We've been waiting for a sequel to the outstanding Sony WH-CH720N noise-cancelling wireless headphones for some time, and it looks as though our prayers may finally be answered in the coming months.

According to an often-reliable inside source, thewalkman.blog, recent import filings have revealed that a new pair of headphones is set to replace the Sony WH-CH720N, and will be called the "Sony WH-CH730N".

The filing also reveals the new colours for the upcoming sequel, with 'Black', 'White', 'Pink', 'Blue' and 'Beige' all listed. That's broadly the same as the finishes found on the established WH-CH720N, with 'Beige' representing the only new addition.

We don't have many details regarding the headphones' hardware or specifications. It remains to be seen what drivers they will implement, which chipset they will use, or what their prospective battery life figures will be.

We've had no word on price either, but as the WH-CH720N launched at £99 / $129 / AU$259 back in 2023, we'd hope to see an RRP that didn't rise too much beyond that.

So when could we see these new wireless cans finally arrive? According to thewalkman.blog, the FCC confidentiality end date is on October 20th, so there's a good chance we could see the WH-CH730N arrive at around that time.

The WH-CH720N landed in March 2023, but as we're well beyond that point in 2026, it appears that Sony may be shooting for a release that's somewhere towards the final quarter of the year.

For us, the sooner the better. The more we've had time to listen to and often live with the WH-CH720N, the more we've come to appreciate them as being some of the best sound-per-pound wireless headphones you can get. For sheer value, we're struggling to think of many that do so much for such a modest price.

They're not perfect, and when we speculated as to the four things we'd love to see from the then-speculated WH-CH730N, we hoped for a little less bass and for the new headphones to fold away fully, for a bit of added portability and convenience.

The WH-CH720N are lauded Award-winners, but a few new features, such as on-head wear detection or support for Sony's higher-quality LDAC codec, would be lovely additions for when a sequel materialises.

Whatever the case, the WH-CH730N have big shoes to fill. We dubbed the WH-CH720N as "dependably made, enthusiastic-sounding headphones that...deliver good ANC and a strong feature set to the very affordable end of the wireless headphone market", so any prospective sequel will have its work cut out to improve on such a potent combination of performance and sheer value.

Can Sony manage it? We'll be keeping our ears to the ground for any further rumblings regarding the WH-CH730N, and will keep you updated as and when any new information comes to light.

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The Bang & Olufsen A1 (2nd Gen) has been high in our estimations for quite some time, occupying a comfortable position in our best smart speakers list. It’s a handsome devil, too, and we think that spending a little extra on aesthetic charm to accompany talented sound is worthwhile.

But, right now, you don’t have to worry about forking out on good looks, because the Beosound A1 has fallen to just £179 at Peter Tyson. That’s not the cheapest we’ve ever seen the speaker – it dropped to £169 last December – but with a reduction of £120, it’s still a serious saving.

Admittedly, the Beosound A1 (3rd Gen) is now on the market, but it will cost you more and doesn’t feature Alexa integration. For those reasons alone, we would recommend the five-star 2nd Gen, especially at this price.

Portable Bluetooth speakers come in all shapes and sizes. It just so happens that we rather like the look of the Beosound A1 (2nd Gen), but that’s far from all that has won us over about this speaker.

Competition for small portable speakers is tough, with companies like JBL and Tribit making serious offerings, but B&O’s prioritisation of luxury and style carves the company a unique position in the market.

Admittedly, the Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) isn’t the newest model, with the 3rd Gen now available, but it won five-stars, compared to the 3rd Gen’s four stars, at review.

That rating was achieved in part by the 2nd Gen’s multi-talented performance, which sees the attractive, solidly constructed unit providing a pleasingly comfortable and authoritative performance “that you’d be happy to listen to all day”.

In our full review, our expert testers said: “Bang & Olufsen has succeeded in maintaining its trademark sound profile in this diminutive and affordable proposition – no small feat considering Bluetooth speakers of this size and price can easily come off heavy through the mids and harsh in the treble in an effort to offer volume and clout.”

But the Beosound A1’s virtues don’t end there.

Alongside Bluetooth 5.1 with AAC, the speaker also supports Qualcomm's aptX Adaptive codec, allowing high-quality streaming. The Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) also contains a three microphone array for clear voice assistant operation and hands-free calling.

What’s more, when it comes to battery life, an impressive 18 hours can stretch all the way to 48 hours when listening at conservative volumes.

A handy strap is also included with the speaker, meaning you can take this handsome, portable unit wherever you go.

So, if you’re on the hunt for a Bluetooth speaker that is convenient to use, includes Alexa, sounds great and has a sleek design, the Beosound A1 is a strong choice, even more so now that it’s available for just £179 at Peter Tyson.

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A new pair of Bose over-ear headphones could be arriving very shortly.

That's according to French outlet Dealabs, which reports that Bose has leaked a second-generation iteration of its QuietComfort Headphones, slated for release in just a few weeks.

Bose's QuietComfort Headphones line isn't to be confused with the more premium QuietComfort Ultra Headphones. The QC Headphones are to the QC Ultra Headphones what the more affordable QuietComfort Earbuds (2024) are to the range-topping QuietComfort Earbuds Ultra (2nd Gen) – a lower price tag in return for slightly fewer features and not quite top-of-the-line performance.

That said, the new over-ears promise a full-blooded refresh over their three-year-old predecessors, with Dealabs' leak suggesting a new design, revamped controls and better sound quality could all be coming to the second-generation model in a bid to see Bose make a play for the competitive mid-range market.

Quite a few premium features could be about to trickle down from the premium QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), including Bose 'TrueSpatial' spatial audio, lossless playback via USB-C, and a host of new listening flavours, including 'Cinema Mode' for making video content more, well, cinematic.

Many existing features and functionalities are set for significant improvements. Bose's 'ActiveSense' technology works to take the edge off unwanted noise peaks when listening in 'Aware' mode, while improved call quality comes courtesy of more effective ambient noise reduction.

The headphones' on-cup controls have been revamped, with Dealabs teasing more intuitive button placement on the earcups themselves.

Wholesale improvements haven't been made to every aspect of the incoming QuietComfort Headphones, however. Battery life will likely remain the same as the soon-to-be outgoing model, with the second-gen over-ears again set to max out at a reported 24 hours of listening with ANC switched on.

That revamped design is set to feature more on-ear padding alongside a more oval earpad shape and a wider headband, all designed to improve wearer comfort over time.

A veritable Delux colour wheel of new finishes could also be set to arrive, including Black, White Smoke, Rosewood Mauve, Eucalyptus Green, Dewdrop Mint, and Hazelnut Taupe.

What about prospective price? Figures are slated as £300 / $359 / €350, which represents a £50 / €50 drop for UK and European buyers respectively.

We never tested the original QuietComfort Headphones when they launched around three years ago, but we have reviewed both the QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) and QC Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) in recent times.

Bose isn't quite dominating the premium wireless headphones space when facing competition from Sony, Apple and Sennheiser, but the upcoming QC Headphones' slightly more affordable asking price and bolstered feature set might help Bose claw back ground lost to its estimable competitors.

Dealabs claims that Bose's latest cans will arrive on August 13th. We've contacted Bose for comment, and will keep you updated with developments as they arise.

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These are the best noise-cancelling headphones on the market

Skullcandy has released new premium wireless headphones, the Crusher 1080 ANC.

But rather than go it alone, the firm has enlisted the help of a powerful ally in a bid to get its latest cans competing with the best in the business.

That ally, in case you hadn't guessed already, is Bose.

The Crusher 1080 ANCs' extensive feature set is powered by 'Sound by Bose' technology, meaning the new headphones boast 'QuietControl' noise cancelling and 'TrueSpatial' sound design.

These let them deliver Bose's Immersive Audio, and 'SpeechClarity' features for, as you might have guessed, clearer voice calls.

You even get Bose-tuned EQ modes to more accurately tailor the sound to your specific preferences.

That's a lot of Bose-made tech, but what about how the Crusher 1080 ANC actually sound?

As you might have gathered from the name, the new over-ears promise "bass you can feel", complemented by "a rich, balanced sound" with plenty of "immersive detail", all aided by Bose's 'WaveForm' audio engine for improved signal processing.

The Crusher 1080 ANC boast a very impressive 60 hours of battery life with noise cancelling switched off, dropping to around 50 hours when ANC is in play, while a 'Rapid Charge' facility will grant four hours of battery life from a 10-minute boost.

Elsewhere, a decidedly premium feature set includes Google Fast Pairing, Multipoint Connectivity and Auracast audio sharing technology, as well as a low-latency audio mode for gaming and movies.

Outside of the Bose tech, the headphones also feature Skullcandy's patented 'Crusher Bass' technology, which allows you to use the Skullcandy app or a dedicated 'Crusher wheel' to dial up your lower-end reproduction and "create a physical bass sensation that adds impact and immersion to music, movies, and games".

The Skullcandy Crusher 1080 ANC are available now, priced at £220 / $280 / AU$400, in a choice of Brown, Pink, Grey or Black finishes.

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What do you think of when you hear the word “liberty”? Perhaps the triumphant motto of the French Revolution which pledged liberty, equality and fraternity for all, or perhaps the Statue of Liberty with her torch aloft welcoming newcomers to New York via Ellis Island? The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, perhaps, or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance if you’re into your black and white Westerns?

You may not think of a pair of mid-price wireless earbuds, but could that be about to change? The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro are already imbued with a certain grandeur by virtue of their very name, but a name alone does not make a pair of earbuds.

Anker’s sub-brand Soundcore must face off against the likes of JBL and Sony to make a dent in this mid-range field, and while this isn’t the most densely populated segment of the wireless earbuds landscape, there are still a handful of hurdles for the Liberty 5 Pro to overcome.

Price

At £150 / $170 / AU$280, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro are committedly mid-range wireless earbuds. For this kind of money, the JBL Live Beam 3 can be yours for around £120 / $150 / AU$150, while the more affordable and Award-winning Sony WF-C710N can be picked up for £75 / $80 / AU$128 at the time of writing.

The likeable Apple AirPods 4 with ANC, conversely, sit around the £179 / $179 / AU$299 mark.

Build & comfort

Hooray, a pair of wireless earbuds that fit snugly and securely in our ears! This isn’t faux surprise or mock celebration: it’s remarkable the number of in-ear headphones – wired or wireless – that fall at what should be the most basic of hurdles.

We rarely have such an issue with the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro. The mid-range contenders use a similar configuration to the more premium Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen), with an outer stem attached to a main body accompanied by top-mounted fins designed to sit under the ear’s inner ridge and facilitate a more stable fit. Those fins are fixed to the buds directly, however, so it’s something of a one-size-fits all arrangement.

They may be small, but the difference they make is profound. Those fins are firmer than the ones found on the second-gen Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2, but in acting as an anchor to keep your buds in place, they really do the trick. We took the Liberty 5 Pro to the gym and even on a short 5 kilometre run, and not once did they come loose or make a bid for freedom.

During everyday use, the Liberty 5 Pro are easy to get along with. Their silicone ear tips fit snugly and securely, yet it isn’t often that we feel fatigued by the buds as we clock up the minutes of wear. Better still, Soundcore has been kind enough to offer five tip sizes ranging from XXS to large, so you’re likely to find a set to suit your needs, and there is an ear-tip test on the app to further help you on your journey to achieving a decent seal.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the Liberty 5 Pros’ charging case, which uses a narrow front-mounted screen to display your buds’ vital statistics. The idea of a smart screen that essentially does the job of a companion app on your phone can be a bit of a divisive one, but we do appreciate being able to see our buds’ battery life at a mere glance.

Features

If you want something that will last and last, the Liberty 5 Pro’s battery life is decent, but they aren’t quite the Duracell Bunny of the mid-range earbud world. You’ll get around 6.5 hours from the buds and up to 28 hours total from the case with noise cancelling switched on, falling short of the 9-10 hours (buds) and 48-hour total of the rival JBL Live Beam 3.

Even the cheaper Sony WF-C710N squeeze around 8.5 hours from the buds and 30 hours with the case in play, leaving the Soundcore earbuds lagging rather behind their main rivals.

The Soundcore buds support Dolby Audio with head tracking, something they implement with reasonable competence. Do be aware that switching on Dolby Audio will switch off Soundcore’s ‘AI Sound Enhancement’ algorithm, resulting in a modest but perceptible drop-off in audio quality as a result.

The Sony-developed LDAC Bluetooth codec is also on the menu, something we wouldn’t necessarily expect to find with a pair of earbuds at this price – the cheaper Sony WF-C710N, for example, don’t support it at all. Considering LDAC allows you to stream high-resolution audio streams up to 32-bit/96kHz at up to 990kbps data rates from a compatible source, that’s quite a feather in the Liberty 5 Pros’ cap.

Touch controls work well, with Soundcore’s system operating primarily via either a series of taps or swipes depending on what you want your buds to do. Our test pair are responsive to our various commands, and we’re particularly impressed by the levels of customisation on offer from the accompanying Soundcore app.

On the subject of the app, Soundcore’s is generally a good one. There are plenty of useful features, such as an eight-band equaliser, ANC mode toggling, touch control customisation, and a handy fit test, but some users might feel that some additions just get in the way, such as a ‘Discovery’ comments forum and a ‘Soundspace’ section filled with free meditations and various flavours of white noise. For us, such additions aren’t particularly necessary, although they may have their fans among users keen for an app with all of the bells and whistles.

Noise cancelling & voice calls

Soundcore has put a lot of effort into the Liberty 5 Pros’ voice calls, packing the buds with 10 sensors and powering it all with a new ‘Anker Thus’ AI chip, which draws on large audio datasets and uses a configuration whereby the chip’s CPU and memory are fused together for a more efficient and powerful performance when handling audio and calls.

Human speech is nicely spotlighted and impressively clear, although voices do sound a little artificial and robotic. The Soundcore earbuds do isolate speech admirably from environmental noise, so much so that traffic, wind and birdsong are barely audible as we natter away without distraction. The Sony WF-C710N sound more natural, but the Liberty 5 Pro have a cleaner presentation.

Noise cancelling is similarly capable. The Liberty 5 Pro keep up with their rivals as they suppress the general ambience of a busy cafe, making a decent fist of softening exterior noises if not completely eliminating them.

Higher frequencies, including some human speech or the clank of weights in a busy gym, will still penetrate through, as will the deepest of deep rumbles, but this isn’t a poor performance at this mid-price level. If you want a proper step up in terms of pure noise isolation, you’re going to have to spend more cash and seek out the premium Bose QC Ultra (2nd Gen) or the Sony WF-1000XM6 instead.

Sound

It’s been a reasonable showing thus far, but sound is ultimately where the race is won or lost, and it is here where the Liberty 5 Pro trip and stumble. From the outset, we’re impressed with the muscle and weight they bring to their respective renditions of Slipknot’s Left Behind and Nine Inch Nails’ As Alive As You Need Me To Be, but a lack of clarity and overall sonic precision limit the extent to which we’re truly involved in our music.

To their credit, we do get a sense of a pair of earbuds that are trying to entertain us. These aren’t bland or lifeless performers, with the Soundcore bringing enough robustness and power, especially at the lower end, to grant our tunes some proper wallop. Corey Taylor’s relentless performance on Left Behind is suitably ferocious, yet subtler quirks and vocal textures are lost amidst the earbuds’ somewhat clouded presentation.

Ultimately, there’s a lack of real refinement to go with all of that undeniable eagerness. The bass may be powerful, but it is both ill-defined and overdone, while a peakiness and lack of treble refinement haunts the upper frequencies. While doing a bit of tinkering with the provided in-app equaliser can help to rectify some of that excessive eagerness, it can’t do much to infuse any real quality into the resulting reproduction.

It’s an issue that really stands out whenever a track has plunging bass tones, which ultimately end up sounding amorphous, rumbly and lacking in sufficient definition. Boot up the opening of Noisettes’ Never Forget You or the first few bars of Agnes Obel’s The Curse, and you’ll hear what we mean.

A loose low-frequency reproduction is not the only issue. While the Soundcore buds do have decent weight and impact, they’re not as crisp or as well-disciplined as their rivals. The cheaper Sony WF-C710N are equally full-blooded, yet they have the punch, precision and propulsion to go with that muscularity. The C710N are a pro boxer’s powerful, clean leading jab; the Liberty 5 are a sloppy haymaker thrown on a booze-fuelled Saturday night.

The mid-range buds’ lack of rhythmic momentum is highlighted on tracks such as Ghost’s Satanized, during which a poor sense of timing and squashed dynamics conspire to make the whole thing sound both flat and sluggish. The JBL Live Beam 3 are better in both regards, while the supremely entertaining C710N are, frankly, streets ahead.

Verdict

Despite their secure fit and ample feature set, the Soundcore Liberty Pro don’t have the sonic talents to trouble the best mid-range buds. If sound quality is a priority, seek out the well-rounded JBL Live Beam 3 or the sonically superior (and cheaper) Sony WF-C710N instead.

Review published: 7th July 2026

SCORES

• Sound 3
• Features 4
• Comfort 4

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FiiO has unveiled its latest pair of wireless headphones, the EH13.

The new over-ears are conceived as a pair of budget-friendly cans that go big on features while keeping costs to a minimum, aiming to give would-be buyers "high-quality audio at an accessible price".

The EH13 feature a set of 40mm dynamic drivers fitted with sapphire-coated composite diaphragms, while support for the Sony-made LDAC codec allows for hi-res Bluetooth streaming up to 32-bit/96kHz.

Despite their modest price, the EH13 offer hybrid active noise-cancellation, while five built-in microphones and advanced 'Environmental Noise Cancellation' algorithms aim for clear voice pickup and reduced surrounding noise during calls.

The EH13 grant up to 45 hours of playback with ANC on, rising to a whopping 75 hours when noise cancelling is switched off. Further, Multipoint Bluetooth allows for connecting the FiiO over-ears to twin devices simultaneously.

The new headphones house a 3.5mm input and come with a provided cable if you want to hook up directly to your chosen music source, while a fully foldable design makes the budget cans easier to transport.

If you want to tinker with your listening experience, including altering your EQ settings, you can do so via the provided FiiO Control App.

The FiiO EH13 are available now in a choice of black or beige finishes, priced at £49 / $49 / €49. That sort of money puts them in direct competition with the budget Sony WH-CH520 (tested at £49 / $59 / AU$79) that we've so often praised since their release in 2023.

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I've tested quite a few budget Bluetooth turntables this year, including the Sony PS-LX3BT and the Sharp RP-TT100, but my top pick for overall sonic performance has to be the Sony PS-LX5BT. Like its LX3BT sibling, the PS-LX5BT earned the full five-star haul earlier this year thanks to its commendable sonic talents alongside excellent usability and multiple ways to listen.

Now that it's dropped to £307 at Amazon, Sevenoaks and John Lewis this Prime Day, you're in a great position to pick up five-star quality for £92 less than its standard RRP of £399. That's roughly 23 per cent off a supremely talented Bluetooth deck that we only recently reviewed!

Best Sony turntable Prime Day deal

The PS-LX5BT gives you the full Bluetooth turntable package, with a built-in phono stage, fully automatic operation and great sonic performance on a budget, although if you're looking to save even more cash, the step-down PS-LX3BT is also on sale for Prime Day.

That said, if you pick the LX5BT, you'll get a better cartridge, a slightly different arm tube, slip mat and finish, as well as fully detachable interconnect cables.

This being a fully automatic turntable, operation and setup are simple. The PS-LX5BT is easy to use and responsive to our commands, without needing to manually adjust the tonearm or tinker with tracking weights.

The PS-LX5BT is supplied with a pre-fitted moving magnet cartridge with a 2g tracking force, with much of the PS-LX5BT's improved performance likely deriving from its more premium cartridge.

For Bluetooth, there’s support for the hi-res aptX Adaptive codec for handling files wirelessly up to 24-bit/96kHz to compatible Bluetooth speakers and headphones, with the PS-LX5BT allowing up to eight devices to be paired at any given time.

Why would you get the PS-LX5BT over the cheaper PS-LX3BT? For us, the costlier deck does a great job of justifying its not-inconsiderable price increase over its more entry-level counterpart, offering a more open, spacious and more detailed sound than the LX3BT.

It also grants more space around instruments and gives the music greater breathing space within its broader, wider soundstage, leading to a more natural and immersive performance. Judged on its own or against its smaller sibling, Sony's affordable player really shines.

All in all, a great turntable with fantastic usability and class-leading sound at a fantastic knocked-down price. Find it at Amazon, Sevenoaks or John Lewis before Prime Day ends.

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It's time to get serious this Prime Day. If you're after the best wireless earbuds you can buy, you couldn't do much better than the five-star Bowers & Wilkins Pi8.

Right now, the Pi8 can be yours for just £275 at Peter Tyson, which isn't the lowest price we've ever seen the five-star buds, but still represents a major saving of £74. Not to be sniffed at, certainly!

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 certainly come in pricier than your average wireless buds, but in terms of performance, they justify their premium price tag.

The stylish buds offer serious performance across the board. As our expert testers said: “Immediately you’re made aware that this is no pair of budget earbuds. There’s a maturity and refinement to the sound which you just don’t get from entry-level and mid-price wireless earbuds.

“This level of sophistication really allows the Pi8 to stand out. They shine a light on any music streamed their way with a beautifully balanced approach – you can savour every frequency from the lowest of lows to the highest highs.”

From dynamic insight to genuine rhythmic drive, you can be kept entertained for the duration of the Pi8s' 6.5 hours of battery life from the buds themselves, rising to 20 hours with the case in play.

That charging case is smarter than you think, doubling up as wireless audio re-transmitter. This means that you can plug the case into a source that does not support Bluetooth, such as an in-flight entertainment system, and play audio through the wireless buds.

There is also support for Bluetooth 5.4, the inclusion of AptX Adaptive support at up to 24-bit/96kHz and also aptX Lossless. Plus, the ANC uses the same technology as B&W's Px8 over-ears, which can be switched off entirely or switched into Transparency mode.

All this led us to reach an incredibly positive verdict, saying: “Their wonderfully sophisticated, balanced and transparent sound delivers a level of insight that’s rare in wireless earbuds. You do have to pay for that quality but, ultimately, we think it’s a price worth paying.”

Fortunately, right now, you don’t have to pay as much as you once would have. In fact, you can save a very healthy £74 if you check them out at Peter Tyson or John Lewis.

