's also a 12V trigger for external devices and RS232 for custom or multi-room integration.

The Pro-Ject Pre Box S3 is £499 (about $685 / AU$985) and you can have yours in a choice of black or silver.

• Qobuz's mobile app audience reportedly grew by 202% (US) or 105% (UK), from 2024 to 2025
• The music platform ranked #3 in the UK and #2 in the US for Media & Entertainment
• It's been recognized as a Digital 100 winner by data firm Similarweb as a result

As music lovers look to embrace more analog in 2026 (and competitor Spotify continues to receive 'Slopify' criticism for AI music infestation on its site) Qobuz is seemingly thriving – to the point that it has been recognized an annual Digital 100 winner by web analytics expert Similarweb for its huge growth. These awards give flowers to the companies that showed the most significant digital growth in the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, India, and Brazil.

The original hi-res music streaming service and independently-owned music download platform ranked #3 among the fastest growing companies in Media & Entertainment for the UK, and #2 for Media & Entertainment in the US.

Similarweb’s Sixth Annual Digital 100 Report also states that Qobuz grew the audience for its mobile app by 105% in the UK and 202% in the US from 2024 to 2025, based on the company's independent estimates.

And while ChatGPT took the top spot in many countries (again), it's a major win for the unique French music site that prefers to do things its own way – and strongly emphasizes human curation and passion, featuring expert-curated playlists and 'Editor's Picks' for its recommended audio content.

Dan Mackta, a Managing Director at Qobuz, said "We’re delighted to be recognised as one of the fastest‑growing digital companies in both the UK and US in this year’s Similarweb Digital 100. Last year was a pivotal one for Qobuz, highlighted by the launch and strong adoption of Qobuz Connect, which has broadened how our listeners enjoy high‑resolution music across hi‑fi devices."

Qobuz: time to make the switch?

Qobuz further solidified itself as the audiophiles' service of choice by adding hi-res DSD and DXD downloads to its offering in October 2024. More recently, it announced a six-month, artists-first podcast collab with indie music mag, Drowned in Sound and added sensitive, helpful initiatives such as organizing its music catalog by record label (rather than via a 'sounds similar' algorithm) to help me find new bands I love and help Qobuz earn its place in my music-loving heart.

Does Qobuz care for accolades? Well, winners do not apply for or lobby for these awards. Similarweb's ranking is powered by its own "rigorous analysis of billions of digital signals across more than 100 million companies". The Digital 100 ranks web domains and mobile apps based on their performance over 12 months, versus the previous 12 months.

I'm glad that Qobuz is gaining traction as a viable music app alternative to Spotify, because for me, there's also a much more human win to celebrate here.

Spotify isn't alone in receiving accusations of pushing AI slop on its listeners – YouTube Music users feel it's also happening to them. And while Spotify seems to be hoping loyal fans to look the other way on ethical music issues – see its recent bid to win over Audible fans with a big audiobook upgrade – Qobuz doubled down on its support for artists last year by publishing how much it actually pays per stream.

At just over 1.8¢, this rate has not only been verified as the highest pay-per-stream fee in the industry, Qobuz also claims it's "four times the industry average."

And that's before we even touch on how former Spotify CEO Daniel Ek's reported investments in AI military company Helsing caused acts such as Massive Attack to remove their entire catalog from the platform.

Since the publication of this piece, a Spotify spokesperson has reached out to TechRadar to comment on its own payment models and approach to AI music, telling us: "Spotify actively removes deceptive or spammy AI tracks to protect artists and listeners, including more than 75 million in the past year. Regarding 'per stream rates', no streaming service pays per stream. A high per stream means fewer people are using a service. Per stream rate = total payouts divided by total streams. What would make a higher per stream rate? Fewer streams, meaning lower overall payouts."

Given the recent surge in Qobuz's popularity since it published its rates, it's perhaps even more interesting to consider this.

Think it's time to make the switch? The figures suggest it's already happening. Smartphone owners are letting their devices do the talking.

• Ultra-affordable USB-C to headphone adapter with DAC
• 32-bit/384kHz Hi-Res Audio support in a tiny body
• About $26 – but we're waiting on a global release

Getting the best sound from your smartphone causes a bit of a conundrum: the best wired headphones deliver higher quality audio, but on most phones there's nowhere to plug them in. But there's a solution: enter the dongle. (Ah, my favorite Bruce Lee movie – Ed.)

