Skip to main content

Sony gets stylish with new h.ear on Bluetooth ANC headphones

Sony didn’t have a ton of new products to show off at its annual press conference for CES 2016, but the company did show that its ready to rumble with the likes of Beats, SMS, and other stylized headphone brands with its new h.ear Bluetooth headphones.

These cans come in a wide variety of colors, and they’re nimble frame is one of the lightest we’ve ever encountered from the brand, which is impressive considering that these headphones harbor a Bluetooth battery, Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), and of course, on-board amplification.

Related Videos

That’s a nice selection of features to pile into one set of headphones, but perhaps the most intriguing is Sony’s claim that the h.ear on are hi-res, which, given the high compression used for Bluetooth transfer, is essentially an oxymoron. However, Sony has bet big on its new LDAC coding technology, which claims to offer four times the audio resolution streaming as traditional Bluetooth signals. We’re a little wary of that claim — physics is physics, after all — but the headphones do sound very balanced, and from what we could tell in the crowded venue, pretty accurate and present as well.

Sony-h.ear-on-wireless_5462
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The h.ear on is one of three new products in the h.ear series, followed by a new Bluetooth speaker in the h.ear go, and the new h.ear in, which we didn’t check out as we were told that what was being shown on the show floor was simply a production model.

Sony has really run the gamut this year in the audio space, expanding both its hi-res line, and adding a pile of new boom-tastic speakers for its Extra Bass lineup, essentially trying to get a piece of both margins of the headphone market. We don’t yet know how that gamble will pay off, but we’ll find out when the new cans hit the market sometime next year, with price points yet to be disclosed.

Editors' Recommendations

LG’s new XBoom XL7 and XL5 speakers offer a portable sound and light show
The LG XBoom X7.

When you think of booming Bluetooth speakers, LG isn't the first brand to come to mind. But today the Korean electronics giant is hoping to get your attention, announcing the latest in their line of XBoom speakers, the XL5 and XL7. At 200- and 250 watts respectively, LG's massive portable party machines are emblazoned with customizable LEDs and feature karaoke functions, IPX4 water resistance, and more.

 

Read more
Bluetooth Multipoint finally arrives on Sony’s best wireless earbuds
Sony WF-1000XM4

Let's categorize this one under "better late than never." Sony has finally released a software update for its flagship wireless earbuds -- the WF-1000XM4 -- that gives them a much-needed feature: the ability to connect the buds to two devices simultaneously, otherwise known as Bluetooth Multipoint.

When Sony originally announced the new feature, it said the update would be made available in November 2022. That timing materialized for the other two Sony products that were slated to get Multipoint (the LinkBuds and LinkBuds S), but for some reason, the XM4 were left out. Today, however, it was spotted by What Hi-Fi, and we can confirm that the update is now available if you open the Sony Headphones app on your phone and connect your WF-1000XM4.

Read more
The first wireless hi-res headphones with UWB will arrive in 2024
PSB M4U8 wireless headphones.

Wireless headphones (and wireless earbuds) have been hugely popular because of their wire-free convenience and handy features like active noise cancellation (ANC), but audiophiles have never been big fans of the way they sound. Thanks to a new partnership between PSB Speakers, MQA, and Sonical, that could be about to change in a big way: the threesome is planning to launch the world's first set of wireless headphones that use ultra-wideband (UWB) technology instead of Bluetooth, in the first quarter of 2024.

The PSB M4U8 wireless headphones don't have UWB, but they could be the starting point for the first UWB model. PSB

Read more