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A pair of Sony headphones for £100 off? Normally we'd be recommending that you throw caution to the wind, boot up that laptop, stretch your clicking finger and get those cans into your digital basket, because that sounds, on paper, like a Prime Day deal worth taking.

This is one of the rare instances, however, when we'd advise you to look elsewhere. The Sony ULT Wear are a rare misfire from Sony, and while they're down from £180 to just £88 on Amazon, we just don't feel that they're worth your time. Save your cash and pick up a pair of five-star alternatives (listed below, obviously) instead.

Sony ULT Wear deal

Hooray, a pair of heavily discounted Sony headphones! They’ve got noise cancelling, a comfortable design, loads of high-performance Sony features and a majorly knocked down right, so what exactly isn’t there to love?

The problem is that the ULT Wear don’t sound as good as we had hoped. In fact, they are a rare sonic misfire for Sony, with a sound that sounds either too enthusiastic and bass-heavy, or simply too lacking in the basics of dynamics and detail to have us singing their praises. Great Sony headphones abound at the moment, but sadly, the ULT Wear are quite a long way from greatness.

Consider these alternatives instead

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Discounts galore! These are the best Amazon Prime Day Bluetooth speaker deals

Put that pizza down! Bin those takeaway menus, resist the urge to boot up the Dominos app and do something that your ears, and waistline, will thank you for: spend your money on a brilliant Bluetooth speaker instead.

For about the same price as your Saturday night takeout, you could get yourself a JBL Go 4 for just £27 at Amazon this Prime Day, down from its original price of £40. That's a saving of around 33 per cent on the best pocket-sized Bluetooth speaker on the market.

It doesn't taste particularly good (although we haven't actually tried), but it does sound the business.

Best JBL Go 4 Bluetooth speaker deal

It's remarkable how much performance JBL has managed to wring out of the soap-sized Go 4. It's handsome, well-equipped, durable and, for its size, remarkably talented sonically

The Go 4's IP67 rating means that dust and limited submersion in water will leave no lasting damage, and the general robustness of construction here is truly admirable.

Battery life is up to roughly 7 hours of standard playtime, with two more hours via Playtime Boost.

Playtime Boost will suck out most of the bass from the speaker's presentation, but that aside, the Go 5 sounds remarkably good considering its size and price. Thanks in part to its 45mm driver and that hollow-contour logo, the fifth-gen model is the meatiest, most robust sounding Go that we've yet heard, with a fuller, more powerful reproduction than its fourth-gen predecessor.

As our review stated, the fifth-gen speaker is tuned "to have an innate understanding of how your music should sound. Nothing here is overdone or overly coloured, but it shares its bigger siblings’ ability to go with the flow as we bounce around tracks and genres".

If your budget is limited, the Go 4 is our go-to recommendation – ditch the late night curry and pick one up on Amazon.

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Discounts galore! These are the best Amazon Prime Day Bluetooth speaker deals

This Prime Day is the perfect time to find your latest pair of wireless headphones or wireless earbuds. Prices are dropping faster than Scotland's World Cup chances, and good deals are becoming great ones thanks to ever-plummeting RRPs. There's no time like the present to snap up a bargain.

This Prime Day has seen major discounts on a massive variety of headphones, but we're limiting this rundown to those which fall under £150. Times are tough right not, so the products we've listed below, be they in-ear or over-ear, are all designed to elicit maximum satisfaction from the lowest cost possible. Nice.

Wireless earbuds

Best mid-price: Bowers & Wilkins Pi6

Best noise-cancelling: Sony WF-C710N

Best entry-level: Sony WF-C510

Over-ear headphones

Best entry-level: Sony WH-CH520

Best budget noise-cancelling: Sony WH-CH720N

Best budget wired: Røde NTH-100

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I've heard a lot of premium wireless headphones in the past few months. No, seriously, when I say a lot, I mean a lot.

The Sony WH-1000XM6, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless, the Apple AirPods Max 2, the Sony 1000X The Collexion, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2; the list just goes on and on.

And yet, this Amazon Prime Day, I would pick one pair above all others. Those aforementioned headphones are all excellent, sometimes spectacular, in their own respective ways, but one pair stands head and shoulders above the rest: the Sennheiser HDB 630.

At £400 / $500 / AU$1000, they're not cheap, and discounts aren't exactly common, but if you see a drop this Prime Day, across any of the major retailers, I would urge you wholeheartedly to snap it up while you can.

In fact, even if they don't budge an inch, I'd still be urging you to get hold of the best wireless headphones Sennheiser has ever made.

It's going to be a crazy twist of fate if some of the best wireless headphones you can currently buy this Prime Day aren't currently available on Amazon. Well, it's their loss.

In truth, forget Prime Day and Amazon altogether. Forget discounts and price cuts, and even brand loyalty. Just remember one key fact: if you want the best premium noise-cancelling wireless headphones, you want the Sennheiser HDB 630. It's that simple.

Why? Well, mainly because these are sound-first headphones that have pushed the needle for how good Bluetooth over-ears can sound at this sort of price. The HDB 630 are exceptionally smooth and natural-sounding headphones, with a beautifully realised bass reproduction, a sweet, immersive mid-range and a crisp, sharply defined treble.

They're fun, dynamically adept and musically expressive, walking that tricky tightrope between analysis and entertainment with sure-footed precision.

Part of that quality comes from the Sennheiser's super-clever BTD 700 USB-C dongle that you simply plug into your device’s USB-C port to give it aptX Adaptive superpowers.

That means that any source device, including your iPhone, gains aptX Adaptive hi-res streaming up to 24bit/96kHz, even if it wouldn't natively support it. That is, quite simply, an absolute game-changer, and it works terrifically.

Plus, you get wired listening via 3.5mm and USB-C-ended cables, around 60 hours of battery life with ANC switched on, very solid noise cancelling, a luxuriously comfortable fit and very solid voice calls, all of which combine to make an exceptional all-around package.

We get that Prime Day should be all about Amazon and, of course, all about deals, but the HDB 630 are so exceptional that all sort of goes out of the window.

Discounts don't really matter (although they're great to see). Retailers don't matter. What matters is that, if you can, you pick up a pair of some of the best-sounding premium wireless headphones we've ever heard.

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It was Jane Austen who once wrote: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man (or woman) in possession of a good chunk of cash must be in want of a Bluetooth speaker.” Okay, we might have tweaked that quotation just a little, but she would probably have written something similar had Bluetooth been around in the 1800s.

Thankfully, we can’t think of many product categories that enjoy more major discounts during Amazon Prime Day than Bluetooth speakers. Perhaps wireless headphones and wireless earbuds are also in the running, but if you’re in the market for belting bargains, Bluetooth speakers are where it’s at.

We are already seeing major discounts on some of our favourite models during the early Prime Day sales, and we predict that even more drops will come flooding in as things really kick into gear. Don’t worry, we’ll keep updating this page, and our Prime Day hubs, to make sure you don’t miss a thing.

The best early Prime Day Bluetooth speaker deals

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These are the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy

Marshall has added to its extensive roster of Bluetooth speakers with the new Stockwell III.

Designed for listeners "who want powerful sound without sacrificing portability", the new speaker makes use of Marshall's 'True Stereophonic 360-degree' sound technology, designed to fill any space with more immersive, expansive audio.

The Stockwell III also features a 'Dynamic Loudness' feature which automatically balances bass, mid and treble frequencies "to preserve detail and clarity" at any volume.

Marshall's latest can stretch to around 40 hours of battery life, while an IP55 dust and waterproof rating add to its portable credentials. You an also use the speaker as a charging bank to give portable devices such as smartphones a quick charge on the go.

To behold, the Stockwell III is very much a Marshall product, designed to look like a mini guitar amp and boasting a leather carry strap, top-mounted control dials and an external grille emblazoned with the Marshall logo.

According to Simon Berbec, Product Manager at Marshall Group: “Since launching Stockwell II in 2019, technology has moved fast, and Stockwell III takes full benefit from this. Extended battery life, more powerful acoustics, and improved water and dust protection are just some of the key enhancements we’ve made."

The Marshall Stockwell III will be available from 25th August in black and brass or cream colourways, priced at £200 / $250.

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Best Bluetooth speakers: the finest portable sound around

Noble Audio has announced its latest wireless over-ear headphones, the FoKus Artemis. Expanding on the design of its debut over-ear headphones, the FoKus Apollo – which boasted a world-first design by combining two different types of driver – the Artemis take things one step further, adding yet another driver to the mix.

Priced at £799 / $899 / €949, the new high-end wireless headphones enter the ring against serious competitors such as the Focal Bathys and Dali IO8, both of which we reviewed at five stars.

In this latest design, Noble has used a combination of dynamic, planar and balanced armature drivers to achieve what it promises to be “powerful, spacious and refined” sound.

With support for Bluetooth 5.4 and multipoint connectivity, the Artemis have been designed for easy switching between connected devices. But those of you who prefer wired headphones, worry not, they also support wired listening thanks to a supplied USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor cable.

A six-microphone array within the headphones enables Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Transparency Mode for blocking out or letting in environmental sound. Proximity sensors have also been included, which pause audio when the headphones are removed and restart it when they are put back on.

Developed for use alongside Audiodo Personal Sound, the Artemis allow users to create personalised sound profiles to suit their hearing preferences. This is done via guided hearing assessments, all of which, Noble promises, will be integrated into the refreshed Noble FoKus app in time for release.

With a fully self-replaceable battery which Noble claims lasts up to 50 hours – lowering to 35 hours with ANC enabled – the headphones sport decent battery life for this premium price.

The wireless headphones weigh less than 350g and feature a fully rotating design, replaceable ear cushions and magnetic detachable ear pads. They come with an IP52 dust- and water-resistance rating.

The Noble FoKus Artemis will be on show at High End Vienna from 4th June, with pre-orders opening the same day. Shipping is expected in July.

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The Sony WH-CH520 headphones are the top budget choice from our pick of the best wireless headphones – and right now they're even more affordable.

Now just £30 at Amazon, the Sony WH-CH520 are almost 40% off their original price, and only £1 off their lowest-ever price.

The Sony WH-C520 are a great example of wireless headphones that can nail the basics without asking you for to part with too much money.

They don't look particularly glamorous but the WH-CH520 are reassuringly well made. In fact, our expert testers said: "They’re put together well, and feel built to last. The headband adjustment mechanism, for example, is robust and moves with reassuring solidity."

What's even more impressive though is the WH-CH520's features. We're talking a 50-hour battery life, which quite frankly the majority of premium headphones don't reach, as well as Bluetooth 5.2, physical on-cup playback buttons, and compatibility with Sony's Headphones Connect control app.

And the C520s are not done there. Bluetooth Multipoint is also supported for connecting to two devices simultaneously, as well as compatibility with SBC and AAC codecs. There's also a built-in mic that allows for voice control through your source device's Google Assistant or Siri.

How do they sound? Well, even-handed and nicely balanced, according to our expert testers. In the full review, they say: “They’re not the most expressive headphones you’ve ever heard where low frequencies are concerned, it’s true. But the low end they generate is solid, deep and properly controlled at the leading edges, so the WH-CH520 headphones express rhythms confidently.”

As long as you keep your expectations in check with a budget this low, the Sony WH-CHH520 are a real bargain – at just £30 at Amazon, it's one heck of a deal.

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Check out the best wireless headphones: rated by our in-house experts

Or the best wireless earbuds: top pairs tested by our reviewers

Renowned for high-end in-ear headphones such as the Kronos, Noble Audio is bringing its boutique approach to a more widely accessible price point with the new Osprey wireless earbuds.

Despite not being as costly as the premium Fokus Amadeus, the Osprey has had no detail spared in its design. It sports a striking marbled aesthetic finish, keeping it in line with the glamour of other Noble offerings. The charging case, which is made of aluminium, further enhances the premium feel.

At the heart of the earbuds’ design is a hybrid dual-driver configuration, which pairs a 10mm dynamic driver with a custom balanced armature to achieve, says Noble, “confident, controlled bass, a natural and expressive midrange, and clean, extended highs”.

Supporting Bluetooth 5.4, featuring the high-quality LDAC alongside standard SBC and AAC codecs, the earbuds also offer multipoint connectivity and TrueWireless Mirroring to allow easy switching between connected devices. They can also be used in conjunction with the Noble Audio app, which offers EQ modes and firmware updates.

The earbuds come with Active Noise Cancellation to block out external sounds, while Hearing Through mode acts as an ambient or transparency mode to let outside sounds in. Integrated clear voice capture technology and dual microphones are used to ensure clearer voice calls.

The Osprey’s battery life is somewhat shorter than its premium counterparts’, offering seven hours of reliable playback with active noise cancellation disabled, and five with ANC on. The charging case extends this total listening time, allowing four additional full charges for 35 hours of playback. A 10-minute quick charge via USB-C will also provide two extra hours of playback.

The Noble Osprey will cost you £199 / €225 / $199, just shy of the five star Sony WF-1000XM6, which is our most highly recommended premium wireless earbuds.

If the Osprey’s ambitious design is enough to tempt you, pre-orders open on 4th June, with shipping expected by the end of the month. The earbuds will also be available to try at the High End Vienna 2026 showcase.

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If you're looking for versatile desktop speakers that sound great as well as offering useful connectivity in an ultra-compact form, our advice for many years has been Ruark Audio's MR1 range of dinky, powered speakers.

The Ruark MR1 Mk3 is our current reigning champ in this field, but nipping at its heels is the Cambridge Audio L/R S, the first active speakers from the brand, offering a similarly compact form for the same price as the Ruarks.

For those who can't accommodate a full hi-fi system in their small spaces, or want to upgrade from a budget Bluetooth speaker for their home audio, these small-but-talented desktop speakers are an ideal solution. We've recently tested the new Cambridge L/R S and compared them with the Award-winning Ruarks to balance their strengths and weaknesses – let's find out which is the best pair for you.

Cambridge L/R S vs Ruark MR1 Mk3: price

In the UK, it's a dead heat with the Cambridge L/R S and Ruark MR1 Mk3 both costing £399. There's a bit more variation if you're in the US or Australia, as the Cambridge speakers will cost you $549 / AU$949, while the Ruark pair is yours for $579 / AU$899.

The Ruarks are available in two finishes: the rich walnut veneer of our review sample, or a more modern charcoal lacquer, with no difference in cost.

Cambridge Audio offers more colourful options with six finishes in total: black, white, green, orange and blue, which all cost the same amount. But if you opt for the walnut veneer finish of our review sample, you'll have to cough up a little extra as they cost £449 / $599 / AU$1049 per pair.

**Winner: Ruark Audio MR1 Mk3**

Cambridge L/R S vs Ruark MR1 Mk3: Build & design

Both speakers are pleasingly compact, making them ideal for small spaces, such as placing on your desktop and on either side of your computer.

The Ruark MR1 Mk3 are smaller than the Cambridge L/R S – they're certainly shorter, with the L/R S barely 2cm deeper. They're the same width, though, which makes both of them very appealing for fitting into spaces where traditional hi-fi or bigger speakers simply won't get a look in.

We love the build quality of both speakers, which is of a high quality for this price. Which style you prefer is a matter of taste: the beautifully curved cabinet of the Ruark or the crisp, clean edges of the Cambridge? Do you prefer the woven fabric grille (which isn't removable) on the Ruark, or the stark, no-grille, minimal aesthetic of Cambridge?

We like the walnut veneer's texture and finer details on the Ruarks, and equally like the way the logo is printed on top of the Cambridge speaker. Both are smart-looking and offer a lifestyle-friendly aesthetic compared with traditional designs.

Apart from the looks, there are practical considerations when making your choice. There are no on-unit controls for input selection or volume on the Cambridge speakers at all, in keeping with its pared back design. A colour-changing LED underneath the primary speaker indicates the input chosen and status, but that's all the feedback you'll get when facing the speakers.

Ruark, conversely, has its trademark RotoDial controller on top of the primary speaker, which lets you select the input and change volume with ease. It's a more tactile interaction with your speaker, and especially handy if the speakers are within reach on your desk.

If your speakers are placed further away or are being used as TV speakers, then you'll be glad to hear both sets come with a slim remote control. It's particularly crucial for the Cambridge, so don't lose it.

These are two-way speakers, with the Cambridge L/R S featuring a 21mm aluminium tweeter and 7.6cm mid/bass driver, with a bass reflex slot situated at the back.

The Ruark MR1 Mk3 features a 20mm silk dome tweeter with a bigger 8.5cm mid/bass driver, with a downward-firing bass reflex port.

Both use Class D amplification for greater efficiency and control, with the Cambridge claiming the more powerful 50W per channel, while Ruark goes for half that figure at 25W per channel. Numbers, of course, only tell half the story.

Both units house the main power, amplifiers and connections in one "primary" unit, which then feeds signal to the secondary unit with an interlinking cable.

The supplied 2m cable for the Cambridge speakers features bespoke 4-pin conductors at either end, with a neat locking mechanism that keeps the connection secure.

The 3m cable connecting the Ruark speakers (3.5mm connectors at either end) is a nicely braided affair that's sturdy and looks good, too. We found the supplied cables long enough for desktop use, but both brands offer optional longer leads (5m) if required, at extra cost.

**Winner: Draw**

Cambridge L/R S vs Ruark MR1 Mk3: connectivity

Titchy as they are, the Ruark MR1 MK3 is loaded with a variety of connections. The big news is the inclusion of a built-in moving magnet phono stage, which makes it easier to plug in turntables – such as the Rega Planar 1 or Pro-Ject Primary E – for a neat, affordable vinyl system. You also get a USB-C input for plugging in your laptop, and a combined optical/3.5mm aux input for other sources, with the adapter for the digital optical socket included in the box.

Ruark says that its customers have been perfectly happy with the optical input when using the MR1 speakers with a TV, and adding an HDMI input would increase the cost beyond its asking price, which the brand didn't want to do.

Cambridge's speakers similarly omit the HDMI input and feature a USB-C input and separate optical input, and opt for a pair of RCA line level analogue inputs for connecting a variety of sources to the L/R S. There's no built-in phono stage here, which we feel is a bit of a miss, but you can plug in a turntable with an integrated phono preamp, such as the Sony PS-LX3BT, via RCA.

For easy streaming from your phone or laptop, both speakers offer Bluetooth, with up to the aptX HD codec supported. Pairing is swift and easy in both cases, and streaming music from Tidal or Apple Music is fuss free.

Ruark says its internal DAC can handle up to 24-bit/192kHz hi-res audio files, although the USB-C input’s limit is capped at 96kHz. With Cambridge, the optical and USB-C both support hi-res files up to 24-bit/96kHz, but the speakers’ DSP will automatically downsample all files to 48kHz.

At this level, we find that such differences in file resolution aren't particularly obvious, with CD quality sounding more than good enough for these speakers. Considering the intended audience for these affordable, desktop speakers – and with no networked streaming on board – we imagine not being able to play full-fat hi-res downloaded tracks won't be a high priority for most listeners.

And finally, you get a single subwoofer output with both speakers, should you require more bass oomph.

**Winner: Ruark Audio MR1 MK3**

Cambridge L/R S vs Ruark MR1 Mk3: features

Ruark keeps things simple with the MR1 Mk3's plug-and-play, accessible nature, and around the back of the main speaker you'll find the ability to change the gain level for each input (and reset them). That's it.

Cambridge offers a fair bit more customisation, with the engineers taking into consideration any adverse sonic effects that might happen depending on your listening position and where you'll be placing the L/R S speakers.

You have three toggle switches at the back of the main unit: one to tell the speakers if they're placed on a desktop or not; one to tell the speakers if they are placed close to a back wall or in free space; and one to indicate whether the primary speaker (with the power cable) is the left or right channel.

These modes help to mitigate any booming you might get in the mid/bass when the speakers are backed up against a wall, reduce any unwanted reflections from the desk they are placed on, and to help with time alignment when your listening positioning is higher than the drivers' output when they're placed on a desk.

Cambridge also offers optional desk stands (£49 per pair) to help angle the speakers towards your listening position – we would recommend this for the clearest, most solid sound.

We would try all the different toggle modes to find out the best-balanced sound for your tastes and listening position, as some combinations might work better than you might initially think.

Did you remember to hold on to that remote control? Cambridge also offers three EQ modes – Normal, Voice and Movie – that you can choose using the remote. These are subtle effects worth experimenting with, although we preferred the balanced Normal mode overall with all kinds of media we played.

**Winner: Cambridge Audio L/R S**

Cambridge L/R S vs Ruark MR1 Mk3: sound

The Cambridge L/R S speakers offer a pleasing performance with their even-handed tone and refined way with detail.

Their smooth balance makes them easy to listen to for long hours, with no peakiness or hardness in the treble, nor any untoward flabbiness in the bass. Yes, we'd like to hear the lower frequencies plunge deeper and have more muscle, but they are otherwise taut and nimble.

There is a sense of orderliness to the way the L/R S delivers music, and we found during our review that there is "a good amount of detail on offer, thanks also in part to a clean, low-distortion background". Voices are nicely focused too.

That evenly balanced presentation is impressive, although it does mean some songs end up sounding quite cultured and reserved when they should be more gritty and brazen.

"On some tracks – such as on Eminem’s The Way I Am and Forget About Dre – we find ourselves willing the speakers on, to tackle the propulsive rhythm with more punch and panache," we said in our review.

These Cambridge speakers do spark into life with the volume turned up, and they can certainly go louder than you'd expect from their small stature. Just be aware that, as with most speakers, that lovely balance suffers at much higher volumes.

The Ruark MR1 Mk3 offer a more boisterous and more exciting presentation, with a more powerful, muscular bass that we wish was just a little more tuneful, but does dig impressively deep for such dinky speakers.

Even more impressive is how much bigger and more open they sound; they project sound into the room with greater power than the L/R S, and there is more space surrounding the instruments and voices.

Dynamic shifts are handled with greater authority and punch, and it's a more involving listen overall. "The speakers’ rhythmic drive remains excellent for such compact speakers," we said in the review. "They are full of propulsive momentum, grabbing us by the lapels with Eminem’s fierce delivery in Forget About Dre and delivering tracks from Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Macklemore with oodles of energy."

The Ruarks are still subtle and insightful enough when it comes to more delicate pieces of music, and voices are full of texture, nuance and personality. The MR1 Mk3 have traded a touch of their previous midrange sweetness for greater power in this third-generation model, but the mids are also clearer, more detailed and more expressive than the Cambridge L/R S.