A USB-C headphone dongle can give your audio a big upgrade without a big expense, and the newly launched Qlink-C from Questyle looks like it could be a good budget buy. The Q-link-C hasn't made it to the brand's Amazon US page just yet, but it's launched in Japan with a price tag of roughly $26, and will hopefully be available to US buyers very soon.

Although dongles are generally used for headphones, you can also use them for anything that takes a standard aux input.

And while at this price you won't get a super-elite audiophile experience or enough power to drive the most demanding headphones, moving from compressed Bluetooth to uncompressed wired audio will make a noticeable difference on decent headphones – especially with the Hi-Res Audio-capable DAC at the heart of this one.

Questyle Qlink-C: what does this dongle do?

Questyle is one of those audio brands that aims to have a product for every kind of buyer, and its product range includes budget buys such as the QCC Dongle Pro for wireless headphones and the premium Sigma Pro amp and DAC.

The Qlink-C is at the budget end of the range but that doesn't mean it isn't delivering a decent specification. Its CX31993 DAC delivers Hi-Res Audio at up to 32-bit/384kHz, and it has a signal to noise ratio of 100dB. It's extremely small (12cm / 4.7inches) and very light, coming in at just 4.5g (0.17 oz), but it should be fairly tough: its cable is braided to withstand everyday use and has been tested to survive 15,000 bending cycles.

The challenge for Questyle is to stand out in what's already a very crowded market sector of the best portable DACs, with affordable dongles from the likes of UGREEN and Moondrop offering similar specs for similarly low prices – or lower if you don't mind topping out at 24-bit/96kHz.

• The JM21 player gets a bigger battery and more memory
• Same processor and dual DACs as before
• Expect to pay around $250

The Fiio JM21 is one of the best portable music players you can buy, especially if you're on a budget. And now Fiio has updated it for 2026. The JM21 2026 will launch in late January 2026 with a predicted price tag of around $250.

As before, the JM21 2026 comes with dual Cirrus Logic SC43198 DACs. But this time there's a bigger battery and more storage.

FiiO JM21 2026: key features

The JM21 2026 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680, the same chip you'll often find in mid-range Android phones. As before, it's running Android 13 in a customized form. There's 4GB of RAM, 64GB of built-in storage – and, most importantly, support for microSD cards up to 2TB in size.

There's a good range of formats supported here including Hi-Res Audio at up to 32-bit/384kHz, DSD512, and then you've got LDAC, LDHC and aptX HD for high-quality wireless connections.

The battery in the 2026 model is 3,100mAh, up from the 2,400mAh of the previous version, and it delivers up to 700mW of output power for your headphones. There's a switchable three-way gain setting to cater for a wide variety of the best wired headphones and best wired earbuds.

Unless something's gone horribly wrong at the Fiio factory, you can expect a DAC/amp that punches way above its price tag: as we said in our JM21 review last year "it’s a composed, lively and admirably detailed listen... It hits hard at the bottom end, but with no lack of control: its straight-edged attack means rhythmic expression is confident and convincing."

Unless you turn it up to hearing-threatening volumes, it's a very impressive little device with an equally impressive little price tag.

The Fiio JM21 2026 will be available from 23 January 2026.

As pop legend Sir Cliff Richard once sung while rollerskating around wearing a Sony Walkman: I like small speakers. I like tall speakers. If they've music, they're wired for sound.

But while I share his enthusiasm for speakers in a variety of sizes, I do wish that some of them were a bit more interesting to look at as well as to listen to: I'm writing this in a room containing three sets of rectangular vertical speakers, all of which came in a choice of black, black or black.

Hurrah, then, for the brands who decided to brighten up CES 2026 with speakers that are a bit more visually interesting than the typical sober stereo pairs.

From classic design cues to childlike joy, there were some really interesting and entertaining speakers for those of us whose budgets can't quite stretch to the very beautiful B&O Atelier models that probably cost more than my home. Here are six standouts from CES.

Samsung Music Studio 5 and 7

I really loved the design of Samsung's latest Music Studio speakers, especially the Music Studio 5 in white: like my colleague Matt Bolton, the first thing they reminded me of was Braun's Dieter Rams: they look like a long-lost relative of the Braun clocks I have in my home. And because they're Samsung, there's substance to match the style: the Music Studio 5 promises to punch above its weight in the bass department thanks to Samsung's AI Dynamic Bass control. It doesn't do Hi-Res Audio but the larger, louder Music Studio 7 does, and that one's built for spatial audio too.