Compared with the Ruarks, the Cambridge speakers sound a little muted when it comes to expressive voices, rhythmic punctuality and dynamic subtlety. There is what sounds like a "cloudy veil" over the midrange, whereas the Ruarks sound much freer, more confident and allow songs to luxuriate in a more layered soundstage.

The Ruarks' built-in phono stage is of a high quality too, and both sets of speakers have a consistent sonic character no matter which input you use.

**Winner: Ruark Audio MR1 Mk3**

Cambridge L/R S vs Ruark MR1 Mk3: verdict

There is plenty to like about the compact Cambridge L/R S speakers, from their crisp, clean aesthetic to the various modes that make them customisable to where you place them in the room. Their sound quality is easy to get along with, with a smooth, even tone across the frequencies.

But the Ruark speakers beat them for outright clarity, subtler insight and better dynamics. They offer a bigger scale of sound and simply sound more fun, even if the deeper low frequencies could be reined in a little. That built-in phono stage is a boon for first-time vinyl users, and using the MR1 Mk3 is just a little bit more convenient thanks to the handy, tactile on-unit controls.

For the same price, the petite Ruark speakers are the more entertaining and versatile pair. Our Award-winners keep their crown for another round.

**Overall winner: Ruark Audio MR1 Mk3**

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We’re tempted to call Sennheiser the ‘dark horse’ of wireless headphones.

After all, our best buys have, in more recent times, been stacked to the brim with offerings from the likes of Apple, Bose and, more than any other, Sony, so it has been easy to forget the many qualities that Sennheiser brings to this particular slice of the audio terrain.

Let’s not forget, however, that this is a brand that has been around since 1945, a brand that, when not making the occasional microphone or soundbar, has built its reputation at the sharp end of both wired and wireless headphone production.

Perhaps ‘sleeping giant’ would have been a more apt moniker.

Admittedly, Sennheiser hasn’t quite been as prolific as its esteemed rivals when it comes to the actual volume of products sent to market. And the company’s ongoing search for a buyer since Swiss owner Sonova put its headphone division up for sale has naturally made waters all the choppier. From what we have seen of Sennheiser recently, though, it is still more than capable of taking the fight to the very best in the business.

The sound of success

We wonder if the release of the five-star HDB 630 will end up becoming something of a defining moment for Sennheiser.

Released just a few months before the announcement that the company’s headphone division was going up for sale – with some doom-mongers rather rashly predicting the death of entire brand – the audiophile-tuned HDB 630 now look like a major signal of intent.

We’ve always known that this is a brand capable of excellence in the wired space, though it had been a while since Sennheiser had properly flexed its wireless muscles. The soon to be phased out mid-priced Accentum line, including the Accentum Wireless and Accentum Wireless Plus over-ears, had failed to set the world alight, and it had been almost four years since we’d heard a hint of any addition to the premium Momentum Wireless range.

Rival standards were high, too. The Sony WH-1000XM6 looked unassailable at their £400 / $450 / AU$699 price, while the likes of Bowers & Wilkins, Bose, Apple and Dali were all also vying for the crown. Competition was, is, and probably always will be, incredibly fierce.

Yet the HDB 630 really pulled it out of the bag. Sennheiser’s outstanding cans set a new standard of wireless sound at this level, thanks in part to their clever bundled Bluetooth dongle, with a sonic performance that blew most of their competitors out of the water. Including Sony.

As we say in our review: “Here, precision and analysis go hand in hand with drive and vigour, making for the most informative and entertaining sound we’ve heard from wireless headphones at this price, with or without the use of the dongle.”

The Momentum 5 Wireless have repeated a similar trick, and while they’re not as boundary-pushing as the HDB 630, their aggressive price tag (£330 / $400 / AU$749) and rich, smooth sound make them a very fine alternative to the Sonys and B&Ws of this world.

Two five-star pairs with a strong focus on stellar sound and plenty of features in tow. If that isn't a warning to rivals to sit up and take notice, we don't know what is.

Take a chance on me

God loves a trier, but He also favours those who take a few risks.

It feels as though Sennheiser has recognised a need to innovate in order to get ahead of a crowded pack, and while the temptation to go in for zippy gimmicks and check-box features must have pulled hard, resisting such inclinations has paid dividends.

As has putting efforts into genuinely constructive innovation. We gave significant attention to the bundled Bluetooth dongle when reviewing the Sennheiser HDB 630 last year, and not without reason: it turned out to be the premium over-ears’ small-but-mighty secret weapon.

Essentially, it’s a clever little USB accessory that gives your phone or other audio source the same high-quality Bluetooth codec the headphones themselves support, meaning you have improved codec-support from devices which might not normally (we’re looking at you, iPhone) have supported them.

That’s a big deal, and as we wrote at the time, the “dongle proves a valuable accessory. When connected to an iPhone 16 and old Samsung Galaxy S21, upgrading their respective AAC and aptX connectivity with the headphones to aptX Adaptive, the presentation gains in clarity and solidity.”

The Momentum 5 Wireless have kept up with the times, too. There’s no dongle to be found, but with extensive codec support, wired listening via USB-C and 3.5mm, Dolby Atmos all on board, Sennheiser’s flagships have kept up admirably with the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM6 and the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3. 57 hours of battery life with ANC on doesn’t exactly hurt, either.

The new Momentum 5 Wireless don’t necessarily have the most features of any premium pair, but in terms of quality, they’re up there with the best.

A case of re-taken identity

Perhaps ironically, and certainly impressively, Sennheiser seems to have re-found and re-established its identity at a time of not-inconsiderable uncertainty.

While the likes of the Accentum line and the disappointing Sennheiser Momentum Sport earbuds seemed to play it safe with a flat, tonally grey sound, the premium Momentum 5 Wireless and HDB 630 feel like Sennheiser returning to a place where it is the most confident and comfortable.

In fact, when we spoke recently to the German manufacturer about where it saw its future, there was a clear statement that the Momentum Wireless line would be a prospective listeners’ “entry point” into the world of Sennheiser sound.

From there, they could progress to the HDB 630 and beyond into even more premium and high-end wired options. But the message was clear: Sennheiser would be providing audiophile-type performance to proper enthusiasts.

It appears to be a sensible move. Sennheiser does great work when it targets this more audiophile-centric side of the landscape – just see the wired Sennheiser HD 820 for proof – and with so many brands already targeting mass production of cheaper, spec-heavy wireless earbuds and headphones, it make sense to stick to more rarefied territory.

And, from what we’ve heard, it’s what the company seems to rather good at.

Sennheiser’s resurgence feels like a good thing for the wireless headphones industry.

It’s good for customers to have a healthy number of options when picking out a potential product; it’s good for the market not to be strangled for a monopoly; and it’s good for rival companies to compete with one another for supremacy in order to push the needle of quality ever forward.

When working as it’s supposed to, that’s sort of the point of a free market, isn’t it?

Producing two or three excellent pairs of headphones doesn’t suddenly make you the king, especially with the likes of Sony putting out five-star headphones across the cost spectrum, over many successive years. What they do indicate, though, is that Sennheiser feels like a company finding its groove again, and, in the midst of a potentially turbulent time, re-establishing its identity amid a sea of change and challengers.

If a worthy successor to the Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds also ends up landing later this year, we might end up looking back at 2026 as being the year of Sennheiser.

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Sennheiser or Sony?

It's a tough question to answer, especially when both brands have put out two pairs of premium headphones – the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless and the Sony WH-1000XM6 – adorned with glowing five-star reviews. How do you choose between two sets of over-ears from two brands working at the top of their game?

That question is only made harder by the fact that the Sennheisers are a chunk cheaper than the Sonys, meaning that price is becomes a new dimension to this already tricky conundrum. The Momentum 5 Wireless are newer, too, so now age becomes a factor to add to the mélange, and that's before we consider the usual aspects of sound quality, features, build, comfort etc.

It's a lot to consider, but don't worry, we're here to help. We've broken down the virtues and vices of these outstandingly capable noise cancelling cans to put you in the best position possible to find exactly what you're looking for.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM6: price

Competition at this level is fierce, but the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless do have price on their side. At £330 / $400 / AU4749, they're cheaper than many of their premium rivals, and a good deal less than the £400 / $450 / AU$699 asking price of the Sony WH-1000XM6.

We'd caveat that slightly by mentioning the fact that the XM6's price can drop a little during sales events, though never so drastically as to come close to the price of the Sennheisers. Not yet, anyway.

In short, a clear win for the Momentum 5 Wireless for value.

** Winner: Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless **

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM6: build and comfort

We're keen on the build and design of these rival pairs, though not necessarily for exactly the same reasons.

The Momentum 5 Wireless may be the cheaper of the two, but if anything they exude a higher perceived value than their slightly functional-looking Sony WH-1000XM6. Little touches, such as the headband’s attractive fabric exterior, go a long way to making the Momentum 5 Wireless feel more premium, and while the XM6 are well made, they keep things functional and decidedly un-flashy on the aesthetics front.

The fabric exterior of the Sennheisers' headband and carry case grant them a suave appeal, and our only real reservation is that the earcups feel just a little cheap and plasticky to the touch.

The Sonys are made pretty much entirely of plastic too, but their overall construction feels more durable and robust. They have the added bonus of folding away completely, something which the Momentum 5 can't do.

The WH-1000XM6 weigh in at 254g, a good deal lighter than the 290g of the Sennheisers, while their nicely judged clamping force and firm-yet-forgiving earpads rarely put our our ears under any undue strain or causing excess overheating over time.

To be fair to them, the Momentum 5 Wireless are also comfortable. We spend a long time listening to the Sennheiser over-ears, and though we find some mild on-ear heating past the hour mark, we generally don’t suffer with that aching feeling that can make extended listening a miserable experience.

Both over-ear designs feature a combination of touch-capacitative controls on the earcups and physical buttons. In both cases, haptics are expertly implemented, responding quickly and effectively to our commands when controlling playback or activating noise modes. You will, though, enjoy deeper levels of control customisation via the Sony Sound Connect app than via Sennheiser's Smart Control Plus platform.

This is a close one. The Sennheisers are a little more luxurious to behold, but the Sonys win back serious points for their portability, durability and greater control customisation.

** Winner: Sony WH-1000XM6 **

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM6: features

Two pairs of premium headphones, two premium feature sets to match.

Bluetooth codec support is impressive across the board, with the Momentum 5 Wireless offering SBC and AAC codecs alongside higher-quality aptX HD, aptX Lossless and aptX Adaptive flavours. The Sennheisers currently use Bluetooth 5.4, but an upcoming firmware update later this year will push this to 6.0 and include LE Audio for reduced latency, better battery life and potentially boosted audio quality.

Conversely, the XM6 grant standard SBC and AAC and, of course, Sony's LDAC codec for streaming hi-res music at higher data rates over Bluetooth from a compatible device.

On Bluetooth, Multipoint connectivity is available on both pairs, meaning you can connect to two devices simultaneously.

Both grant app support, with respective platform a pleasure to use. The Sony app isn't the fanciest in the world, but it's certainly one of the most in-depth and customisable around, offering the likes of a 10-band equaliser and access to touch control personalisation. The Sennheiser SmartPlus app isn't quite as in-depth, but outmatches Sony for its usability and ease of navigation, and you're still able to perform useful actions such as tweaking your EQ settings or adjusting the amount of ANC you're getting via a handy slider.

Battery life is reasonably strong for the WH-1000XM6, reaching around 30 hours with noise cancelling switched on. That number is roundly beaten by the Momentum 5 Wireless: a very healthy 57 hours when noise cancelling is on and you’re playing at a reasonable volume is a very nice feather in Sennheiser’s cap,.

If you're into spatial audio, neither set will leave you feeling glum. The Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless have Dolby Atmos on the menu when listening to supported content, with dynamic head tracking to be added via an upcoming firmware update.

The WH-1000XM6 support Sony’s ‘360 Reality Audio Upmix’ tech, although you will have to go through a short set-up and ear scan if you want to make proper use of it.

Happily, you can listen to either pair via a wired connection. The Sony WH-1000XM6 grant wired listening via an included 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable, whereas the Sennheisers offer a wired option via either 3.5mm to 3.5mm or USB-C to USB-C, with the latter method capable of handling lossless files up to 24-bit/96kHz.

A good showing from Sennheiser, but Sony's flagship cans do have a few extra tricks up their sleeve. 'Speak-To-Chat', which drops the volume level when you start talking, is available on the WH-1000XM6, as is 'Quick Attention Mode' for letting you hear ambient sounds straight away by placing a hand on the exterior of the right earcup.

The WH-1000XM6 also make use of Sony's DSEE Extreme sound enhancement engine to bring poor-quality digital audio files nearer to high-res quality.

These two are roughly neck-and-neck when it comes to features: Sony might have a few more tricks up its sleeve that make daily portable use seamless, while Sennheiser's substantially longer battery life and inclusion of USB audio are major strengths.

** Draw **

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM6: ANC and call quality

Sennheiser made a big effort to improve the noise cancelling for its new Momentum over-ears, with the fifth-gen cans using twice as many microphones (a total of eight) as their predecessors.

Those additions pay off. The Momentum 5's ANC doesn't clear the bar set by the Sony WH-1000XM6, but it will keep most noises – traffic, wind, air conditioners – at bay.

The overall effect does feel more like a softening of sounds rather than a complete exclusion, something which the Sonys do more effectively and more naturally. Take both pairs somewhere properly challenging, such as a public gym, and the XM6 will handle the full range of frequencies more effectively than their Sennheiser rivals.

Harsh sounds, such as clanking weights, are more convincingly filtered out by the XM6, and we feel more isolated from noises than when wearing the Sennheisers. Stand by a roadside with both pairs to hand, and the Sonys will all but eliminate those low traffic rumbles – the Momentum 5 Wireless, meanwhile, will soften rather than fully exclude them.

Call quality, meanwhile, is at a high standard no matter the cans you choose. Both pairs are excellent at reducing exterior sounds, especially the swirling bluster of wind noise, all while spotlighting human speech. The Momentum 5 make voices sound warmer and more natural, whereas the XM6 are impressively clear but can sound a tiny bit robotic by comparison.

Excellent call quality on each, but the XM6 have the noise cancelling talents to take this particular round.

** Winner: Sony WH-1000XM6 **

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM6: sound quality

The Momentum 5 Wireless are excellent premium noise cancelling headphones, and some of the finest wireless over-ears that Sennheiser has produced in recent times.

We hear much of the same sonic DNA from the superb five-star Sennheiser HDB 630 in these more affordable headphones, with the Momentum 5 Wireless sharing the same feeling of clarity, dexterity and richness as their bigger brothers.

Their midrange is arguably their greatest strength. While the Sennheisers can be a touch rich in the lower frequencies, their midrange reproduction is superb, offering a naturalness and insight that gives the Sony WH-1000XM6 a serious run for their money. If anything, they're even better with voices than their Sony rivals, and that's really saying something.

The Sennheisers are rich, smooth and brilliantly precise headphones, with a personality that makes listening a refreshingly undemanding experience, offering levels of poise and maturity that very few comparable alternatives can match.

As we said in our review: "We could spend days on end listening to the Momentum 5 Wireless and feel neither frustration nor fatigue. While words such as 'undemanding' or 'relaxed' might otherwise be used synonymously with 'boring' or 'bland', we in fact find that these are headphones that strike a great balance between refinement and fun."

That said, if you've got the money to spend, it's definitely worth seeking out the WH-1000XM6 for a proper step up in audio quality. The XM6 don't have the midrange sweetness of the Sennheisers, but they're a punchier, more entertaining pair with ample talent across the board.

As we enthused in our review, the WH-1000XM6 "deliver the most detailed, dynamic, precise and open sound we’ve heard from a wireless Sony flagship. The headphones just seem capable of diving into any track you play and extracting an unbelievable amount of information".

Precision meets power to thrilling effect, and leading edges of notes are sharply drawn and hit with precision and force. The XM6 are great at breaking things down so that you hear each individual element of a song, but they also make sure to put everything back together again into one cohesive, thrilling whole.

While their midrange isn't quite as sweet as the Sennheisers, and they might be a touch more fatiguing to listen to over longer periods, the XM-1000XM6 are the more entertaining, musically talented of the two. Their dynamics land with more verve and contrast, while their rhythmic abilities can make the Momentum 5 Wireless sound just a touch sluggish by comparison.

The Sennheisers are superb, but the WH-1000XM6 justify their extra outlay. For us, they're the sonically superior pick if you have a bit more cash to spend.

** Winner: Sony WH-1000XM6 **

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM6: verdict

The five-star Momentum 5 Wireless are a great reminder that Sennheiser is more than ready to take on all-comers in the premium wireless headphones space.

Their sound is easily worthy of its five-star accreditation, bolstered by a very healthy feature set, a huge battery life, and, perhaps most importantly, a lower price tag than that of the Sony WH-1000XM6. If you can't stretch to the more premium Sonys, the Momentum 5 are the logical step down.

If you do have the cash to spend and you want a great value return on your not-inconsiderable investment, we still recommending going for the Sony WH-1000XM6.

Not only are they more sonically exciting and engaging than the Sennheisers, but their massive bag of class-leading features, not to mention their effortlessly ergonomic design for daily portable use, make them the complete package. They're our current What Hi-Fi? Award-winners for a reason.

**Overall winner: Sony WH-1000XM6**

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony WH-1000XM6

Also consider the Sennheiser HDB 630

"Sound comes first" – we speak to Sennheiser about German engineering, changing ownership, and 80 years of making music

Sony and B&W are two of the biggest names in the wireless headphones market, and with Sony recently launching its ultra-premium 1000X The Collexion headphones, there is little doubt that it had the B&W Px8 S2 squarely in its sights.

We’ve already put each of these headphones through their respective paces, with both gaining very respectable four-star reviews, but if you’re thinking of spending upwards of £550 / $800 on your next pair of headphones, where is your money best spent between the two?

We’ve put them head to head in a battle of the flagship wireless cans to help you decide – read on to find out which pair comes out on top.

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: price

We already know that these two pairs of headphones don’t come cheap – after all, they are the premium options in their brands’ respective wireless lineups.

However, the B&W Px8 S2 are still a chunk of change more expensive than their Sony competitors at £629 / $799, compared with the Sony’s asking price of £550 / $650.

You probably aren’t considering either of these headphones if budget is a prime concern, but an £80 saving between the two is still not to be sniffed at. The win goes to the Sony The Collexion if you’re keen to save a bit of cash, but there are listeners who will find value in the extra outlay for the B&W. More on that below.

** Winner: Sony 1000X The Collexion **

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: design and comfort

There’s one big difference between the design of the 1000X The Collexion and the Px8 S2 which is likely to divide opinion, and that is their materials. Sony has chosen to play it safe with a faux leather across the earcups and headband, while B&W has decided to revert back to animal products for its premium line, and use Nappa leather.

There’s not a lot of difference in the feel of the two, and you probably wouldn’t know the Sonys weren’t leather, or vice versa, if we hadn’t mentioned it. Still, we’d say B&W’s over-ears edge it as the more premium-looking of the two, with their signature aluminium plates on the earcups and exposed cable design on the arms giving the classy cans a higher perceived value than the Sonys.

We also worry with the Sony 1000X The Collexion that their faux leather exterior can be prone to marking and scratches, something we found when trying out our test pair.

Sony uses aluminium on the arms and over the top of the headband for its rival over-ears. They still look smart and nicely finished, but are bulkier (even though they’ve been slimmed down compared with the WH-1000XM6) and are just a little plainer overall.

However, Sony gains back some points when it comes to actual wear. The Sonys are very comfortable, and put hardly any pressure onto the ears or the top of the head while listening. There is also a bigger space inside the earcups, so they are more accommodating to larger ears. They are actually a touch heavier than the Px8 S2, at 320g compared with B&W’s 310g, but you wouldn’t know that from wearing them.

The B&W Px8 S2 are by no means uncomfortable, but do offer a slightly snugger fit across the board, and that just makes you more aware of them during longer listens. This does make them feel a bit more secure than the Sonys, though, which can feel a touch unstable and prone to movement on smaller heads.

As for controls, the B&W Px8 S2 goes all in on physical buttons, while the Sony 1000X The Collexion offer a mixture of touch controls for playback and call control, alongside a couple of buttons for switching between sound modes and noise cancellation.

We did find the B&W controls slightly awkward to use at first, but it’s always a learning curve with any on-ear controls, so users might find themselves acclimatising over time. The touch controls on the Sony, conversely, are responsive and slightly easier to use on the go, and we would generally find their system preferable to the one found on their rivals.

It's a close run on this one, with plenty of positives – and indeed drawbacks – on both sides. Considering the use of leather could write the Bowers & Wilkins cans off for a whole section of listeners though, we’re going to label this one a draw.

** Winner: Draw **

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: features

Sony’s headphones tend to have some of the richest feature sets of any wireless headphones we test, and 1000X The Collexion are no different. The premium over-ears use Sony’s Sound Connect app, which is packed with ways to make the headphones sound your own.

As usual, alongside the standard noise cancellation and customisable ambient sound settings, Sony offers Adaptive Noise Cancelling mode, which can alter your noise cancellation level automatically depending on what you are doing. This has long been a great feature of established Sony headphones, such as the WH-1000XM6, and one we do find ourselves using pretty regularly.

Another useful feature is Scene-based Listening, which can have the headphones play music when the app detects you’re doing certain things, such as walking, running or on your commute home.

There are other features that we don’t turn to as often. There are now three spatial audio settings for ‘Music’, ‘Cinema’, and ‘Game’, plus a ‘Background Music’ setting for making your music sound like it’s playing in the distance – supposedly to better aid your concentration while working.

These are fun to play around with, and we did enjoy testing the ‘Cinema’ setting while watching movies, but we envision these will be ‘nice to haves’ rather than anything you’ll find ourselves using daily.

Bowers & Wilkins’ app is much more straightforward, with options for noise cancellation or ambient sound, the ability to turn on wear detection and a 5-band EQ. By comparison, Sony offers a 10-band offering (and a number of presets) on The Collexion. There’s no spatial audio support on the Px8 S2 either, nor is there Bluetooth LE as there is on The Collexion, though there have been promises for these in the future via a firmware update.