IKEA Solskydd

Given their size and shape, I very much doubt that the new IKEA Solskydd speakers will deliver room-filling audiophile-approved sound. But with a choice of three sizes and the ability to put them pretty much anywhere the Solskydd are super cute, perfect for casual listening and, in the orange-y version pictured above, enjoyable to look at. And on the subject of brightly colored speakers…

Cambridge L/R active bookshelf speakers

Which speaker did you notice first in the image above? If it wasn't the orange one I'd be very surprised. Cambridge Audio's recently announced L/R Series isn't the first orange speaker by any means – we've seen plenty from the likes of KEF – but it's a departure for the audio brand and it's a great color. There are other, more sober options but as the former owner of an orange Apple iBook – still to my mind the prettiest computer ever made – there's only one Cambridge color I'd want in my house.

Harman Kardon SoundSticks 5 Wi-Fi

I had a set of Harman Kardon SoundSticks about a million years ago to go with my candy-colored Mac, so seeing this latest generation has taken me back in time to my happy place. There's nothing retro about the tech inside this new version: they're wireless speakers with integrated lighting and HDMI ARC.

IKEA Kallsup

Because I am a giant child, I can't read this product name without swapping the K for a B. But that's not the only childlike joy I'm getting from IKEA's titchy 10-buck Bluetooth speakers. They're LEGO for your ears, stackable, brightly colored cubes with Bluetooth 5.3 and the ability to play through 100 of them simultaneously. Admittedly that would mean shelling out nearly a grand, which would pay for considerably better speakers such as the Audio Pro A36. But do the Audio Pros come in lime? No, they do not.

Eversolo SE100

I didn’t set out to have an IKEA-themed speaker selection, but in addition to the retailer's own products we also saw the rather inspired Eversolo SE100 speakers, designed specifically to fit in the square spaces of the super-popular IKEA Kallax shelves. That's smart: IKEA Kallax are widely used as places to put turntables and to store vinyl, so having speakers made just for them (and their many imitators) is inspired. These square speakers have a serious spec, and unlike your Kallax, you don't need an Allen key and a friend to set them up.

• Bluetooth and wired audio player with retro looks
• Unfortunately it's a concept, not a real product
• I'd buy one in a heartbeat

We don't often cover concepts on TechRadar, but I'm happy to make an exception for this brilliant little Bluetooth speaker design: Jinkyo Han has created something that mixes Teenage Engineering's design cues with a bit of Dictaphone and OG Sony Walkman to create something stunning. I absolutely love it, and this is my way of willing a company into making it real.

It may be retro on the outside but Han's design is perfectly modern on the inside, with both wired and wireless audio and a hi-res DAC. It looks like a great combination of old-school design and contemporary circuitry.

You spin me right round

As Han explains on Behance: "Reminiscent of a retro cassette tape, the design recreates the image of a tape spinning on a circular shelf as music plays, translating the materiality of the past into a contemporary object." The front of the device features a perforated speaker grille and a spinning circle that looks like an old reel-to-reel tape recorder.

I think it's strongly reminiscent of the FiiO KA15 portable DAC, which I happen to be testing at the moment. That pretends to be a cassette player – and it's part of a retro-modern trend that's also seen FiiO bring back the portable CD player and the portable cassette player in some style.

I think Han's design is even more fun, and while I very much doubt the moving parts would be duplicated in any production model because of the cost, the hit on battery life and the potential noise and pocket lint collection, I'd love to see more hardware with this same kind of design: it really reminds me of 1970s sci-fi movies such as Silent Running, and of shows such as Space: 1999.

This isn't the only fun audio design in Han's portfolio: there are also some cool-looking wall-mounted speakers that wouldn't look out of place in IKEA's recent speaker catalog and a more industrial-looking Bluetooth speaker based on the portable cassette recorders of the 1970s and 1980s – you might want to check out Han's portfolio.

• Open-back headphones with 100mm planar drivers
• Full Drive Tech for larger effective area
• $799 (about £595 / AU$685)

Moondrop has unveiled its new Skyland planar magnetic headphones, with very large and efficient drivers – but the thing I'm most intrigued about is its headband.

The Skyland's headband consists of a flexible, hollow, carbon-fiber strap and headband that's been 3D-printed in a multi-segmented adjustable design to deliver good support, light weight and superb breathability for heads of all sizes.