Both headphones support the standard SBC and AAC codecs, as well as higher-quality codecs for compatible devices – that’s LDAC for the Sony 1000X and aptX Lossless and aptX Adaptive for the B&W Px8 S2.

B&W’s Px8 S2 do grant the better battery life at 30 hours with ANC on, compared with the Sony 1000X’s 24 hours, the latter of which feels a little stingy.

Still, for the pure amount of features offered on the Sonys, they take the win here.

** Winner: Sony 1000X The Collexion **

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: ANC and voice calls

Sony’s over-ear headphones have offered some of the very best noise cancelling you can buy for some time, and although Sony has said sound quality has taken precedence over the very best ANC here, it’s still really good.

The 1000X use the same QN3 chip and 12-mic array as found in the WH-1000XM6, and we find they do a great job of suppressing noise throughout the frequencies.

The noise cancelling on B&W’s Px8 S2 is a little disappointing by comparison. They still block out a good chunk of background whirrs and rumbles, but higher frequency noises are more prone to cutting through – much more than we notice on the Sonys. We imagine that’s at least in some part down to the fact the B&W have four mics fewer than the Sony, offering eight in total.

Call quality is good across both pairs, with a decent level of noise reduction and callers sounding clear and detailed. Our callers largely reported the same, though they did say there was more richness to our voice through the B&W Px8 S2, with the Sony cans sounding ever so slightly thinner.

Overall, the better noise cancelling on the Sony 1000X The Collexion is the biggest win here, so we’re giving this one to them.

** Winner: Sony 1000X The Collexion **

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: sound quality

Behind both of these headphones’ respective performances are optimised drivers that were created especially for them. The 1000X The Collexion use a bespoke carbon composite 30mm drive unit, adapted from the one found in the WH-1000XM6, with a soft edge and hard centre.

The Px8 S2 uses a new 40mm carbon cone driver, also adapted to have a stiffer chassis, alongside a new motor system and voice coil.

The Sony 1000X exist to deliver a performance worthy of a 10^th birthday celebration, promising more refinement, detail and maturity compared with the standard XM6 – and they do live up to that promise. They have a wide open presentation, excellent detail levels and incredible clarity and insight, all complemented by a powerful yet controlled low end.

To be fair, all of that can also be said of the B&W Px8 S2, but we are particularly impressed with their handling of low frequencies, with plenty of power and authority in the bass. In our review, we also highlighted how engaging they are when listening to Keane's Everybody's Changing, writing: “The rise and fall in dynamics is handled superbly. The instruments deliver enthusiasm and life but the Bowers also communicate the tinge of sadness that comes from the lyrics".

While there’s a greater sense of scale on the 1000X over the B&W Px8 S2, it’s how these headphones make us feel that is perhaps the biggest difference between the two – and it’s here that the Sonys fall down.

The Sony 1000X simply aren’t as explicit or dynamic as we’d like, which makes them sound more removed and ultimately not as engaging as the B&W.

In our review, we described them as “standoffish”, and said that they “trade off some of that signature expressiveness we’ve heard in other Sony headphones for greater openness and detail, something that reduces the extent to which we feel truly involved with our music”.

In absolute terms, that means the Px8 S2 are just more interesting to listen to long-term, and we feel more emotionally connected to our music when we are listening to them. For that, they take the win.

** Winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 **

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: verdict

If you’re considering spending this much money on a pair of headphones, you want to make sure you’re spending wisely. Thankfully there are clear winners across our categories, and which pair you ultimately pick will depend on your given priorities.

The B&W are the more expensive, but they do at least justify this by being the more premium feeling of the two. The compromises here are that they come with minimal features for customisation and good-but-not-great noise cancelling, all of which is worth considering if you like your headphones to be the complete package.

For those who are looking for more in those aforementioned areas, the Sony 1000X The Collexion make a solid case for themselves, thanks to their decent build and handsome feature set.

This is backed up by a spacious, detail-rich sound – plus they’re a bit cheaper. Yet for the better sound quality of the two, we recommend the B&W Px8 S2 for their rich, detailed and more engaging personality.

** Overall winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 **

MORE:

Sony WH-1000XM6 vs 1000X The Collexion: which premium wireless headphones should you pick?

Apple AirPods Max 2 vs AirPods Max: what are the differences?

The best noise-cancelling headphones you can buy

Well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?

If you can believe it, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless made their debut in the second half of 2022, meaning we’ve been waiting nearly four years for a fifth-gen sequel. In wireless headphone terms, that’s a long wait, especially when you consider that most manufacturers tend to update their premium lines every two or so years.

Think of the premium wireless headphones that have been released since the Momentum 4. The Sony WH-1000XM5 and the WH-1000XM6. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones and their second-gen successors. The Apple AirPods Max 2. The Dali IO-8. The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2, Px7 S3, Px8 and Px8 S2. That’s a lot of very impressive premium alternatives.

It might have been a long wait from one generation of Momentum Wireless to the next, but we know that Sennheiser can still compete with the best – just look at the benchmark-setting Sennheiser HDB 630 over-ears for proof. The Momentum 5 Wireless are a notch cheaper than their more audiophile bigger brothers, but if they share similar sonic talents, they might well make the case for the old adage that slow and steady really does win the race.

Price

As you might have gathered, the Momentum 5 Wireless have a lot of competition, but most of it comes at higher prices. The Award-winning Sony WH-1000XM6 are £400 / $450 / AU$699, while the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) started life at £449 / $449 / AU$700 but often drop to £349 in the UK.

Let’s not forget about the five-star Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3, which will cost you £399 / $499 / AU$699 at full price, whereas the Apple AirPods Max 2 are a step up at £499 / $549.

Build & comfort

We’ve occasionally criticised Sennheiser headphones for looking a little bland or functional in the past, but that’s not an accusation we could level at our stylish ‘Denim’ blue test pair.

True, the overall design language typified by those large oval earcups will be familiar to anyone who has seen a pair of recent wireless Sennheiser over-ears, but little touches, such as the headband’s attractive fabric exterior, go a long way to making the Momentum 5 Wireless feel more premium. They’re certainly a lot more desirable-looking than their rather plain HDB 630 siblings.

To hold in the hand, the Momentum 5 Wireless don’t impress quite so much. That headband exterior looks and feels the part, but the earcups feel just a little cheap and plasticky to the touch. They’ll swivel horizontally without much trouble, but unlike the Sony WH-1000XM6 or the Bose QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), they don’t fold up entirely.

Having earcups with large exterior surfaces does have its advantages, particularly when it comes to touch controls. Sennheiser’s system – customisable via the Smart Control Plus app – is really well implemented, and we find them to be intuitive and easy to manage. Whether we’re swiping up on the right cup to increase volume or across to switch tracks, everything responds crisply and quickly to what we want.

Controls aside, how are the Momentum 5 Wireless to wear? At 290g, they’re not the lightest premium wireless headphones you can find – the Sony WH-1000XM6 weigh just 254g – but they are comfortable. We spend a long time listening to the Momentum 5, and though we find some mild on-ear heating past the hour mark, we generally don’t suffer with that aching, ‘squashed ear’ feeling that can make extended listening a real chore.

They’re secure and stable, too. The Sennheisers accompany us on quite a few dog walks and the occasional trip to the shops, and even when we’re striding purposefully with our eager Labrador in tow, they don’t often feel as though they’re rocking on our ears thanks to the headphones’ well-judged clamping force.

Inside, the Momentum 5 Wireless house a pair of 42mm dynamic drivers, inspired by those found in Sennheiser’s HD 600 series of wired headphones and tuned for what the German manufacturer describes as a “full-bodied sound with dynamic bass”.

Features

When we visited their research and development labs, the team at Sennheiser described themselves as a “sound-first company". That may be so, but we’re pleased to see that Sennheiser hasn’t forgotten that wireless cans need a few mod cons to keep up with the times. As a result, we’re not left cursing a barren features list.

Bluetooth codec support is impressive, with the Momentum 5 Wireless offering SBC and AAC codecs alongside higher-quality aptX HD, aptX Lossless and aptX Adaptive flavours. The cans currently use Bluetooth 5.4, but an upcoming firmware update later this year will push this to 6.0 and include LE Audio for reduced latency, better battery life, and potentially improved sound quality.

Speaking of Bluetooth, Multipoint tech is available for connecting to two devices simultaneously, with our test headphones switching easily between an iPhone 15 and our work laptop without much fuss.

Battery life is a highlight, reaching a very healthy 57 hours when noise cancelling is switched on and you’re playing at a reasonable volume. For comparison, the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) generally top out at 30 hours with ANC in play. A nice feather for Sennheiser’s cap, then.

For spatial audio fans, Dolby Atmos is on the menu when listening to supported Atmos content, with head tracking to be added via an upcoming firmware update. We test the tech out using a few Dolby Atmos tracks on Tidal – The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter and Jimi Hendrix’s Crosstown Traffic to name a few – and there’s no doubt that the Sennheisers are able to harness their Dolby powers to craft a more three-dimensional listening experience.

Dolby Atmos can be switched on and off via the Sennheiser SmartPlus app, a stable and easily navigable platform which we find a pleasure to use. We’re particularly keen on the amount of customisation on offer, be it dialling in the amount of ANC we want to experience or tinkering with the eight-band custom equaliser.

ANC & call quality

Sennheiser has stated that, in response to customer feedback from the Momentum 4 Wireless, it has made a big effort to improve the noise cancelling for its fifth-generation follow-ups, with the new cans using twice as many microphones (a total of eight) for what Sennheiser describes as “three times” better midrange noise cancellation.

Those improvements add up to a pleasing experience. The Momentum 5’s ANC isn’t on the same level as the excellent Sony WH-1000XM6 or Bose QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), but it’s a good performance which keeps most noises – traffic, wind, the hum of air conditioners – at bay. Sennheiser does keep its promise of better midrange cancellation, with the Momentum 5 doing well to exclude the chatter of external voices.

The overall effect does feel more like a softening of sounds rather than a complete exclusion – something which the Sony and Bose manage more effectively – but it’s still a capable showing. Taking the Sennheisers to the gym, the ANC results in a softening of the hubbub of a busy public space, even if harsher noises, such as clanking weights, can penetrate through.

Happily, call quality is right up there with the best. We take the fifth-gen Momentum out for a test chat on a blustery day in May (thanks, British weather), and our headphones effectively reduce intrusive wind and traffic noise while spotlighting human speech. Voices are clear and natural, even making the WH-1000XM6 sound a little mechanical and bright by comparison.

Sound

For something a little different, let’s start with what the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless don’t necessarily do quite so well.

The headphones’ bass reproduction is on the richer side, something which makes itself apparent when listening to Hans Zimmer’s Like A Dog Chasing Cars, and while it’s still of a high quality, some listeners might prefer a tauter reproduction at the lower end.

Further, songs with a propulsive central rhythm don’t quite clip along with the same sense of ‘momentum’ when playing via the Sennheisers as they do when switching to the more expensive Sony WH-1000XM6. Load up Radiohead’s Burn The Witch or Kid Cudi’s Day 'n' Nite, and you’ll hear what we mean – the Sonys have a forward-focused urgency to them, while the Sennheisers favour a more relaxed presentation.

Costlier alternatives, such as the WH-1000XM6 or HDB 630 will undoubtedly take things up a notch sonically, but if you’re not willing to spend that extra £80 / $50-100, the Momentum 5 Wireless are an excellent pick thanks to their plentiful sonic virtues.

Their midrange, for instance, is a real highlight. While the Sennheisers can be a touch rich in the lower frequencies, they are right at home in the midrange, offering a naturalness and insight that gives even more premium alternatives a run for their money. Marvin Gaye’s crooning on Mercy Mercy Me comes across as rich, smooth and soulful, with the Momentum 5 crafting a wondrous feeling of emotive intimacy as Gaye bemoans that “things ain’t what they used to be”.

Let’s be clear, however, that these are more than just midrange specialists. These are rich, smooth yet strikingly precise and detailed headphones, with an audio signature that makes listening a refreshingly undemanding experience. Sugar’s If I Can’t Change Your Mind can sound overly urgent or shrill via lesser alternatives, but the Momentum 5 Wireless have the poise and maturity to bring order to what could, in the wrong hands, have quickly descended into chaos.

Those qualities are only amplified when we listen using a wired connection. Both 3.5mm and USB-C options for wired audio are provided, with the latter capable of handling files up to 24-bit/96kHz. A physical connection adds fullness and depth to instrumental textures, and that lovely midrange becomes perceptibly sweeter and even more defined when we return to Mercy Mercy Me via USB-C.

Wired or wireless, dynamics are teased out ably, and the Sennheisers are subtle and delicate in the way that they communicate those key tonal shifts, with the Momentum 5's precise temperament bringing out small scale dynamic shifts superbly.

All told, we could spend days on end listening to the Momentum 5 Wireless and feel neither frustration nor fatigue. While words such as “undemanding” or “relaxed” might otherwise be used synonymously with “boring” or “bland”, we in fact find that these are headphones that strike a great balance between refinement and fun.

Verdict

With the HDB 630 and now the excellent Momentum 5 Wireless, Sennheiser has reaffirmed that it is still a key player in the premium wireless headphones space, with the Momentum 5 Wireless serving as a timely reminder of the quality the brand can produce.

If you’re willing to spend a touch more, it’s well worth considering either the Sennheiser HDB 630 or the Sony WH-1000XM6. If your budget doesn't quite stretch that far but you’re still keen on stellar sound, the excellent Momentum 5 Wireless are an obvious choice.

Review published: 25th May 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony WH-1000XM6

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Sennheiser has announced the latest entry in its Momentum wireless over-ear headphones range.

The Momentum 5 Wireless follow the five-star Momentum 4 Wireless, and offer a host of sonic upgrades that should see them really challenge the ruling Sony WH-1000XM6.

Sennheiser says it has refined the experience "without straying from the formula" that made the M4 Wireless a favourite among the What Hi-Fi? team.

At their heart, you get the same 42mm transducer as in the previous model, which is tuned for "full-bodied sound with dynamic bass." But added to that are Hi-Res Audio certification and Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound.

The former is an official seal of approval from the Japan Audio Society (JAS) that the cans have a frequency response of at least 40kHz and support 24-bit/96 kHz hi-res audio.

Snapdragon Sound is a blanket term for a few different technologies from Qualcomm that work together to optimise how smartphones and tablets transmit sound to audio devices like headphones.

The Momentum 5 supports the aptX Lossless Bluetooth codec for higher-quality listening, though sadly, there's no adapter like with the five-star Sennheiser HDB 630 that ensures your audio source is up to scratch on the quality front.

But you can tweak the sound using the Smart Control app, which has a new 8-band equaliser, bespoke presets and an intelligent Sound Personalisation engine.

The active noise cancellation (ANC) has also been improved. There are now twice as many microphones assigned to ANC duties – four per side.

We're promised "across-the-board improvements," though you'll have to read our Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review to see if that's true.

Dolby Atmos with head-tracking will provide a more immersive experience when listening to spatial audio content, and updates are in the pipeline to further improve the cans' capabilities. A future firmware update that will add Bluetooth 6.0 and LE Audio (they ship running Bluetooth 5.4) has been confirmed, for example.

The Momentum 4 Wireless set a new standard in wireless cans with a 60-hour battery life. The Momentum 5 Wireless can't quite match that, but still last a very impressive 57 hours with ANC on. And the battery is removable, so you can swap it for a new one when it degrades in years to come.

The case, too, has had a refresh, and is now 20 per cent smaller and made with plastic-free packaging.

The Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless are out on 30th June in Black, White and Denim colourways. They cost £330 / $400 / AU$749, which is £30 / $50 / AU$200 more than their predecessors at launch. You can read our review (linked to below) to see if they're worth the extra cash.

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"Sound comes first" – we speak to Sennheiser about German engineering, changing ownership, and 80 years of making music

The ones to beat: Sony WH-1000XM6 review

If you’re after a pair of wireless headphones for around £150 / $150 / AU$200, your choices are roughly as follows.

You’ve got the excellent Austrian Audio Hi-X25BT if you don’t need noise cancelling, or you could go for the four-star Philips TAH8000E if you want ANC powers and don’t mind taking a bit of a hit on the sound side. Apart from that, it’s pretty slim pickings in what appears to be a strange market hinterland between budget-friendly cans and their premium, plus-£300/$300 counterparts. Or, you could spend a good deal less and buy a pair of our budget favourites, the Sony WH-CH720N for around £75 / $100 / $AU259.

At £130 / $130 / AU$220, the Soundcore Space 2 seem to fill this gap nicely, at least on paper. With the Hi-X25BT failing to provide ANC and the TAH8000E’s sound not quite reaching five-star heights, the path is open for the Space 2 to stick their flag in this potentially vacant soil. Let’s find out how they perform.

Build & comfort

Both to look at and wear, the Soundcore Space 2 are a well-made, sensibly designed pair of wireless headphones.

They play things reasonably safe on the design front, opting for simple circular earcups, an amply padded leather headband and some functional plastic on-cup buttons, but it would be hard to accuse the Space 2 of feeling cheap. They don’t have the boundary-pushing aesthetics of the more costly Nothing Headphone (1), for example, but this is still a neat, simple yet fairly classy pair of over-ears at a nice price.

They’re rather comfy, too. At a very reasonable 264g, the Space 2 don’t weigh a huge amount, meaning they’re rarely burdensome to wear over extended listening periods. The padding on the earcups and headband is a little on the soft side – some may prefer more firmness – but we don’t feel starved of comfort during our tests.

That headband is easily adjustable via a fairly smooth mechanism which grants roughly an extra inch of wiggle room, while the earcups will rotate from side to side and, even better, fold away fully to make carrying them in a bag easier.

In terms of general usability, it’s a standard, simple showing from the Space 2, and we don’t necessarily mean that as a criticism. The budget cans opt for the same general configuration as many wireless headphones of this type – including the Sony WH-CH720N – with noise cancelling and power buttons found at the bottom of the left earcup, and volume and Bluetooth controls on the right.

They’re not exactly luxurious, and actually finding the buttons when they’re hidden at the bottom edge of your headphones’ exterior requires some acclimatisation – but again, there’s little to really complain about here.

Features

The Soundcore Space 2 go big on battery life, offering around 50 hours with active noise cancelling switched on, and up to 70 hours if you turn ANC off and don’t listen at ear-splitting volumes. We used ours throughout a busy two-day press trip and barely made a dent in their battery. Better yet, a hurried five-minute charge will grant around four hours of standard playtime in a pinch.

For context, the Austrian Audio Hi-X25BT offer around 30 hours from a single charge, while even the Sony WH-CH720N’s 50 hours (ANC off) and 35 hours (ANC on) can’t keep up with the Soundcore.

Bluetooth codec support includes the standard SBC and AAC codecs, while those with compatible sources get the bonus of the higher-quality LDAC codec too. There’s also a 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable for wired listening, but no direct support for USB-C audio.

Spatial audio is provided, in a sense at least. Soundcore’s spin on the tech is dubbed ‘3D Sound’, and, as the name suggests, it’s designed to make stereo audio sound more three-dimensional by expanding the soundstage. There are hints of the tech working well here, and while it’s not going to challenge Dolby Atmos, we do get a sense of instruments being set further away from our ears a little more noticeably when using the mode.

If you do want to have a go with ‘3D Sound’, the best way to find it is via the Soundcore app. It’s a neat app bursting with features – even its own AI chatbot called “Anka” – and there is plenty to discover. You get an eight-band equaliser, ANC mode toggling and even some on-cup button customisation living alongside quite a few ambient sound options.

While you’re on the app, it’s worth taking advantage of Soundcore’s ‘HearID’ hearing test, which assesses your listening abilities and preferences and then purports to construct your own personalised sound curve. How much of this actually pays off is debatable, but it’s nice to have the option at this level, and we do find ourselves conducting much of our testing with our personalised hearing profile switched on.

ANC & call quality

It’s time to find out how the Soundcore Space 2 handle noise cancelling, and what better way to test out their ANC capabilities than with a quick flight over to Germany? No, we didn’t book the flight just to test out a pair of wireless headphones – we’re committed to our jobs, but we’re not that committed.

Both the flight and the busy airport give us the perfect opportunity to discover what the Space 2 can do, with noise cancelling available in its standard active form as well as a Transparent Mode for letting the world in.

Considering the price you’re paying, both settings are competently realised. The general hubbub of a busy airport terminal is softened nicely, even if peakier higher frequencies can tend to pierce through, while the rumbling and swooshing of an airplane in flight are diminished ably as we take to the skies with the Space 2 clamped over our ears. At this price, we’ve very little to take issue with.

It’s tricky to take voice calls on a plane, so that’s a test for when we’re back on terra firma. The Space 2 harness a 3-mic array and AI-powered algorithms in a bid to give calls sufficient intelligibility, and while speech comes through clearly enough, voices can sound a touch robotic and mechanical when compared with the more natural-sounding Sony WH-CH720N.

Still, the Space 2 are capable of blocking out exterior noises really rather well – perhaps even more so than the WH-CH720N – so that the swirls and whooshes of wind on a particularly tempestuous day barely register. All in all, a box ably ticked on the voice calls front.

Sound

Given the Space 2’s solid performance across other areas of our testing, we’re disappointed that the same levels of talent haven’t translated over to how the headphones actually handle music. In short, there’s very little about the Soundcore cans which we find engaging or exciting, and even less which has us wishing to return for repeat listening sessions.

They are, all told, rather bland performers. True, there’s something to be said for a pair of undemanding, composed headphones if you want to avoid that weary sense of fatigue that can often occur with more over-eager alternatives, but the Space 2 go too far the other way. Where is the excitement when we play Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal? Where is the drama of Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting?

We pick out Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine, and while we discern a decent amount of clarity and cohesion, as we listen we find there’s a real lack of emotional involvement, which mars our enjoyment. Withers’ voice is fairly robust yet lacking in any emotional heft, and the strings introduced at around the 30-second mark don’t have the free, swooning effect we might have hoped for.

Part of those strings’ uninvolving presentation owes to the headphones’ flattened dynamics. Muse’s Panic Station is next, and though the Space 2 are able to bring some cohesion and restraint to proceedings, we don’t discern much contrast between each deep bass pluck or the alternating percussive thumps of that key bass-snare drum pattern. Again, a compressed, flat sound prevents things from taking full flight.

Digging out the cheaper, Award-winning Sony WH-CH720N confirms our reservations. Okay, the Sonys sound a little flavoured at times, and their bass can be a little over-eager, but they’re far more entertaining and insightful across the various songs we play. Panic Station immediately pulses with more verve than the Soundcore cans manage, whereas those varying instrumental textures on Goose’s funky So Ready are more fleshed out and have the authenticity and personality we’ve been craving. The Sonys made music sound musical – the Soundcore, conversely, made it sound dispiritingly mechanical.

The similarly-priced Austrian Audio Hi-X25BT also provide an impressive benchmark which the Space 2 cannot match. They’re not as punchy or vicarious as the WH-CH720N, nor do they offer as much bass weight, but these are evidently far clearer, more delicate and more detailed headphones. Switching back to the Soundcore Space 2 simply makes the latter sound lacking in proper detail and bite.

It’s moving over to these five-star rivals that further makes us realise what has been missing from the Space 2s’ presentation. Balanced and reasonably clear they may be, but Soundcore’s over-ears don’t have that je ne sais quoi – be it the expressiveness of the WH-CH720N or the delicacy of the Hi-X25BT – to set our hearts aflutter.

There’s something to admire about how organised and unfussy the Soundcore cans sound, even as the music becomes more demanding and complex, but rarely do they make us feel in any way involved with or excited by the various songs we feed them.

Verdict

While we had hoped that the Soundcore Space 2 might have filled a gap in the mid-priced wireless market, we’re instead struggling to see how they fit into the current landscape.

Yes, a healthy arsenal of features does give them a potential competitive edge, especially with regard to their impressive battery span and comfortable fit. But when they’re sonically outmatched by finer – and cheaper – alternatives, they don’t quite seem like a viable option in comparison with the class leaders.

Review published: 22nd May 2026

SCORES

• Sound 2
• Build 4
• Features 5

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Read our review of the Sony WH-CH720N

Also consider the Austrian Audio Hi-X25BT

Best wireless headphones reviewed and rated by our in-house experts

Call quality is often overlooked in a pair of wireless earbuds, but not by us – we include it as part of our thorough testing process. And Soundcore's two new pairs could be some of the best performing yet, if the official accreditation is anything to go by.

The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Max earbuds have been officially recognised by Guinness World Records as being the world's clearest earbuds for calls.

This is made possible by parent company Anker's new Thus AI chip. This uses a 10-sensor matrix with eight mics for capturing noise and two bone conduction sensors to detect skull vibrations so that the voice can be captured and transmitted. This helps separate the caller's voice from background noise, making for "whisper-clear" calls even in noisy environments.

We're promised more advanced active noise cancellation, too. Both pairs offer "up to 2x deeper" noise cancellation than the Liberty 4 Pro. Soundcore claims that the 'buds process audio data up to 384,000 times per second to monitor for both external and in-ear sounds, against which they can adjust the noise cancellation curve accordingly. So as you pass from loud to quiet environments, the impact on your music listening should be minimal.

There's a transparency mode for hearing your surroundings, and an Easy Chat mode for brief interactions – ordering a drink, say – before resuming playback.

Of course, we're most interested in how these wireless earbuds sound, and here Soundcore offers a personalised listening profile courtesy of its HearID 5.0 tech. This gives you the same kind of hearing test that's common to wireless earbuds like the AirPods Pro 3 and Sony WF-1000XM6, and produces a personalised EQ profile based on the results.

The buds also support the higher-quality LDAC codec, and uses an AI Sound Enhancement system that fills in detail that's lost during Bluetooth compression.

Voice controls are onboard, letting you speak to adjust volume, skip tracks, take or hang up on calls and change the noise cancellation mode.

The cases are pretty smart, too. Both models have small screens for access to certain settings (similar to the JBL Live Beam 3), though the Liberty 5 Max's is slightly bigger and uses an OLED display rather than the TFT LCD of the Liberty 5 Pro. The Max buds can also take notes during meetings – it'll generate a transcription, identifying speakers and produce action items. Both models can translate using AI, too.

You'll get 6.5 hours of use out of each pair, and a total of 28 hours battery life using the charging case. They both have Bluetooth Multipoint too, for connecting to two devices at once and seamlessly switching between them.

Both new Soundcore earbuds are available now. The Liberty 5 Pro are £150 / $170 (around AU$280) and the Liberty 5 Max cost £200 / $230 (around 380). The Pro come in blue, white, black or pink finishes, while the Max are available in black or gold.

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Stop what you’re doing – there’s a new pair of Sony wireless headphones in town.

The 1000X range has been Sony’s flagship wireless series for a whole decade, and the brand has decided to mark this anniversary with a completely new addition to its established line-up: the Sony 1000X The Collexion over-ears.

These may be ‘celebratory’ headphones, but think of The Collexion as a fully fledged product in their own right, rather than a limited edition one-off designed for the sake of novelty or sentimentality. These are headphones which exist separately from Sony's WH-1000XM6 – with their own unique sound, design philosophy and materials – and sit comfortably above their stablemates in price.

In fact, Sony has focused on sound above all else for The Collexion cans, for what it has dubbed “the best sounding headphones we’ve ever made”. When you consider some of the absolute gems the Japanese brand has produced in the past few years, that’s a mouthwatering claim. We’d be letting you down if we didn’t give them a listen…

Price

While the 1000X series has always remained a decidedly premium line, Sony had always resisted the urge to move up into the sort of ‘high-end’ territory occupied by the likes of the the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 (£629 / $799) and the Focal Bathys (£699 / $799), but with the 1000X The Collexion clocking in at £550 / $650, these are the closest Sony has ever come to operating within that more rarefied area of the market.

With the B&W and Focal rivals above them, the new Sonys have the likes of the Apple AirPods Max 2 (£499 / $549) and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) (£449 / $449 / AU$700) sitting just below.

If you need reminding, the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning Sony WH-1000XM6 are priced at around £400 / $450 / AU$699, even if discounts are now knocking a few pounds or dollars off that RRP, while the five-star rival Sennheiser HDB 630 will set you back around £400 / $500 / AU$1000.

Build & comfort

Get hold of a pair of Sony’s latest and, if you squint your eyes a little, you might be fooled into thinking that you’d picked up a pair of Sonos Ace instead. The Sonys have the same clean, minimalist exterior as the Ace, as well as similarly designed oval earcups adorned with a few metallic physical buttons on the left earcup.

Sony’s engineers describe 1000X The Collexion as a pair of cans that should both look good and make you feel good when you wear them, and for the most part, that aim has been achieved. Everything on The Collexion is made either from metal or faux leather, with a nicely padded headband designed to spread pressure evenly for extended user comfort and slightly firmer ear padding than found on the WH-1000XM6.

We don’t have an issue with the look or feel of the faux leather, though our test pair are more susceptible to marks and stains than the smooth plastic of most of Sony’s other headphones. That faux material adorns pretty much the whole exterior of the earcup, so grubby fingers, not to mention the rigours of everyday use, do end up making their mark after a time.

A slimmer profile does help to add lightness, though, with the width of the earcups measuring around 40mm from inside to out, compared with the 45.4mm of the WH-1000XM6.

That does make for an appreciably lightweight and unobtrusive wearing experience, and though The Collexion actually weigh more than their XM6 counterparts – 312g against 254g – rarely do we feel that extra weight.

Some of our testers did experience some rocking and instability from the earcups when walking from place to place, but if you’re stationary, the new Sonys often simply melt away into obscurity as you forget you’ve got a pair plonked on your head at all.

While there are a few physical buttons to be found, touch controls are the main way of controlling your Sony over-ears. They work as well as you’d expect, responding quickly and effectively to our various commands, with ample levels of control customisation available via the useful Sony SoundConnect app.

Unlike the XM6 over-ears or the Bose QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), these aren’t headphones which fold up into a ball, but their flattened profile and accompanying carry case – with its hollowed-out handle putting us in mind of a small handbag – mean they’re still relatively portable.

Features

Sony has very much positioned its new premium cans as sound-first headphones, but the 1000X The Collexion’s feature set matches the same generous level as that found on the do-it-all WH-1000XM6.

Battery life clocks in at around 32 hours with ANC off and roughly 24 hours with noise cancelling switched on, and while that’s down from the 30-or-so hours of the WH-1000XM6, it’s still a reasonable lifespan. The AirPods Max 2 only manage around 20 hours, although the Sennheiser HDB 630 are streets ahead with a whopping 60 hours with noise cancelling in play.

If you’re a fan of spatial audio, you get three versions of Sony’s ‘360 Reality Audio Upmix’ tech – ‘Music’, ‘Cinema’ and ‘Game’ – each of which add varying degrees of spatial processing depending on the media content. They’re fun modes to play around with, and we particularly enjoy the more immersive ‘Cinema’ setting which just about lives up to its billing by providing a more open, cinematic experience when watching movies.

On the subject of signal processing, these are the first Sony headphones to make use of its DSEE Ultimate tech for improving lower-quality digital audio files. In the app, you also get access to a 10-band equaliser for tweaking the sound alongside several simple presets, or you can deploy ‘Background Music’ mode to make it seem as though your tunes were playing in the distance to better aid your concentration.

The 1000X The Collexion support standard SBC and AAC codecs alongside higher-quality LDAC – which lets you stream hi-res music at higher data rates over Bluetooth from a compatible source device, such as Sony’s latest smartphones. Bluetooth LE Audio is also on board for lower power consumption and better-quality sound. You can also listen to the Sony headphones wired, thanks to the included 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable, though note that the headphones will have to be powered on when listening through a physical connection.

Sony’s Speak-To-Chat feature, which drops the volume level when you start talking, also returns, though we’d caution that the headphones can often confuse human speech with other sounds, particularly wind. If you don’t want your cans to keep cutting out every few minutes, we’d suggest switching Speak-to-Chat off when you’re outdoors and it’s a bit blustery.

ANC & call quality

While Sony has warned that noise cancelling wasn’t as much of a focus for The Collexion as it was for the WH-1000XM6, it’s still operating at a decidedly high level. Much of the same tech from the XM6 is on-hand here, including the QN3 chip and a total of 12 mics to capture and monitor surrounding noise.

When working in full noise-cancelling mode, Sony’s latest over-ears do an excellent job of suppressing noise throughout the frequencies, and while you might get the slightest hint of a shrill bird tweet just about breaking through that barrier, middle and lower range frequencies are filtered out expertly. The ANC quality on the WH-1000XM6 is still Sony’s best, but it’s very unlikely that you’ll feel short-changed by the noise cancelling on offer with The Collexion.

Call quality is excellent, too. The Collexion house six beamforming mics complemented by a wind noise reduction structure for enhanced vocal clarity and reduced external sonic intrusions, and it really pays off. Voices are clear, articulate and emotive, while background sounds rarely, if ever, intrude on our conversation as we stand next to a busy motorway on a decidedly blustery day.

Sound

Let’s reiterate what we mentioned in our introduction – the 1000X The Collexion are distinct headphones in their own right, with a sound, says Sony, which prioritises refinement, detail and maturity over the punchier, more flavoured personality of the WH-1000XM6.

To achieve this, The Collexion headphones feature a bespoke carbon composite 30mm drive unit, constructed using soft edging and a hard centre in pursuit of an “exceptional frequency response”. Sound has been optimised using a low-phase noise crystal oscillator, while premium components and circuitry, including advanced gold-containing solder, aim for an improved signal to noise ratio to reveal finer musical details and offer a wider soundstage.

That’s a lot of tech under hood, but how does that translate to the real-life listening experience?

Well, in many ways, the Sony 1000X The Collexion do live up to their billing. Just as described by Sony, they’re headphones that deal primarily in spaciousness and clarity, qualities which suffuse nigh-on every track as we bounce from Max Richter’s Never Goodbye to Radiohead’s Everything In Its Right Place.

That latter track sounds particularly good – The Collexion’s wide, open presentation grants the track a broad canvas on which to play, like an epic drama unfolding on a lovely big widescreen TV.

Detail levels are excellent, and when you have a pair of over-ears that offer clarity, textural insight and spaciousness to this extent, it’s hard not to be impressed. The elegiac strings on Never Goodbye are rich and mournful, while the piano on Debussy’s austere Sarabande strikes a wonderful balance between rich intent and subtle delicacy.

For all of their openness and delicacy, the Sonys don’t lack musical muscle. Think of them as being like a pro ballerina – nimble and graceful, yes, but strong and immensely robust when the time calls for it. It’s a nice balance to have, all aided by a deep, powerful yet controlled lower-end reproduction.

Bass tones are expertly handled, something that really comes across when we load up Massive Attack’s Atlas Air and feel the full force and punch of the tune’s full-blooded drum hits. That bass is nicely separated from the overlaid synth sounds working away above, yet not to the extent that the composition starts to lack any sense of cohesion between frequencies.

These premium Sony headphones really are impressive performers in so many aspects, but they appeal more to the head than to the heart. They certainly trade off some of that signature expressiveness we’ve heard in other Sony headphones for greater openness and detail, something that reduces the extent to which we feel truly involved with our music. Talented as they are, there’s something slightly removed, almost standoffish, about their reproduction.

That’s not something of which we’d accuse the outstanding, and cheaper, Sennheiser HDB 630. The Sennheisers have a more natural fluidity, especially with how they handle dynamic shifts, which makes them a more engaging listen. For us, the Sennheisers seem to strike that balance between naturalness, entertainment and analysis a touch more acutely than the Sonys.

Their rather aloof personality also robs the Sony cans of some of their intimacy. Listen to the first 30 seconds of Black Veil Brides’ Saviour II, and there’s a greater feeling of closeness to the opening guitar and vocal lead when listening via the costlier Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2. When the track opens up as the chorus hits, however, The Collexion show their hand, allowing it to blossom and reveal its gothic grandeur with more scale than the rival B&W cans.

Verdict

There’s much to admire about Sony’s 1000X The Collexion over-ears. It’s impossible to ignore their poised, detail-rich performance, while that ample feature set and classy construction make them tough to resist.

There is a ‘but’, however. In pursuing a particular sonic signature – namely, one that goes after scale, detail and clarity – it’s hard not to feel as though Sony has slightly thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

Yes, these are seriously talented performers, but deep down, they feel like headphones which were built to impress rather than entertain. As a result, we find ourselves admiring them rather than completely falling in love.

Review published: 19th May 2026

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony WH-1000XM6

Also consider the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2

Read our Sennheiser HDB 630 review

Sony WH-1000XM6 vs 1000X The Collexion: which premium wireless headphones should you pick?

Best wireless headphones reviewed and rated by our in-house experts

After weeks of teasing, Sony's new premium over-ears, the 1000X The Collexion, have officially launched, and they have one simple aim: to be the best-sounding wireless headphones the company has ever produced.

That's a tall order considering this is the brand which, in recent years, has given us the Sony WH-CH720N, WH-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM6 Award-winners, not to mention a raft of class-leading wireless earbuds.

The Collexion have been released to celebrate 10 years of the 1000X line, and sit above the WH-1000XM6 as the brand's new range-topping headphones. While these may be ‘celebratory’ headphones, they're a fully fledged product in their own right, not a limited edition one-off model.

The new over-ears feature a bespoke carbon fibre 30mm drive unit, constructed using soft edging and a hard centre in pursuit of an “exceptional frequency response”. Sound has been optimised using Sony’s Walkman technology and a low phase noise crystal oscillator, while premium components and circuitry shoot for an improved signal to noise ratio to reveal exceptional levels of detail and provide a wide, open soundstage.

The 1000X The Collexion support standard SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs alongside higher-quality LDAC if you have a compatible source device – most recent Sony smartphones should do the trick.

These are the first Sony headphones to make use of DSEE Ultimate for improving lower-quality digital audio files, while three flavours of Sony’s ‘360 Reality Audio Upmix’ tech – ‘Music’, ‘Cinema’ and ‘Game’ – are available for adding spatial audio processing to your content.

Battery life clocks in at around 32 hours with ANC off and 24 hours with noise cancelling switched on, which is a little less than the 30-or-so hours (ANC on) of the WH-1000XM6.

While Sony has warned that noise cancelling isn't such a focus for The Collexion as it is the WH-1000XM6, the pricier cans share much of the same tech as their Award-winning siblings, including Sony's QN3 processing chip and 12 built-in microphones to monitor surrounding noise.

Pretty much everything on the new headphones is made using either stainless steel or faux leather, with The Collexion boasting a slimmer, lighter profile than the WH-1000XM6.

Unlike the XM6, however, they don't fold away – though you do get a carry case, complete with a hollowed-out handle, for taking your cans out and about.

The Sony 1000X The Collexion are available now in a choice of black or platinum finishes, priced at £550 / €630 / $650. Are these really the best sounding wireless headphones Sony has ever produced? Read our full 1000X The Collexion review now to find out.

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Check out our review of the Sennheiser HDB 630

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Best wireless headphones 2026: reviewed and rated by our in-house experts

It may seem like JBL unleashes a never-ending stream of products every year, and this is partly true.

Just this year, the American brand – which is also celebrating its 80th anniversary this year – has launched the Xtreme 5 and the Go 5 Bluetooth speakers, along with a new Live 4 wireless earbuds range, and the over-ear 780NC and on-ear 680NC noise-cancelling headphones – all in a variety of snazzy new colours.

There's also a brand-new JBL Sound Curve tuning announced for the flagship Tour One M3 headphones, which refines the sound quality to be more balanced and forgiving – and less bass-focused – to adapt to listeners wearing the headphones for longer and prevent them from getting fatigued.

And that's before we even get to the hugely popular Party Box speakers – not a core What Hi-Fi? category, but a big deal for JBL, which dominates 90 per cent of that particular market.

World domination – for the portables and headphones market in particular – is clearly on the brand's mind. I spoke to Jurjen Amsterdam, Harman Lifestyle's director of product marketing (EMEA) at JBL's HQ in Amsterdam (no relation), about the recent launches, anticipating trends, their target demographic, and market domination plans.

Despite the sheer number of products, there is method behind the launch madness. Jurjen Amsterdam says: "We try to manage product lines on a two year cycle. So last year we did the Charge 6 and Flip 7; this year it's Xtreme 5 and Go 5 for portables."

"Next year, most likely, it's going to be two other models... it looks like a lot, but it's always a two-year cycle."

It's an aggressive strategy that points to the brand's ambitions, but even then, JBL seems cautious about simply making products for the sake of it. The product cycle isn't necessary like clockwork, and it relies on the latest technology available, too – and the team also has to decide what not to include. For example, the interval between the JBL Charge 5 and Charge 6 was a good four years (albeit both available in April of those years), and new technologies such as Auracast sharing made way for the whole line-up to be refreshed.

Conversely, the new JBL Sound Curve – an adaptation of parent company Harman's target frequency curve – is currently only reserved for the Tour One M3 to signify their premium status, and hasn't been trickled down to the mid-priced Live range headphones/earbuds to ensure a clean delineation between the ranges.

The regular product cycle also allows JBL to keep its pulse on the ground and adapt to their target audience, as well as keep up with the demands of customers, who "expect us [JBL] to drive the competition and come up with new things".

Fresh new colours of green and orange standout against a sea of greige, black and even blue of its rivals, with some noting that the particular shade of orange chosen by JBL for the Live 780NC/680NC headphones matches the latest iPhone 17's orange finish.

That's not by accident. The product team (which also includes marketing and commercial working in a "triangle") tries to "forsee trends long enough in advance", says Jurjen. "Design trends, technology trends – all the colours that you see in the Live series, they don't have this colour just because we like them. This is part of a longer trend that we're trying to watch in terms of colours."

Despite the proliferation of JBL products, the brand doesn't like making products just for the sake of it.

"No – we don't want to make products because we can. We want to make products because we want to address a certain need from end consumers."

For the Live range, what JBL really wanted to focus on is "lifestyle", and the target demographic is aimed towards "Gen Z and up" – he drills down further to say 15 to around 30s is the target age range.

"It's most likely the price that people want to spend on a [pair of] headphones that will decide whether they go for a Live series or a Tour series."

Not everyone can splash out for the €349 for the Tour flagships, he says, and the gap between the budget Tune range and the Tour is quite a big one. This is where the middle-ground Live comes in: "This is the ultimate compromise of great quality, great noise cancelling, super comfortable and looks really nice," declares Jurjen.

The styling is an important part of the Live headphones and earbuds.

"Of course, a lot of people will buy the black finish," he says, "but we also want to give people the opportunity to buy in white, in blue, in green, in orange, in purple..." As we speak, Jurjen points to the younger influencers around us at the launch who are relishing wearing the colourful headphones and taking photos, as evidence of the brand's target demographic crowd that is "young, energetic, social" and likes sharing music.

"It literally fits the JBL brand – it's the core of the JBL target audience."

Even JBL's Headphones app opens to a montage of faces that run the gamut of identities. It's welcoming, diverse and youthful, but without ever trying too hard. You'd never guess the brand was pushing 80.

Passing the new Live 780NC over-ear headphones – which I decided to nab in its bright orange finish – to my colleagues in the What Hi-Fi? office, the general consensus seems to be that the colourful shade and styling stands out from the sea of plain, rather functional designs we see from other brands, even premium models from Sony and Bose.

Whether JBL's new mid-range model can reach the heights of five-star sound quality their more illustrious rivals achieve remains to be seen, of course. But it's an area what JBL is absolutely gunning for.

"In headphones, we would love to dominate."

Jurjen puts the headphones market into context. "Headphones is way bigger than all of the other things that we do put together. This is a 4 billion market in Europe. If we add portable audio, party box, gaming, wireless speakers, soundbars – if we add that all together, it's still less than headphones."

"In headphones, we're at 10-11 per cent market share. Of course we would like to grow that."

The headphones market is exceptionally tricky as there are over 300 brands vying for a piece of the pie. It's a big market dominated by one key player (Apple, particularly in wireless earbuds, with Sony and Bose in over-ears) that a lot of people spend a lot of money on.

"So we know, even this target audience we're aiming for, we know they have money to spend – because we see that they spend money on some of the higher range models."

"But the aim is to create credibility," he says. "Sony is a great example of that – you get five star reviews a couple of years in a row, nobody thought that Bose would ever lose that position. Sony now has that position. We believe that we equally have a good quality product."

I ask Jurjen if there's any particular trend that surprised him for this current cycle of products, that consumers were clamouring for?

"No. Not really; it's all about audio quality. It's all about design. It's all about wearing comfort." Ultimately, he says, the Live headphones and earbuds are a "very good alternative to what's out there in the market".