The headband might not be the most technically impressive part of these very high-spec headphones, but if it's as comfortable as it looks it'll make a big difference during long listening sessions.

Of course, the headband isn't the key selling point here: that's the very large 100mm planar magnetic driver with 500nm diaphragms and fine mesh protective grilles.

The driver features Full Drive Technology to put the planar circuits across the entire vibrating section of the driver rather than in a rectangle down the middle of it, and Moondrop says that results in performance "comparable to that of electrostatics" and with treble "far superior to that of traditional planar magnetic headphones".

Moondrop Skyland headphones: key features and pricing

The Skyland headphones are open-back with a low-diffraction matte surface and a metal protective grille placed quite far from the diaphragm so it can provide protection without interfering with the audio. The earcups are fitted with soft lambskin earpads that have been modelled to ensure they don't impede the sound.

The headphones themselves are made from a high-strength all-aluminum alloy CNC hollow structure, and feature a thin suspension system for the drivers that Moondrop says is "challenging to manufacture" but delivers abundant detail.

The headphones' cables are replaceable and use a universal 3.5mm interchangeable design with an inclined angle. The supplied cable is a 4.4mm balanced one with a 4.4mm to 6.35mm adapter and a 4.4mm to XLR balanced Cannon four-core adapter.

The Skyland headphones have an impedance of 60 ohms, and a claimed frequency response of 8Hz to 34kHz, which is pretty impressive. Sensitivity is 96dB/Vrms.

The Moondrop Skyland planar magnetic headphones are available now with a list price of $799 (about £595 / AU$685).

CES 2026 is about to start, and I'm going to be on the ground and in the fortunate position to go and see all the tech coming this year that I'm most excited about. I lead TechRadar's AV coverage, and I have no shame in admitting to being a total nerd about the latest OLED panel construction, speaker design innovations, and home theater upgrades.

A huge part of the fun of CES is finding things you had no idea existed, but obviously, I also see things I either expect to see or know I'll see. As I'm about to head into the show in the next few days, here's what's top of my list of things I'm looking forward to, and that I recommend you keep an eye out for more information about if you're an enthusiast like me.

TV tech

1. LG's next-gen OLED TV panel

LG hasn't announced its next-gen OLED TV yet, but we already have a good idea on what to expect from its flagship TV. For a start, a next-gen Primary RGB Tandem 2.0 WOLED panel has been announced by LG Display (the part of the company that makes OLED panels), which is the successor to the tech in the magnificent LG G5 flagship.

But there's also been a leak about the LG G6, revealing higher brightness and lower reflectivity, meaning it'll have even more punch. I can't wait to see this TV and its new panel in action in person.

2. RGB TVs from everyone

RGB LED TVs are the next big thing – pretty much all the big companies will launch affordable versions of this new kind of screen tech this year, and I've run down what to expect in a full article here.

Compared to existing mini-LED TVs, the new tech promises even brighter TVs (or the same brightness with less energy use), more vivid colors, and potentially better contrast. With Samsung, LG, Hisense, TCL all either confirmed or very likely to show these TVs off during CES, I'm really looking forward to seeing what they can do.

4. Samsung's mysterious new ultra-high-end OLED

Samsung hasn't confirmed any OLED TV plans before CES, but a leak has revealed that we should expect several new Samsung OLED TV models this year – not just replacing last year's options, but actually new model numbers that seem to indicate upgrades we haven't seen before.

Top of my list to see from this leak is the Samsung S99H model. Previously, Samsung's flagship OLEDs have been 'S95', and based on Samsung's usual naming schemes, 'S99' would be even higher-end than that. What kind of tech would make something even more elite than the Samsung S95F, which we crowned as our TV of the Year 2025?

The only thing I would guess with any degree of safety is that it'll use the Zero Connect wireless video box, as seen on The Frame Pro and Samsung Q990F last year. I'm looking forward to seeing what else it might do.

5. Dolby Vision 2's next steps

Last year, Dolby Vision 2 was unveiled, promising to improve HDR further for budget TVs, making pictures even more accurate for high-end bright TVs, and fixing motion smoothing for good measure.

I got to see Dolby Vision 2 in action, and it looks genuinely impressive, but we had very little info about when and where we'd see it in our homes. I'm hoping we'll get more confirmation at CES about streaming platforms and TVs that will support it – we know Hisense will, and TCL very heavily implied that it will, so we may hear more about that. LG was much more cagey, but perhaps that'll be confirmed, too. Samsung is unlikely to change its stance on not supporting Dolby Vision.