We certainly hope that's the case, as we still find there is a general dearth of really great recommendations in this £100-£200 mid-price range. We're currently testing the Live 780NC wireless headphones (£170), so stay tuned for a full review in due course.

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Read our JBL Tour One M3 review

The JBL Live 4 earbuds have a better case, new high fidelity drivers and enhanced noise cancellation

Jamo is wasting no time establishing itself in varies speaker categories following its return under new ownership.

The Danish brand recently announced two premium ranges of Concert passive speakers, and has now launched a trio of lifestyle-friendly Bluetooth speakers.

The Jamo HYG range is inspired by the Danish concept of "hygge", which is all about creating warmth and comfort in the home. The range consists of three products – Flex, Flow and Reflect, with each "developed for the home, garden or your next adventure".

Starting with the top of the range, the HYG Flex is a wireless speaker with a cylindrical silhouette, and promises "powerful, room-filling sound". It features dual angled 25mm tweeters and a 12.7cm woofer, while Auracast connectivity means you can connect compatible Jamo speakers for a stereo pair, or for a multi-room system around the house.

It features Bluetooth streaming and a 3.5mm auxiliary input, and boasts 15 hours if going battery-powered. The Flex also features a built-in ambient light base with adjustable brightness.

Next is the portable HYG Flow, which is designed more for outdoor listening. The compact unit boasts 27 hours of playback, is made with durable materials including a "nano-coated water resistant fabric" and has an IPX7 waterproof rating.

It features Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity with Auracast support, and has a carry handle too. Internally, it has dual full-range 38mm drivers and twin passive radiators that aim to deliver "balanced stereo sound tuned specifically for vocal clarity and long listening sessions", especially for audiobooks and radio stations.

And finally, the HYG Reflect is a bedside clock radio with Bluetooth streaming (but not Auracast) and has ambient lighting, a wireless charging pad, USB-C charging port, and alarm clock features.

All three Jamo HYG products will be available from July, with the Flex costing £239 / $279, the Flow is set to cost £109 / $129, and the Reflect is priced at £129 / $149.

The Flex and Reflect speakers are available in dark grey and light grey finishes, while the portable Flow speaker will be available in additional colours of ​Summer Bloom, Sand Dune, Red Oxide and Sage Green.

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Our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers for every budget

“What took you so long?”

It’s a fair question we might aim at Cambridge Audio, which, over its near-60-year history, has dabbled in almost every audio category: amplifiers, CD players, music streamers, turntables, subwoofers, wireless speakers… even a Blu-ray player.

The fact that it has taken the British audio brand 58 years to launch its first-ever active speakers is perhaps surprising, but we’ll allow them to be fashionably late. The brand’s new L/R range of active speakers comes in three sizes, and we’ve got the baby of the bunch on test here, the Cambridge Audio L/R S. Is this petite desktop speaker the beginning of a hit series? It certainly looks promising.

Price

The L/R S is the smallest and cheapest model of Cambridge’s L/R speakers, and costs £399 / $549 / AU$949 per pair. This puts it squarely in the crosshairs of the Award-winning Ruark MR1 Mk3 (£399 / $579 / AU$899) powered desktop speakers, while Onkyo’s five-star GX-30ARC can be yours for a little less at £299 / $349 / AU$649.

The L/R S are available in six finishes that include the standard black and white, as well as more colourful green, blue and orange finishes. If you opt for the walnut veneer finish of our review sample, you’ll have to pay a little more at £449 / $599 / AU$1049 per pair.

If you’ll be placing the L/R S speakers on your desk, it’s worth checking out the optional angled desk stands (£49) that tilt the speakers up so the sound is more directed towards you.

Build & design

If you’re working with limited space – small rooms, student digs, not a lot of surface real estate – then these active speakers will work a treat. Each cabinet is just under 23cm tall and about 13cm wide – no wider than your average paperback book – which means they’ll fit onto most desktops and even shelves, ideally perched on either side of a laptop or your TV.

The speakers themselves look neat and stylish, and we can imagine the minimal cabinet design fitting into most interiors, whether you want them to blend into a spartan layout or add a splash of colour with the punchier hues.

Build quality is of a high standard, with clean, crisp edges and a smooth finish. We particularly like how the Cambridge logo is etched into the finish at the top of the cabinet. It looks classy.

Each speaker is furnished with a 21mm aluminium tweeter and a long-throw 76mm mid/bass driver, with a bass reflex slot positioned at the rear of each cabinet. All drivers are powered by Class D amplification, and altogether, the L/R S claim to offer a mighty 100W of total output, split evenly between the two channels.

The tweeter has a large waveguide that, along with the mid/bass driver, occupies the majority of the ultra-minimal fascia, with the metallic orange colour of the dome peeking through to offer some visual interest. The speakers don’t come with a grille, but the tweeter’s phase cap doubles up as a guard to protect it from poking fingers.

This is a fully active design with all the amplification and electronics housed in the primary speaker. The supplied 2m connecting cable has a bespoke 4-pin conductor that carries the signal to the secondary speaker. This cable has a pleasingly secure locking mechanism at either end, too. If you need a longer lead between the speakers, a 5m cable is also available to buy separately.

Keeping things simple seems to be the main aim with these petite active speakers. There are no controls or dials on the speaker for choosing inputs or changing volume – which might irk some users who like having such controls within easy reach – but there is a colour-coded LED under the primary speaker which clearly indicates the input chosen.

A remote control is supplied, which takes care of input choosing, volume and power. It’s a slim unit made of light plastic, but it works well, and we would take pains not to mislay this remote.

You can place these small speakers pretty much anywhere, and, knowing this, Cambridge has taken steps to ensure the L/R S are able to sound their best wherever you place them. At the back, you’ll find a pair of toggle switches: one to indicate whether the speakers are placed on a desk or not, and another to indicate if they are positioned close to a wall (“near wall”) or out in “free space”. The “near wall” mode is straightforward. It reduces the mid-bass around 100Hz to account for any boominess that might occur when placing the speakers very close to a back wall.

The “desk top on” mode, meanwhile, deals with two issues at once – time alignment and desk reflection – and shows how much thought Cambridge’s engineers have put into this design. When the small speakers are placed on a desk, the drivers will naturally be physically lower than your listening height. This desk mode compensates for this effect, delaying the tweeter output and readjusting the top and mid frequencies so that music sounds “right” from your listening position.

Additionally, this mode also notches down the mid frequencies (around 700Hz, says Cambridge) to balance out the unwanted energy coming from the speakers’ sound being reflected from the desk.

We would try out the various combinations to see what works best for your speaker placement. We quite liked the combination of "free space" and keeping ‘desk top’ mode off for a richer and more solid sound overall, but the effect will vary depending on your room and the surface the speakers are placed on.

And finally, there is a third and very useful toggle switch that lets you assign the primary speaker as the left or right channel, giving you greater flexibility for placement.

Features

Whereas the bigger siblings – the L/R X and L/R M – boast full network streaming smarts, the baby of the family is once again keeping things pared down and uncomplicated by offering Bluetooth for streaming. Physical inputs on the L/R S include a pair of RCA line level, optical and USB-C, and there is a subwoofer output.

It’s worth noting that while the optical and USB-C both support hi-res audio files up to 96kHz, the speakers’ DSP will automatically resample/downsample all files to 24-bit/48kHz.

Perhaps surprisingly in this enduring age of vinyl popularity, there’s no built-in phono stage here, as you’ll find in the Ruark and Onkyo rivals. There’s no HDMI ARC input here either, which you will find on the cheaper Onkyo speakers.

Regardless, you can still connect a variety of products to these speakers, including a CD player, a TV, a smartphone/laptop, and even a phono stage-equipped turntable, such as the Sony PS-LX3BT. Bluetooth has the higher-quality aptX and aptX HD codecs on board, and pairing with our smartphone takes seconds.

Using these speakers is a cinch. Once connected, they’re easy to control using the supplied remote or with your paired phone when streaming from Tidal or Spotify.

Along with the toggles for adjusting the speakers’ sound depending on their position, there are also three sound modes to choose from: Normal (the default one), Voice (accentuates mids/voice) and Movie (increases in bass and treble frequency for more impact, and mids for clearer dialogue).

We appreciate that the EQ modes are rather subtle in action. Voices are a tad clearer and more prominent when deploying the Voice mode during podcasts, and the Movie mode doesn’t overdo the peaks in frequencies, but we prefer the more balanced, solid sound of the Normal mode for all kinds of audio.

Sound

We set up the L/R S speakers on the desk in one of our listening rooms, flanking our laptop, connected to Bluetooth, and leave them running in while we do some work. This allows us not only to run the speakers in, but also to gauge how they behave when used exactly the way we imagine most people will. Will the speakers sound too boomy on the desk? Will they sound too powerful and distracting, or will they fade into the background? Is there any peakiness in the treble to annoy us?

As we listen to Rosalia, Eminem, Waxahatchee, Geese, Rachmaninoff and more, we find ourselves living rather harmoniously with these compact Cambridge speakers. What’s impressive is just how nice and even they are throughout the frequencies – it allows for a very easy-going listen, and one you could listen to for hours without getting fatigued.

There is no discernible peakiness in the treble, which sounds rather civilised and cultured even when hitting the brash, brazen highs of Fontaines D.C.’s Starburster. The bass is rather taut and nimble but not overpowering, which is welcome if you’ll be listening to the speakers up close and on resonant surfaces. There is less bass weight on the L/R S compared with the more exuberant Ruark MR1 Mk3 rival, and it doesn’t sound as muscular when faced with the brooding bassline in Massive Attack’s Angel. But it nips along at a good pace.

There is a good amount of detail on offer, thanks also in part to a clean, low-distortion background. Whether we listen to these speakers using Tidal via Bluetooth or USB, or CDs on a connected Cyrus CDi disc spinner, the presentation is consistent. From Waxahatchee’s honeyed vocals to Geese’s more discordant and laconic tones, we find the speakers create a rather lovely solid sweet-spot for voices, too.

Listening at low volume doesn’t quite give us a full picture of the speakers’ abilities; turn up the volume, and you’ll find them spark into life. If you reach your smartphone device’s maximum Bluetooth volume limit and wonder if that’s all they can do, reach for the remote control and turn it up some more. These speakers can go pretty loud. Just be wary of going too high, as things do start to get unwieldy and shouty.

Even as we admire their evenness and orderliness, we find the L/R S speakers can be a touch reserved at times. On some tracks – such as on Eminem’s The Way I Am and Forget About Dre – we find ourselves willing the speakers on, to tackle the propulsive rhythm with more punch and panache. The piano notes in Game Of Thrones’ Light Of The Seven glide along smoothly, but they could do with a greater degree of precision and urgency to better impart the ratcheting-up of tension in the piece.

In comparison, the rival Ruark MR1 Mk3 speakers have the upper hand when it comes to rhythmic impetus and dynamic expression. They are able to deliver a bigger and more open sound too, with a greater amount of space in between the instruments and voices.

We find that the Ruark speakers sound clearer throughout the midrange, too, which reveals a greater degree of subtlety and insight. In comparison, the Cambridge sounds as though there is a cloudy veil over the mids, which we would love to hear scrubbed clean so that textures and subtleties can be unleashed. Bon Iver's voice on Exile is layered with rich textures and full of personality and emotion through the Ruarks – this effect is a little muted through the L/R S.

We would recommend investing in the optional desk stands for the L/R S, as physically tilting the speakers towards your listening position results in a clearer, more solid sound. Listening significantly off-axis changes the balance somewhat, so we would take some care when positioning the speakers and experiment with the various toggle modes to find the ideal sound for you.

Verdict

As Cambridge Audio’s first-ever active stereo speakers, the L/R S are off to a great start. It’s a confident design with thoughtful consideration for how people will use them in the real world. And they look stylish, too.

That even-toned, refined and easy-to-listen-to sound is impressive for a product of this type and price, and we think a sprinkle of energy, precision and insight could well catapult these compact Cambridge speakers to stardom. The Ruarks and Onkyos of this world might rest easy for now, but they’ll certainly be keeping an eye on this new contender.

Review published: 15th May 2026

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 5
• Features 4

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Read our review of the Ruark Audio MR1 Mk3

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Our guide to the best desktop speakers for hi-fi fans, tested by our experts

Fyne Audio is branching into new territory with its first active speakers, the Cubitt 5, which aims to connect "a whole new generation of music lovers through audiophile sound."

The Glasgow-based hi-fi brand has been on an admirable run with its ample stable of passive loudspeakers, including Award-winning F501E floorstanders, but now it is turning its attention to a younger, more convenience-hungry audience with the Cubitt 5.

Similar to the KEF Coda W active speakers, the Cubitt 5 features amplification, power and connections housed in bookshelf speakers, with Bluetooth on the menu for easy streaming from your smartphone.

At the heart of the new speakers is Fyne's latest 12.5cm IsoFlare point-source driver, designed to produce "precise stereo imaging and natural, room-filling sound". That IsoFlare unit is complemented by 'FyneFlute' surround technology, which aims to reduce unwanted colouration and improve overall clarity by reducing the extent to which energy is reflected back down the driver cone.

Alongside Bluetooth, the Cubitt 5 boasts a built-in phono stage for connecting turntables, as well as analogue RCA and optical connections. HDMI eARC is on board for plugging in a TV, while a subwoofer out means you can add some extra bass to your setup.

High-resolution files up to 24-bit/96kHz are supported over optical, while the Bluetooth aptX HD codec is supported.

According to Fyne, the Cubitt 5 has been designed to integrate seamlessly into modern living spaces. Each speaker cabinet features Fyne's high-density construction with internal bracing for reduced vibration, alongside a front-firing bass port which allows the speakers to be placed close to a back wall.

According to Fyne Audio's MD Anji Sosna: "The Cubitt 5 is the culmination of two years research and development into how we can best bring a whole new generation of music lovers into enjoying high fidelity music reproduction at home. Most of all, it had to distil Fyne’s extensive audio engineering pedigree and sound quality into truly class-leading performance".

Available in five finishes – Midnight Black, Pearl Titanium, Olive Green, Pebble Grey or Arctic White – the Fyne Audio Cubitt 5 will be on sale from June 2026, priced at £549 / €649 / $749. That makes them a more competitive option than the five-star KEF Coda W (£799 / $1000 / AU$1450) – stay tuned for our full review in the coming weeks.

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Read the Fyne F5E review

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Our guide to the best active speakers we've tested

If you were browsing the best Bluetooth speakers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that all the speaker brands got together and decided that the only two shape options were either a pill or a disc. Come on, JBL and Sonos, let’s mix it up a bit.

One speaker, at least, to buck the trend is the four-star Pure Classic Aura, which is shaped more like a traditional radio. It features an elegant wood look which adds warmth and character to any living space, and it even includes ambient strip lighting – because why not?

If you’re already dreaming of having one in your kitchen or living room, you’ll be glad to hear that its price has been slashed from £119 to just £82 at Amazon.

Best Pure Bluetooth speaker deal

Most Bluetooth speakers are designed to be chucked in a bag or on a back seat to accompany you on your travels; take, for example, the Award-winning JBL Flip 7 or the eminently likeable Bose SoundLink Flex.

The Pure Classic Aura, however, is designed to be plonked onto your desk or kitchen worktop, even if its lightweight build and removable rubber carry strap mean you can move it easily between rooms and/or residences. An IPX2 rating, meanwhile, means it should survive being briefly sprayed with water if you’re a touch careless with your kitchen tap.

Its party piece is the collection of small circular LEDs on the rear panel that shine a variety of colours (both static and dynamic), creating an attractive halo of coloured light behind the speaker that work best when it's placed near a rear wall.

Bluetooth 5.3 support offers the only means of connection besides a 3.5mm auxiliary input, while the built-in battery pack offers 30 hours of playback on a single charge.

Pure didn’t forget to make a speaker that sounds the part. Thanks to its 40-watt output, the Classic Aura is happy to go loud when you push the volume dial, serving up an impressively wide, open soundstage with pleasing detailed and nuance, particularly through. Dynamics are nicely handled, too, with the classy speaker conveying shifts in intensity and volume when required.

All in all, the Classic Aura has serious substance to go with all of that style. Check it out and its new deal price at Amazon.

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Read our Pure Classic Aura review

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Best Bluetooth speakers tried and tested for every budget

Just when you thought JBL couldn’t make its Xtreme portable Bluetooth speaker any more, er, extreme, it goes and blesses us with a fifth-generation model. And this one is not only waterproof and dust-proof – it is now drop-proof too.

The JBL Xtreme 5 can also put on a bit of a show thanks to new colourful, customisable edge lighting, which emits from two strips placed on the front of the speaker.

Dig a little deeper, though, and you’ll discover there’s a lot more going on here than just a light show and a newfound sense of invincibility.

Price

The good news for prospective buyers is that the price of the JBL Xtreme 5 hasn’t really changed massively compared with its predecessor. It costs £330 / €350 / $400, while the Award-winning Xtreme 4 started life at £330 / €330 / $380 although it can be found significantly cheaper now, given it launched back in 2024.

It has a close rival in the shape of the five-star Bose SoundLink Max. This, too, originally launched in 2024 for £399 / €400 / $399, but at the time of writing, it can also regularly be found for less than its JBL counterpart.

Design and build

Like a bodybuilder who has bulked up for their first show of the season, the Xtreme has been beefed up by JBL for this latest incarnation.

Placed next to the previous version, the Xtreme 5 comes across as much more of a unit. The changes in proportions are immediately noticeable, and you could almost be forgiven for thinking this was actually a new step-up model.

Compared with the Xtreme 4, the Xtreme 5 is more than 1.5cm taller, just over one centimetre deeper, and nearly five centimetres wider. These figures don’t look like a lot on paper, but see the two together in reality and the difference in stature is obvious.

The 5 is also nearly one kilogram heavier, which you can feel as soon as you pick it up by the carry strap (which you’ll be pleased to know still includes a bottle opener as part of its design).

Speaking of the strap, the floating loops on top of the speaker have more clearance on the new model, making it slightly easier to attach than on its predecessor.

A couple of other design tweaks also enhance the Xtreme 5's broad chest. The built-in stand, which uses rubber bumpers along the front and back edges for stability, has increased in size, while the rubberised ‘fins’, which are dotted around the edges of each end of the speaker, are more robust to offer greater protection should it roll off your picnic bench.

The passive bass radiators at either end of the speaker are also bigger, which means the sense of theatre they offer as they pulse in time with your favourite tunes has a bit more visual impact.

And that’s before your eyes are attracted to those light strips on the front of the Bluetooth speaker. You can change their colour, the pattern they display, or you can turn them off completely.

The control buttons, which used to simply to sit directly on top of the speaker’s ruggedised fabric, have changed position slightly. They are now mounted on a large matte-finished panel on the top of the speaker (together with power, Bluetooth pairing, and Auracast buttons), which we think also adds to its perceived bulk.

Features

But it’s not just at the surface level where changes have been made – there has been a significant overhaul to the driver configuration of the Xtreme 5. Where previous generations used twin tweeters and twin woofers, the new speaker keeps the tweeters but ditches the woofers in favour of a single ‘racetrack’ driver positioned behind the JBL logo.

JBL claims the new driver can better handle the increased power of the new model, a by-product of which is that it can deliver more mid/bass than its predecessor.

The total power output of the Xtreme 5 is a claimed 130W when mains powered, 90W when running off the built-in battery. This compares with figures of 100W and 70W for the Xtreme 4.

The speaker supports Bluetooth 6 and Auracast – the latter allows you to pair two Xtreme 5s together to use in stereo, or to connect multiple compatible JBL speakers together, should you want music blasting throughout your house.

Charging the JBL Xtreme 5 is done through the USB-C connection on the back, and the speaker can power your smartphone or tablet through the same socket. It also supports lossless audio up to 24-bit/48kHz through a wired connection – although for most people that’s a nice to have feature, rather than an essential.

JBL has included a couple of technologies designed to aid sound quality. AI Sound Boost is always on and uses an algorithm to clean up low frequencies and reduce distortion; while Smart EQ analyses what you’re listening to in real time and can adjust the speaker’s delivery to suit, say, if you’re listening to music or a podcast.

In addition to helping you access the six different edge-lighting themes and alter the colours you see displayed, the JBL Portable app also allows you to access a new seven-band equaliser, should you want to tweak the out-of-the-box sound.

You can also form a stereo pair through the app and turn on Playtime Boost, which tweaks the sound so you can extend the battery life by four hours (as standard, you should be good for 24 hours of uninterrupted playtime).

We would steer clear of this particular feature unless you’re really desperate. It dramatically reduces the bass output of the speaker and makes the overall sound leaner and more compressed.

Sound

Avoid that setting, though, and the JBL Xtreme 5 does not disappoint.

Play Ed Sheeran’s Shivers and you can immediately hear that increase in power. As the track bursts into life during those first few seconds, you get a much greater sense of scale and size compared with the Xtreme 4.

You’re not buying a Bluetooth speaker for its stereo imaging, more for its spread of sound, and the JBL takes filling our modestly sized test room in its stride. Take the speaker outdoors and crank it up, though, and things get even more impressive.

The speaker laps up high volume levels and can easily go loud enough to power a summer party or annoy the neighbours, depending on your mood.

There’s plenty of bass weight – even with the Xtreme 5 firing out into the great wilderness, the track’s deep, probing bassline makes its presence felt. Impressively, though, it doesn’t overpower the rest of the track – Sheeran’s expressive vocals still take centre stage.

The other thing that strikes us about the JBL is how much clearer it sounds than its predecessor. It makes the Xtreme 4 sound hazy and cluttered in comparison.

Play Run by Stephen Fretwell, and there’s more separation around the individual elements, so you can hear what each one brings to the music.

You can inspect around the edges of that crisply defined percussion and piano, but the whole presentation remains cohesive, and the track remains confidently knitted together with the lead vocal at the centre. It’s still a hugely musical listen and captures the slow, gentle rhythmic flow and rise and fall of the track.

We switch between battery and mains power, and can hear a small injection of punch and solidity when we tap into that bigger power figure. It’s not a huge jump, though, and we think you’ll be satisfied whichever way you decide to use the speaker.

Verdict

Just when we were starting to wonder how JBL could improve things with yet another generation of Xtreme, it goes and beats what came before.