Home theater sound

6. Samsung's Sonos Arc Ultra competitor

Ahead of CES, Samsung has announced its next two flagship soundbars. One is an all-in-one bar that's a square shot across the bow of the Sonos Arc Ultra, as an all-in-one that doesn't come with or need a separate subwoofer to deliver impactful sound.

It promises 7.1.2 channels of sound with Dolby Atmos support, meaning seven forward and angle 'surround' channels, two upfiring height channels, and bass provided by four dedicated woofers.

It can lie flat on a TV surface, or can be mounted to the wall in an upright configuration, and adjusts its sound automatically whichever way you have it. It's Samsung's first go at a high-end single-unit soundbar that I can recall, so I'm eager to hear what its audio engineers can do. We consistently rate its other soundbars among the best soundbars on the planet, after all.

7. LG's Dolby Atmos FlexConnect soundbar

Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is one of the most interesting bits of home theater tech of the last few years, but it's had a very gentle start to life. The idea is that it enables you to be way more flexible with where you position speakers for your sound system – you pick the location, and the system will detect where they are, and recalibrate how sound is output to match them, creating immersive sound even if you don't have room for speaker position in the usual front left, front right, center, rear left and rear right positions.

LG is launching the first wireless soundbar with FlexConnect at CES this year, with compatibility built into its upcoming TVs, too, and this could be the breakthrough the technology needs.

8. Ultimea's 9.2.6-channel sound system

We know very little about this yet, but as a home theater fan with a small house, I'm very intrigued by it. Ultimea is best known for cheap soundbars, and it makes some impressive ones – but it's launching a new, very powerful and intriguing model at CES.

Ultimea has teased a 9.2.6-channel surround system that looks like a super-immersive beast. A soundbar combines with four satellite speakers – side and rear – and dual subwoofers for a system that's really elaborate, yet appears to be very compact and simple.

I'm really looking forward to trying this – if it's affordable (and history says it will be, compared to anything remotely close to its configuration). It could be the dream option for home theater enthusiasts with very limited space.

Audio tech

9. Samsung's Music Studio speakers

Samsung is launching two wireless speakers at CES 2026 that, much like its soundbar above, seem to take aim straight at Sonos. They're called 'Music Studio', come in two sizes, and have a cool minimalist look I wouldn't normally associate with Samsung.

The Music Studio 5 has basically the same speaker setup as the Sonos Era 100, and is a similar size; the Music Studio 7 has basically the same spatial audio-friendly speaker setup as the Sonos Era 300.

Will they sound as good as these speakers and be priced competitively? I'm really looking forward to finding out.

10. New bargain, repairable buds from JLab

We don't have any leaks about this, but JLab is always high on my list of companies to visit. The company makes some of the best cheap earbuds out there, and regularly surprises me at events with some new set of buds that feature impressive tech for half the price you'd guess, even knowing the company is a budget specialist.

One thing we do know is that JLab is hot on the future of earbuds being repairable – I suspect that CES 2026 will bring models with replaceable batteries at the very least.

11. Soundcore's next wild creations

Anker Soundcore can always be trusted to bring something really interesting to trade shows. At IFA 2025, it was a portable projector with removable and foldable surround sound, and at CES 2025, it had one of the first speakers to use AI to remove vocals from any song for easy karaoke from any streaming source.

I don't know what to expect from CES 2025, but I know there's going to be something I've never seen before.

12. Japanese hi-fi greats Onkyo and Technics

The hi-fi world has a variable relationship with CES – there are plenty of dedicated audio shows for companies to launch at, so these companies don't always go hard at CES.

Onkyo and Technics tend to be consistent exceptions. At CES 2025, Technics introduced the new best earbuds in the world in the form of the EAH-AZ100, while Onkyo unveiled some impressive wireless speakers along with a whole new 'Icon' line of hi-fi amplification separates.

I don't know what the companies have planned this time, and there haven't been any big early leaks, but I always recommend keeping an eye out for their announcements.

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from wireless TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

• Samsung unveils new Music Studio wireless speakers ahead of CES
• Music Studio 5 has a woofer and two tweeters
• Music Studio 7 has a 3.1.1 configuration, and Hi-Res Audio support

Ahead of CES 2026, Samsung has revealed two new wireless speakers, right at the same time as it revealed its next two flagship Dolby Atmos soundbars for 2026.

These speakers are called the Samsung Music Studio 5 and Music Studio 7, respectively, and I was immediately struck by their looks.

They're available in black or white, and their simple form with the concave 'dish' shape and dot at the center looks fantastic to me – they make me think of the classic industrial design work of Dieter Rams (most notably at Braun), which inspired a lot of Apple's design, including the iPod. I think you can see a specific shared DNA in the larger Music Studio 7, especially.

Samsung states: "Each model shares a timeless dot concept by renowned designer Erwan Bouroullec, inspired by a universal symbol in music and art — and grounded in the Samsung signature aesthetic." Bouroullec has worked with Samsung before on the handsome Serif TV.

However, the configurations inside the speakers will be of interest to people looking for a new option among the best wireless speakers, because they quite closely match what Sonos has been doing in its Era speakers.

First is the Music Studio 5 (also known more formally as the LS50H), which features a four-inch woofer and two tweeters. This is the same basic speaker configuration as the Sonos Era 100, and actually is also what you'll find in the Sonos Move 2 and the Wiim Sound.

It's the smaller of the two Samsung speakers, but features plenty of tech, including AI Dynamic Bass Control that "deepens low frequencies without distortion," plus support for streaming to it over Wi-Fi, streaming directly to it from music services, and playing to it via Bluetooth.

Notably absent from the list is Hi-Res Audio support, which the other speaker supports, so let's get into that one.

The Samsung Music Studio 7 (AKA the LS70H) is a beefier option and has what Samsung describes as a 3.1.1 speaker configuration. What this means is that it has left, front, right, and upfiring drivers for "spatial sound", and presumably some kind of woofer system for bass (since that's what one of the '.1' numbers there means, but Samsung didn't specify this).

I don't want to shock you here, but that's more or less the exact same configuration as the Sonos Era 300 – I told you Samsung was really gunning for Sonos with these. However, I think this is much better looking than the Era 300.

Samsung says this model supports Hi-Res Audio (up to 24-bit/96kHz), and again features AI Dynamic Bass Control, plus casting and streaming over Wi-Fi – though Samsung doesn't mention Bluetooth support.

It's also oddly vague about exactly what "spatial audio" support to expect; the Sonos Era 300 works with Dolby Atmos, but that's not mentioned here at all.

However, Samsung mentions that the Music Studio 7 can be used as surround speakers for Samsung soundbars and TVs that support Q-Symphony (most of them). This presumably will support Dolby Atmos, and Samsung says that you can have up to five speakers connected to a TV now (no soundbar needed, if you prefer).

We'll probably have to wait for more details to be revealed at CES, and that includes the price, though I have to assume Samsung will be aiming to keep it close to the price of the Sonos speakers these compete with.

The Sonos Era 100 originally launched at $249 / £249 / AU$399, though it has since come down in price, while the Sonos Era 300 cost $449 / £449 / AU$749 at launch.

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from wireless TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

Fiio has become our favorite budget audiophile brand, thanks to products like the Fiio FT13 headphones, the Fiio BTR17 DAC/amp, and the Fiio JM21 music player.

It's the last one that's most relevant here, because Fiio's sub-brand Snowsky has just unveiled a new super-cheap hi-res music player that looks like a cross between an iPod nano 6th gen and a MiniDisc player, and costs just $80 / £80.

It's called the Snowsky Disc, appropriately enough, and while Snowsky's info calls it a "CD inspired" design – and I can see it – it's the resemblance to other bygone music players that got TechRadar's audio team talking. My colleague Becky Scarrott immediately recalled her much-beloved Sony Network Walkman MP3 player, which came in almost the same shade of pink.

Despite its small size and price, there's great tech in here. It promises around 12 hours of battery life, and you control it using the touchscreen on the front.

There's a dual-DAC architecture (Fiio hasn't mentioned what the DAC is yet, but we've asked for more info), Wi-Fi including Apple AirPlay support, a 3.5mm port with SPDIF, a 4.4mm balanced output, USB-C audio output, LDAC higher-res Bluetooth, and – perhaps most importantly – a microSD card slot for storage enabling you to take up to 2TB of music files anywhere with you.

That'll be especially easy because it's so small – Fiio hasn't said exactly how small yet (again, I've chased for information). Still, I've done some very scientific comparisons of the USB-C port's size in the images, and the Snowsky Disc appears to be basically the same width as my iPhone 16 Pro, and a little thicker.