The Xtreme 5 is a beefier design than previous versions. Not only does it have greater sonic presence, but it also has a newfound sense of clarity, which elevates sound quality to a new level. And that’s bad news for its closest rivals. Bravo, JBL.

Review published: 13th May 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Features 4
• Build 5

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Want something cheaper? Check out the JBL Charge 6

Our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers for every budget

With JBL stealing almost all the headlines in our best Bluetooth speakers guide, you'd be forgiven for thinking there's little point in looking at other brands.

But when a 42 per cent discount appears on the four-star Sony ULT Field 1, we think everyone should take notice. The price drop at EE brings it down to an incredibly tempting £69.

So, why should you give it a go? In short: "There's plenty to like about what the Sony speaker offers in terms of detail, propulsion and, if you so choose, its ample helpings of muscular bass." That's what we said in our review.

At this price, it's well worth a look, especially considering the best-in-class, the JBL Charge 6, costs £170.

Best Sony ULT Field 1 deal

The Sony ULT Field 1 is actually a really interesting beast. It often gets forgotten amidst a wave of five-star JBLs, such as the Flip 6 and the Award-winning Flip 7, but the Field 1 is something of a wildcard that, if it's up your street, can actually represent a very attractive proposition on paper.

There are two ways of listening to Sony's slimline speaker: with the bass-boosting 'Power Sound' profile switched on or off. If you switch it on, you'll get a punchy, powerful sound anchored by a considerably weighty lower-end reproduction which goes beyond what you might expect from a unit of this size.

Switch it off and the ULT Field 1 becomes leaner, tauter and nimbler, making tracks feel sharper, freer and capable of clipping along with a sprightly sense of propulsion and rhythmic drive. Neither profile is perfect, but the Sony is notable for teasing out more detail than its JBL Flip 6 rival, and that's not something to be sniffed out.

The Field 1 scores highly in other areas, too. Battery life is a respectable 12 hours if you're reasonable with your listening volume, while an IP67 rating is more than enough to keep the Sony speaker protected from the sand and the sea. Hands-free calling is also available, while stereo pairing is on hand for getting twin Field 1s firing together.

As an intriguing, super-discounted alternative to the class leaders, the Sony ULT Field 1 is worth an audition. Get it for £69 at EE.

MORE:

Read our Sony ULT Field 1 review

Check out the best wireless speakers: tried and tested by our expert team

And the best Bluetooth speakers, too

If we were recommending premium noise cancelation and top-class sound, then we'd point you in the direction of the Sony WH-1000XM6. The only problem is that these will set you back an eye-watering $458.

If you don't have that sort of money, you should go for the Sony WH-CH720N, which has just dropped to a mere $149 at Amazon. That's an absolute bargain.

The compromise on ANC and sound is also not as big as you might first think. We actually described them as "a dependably made, enthusiastic-sounding pair of headphones that don't sacrifice noise canceling."

We also rated them five stars before giving them a What Hi-Fi? Award. Suffice it to say, they're not only really good but also very difficult to beat at this price point.

The Sony WH-CH720N are among the best wireless headphones on the market right now, especially when it comes to affordable cans.

Our top pick for budget cans, they're perfect for anyone not looking to shell out a few hundred quid but still seeking that five-star quality and access to ANC.

There's nothing too fancy about the WH-CH720N, but they are solid, substantially made and reasonably comfortable for their price. And we said all of this before they were sporting this $31 discount.

Also, for the price, you wouldn't expect active noise cancelation to be part of the feature set, but Sony's offering is strong. In fact, you can pick between two ANC modes – full noise canceling and ambient sound – both controllable via the Sony Headphones mobile app.

Sure, there's no case or foldability, but these are small sacrifices for the affordable outlay. And what you'll get in exchange is a punchy, energetic sound that has plenty of detail and textures revealed for this price level, along with a great sense of rhythmic drive that rival cans fail to match.

In our full review, we said: "Sony has done it again. With their pleasing build quality and punchy sound, the WH-CH720N offers a truly budget bargain for those looking for a great pair of affordable ANC headphones."

If you're looking for a great pair of affordable cans that offer enjoyable sound and decent noise-canceling, then this excellent discount at Amazon on these Award-winning Sony headphones isn't to be missed.

MORE:

Read our full Sony WH-CH720N review

Check out the best headphones of 2026: tested by our experts

And our best over-ear headphones: wired and wireless pairs

It can be hard to know which Sonos speaker to buy. There’s a healthy number currently on the market, all furnished with varying levels of baked-in Sonos features at a range of prices and sizes.

Many would-be buyers seek a Sonos speaker because they are keen on the US brand’s particular ecosystem. Once they have jumped that particular hurdle, though, it can be hard to know where to go next.

What we have here are two candidates with somewhat different purposes in mind. The Sonos Era 100 is designed as a stationary, home-bound wireless speaker, whereas the Sonos Play bridges the gap between portability and domestic use thanks to its combination of a built-in battery alongside the usual wi-fi and smart-assistant powers.

Quite a lot of overlap, then, but don’t be fooled into thinking that the Play is just a Sonos Era 100 with the stabilisers taken off. Both have their place within the Sonos family – and we’re here to help you figure out what those places are and, more importantly, which one is right for you.

Sonos Era 100 vs Sonos Play: price

The Sonos Era 100 started its life at around £249 / $249 / AU$399, but that was back in 2023.

Around three years later, prices have dropped somewhat, meaning the Era 100 tends to sit at roughly the £199 / $219 / AU$319 mark, and can drop even lower when Sonos is feeling generous and there’s a lovely big sales event going on.

The Sonos Play, meanwhile, is a far newer model, having made its debut only in 2026, for a rather considerable £299 / $299 / AU$499. Prices haven’t dipped much since then, though we would speculate that, as with the Era 100, big sales events could see the Play drop in price by a decent margin. Time will tell.

For now, however, the Era 100 is the cheaper speaker of the two, so takes the win here.

**Winner: Sonos Era 100**

Sonos Era 100 vs Sonos Play: design

What we have here are two quintessentially ‘Sonos’ speakers. In terms of their design and functionality, you wouldn’t need many guesses to figure out that both the Play and the Era 100 are Sonos-made products thanks to their clean, simple aesthetic and somewhat similar designs.

They are not, of course, identical; indeed, there are quite a few major differences to distinguish one from the other.

The main difference comes from the fact that the Sonos Play is conceived, at least in part, as a portable speaker, while the Era 100 is designed purely for indoor, mains-powered use. That means that the Play is a fair bit slimmer than its Era counterpart, is easier to wrap your hand around its frame, and comes with a carry strap at the back.

The Era 100 is similarly clean and minimalist in its layout, although it’s slightly shorter and a lot wider than its portable stablemate. This not being a portable speaker, however, there is no carry handle to be found.

In terms of on-unit controls, both offer plenty. The Era 100 offers top-mounted touch-capacitive buttons for accessing music playback and voice control, with a clever volume slider in the form of a ‘trough’ also mounted on the top panel. A switch to turn the microphone on/off is situated at the rear.

The Play doesn’t have that distinctive trough slider, but its rubber top hosts four physical buttons – two for volume, one for muting/unmuting your voice assistant and a play/pause toggle – while the spine houses a Bluetooth pairing button, a microphone on/off toggle and a large power button.

Both offer USB-C connections at their respective rears, either for charging or for a wired connection for sources such as a turntable or music player. Note, however, that you will need a USB-C to 3.5mm aux adapter if you did want to hard-wire a source; this currently costs £19 / $19 via the Sonos website, so it’s not exactly cheap.

The mains-powered Sonos Era 100 is designed to stay put within your home, so it isn’t furnished with an IP rating and we wouldn’t suggest having an open can of Diet Coke put anywhere near it. The Play, conversely, is designed to be rugged and portable, and sports an IP67 rating to keep it protected from dust ingress and submersion in water.

Two similar-looking speakers built for somewhat different tasks, then; but, for its greater versatility and portability, we’re handing the win to the Sonos Play.

**Winner: Sonos Play**

Sonos Era 100 vs Sonos Play: features

These speakers are absolutely feature-packed, so deep breath: here we go.

The Sonos Era 100 is getting a little long in the tooth, but it still has plenty of mod cons to keep in step with the newer Play. Both speakers offer standard Bluetooth streaming or can connect to your home network for a host of wi-fi-enabled playback options, with support for most mainstream streaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify Connect, Amazon Music and Tidal.

Both support hi-res files up to 24-bit/48kHz from Qobuz and Amazon Music and can be controlled by your voice or via the Sonos app, courtesy either of Amazon Alexa or the built-in Sonos Voice Control assistant. Just be aware that some of the major streaming services can't be integrated with your chosen voice assistant, so asking your speaker to "play something from Tidal", for example, can't be done in either case.

Both offer AirPlay 2 and a USB-C line-in options, although we reiterate that you will need a specific adapter and cable for wired connections.

Both are capable of forming a stereo pair, and both can be included as part of a wider Sonos multi-room system. For home cinema fans, you can use your Era 100 as rear surround speakers with the likes of the Sonos Arc, Beam and Ray soundbars.

With the Era 100 and the Play, you can calibrate your speaker's output for the room it is placed in using the Trueplay tuning feature, either by using an iPhone device’s integrated microphones (for iOS users), or else use the speakers own mics to ‘Quick Tune’ if you use an Android device.

Being a slimmer, portable unit, the Play is capable of taking things a step further, quite literally, thanks to its 24-hour battery life and IP67 waterproof rating.

As we wrote in our review, it's “best to think of the Sonos Play in the same way you might regard the established Move 2: a portable speaker that can also plug into the mains and slot into your home wi-fi network and, if you wish, integrate within your Sonos multi-room system.”

The Play's Bluetooth powers are handy for when you’re roaming about and need a quick and easy wireless connection to your device, and you can use Bluetooth to connect twin Plays together either via the app or pressing the play/pause button on your desired device for around two seconds.

By contrast, you can't use Bluetooth to connect two Era 100s together into a stereo pair – that has to be done via wi-fi.

Both are pretty much identical in terms of their streaming features, with the Play and Era 100 boasting versatility to spare. The Play does have the added benefit of a built-in battery making it suitable for outdoor as well as indoor use, though, meaning it just steals a win here.

**Winner: Sonos Play**

Sonos Era 100 vs Sonos Play: sound

The Sonos Play houses a trio of Class H amplifiers powering two angled tweeters and a mid driver, as well as dual force-cancelling passive radiators which aim for deep bass and reduced internal vibrations. Its Era 100 counterpart, meanwhile, boasts twin angled tweeters with custom waveguides and an enlarged woofer, all powered by their own dedicated Class D amplifier.

The results are impressive in both cases, and we’d be surprised if either of these speakers left you feeling let down in the audio department. The smaller Play is capable in many aspects, giving music a feeling of poise and control as it blends ample clarity with plenty of muscle and power.

There is certainly decent clout at the bottom end, and as we say in our review, the speaker’s bass response “sounds taut and punchy, evidenced by the Play firmly handling those opening drum thumps on Michael Jackson’s iconic Billie Jean.”

Yes, it can be a little route-one in how it presents your tunes, but in general, Sonos’s do-it-all candidate has a lot going for it. As our review concludes: “Whether pumping out some Gorillaz in the garden or streaming a slice of Stevie Wonder in the sitting room, its clear, confident and controlled sound is rarely a chore to listen to. We’d like it to flex to accommodate different musical styles, but sonically, this [is] an admirable effort.”

The Era 100, conversely, is the smart choice if sound is your number one priority. The Era’s dedication to performance first continues to shine through, even as its slightly more advanced age.

It’s a wider speaker with more drive units and more power, and the resultant sound is more spacious, more detailed and with greater stretch in the bass than its portable counterpart can muster. Dynamics are more confidently revealed, too, with the Era 100’s stellar blend of openness and dynamism making for a remarkably confident, cinematic experience.

The chunkier speaker’s balance is, in fact, pretty much spot on. As we wrote at the time: “There’s an ease with which Sonos delivers every track we play through it. It never feels dull or distant, nor does it try to attract your attention unduly; this is an overall pleasing sound that is comfortable to listen to for hours.”

The Era 100 plumbs greater sonic depths than the slightly leaner Play, and while that lower-end delivery could easily become overbearing, the Era 100 is adept at giving challenging basslines genuine shape and texture thanks to its dextrous, agile nature.

It may be a little older, but it's certainly no less bold. The Era 100 remains a five-star performer on the audio front, and while the Play makes a decent account of itself, its established stablemate is the one to pick if sound is what matters most.

A clear and deserved win for the fantastic Era 100.

**Winner: Sonos Era 100**

Sonos Era 100 vs Sonos Play: verdict

What we have here are two speakers built with two distinct purposes in mind, although a degree of overlap does muddy the waters somewhat. Allow us, then, to make things simple for you.

If you want a Sonos speaker that straddles the outdoor and the indoor world, the Play is the one to pick. It isn’t quite on the Era 100’s level in terms of sound, but its bulging feature set, portable design and still-decent performance make it a solid pick for anyone who seeks solid sound across a range of different use cases.

If you just want an excellent-sounding wireless smart speaker that is baked into the Sonos ecosystem and prioritises sound above all else, go for the Sonos Era 100. It’s built nicely, still has enough neat tricks to keep even the most feature-hungry consumer happy, and its sound really is excellent.

**Overall winner: Sonos Era 100**

MORE:

Which Sonos speaker should you buy? Find out here

Check out our top tips to get the most out of the Sonos Play wireless speaker

These are the best smart speakers money can buy

For What Hi-Fi? readers at least, playing music directly from your smartphone may be the most cardinal of all cardinal sins. To take your music and subject it to being squeezed through your iPhone’s tinny little speakers is, to some at least, the equivalent of cooking a dry-aged steak in a microwave and then slathering it in a small mountain of ketchup.

This, in part, is why the JBL Go 5 exists. The fifth generation of JBL’s very affordable Bluetooth speaker is built to be almost as portable as your smartphone itself, but with boosted sonic capabilities that won’t leave your music sounding as though it’s been put through the metaphorical microwave.

The first JBL Go came out back in 2018, and since then, JBL has been steadily refining the line by adding more features, tweaking the dinky design and refining that all-important sonic output. The Go 4 was the former high water mark, but 2026’s new model is now on the scene – and, from what we’ve heard, this fifth-generation model might be the best Go yet.

Price

You can all breathe a sigh of relief because, while the world’s financial markets may be in turmoil, some things are blessedly immune from inflation. The JBL Go 5 clocks in at the same price as its predecessor, once again costing a wallet-friendly £40 / $50 / AU$59 at the time of writing.

If you want something cheaper, your best bet is probably to plump for a now-discounted JBL Go 4, which can sink as low as £28 / $30.

There are a few comparable speakers knocking around at this near-entry-level price point. The five-star Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 tends to hover around the £45 / $46 mark; and you can now grab its less successful successor, the Stormbox Micro 3 for around £63 / $65.

Build & design

Unlike a former child star losing their chocolate box looks once they hit their troubled adolescence, the Go is just as cute as it has ever been. It’s a tiny bit larger than the fourth-gen Go, but the slight increase in size is perceptible only if you place the two generations next to each other.

Once again, we’re dealing with a very small, square(ish) speaker that is only slightly bigger than a pack of cards or a bar of soap.

Times have changed, however, so there are a few extra aesthetic developments beyond mere size. The Go 5’s front-mounted ‘JBL’ lettering logo has been rather cleverly hollowed out, so there should be less impediment to the sound from the driver reaching your ears.

Plus, JBL has added lighting to the party, which you can customise and switch on/off via the JBL Portable app. Twin strips of white lights run parallel across the top and bottom of the main speaker face, with four stock light themes – ‘Bounce’, ‘Loop’, ‘Switch’ and ‘Freeze’ – from which to choose.

Is it strictly necessary? No, of course not. Is it a fun touch for an ultra-portable speaker aimed at people who don’t want their portable audio taking things too seriously? Yeah, we’d say so.

Elsewhere, it’s much the same as before, and that doesn’t raise many complaints from us. Rubberised edging surrounds practically the entire unit, with large play/pause and volume controls housed at the top of the speaker and the power, Bluetooth pairing and Auracast icons spread vertically down the left hand side, all of which are easy to use and responsive to the touch.

At the bottom, JBL’s signature diagonally slanted ridges have been replaced by a rubberised bulge, but we don’t find that has much of a negative effect on how much the speaker grips to horizontal surfaces.

At the top right of the unit is a handy, non-adjustable carry loop, one that we find remains durable and robust no matter how many times we spin it around on an outstretched finger.

In fact, the entirety of the Go 5 just feels so well made that we’d bet a small chunk of cash that, barring a nuclear apocalypse or the battery running dry, it will last for many years to come. That IP68 rating means that an aggressive outdoor hosing leaves no lasting impression, and as our test sample(s) accompany us from the bottom of a backpack to the end of the garden, they take everything cheerily in their stride.

Features

Considering how small and cheap the Go 5 is, you’re not exactly starved of features. If you have the latest Flip 7 or Charge 6 speakers, many of the same features have been carried over to the fifth-gen Go, and there are even a few new tricks that are exclusive to the smallest member of the portable JBL family.

Check this out for a party piece: the Go 5 is capable of ‘AirTouch’ stereo pairing, and it really is exactly as described. Get two Go speakers together, tap them together end to end and, almost unfailingly, they’ll emit a chime of approval and form a stereo pair. You can also do this in the provided app, but what sort of fun is that?

Stereo pairing is easier than ever to set up and use, and the technology seems to have been improved since we tried it last. Our JBL Go 4 review griped that we would have liked slightly better sound synchronisation between our two speakers when playing in stereo, but we don’t now detect a noticeable delay from one speaker to the other when music is being shared by two speakers.

There’s a lot more packed into the teeny tiny Go 5. Auracast Bluetooth compatibility is back, bringing the Go 5 in line with the current JBL Flip 7, Charge 6 and new Xtreme 5 models and letting you connect multiple compatible JBL speakers together either via the on-unit button or via the JBL Portable app.

Battery life has been bolstered just a little, with the Go 5 squeezing out roughly eight hours of standard playtime, with an additional two hours via Playtime Boost. This is an increase over its predecessor’s seven hours of standard time and maximum of nine with Playtime Boost.

Do be aware that Playtime Boost should be seen as a ‘last resort’ option, as this feature will suck out most of the bass from your speaker’s output and make things sound unbalanced and rather thin. More of a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ kind of a thing if you desperately need to extend your power use.

Sound

JBL’s palm-sized Go 5 promises improved audio with a fuller, deeper bass than its antecedent, thanks in part to its 45mm driver and that hollow-contour logo working in tandem to “level up sound output and performance”.

“Level up” is a rather nice way to put it, and as we flit between the older-generation model and 2026’s fresh-from-the-oven fifth-gen iteration, it’s clear that this is the most sonically capable Go yet.

The Go 4 was a wonderful sonic surprise, but its successor does enough to trump it, treating us to a fuller, meatier reproduction that simply sounds more rich and engaging than its predecessor. There’s unquestionably more depth in the bass, too, though not to the extent that the lower end unnaturally dwarfs the rest of the frequencies and threatens to throw the entire reproduction off balance.

The Go 5 doesn’t try to do too much – instead, it gives us a hearty and surprisingly musical upgrade on anything that our tinny smartphone speakers could hope to muster. Relatively simple tunes, such Muse’s Madness, sound clean, composed and impressively clear through the midrange, while Turnstile’s crunchy rock anthem SLOWDIVE is dispatched with confidence and muscle as we shift things up a gear.

This is a speaker that can fit in the palm of your hand, yet it’s genuinely remarkable just how punchy and effusive the Go 5 is capable of sounding. Ludwig Goransson’s POSTERITY brims with energy when played via the JBL, and while this isn’t a speaker that will grant such a layered composition a huge amount of space, the feeling of rhythmic intent and cinematic drama comes through with real gusto.

Like almost all of the more recent JBL portables we’ve tested, the Go 5 is tuned to have an innate understanding of how your music should sound. Again, nothing here is overdone or overly coloured, but it shares its bigger siblings’ ability to go with the flow as we bounce around tracks and genres.

Is Nick Cave’s Avalanche the most well-organised and cinematic rendition you’ll ever hear? Of course not. Does the Go 5 capture the essential character of what Cave is trying to convey? Absolutely it does. Will bigger speakers offer more textural detail when playing Hans Zimmer’s The Battle? Undoubtedly. Do we ever feel as though the Go 5 is failing to communicate the inherent drama of the piece? No. In all honesty, we don’t.

The good news keeps coming, as the Go 5 steps in line with its latest-gen JBL counterparts by supporting 24-bit/48kHz lossless playback via USB-C. Hold down the speaker’s ‘play’ button as you plug in a USB-C cable and a happy sound will inform you that you’re now in wired playback mode.

We test lossless playback with Tidal playing on a connected iPhone 15, and find that our music sounds a touch clearer, crisper and more detailed when going wired compared with Bluetooth.

Just be aware that JBL doesn't tend to supply an in-box USB-C charging cable any more (as is increasingly standard for most brands, in a bid to minimise electronic waste), but we imagine most users will have a spare one knocking around these days, so that shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Verdict

Laurel resting doesn’t seem to be JBL’s thing at the moment, especially when it comes to its strong line of portable Bluetooth speakers.

The Go 5 is the best Go yet, thanks to its handsome feature-set, stylish portable design and, for a speaker of its size and price, excellent audio quality. If you’re still playing your music through your phone’s speakers, it may be time to consider upgrading to one of JBL’s pocket-sized dynamos, because the Go 5 really is the real deal.

Review published: 8th May 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 5
• Features 5

MORE:

Read the JBL Go 4 review

Also consider the Tribit Micro Stormbox 2

Check out the best Bluetooth speakers we've tested

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) is one of the best smart speakers we've tested. And as an added perk, it also looks fairly swish, so much so that we think it's worth paying a little extra for the privilege of owning such a refined little smart speaker for people who value aesthetics as well as sound quality.

Only right now, you don't have to. The Beosound A1 has dropped to just £179 at Peter Tyson. While that's not quite the lowest we've ever seen it, dropping to £169 in December, it's still an excellent saving.

And while the Beosound A1 (3rd Gen) is now on the market, it'll cost you a fair chunk more and it doesn't have Alexa integration. Yes, it's currently sporting its own deal, down to just £219 at Peter Tyson, but we'd still recommend the five-star 2nd Gen, especially at this price.