That will make it around 72mm or 2.8 inches wide and tall – between the iPod nano 6th gen I mentioned above and an iPod mini. In fact, that's basically the size of a MiniDisc.

I love the look of this, and if it sounds good, it could easily become the new budget pick in our guide to the best MP3 players.

Fiio has shown three colors so far – black, turquoise, and pink – and it goes on sale in January. That's a bit of a shame – it would have made the perfect last-minute Christmas gift if it were out now, though you could always look to Snowsky's cassette-inspired Echo Mini MP3 player instead if you want something like this.

• New Mesh DAC delivers the same digital filter as the firm's flagships
• More than enough power for almost any headphones
• $199, or $209 if you want the silver one

Schitt Audio has launched an updated version of its Magni Unity headphone amplifier, with the firm's new Mesh DAC card to deliver what it calls "a complete one-box amp/DAC solution".

The extremely small, modular system is designed to deliver similar performance to the firm's flagship DACs for considerably less money: the Magni Unity with Mesh DAC is priced at $199 in black, or $209 if you want it in silver. International availability and pricing hasn't been confirmed just yet.

The Magni Unity is still available without the DAC for the same price as before, $119 / $129.

Schitt Audio Magni Unity with Mesh DAC: key features

The Magni Unity delivers 2.5W of power into 32 ohms and has three gain settings to cover most headphone types. It has a "vanishingly low" noise floor – Schitt says noise is inaudible "on all headphones and IEMs".

If you go for the Mesh DAC version of the Magni Unity it features the same "megacomboburrito" digital filter as Schitt's more expensive DACs, enabling you to have a high-end-matching desktop DAC and amp setup without the separate units that usually entails, so it fits in a very small space: 5 inches by 3.5 inches.

Schitt is pretty irreverent with its product descriptions, claiming that the Unity's distortion is "unmeasurable at normal listening levels; 1000x lower than the typical headphones you're using" and noting that while the amp gets "moderately warm" with a DAC card "this is fine, we have made much hotter-running stuff that lasts farrrrrr past the warranty."

More information on the Mesh DAC is available on the Schitt website.

• Astell & Kern HC5 DAC is designed for phones, laptops and gaming
• Includes the DAC and processing from A&K's flagship SP4000 music player
• January 2026, £399 / $450 / €499 (about AU$800)

Astell & Kern has launched two new products: a diminutive DAC and a new set of reference in-ear monitor earbuds.

The AK HC5 is the size of a lighter but there's nothing small about its specification. It pairs the AK4499EX DAC, previously used in the elite Astell & Kern SP4000 Hi-Res Audio player, with the AK4191EQ digital processor to separate analog and digital pathways. reduce noise and preserve even the smallest musical details.

The HC5 connects via USB-C to a wide range of devices including phones, laptops and gaming consoles, and has been designed to work with what Astell & Kern describes as "less than perfect listening sources" by utilizing a very clean, stable amplifier stage that suppresses noise and maximizes the performance of the DAC. It also has the same digital audio remastering tech as A&K's more premium DACs, which is capable of upsampling to PCM 384kHz / DSD256.

It basically means that you can attach this to your device, load up some really high-end music, and get a similar kind of audio performance to A&K's far-more-expensive portable players.

It's a very different (and to my eyes, much better-looking) design than its predecessor, the Astell & Kern HC4, which we reviewed in 2023. However it's also more expensive: where that launched at $220 / £219 / AU$399, the HC5 is £399 / $450 (about AU$800). You'll be able to buy it from January 2026.

Astell & Kern STELLA earphones: key features and pricing

If you're looking for a set of high-end earphones to go with your new DAC, Astell & Kern has you covered: the new STELLA earphones have been created in partnership with VOLK Audio and in collaboration with multiple Grammy award-winning engineer Michael Graves to create "a new pinnacle of IEM precision".

The earphones feature a newly designed 12-driver architecture with four different kinds of transducer (9mm dynamic drivers, balanced armatures, planar magnetic drivers and electrostatic tweeters), a custom 6-way crossover network and five tuned sound tubes, with every component created specifically for these headphones.

A&K says that there's no artificial EQ or forced compensation; the sound signature is "defined entirely by acoustic integrity."

The STELLA are made from a 6061-T6 aluminum shell with satin-black anodising; a stainless steel faceplate with integrated vents; a sapphire crystal glass panel; and a central aluminum plate with the Astell & Kern logo in one earphone and the VOLK Audio one in the other.

These are premium earphones with a premium price: £3,899 / $3,900 (about AU$7,845). Like the HC5, they'll be available from January 2026.

• Leaked images show a super-compact Snowsky digital audio player
• Fiio says yes, it supports microSD storage
• Specs and pricing are still secret but expect it to be very affordable

Snowsky, which is the more casual sub-brand of budget audiophile break-out star Fiio, appears to be planning the launch of a new and extremely compact audio player that's closer to an iPod nano or even an iPod Shuffle than many of today's best Hi-Res Audio players.

A new leak on Weibo (via Notebookcheck.net) shows a device labelled with the Snowsky logo and the words Echo Nano, and it appears to be a smaller version of the current Echo Mini. That latter device is styled to look like an old-school audio cassette but the new Nano looks more like a vape.

The player shown in the leaked image is small and kind of cuboid, with what appears to be a monochrome display on the side and a 3.5mm headphone jack and control wheel on top. It looks very 2000s, in a great way. The physical does remind me more of the Fiio's stuff than Snowsky's such as the Fiio BTR17 DAC/amp, or the Fiio JM21 music player.

FiiO Snowsky Echo Nano: what we don't know

Another image (above) posted to Reddit gives a better if blurry idea of what the player looks like, but as yet we don't know what's inside that rather nice-looking case.

We don't know pricing or availability yet, but given that the Echo Mini retails for $49 in the US and £49 in the UK I'd expect this new model to be very low priced: it's a much simpler product.

Specs are still a secret, although a Fiio representative appears to have confirmed that the new device will support microSD cards.

I've got high hopes for this, because FiiO is very good at delivering high quality audio from very modestly priced hardware: recent product launches include the aptly named Snowsky Tiny, an extremely small hi-res DAC designed for smartphones.

And the aforementioned Echo Mini has been attracting very positive reviews for its warm and involving sound. If Snowsky can deliver decent battery life and hi-res audio for a low price, it could well have a hit on its hands.

• A CD player with aptX Adaptive and a Hi-Res Audio DAC
• A cheaper version of one that had a tube amp(!) built in too
• $319 (about £244 / AU$490)

We've been impressed by Shanling's portable CD players – the Shanling EC Zero T was one of our favorite products at the High End Munich 2025 audio show – so we're very interested in the firm's new ECZero AKM, which does much more than just play CDs.

The ECZero AKM is a very talented little device. As Darko Audio reports, what Shanling has basically done here is taken the tube amplification out of the T model that we liked, and has gone for an all-digital design instead, with an AKM AK4493S DAC and SGM 8262 op-amps.

That's cut the cost dramatically, although it does mean losing the "meaty" sound of the tube-based model that we liked so much – but tube amps are always a bit of a risk on a portable device anyway, so maybe this is the smart move ultimately.

With multiple outputs and USB-C input, the ECZero AKM can rip your CDs in real time to USB storage, transmit music to your wireless speakers and headphones over Bluetooth, deliver balanced and unbalanced outputs for your wired headphones, act as a CD transport for your hi-fi, and double as a DAC for other digital devices.

Shanling EXZero AKM: key details and pricing

The headphone jack outputs 525mW into 32 ohms and the balanced output can go up to 836mW per channel if the Shanling is connected to wired power – more than enough to drive even fairly demanding headphones. On battery mode, you can expect about 10 hours of playback depending on how hard you drive your headphones.

There's a 3.5mm line out, a 4.4mm balanced line out, a combined coaxial/optical SP/DIF and twin USB-C, and there's Bluetooth 5.3 with aptX and aptX Adaptive. These don't quite provide totally lossless CD-quality sound wirelessly (you'd need aptX Lossless for that), but they're close enough that you'll feel like you're making the most of your discs if you have a pair of the best wireless headphones that support them.

There's no LDAC, however – it's aptX only here. And it's notable that the Bluetooth only transmits: you can't use it to receive audio from your phone to listen on the best wired headphones connected to the Shanling.

However, if you connect the USB-C input to your computer or other devices, it can support Hi-Res Audio at up to 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD256, so that's a lovely bonus to have.

Controls are minimal and there's a small 1.68-inch color LCD to let you know basic details such as track information, volume and where you are in the track. There are three selectable gain levels and a 100-step digital volume slider.

The ECZero AKM is much cheaper than the EC Zero T, which had a launch price of $589; this new model is a much more affordable $319 (about £244 / AU$490). You can find out more on the Shanling website here.