The five-star Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) is the kind of speaker you'd be happy to show off to your friends. And it's not just effortlessly stylish, it's also got a lot more to offer.

With tough competition on the market for small portable speakers, from JBL to Tribit, B&O offers something a little different, prioritising luxury, style and a bit of personality from its electronics.

Sure, it's not the newest model with the 3rd Gen now available, but we also gave it five-stars over the 3rd Gen's four.

In fact, the Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) is something of a Jack-of-all-trades, master of many. Sonically, the well-made, hugely attractive unit offers a pleasingly comfortable yet authoritative performance you could easily listen to all day.

This led our expert testers to say in their full review: “Bang & Olufsen has succeeded in maintaining its trademark sound profile in this diminutive and affordable proposition – no small feat considering Bluetooth speakers of this size and price can easily come off heavy through the mids and harsh in the treble in an effort to offer volume and clout.”

And not only is the Beosound A1 one of the weightiest and most refined little speakers we have heard, it also has some decent specifications.

As well as Bluetooth 5.1 with AAC, there is support for Qualcomm's aptX Adaptive codec, giving high-quality streaming along with a three-microphone array for clear voice-assistant operation and hands-free calls.

Throw in an impressive 18-hour battery life, stretching to 48 hours when listened to at more conservative volumes, and finish it off with a convenient strap for ease of transport and you've got yourself a rather lovely primarily portable unit.

So, if you're after a Bluetooth speaker that's easy to use, has the bonus of Alexa, sounds great, and has a classy, well made design, the Beosound A1 is a great pick, especially at just £179 at Peter Tyson.

MORE:

Read our full B&O Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) review

Take a look at the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy

Check out our best B&O speakers: portable, hi-fi and wireless

Right around this time last year, I was packing for a rare holiday abroad, and I thought it would be a great idea to pack a little Bluetooth speaker.

With my Sonos Roam having failed a few months earlier, I had to buy something with my own money.

On a near-zero budget, I of course headed over to our list of best budget Bluetooth speakers and ordered the cheapest option – the JBL Go 4.

My, what a brilliant little speaker it is! Despite the super-low cost of just £30ish and the pocketable dimensions, the Go 4 sounds clean, controlled and surprisingly weighty. It goes much louder than I expected, too.

Needless to say, the Go 4 was a hit on our holiday, and it’s had plenty of use since, particularly in the garden, where it hangs handily off one of the utensil pegs of my barbecue.

I’ve recommended it to lots of people, too, including my dad, who also bought one and thinks it's brilliant.

Quite incredibly, though, I recently found a Bluetooth speaker that makes the JBL look expensive. That speaker is the smallest model in Ikea’s (yes, that Ikea) Vappeby range, and it costs just £10.

A tenner for a Bluetooth speaker from a reputable brand? That’s nuts. So nuts, I just had to buy one.

Unboxing

The Vappeby doesn’t hide its cheapness particularly well.

Thicker and more cube-like than the JBL, it has a hard plastic finish and no branding. A bit “My First Speaker”, but not without charm – the perforated front is neat, and the striped strap is really rather fetching.

And it looks cheap because it is cheap, which is perfectly fair enough.

The little Vappeby is waterproof, too, which is pretty generous for a speaker costing only a tenner, and it charges via USB-C – although it’s worth noting that you don’t get a cable with it, let alone a full charger.

Charging isn’t something you’ll need to do often, at least, because Ikea claims a fully charged Vappeby will play music at 50 per cent volume for 80 hours. Impressive stuff.

Sound quality

The problem, though, is that even just 20 minutes of listening to the Vappeby is too long.

Even the sound effects that play when you power the speaker on or put it into pairing mode are shrill and tinny.

Play some actual music and the rendition is small, thin and congested. Voices are reedy and sibilant, while instruments blur together into a bright, indistinct mix.

I kid you not, listening to music via my iPhone’s built-in speakers is actually preferable overall to listening via the Vappeby.

The little Ikea isn’t a complete bust: it goes fairly loud for a dinky speaker, and even at full volume it still has some headroom left to deliver some dynamic range.

A £30 benchmark

But it’s completely demolished by the Go 4 in every way. JBL’s even smaller speaker is coherent, smooth, relatively bassy, detailed and natural-sounding. It’s actually a joy to listen to, which the Vappeby decidedly is not.

And that’s the problem for the Ikea speaker: it’s a really unpleasant listen.

It might seem that I’m being harsh on a little speaker that costs just £10, but why would you want to spend £10 to make your music sound even worse than it does coming out of your phone?

You wouldn’t, is my guess. So don’t buy the Ikea Vappeby, is my advice. Save a little more and buy the JBL Go 4 instead – you won’t regret it.

MORE:

Check out our full JBL Go 4 review

Here are all of the best budget Bluetooth speakers you can buy right now

Now, I'm not saying you should buy every single color of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen), that would be silly. But as some of the best wireless headphones we've ever tested, you've got your pick of the bunch at a discount price.

For just $399 at Amazon, these noise-canceling cans are hard to beat, as well as bringing a wealth of functionality and a smart, nicely fitting design.

Whether it's Black, Desert Gold, Driftwood Sand, Midnight Violet, or White, you can grab the same $50 discount across them all.

You'll have to be snappy if you want to grab this deal though, since it's only around for a limited time!

When it comes to looking for the best noise-canceling headphones in the business, Bose's QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) are some of the best we've tested.

Improving on the original's sound quality while boosting ANC performance, Bose heard the criticism and listened in closely.

When we reviewed the original five-star QuietComfort Ultra Headphones in 2023, we pointed out a few flaws: you couldn't listen to them wired over USB-C, their battery life was a little wanting, and their spatial audio mode didn't convince. With the 2nd Gen model, Bose has addressed all of these points.

Wired listening over USB-C, a battery life that's been boosted from 24 hours to 30, and a 'Still' version of Bose Immersive Audio that is more satisfying than ever before have all been added.

When it comes to blocking out sound, their 'Quiet' mode led our expert testers to say: "Whether you’re riding public transport or walking past roadworks or construction, they provide a blanket of silence so that your music (or podcasts) can bask in the spotlight, eliminating the deepest rumbles and the majority of mid-band hubbub we encounter on our daily travels. On a plane, only the shrill, high-frequency sound of a baby’s cry penetrates that formidable shield."

And sonically, the QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) are a step up compared to their predecessors, making small but meaningful gains when it comes to clarity and detail.

In our full review, we said: "Considering we peppered our original Ultra review with words like ‘punchy’, ‘entertaining’ and ‘defined’, those improvements make an already entertaining pair of headphones even more so."

Though they're not quite up there with their premium competitors on sound, namely the Sony WH-1000XM6, at this discount price they'll cost you a chunk less cash.

Plus, if you're after Bose's categorical noise cancelation tech, these are the best over-ear headphones you can go for. Now just $399 at Amazon for a limited time.

MORE:

Read our full Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) review

Check out the best headphones: tested by our experts

Sony WH-1000XM6 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): which flagship wireless over-ears are best?

Famed American brand JBL has been making all sorts of audio products for its impressive 80-year lifespan.

In that time, an absolute raft of speakers, amplifiers and portables have been served up by one of the most dominant and productive names in audio, with JBL growing from making domestic loudspeakers to pouring out a host of hi-fi, headphones and portable speakers to become one of the most respected brands of its type in the world. Chances are, you own at least a JBL Bluetooth speaker – or you know somebody who does.

Yet across almost all categories of consumer audio, competition has rarely been so fierce. Apple continues to dominate the wireless earbuds space, whereas myriad novice brands are using aggressively priced, feature-laden offerings to upset the market and undermine the established order.

It’s a scary, ever-changing world out there, so how does JBL reflect on 80 years in the business, and how does it plan to ensure that it makes it to at least 80 more?

To find out, we headed to the company’s Los Angeles headquarters to speak to Sharon Peng, Senior Vice President of Harman, and Mikael Herje, Director of Global Headphones, to talk about the past, present and future of JBL.

Ahead of the curve: JBL’s audio philosophy

To understand JBL’s sonic philosophy, it’s useful to have a little historical context. When James B. Lansing (hence ‘JBL’) started speaker and driver production in 1946, he did so at a pivotal moment in audio history wherein loudspeakers were becoming more ingrained into both the public and private listening spheres.

In 1946, JBL produced the D130 driver, the company’s first mass-produced loudspeaker unit which was used in cinemas, hi-fi systems, guitar amplifiers and even concert systems. By the 1960s and 1970s, it was producing the likes of the C38 Baron, a compact enclosure for domestic use, and the L100-A, the iconic ‘Quadrex’ grille-fronted speaker designed to bring modern acoustic engineering into the home.

At the same time, JBL speakers were soundtracking some of the biggest events in musical history. The 1969 Woodstock festival, perhaps the most famous live music event of all time, used JBL speaker components to power the likes of Jimi Hendrix and The Who, while 1974’s Cal Jam festival saw JBL part of the loudest sound system ever assembled at the time.

JBL’s sound, therefore, was informed by both home and large-scale use, with two very different use cases – public and private – feeding into one unified sonic philosophy. Music had to sound, according to JBL, energetic and alive, but it also had to retain the clarity and intimacy of the original recording. Straddling that particular line has been integral to 80 years of the company’s sonic philosophy.

The famous Harman Curve, meanwhile, continues to be the anchor point for the tuning of JBL’s audio output.

The curve essentially offers a specific target frequency response, based on Harman’s own series of controlled tests. And, for example, with the newly adjusted JBL Tour One M3 flagship over-ears, the brand has added around 3-5dB to the 4-8kHz range and refined the low-to-mid range for a “cleaner, more natural soundstage”.

The Harman Curve continues to guide audio production, but it isn’t the only way of ensuring consistent audio quality. “We have a core panel of people with all different kinds of backgrounds,” says Sharon Peng, including R&D sites in China, Denmark and a large engineering team in Northridge, Los Angeles.

These 40-strong panels are trained to listen to each JBL product critically, ensuring consistent, in-depth feedback during the research and development stages of production.

Competing with giants

It’s a tough question, but somebody has to ask it: how does JBL plan to compete with its heavyweight rivals? Especially in those product areas which are so heavily dominated by certain, seemingly immovable brands. For Bluetooth speakers, it is, perhaps, not such a problem – JBL is easily the market leader in both the US and Europe, with a 34 per cent volume share of the market in 2019.

In other categories, though, it’s trickier to carve out such success. A US study from 2022 found that Apple or Apple-owned brand Beats accounts for roughly 50 per cent of all wireless headphones/earbuds sold in the US, with JBL holding firm with around 11 per cent. That’s a strong showing, no doubt – but it could be stronger.

How? According to Mikael Herje, the answer still lies not only in JBL’s commitment to constantly improving its sound, but in the brand’s versatility. In terms of headphones, “We lead with a headphone that fits everyone, but also on the universal play part – you can connect to any device from any source – that’s kind of unique to us.”

JBL has to offer something unique to the market, all while staying true to its own audio philosophy. For Sharon Peng, that philosophy is expressed in three words: “It’s powerful, it’s dynamic, it’s energetic. For each category, we’re trying to set the bar higher.”

A willingness to adapt to the market doesn’t hurt, either. Changes in the Harman Curve showcased on the tweaked Tour One M3 came about due to changes in users’ listening habits.

With listeners wearing products longer than before, the desire to produce a more forgiving sonic signature became important in order to prevent user fatigue. So the brand aimed for a more balanced sonic signature with less emphasis on bass reproduction.

An exciting new space

Spatial audio is set to be an important thread in JBL's future.

The company’s Harman-owned headquarters feature entire rooms dedicated to the development and refinement of spatial technology, including a bespoke mixing studio and an immersive demonstration room which uses a multi-speaker array to showcase JBL’s development in this exploding area.

We are treated to a demonstration in partnership with Flux’s ‘SPAT’ technology, a creative engine which helps sound engineers design, perform, and deliver immersive audio for live events. And it’s hard not to be impressed by both a bespoke demonstration video and a rendition of Elton John’s Rocket Man as it bounces around the in-built speaker array above, in front of and behind our heads.

JBL is going big on spatial audio – which it sometimes refers to as ‘immersive audio’ – as a means of taking sound beyond the limits of mere audio resolution. According to Sharon Peng, spatial audio “stimulates more areas of the brain than traditional stereo”, boosting the music’s emotional impact and placing the listener “in a believable environment”.

Headphones and earbuds such as the JBL Tour Pro 3 and JBL Tour One M3 have already implemented spatial sound within their specification lists, with JBL keen to push the tech further into the future.

For Mikael Herje, spatial audio isn’t for everyone, but its implementation in certain areas is only going to grow as time goes on. For gamers, for instance, “the spatial feature is very important for the gamer to feel like they’re immersed in the situation. Our R&D team is doing some advanced research, focusing on gaming headphones and our premium sector of the Tour series [of wireless headphones].”

80 more years?

80 years is an impressive milestone for any company, but you can bet that JBL will want to be celebrating quite a few more anniversaries in the future. The world of audio has changed profoundly since James B. Lansing helped develop JBL’s first mass-production drive unit back in 1946, and you can guarantee that it will change even more as technological innovations continue at an increasingly frightening pace.

Where, then, does JBL fit into that future? And, more importantly, how does it plan to shape it? For Harman CTO Armin Prommersberger, AI and cross-platform integration are going to be integral to near-future development.

Harman’s CTO sees a world of audio that is far more connected, with a smart ecosystem of devices communicating and communicating across speakers, headphones, mobile devices and even car audio.

What about that AI? For Prommersberger, it’s a big deal: “The future speaker analyses what you’re playing, how loud you like it, and then adjusts it in real time,” meaning hardware can push beyond physical limitations to create a sound that is more attuned to the user’s individual needs.

JBL has already used its real-time ‘Sound Boost’ audio processing technology that uses AI algorithms to maximise speaker performance for the likes of the Charge 6 and Flip 7 portables, with the same tech now coming to the upcoming Xtreme 5 and Go 5, too.

Sharon Peng agrees that AI is already taking JBL’s sound beyond the limits of physical hardware: “With AI, you can go to the limit to get better sound. We have AI for voice clarity for the soundbars, so you will hear much clearer voice communication. Dynamically, we’re using an AI model to enhance the human voice.”

Whatever happens, keeping the consumer in mind remains a core priority, with both Peng and Herje emphasising the need to keep that signature JBL sonic philosophy at the heart of every product, be it a pair of £100 wireless earbuds or a high-end set of hi-fi speakers.

“The thing is, our standard is the same, but there is a limitation on the physical side depending on hardware,” says Peng. “But in our mind, the standard is the same".

“It has to be consistently repeatable across all the production levels. All of those design principles and system optimisation need to converge. We want to make sure we reach a certain level, subject to materials.”

80 years is a long time to be in the game, and in that time, JBL has produced some legendary products, from its legendary JBL L100 icons to its ever-dominant series of Bluetooth speakers. Whatever the future holds, we're excited to see what the next 80 years has in store for JBL.

MORE:

Read our recent JBL Summit Ama review

Going for a run? We've rounded up some of the best snug-fitting, sweatproof sports earbuds to accompany you

These are the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy

If you have just picked up your first portable projector or are considering taking the plunge, you may have a whole bunch of questions on how to perfect your garden movie nights.

Well, you are in luck. We have gathered the best tips and tricks to give you the best set-up and make the process as stress-free as possible. From simple setting-changes to extra add-ons, these are the elements worth considering before inviting all your mates round for the first screening.

If you are not sure which model to go for, we also have a handy guide to the best portable projectors and the best outdoor projectors available right now.

Invest in a projector screen

First up, getting a projector screen will give your portable projector the best chance of performing well. It may be tempting to set up your projector using a blank wall or a white sheet, but a dedicated screen will ultimately deliver better picture quality.

Which one you choose depends on your individual space, but the main aspect to consider is whether it is a screen with a higher gain, especially when you are watching outdoors.

A gain of 1.0 means the screen reflects all the light that shines on it, while higher numbers mean the image on the screen is brighter when viewed straight ahead – but will suffer at wider viewing angles.

You don't have to spend hundreds to find a screen that does the job, and using one will hugely boost your projector's performance compared with using a wall. If you need some extra help, we have a guide with everything you need to know about projector screens.

Don't use Eco mode

Portable projectors, especially budget models, tend not to offer the most dazzling brightness levels. Of course, every product is different and there are exceptions.

The Wanbo Vali 1, for instance, claims to deliver a maximum of 900 ANSI lumens of brightness. That's twice as much as our best current overall portable projector – the Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air, which offers up to 400 ANSI lumens of brightness.

Regardless of which model you are using, however, you are going to want to switch off the Eco mode if it is available. This feature is designed to reduce the energy consumption of a product by dimming the brightness levels.

While it could come in handy if you are trying to conserve the built-in battery, you should get punchier colours and deeper blacks by turning it off in the settings menu.

Remember a battery pack

Speaking of battery life, we recommend adding a separate battery pack to your shopping list. Portable projectors come with a built-in battery, but their runtime can be underwhelming – especially when you have turned off Eco mode.

The recently tested Xgimi Vibe One, for instance, offers a very specific 1.2 hours of battery life on Eco mode. But, when we watch a film on the projector with the Standard brightness setting, it lasts barely an hour. And, with no USB-C connectivity, there is no possibility to hook it up to a battery pack.

The good news is that plenty of other projector models do allow for this option, as they have a USB-C port. You can find a range easily online, and some brands offer battery packs in a bundle deal. The Xgimi offers a tripod stand-cum-battery pack for its MoGo 4 series, for example.

Add in a Bluetooth speaker

Finally, let's take a look at (or a listen to) your portable projector’s sound quality. We have tested countless portable projector models, and the vast majority have failed to dazzle in the audio department.

That is usually down to the compromise of having a small, compact build that leaves little room for a more comprehensive sound system.

That is where a Bluetooth speaker comes into the mix, as even a budget model can produce a better experience than the sound from the projector.

You may well already own a speaker that can be connected to the projector but, if you don't, there are plenty of options on the market. The dinky JBL Go 4, for example, received a dazzling five-star review from us for its cohesive sound, and it's currently available for just £30 in the UK.

MORE:

Check out the best portable projectors

Here is our review of the Xgimi MoGo 4

These are the best Bluetooth speakers

Sony’s flagship wireless headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM6, are fabulous all-rounders and deliver noise-cancelling technology that can mix it with the best in the business.

They also deliver exceptional levels of detail, a great sense of dynamism, and a spacious, musical sound.

Okay, you get the point. We think they're ridiculously good.

Normally retailing for £399, these What Hi-Fi? Award winners have plummeted in price to just £329 at Amazon.

This is the best price we've seen for the five-star headphones this year, with no guarantees of further discounts this side of Black Friday, which normally happens in November. The deal is available for all finishes: black, silver, blue, and pink.

Today's best Sony WH-1000XM6 deal

Arguably the best noise-cancelling headphones money can buy, the WH-1000XM6 are amazing all-round performers that tick virtually every box you can think of.

They look stylish yet subtle and are extremely comfortable to wear for long periods. Add stunning noise-cancelling and a properly foldable design into the equation, and you have the perfect companions for home listening, work use or travelling.

Codec support includes SBC, AAC and Sony’s higher-quality LDAC, with compatibility with Bluetooth LE Audio and the increasingly popular Auracast sharing technology also on the menu.

In terms of noise-cancelling, the flagship Sony over-ears are on top of their game, using six mics on each earcup which work with their adaptive NC optimiser tech to great effect.

That tech monitors and constantly adapts to outside noise as you’re moving around, resulting in excellent handling of low-frequency and midrange rumbles. This allows you to cut through the noise and just enjoy your tunes.

Call quality is excellent, too. You’ll have no problem being heard, as voices are isolated from background noise extremely well, while even pesky wind noise is cancelled out.

Oh, and did we mention the fact that the XM6 sound sensational, too?

In fact, in our Sony WH-1000XM6 review, we went so far as to say the headphones “deliver the most detailed, dynamic, precise and open sound we’ve heard from a wireless Sony flagship".

We were blown away by their ability to entertain with any genre of music thrown their way, from rock and pop to classical and hip-hop. They manage to make even rivals like the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones "sound out of their depth” in comparison, and those are good headphones with a lot to shout about.

A flagship performance does come with a flagship price tag, but with a £70 discount taking the Sonys down to £329 at Amazon, we think it's definitely a price worth paying for a pair of truly awesome headphones.

MORE:

Check out our Sony WH-1000XM6 review

As well as our Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones review

Our guide to the best noise-cancelling headphones is also well worth a look

We've been recommending the Sony PS-LX310BT fully automatic, Bluetooth turntable for the best part of seven years, and a sequel has long been anticipated. When the day finally came, it was well worth the wait.

Sony's long-awaited return to turntable production came earlier this year, via two new models – the PS-LX3BT (£299 / $400 / AU$469) and the PS-LX5BT (£399 / $500 / AU$599) – both of which grant superb all-around versatility and performance for the price.

We've tested both new record players to five star success, and they have now made it onto our list of the best Bluetooth turntables. Given just how much they have impressed us during their time in our test rooms, the bar has been raised for other potential candidates seeking a place on our exclusive rundown.

A budget deck that does it all

It's best to think of the PS-LX3BT as the more direct de facto successor to the outgoing PS-LX310BT, which for so long had held top place in our guide to the best Bluetooth turntables.

The PS-LX310BT is no more, but its spiritual successor has more than enough talent to pick up where it left off and deliver a versatile and enjoyable performance.

Bluetooth abilities are, of course, on-hand, with the PS-LX3BT offering support for the aptX Adaptive codec for hi-res streaming up to 24-bit/96kHz to compatible Bluetooth speakers and wireless headphones.

Bluetooth pairing is reasonably straightforward to operate, as is the rest of Sony’s well-priced deck. Those large, chunky buttons are easy to use for playback and moving the tonearm, while setup is made simple thanks to the player’s fully automatic operation and pre-fitted moving magnet cartridge. You even get a very capable built-in phono stage, so as a plug-and-play turntable, most of the effort has been taken out of the process. Simply connect the deck to a pair of powered/active speakers (cables are included), and you've got yourself a tidy, compact vinyl system.

More purist decks will offer a step-up in performance, naturally, but for a record player with so many features, we are impressed with how good it sounds for the price. Sure, it likely won't win awards for its utilitarian looks, but we applaud Sony for concentrating its efforts on the sound quality.

There is clarity, a good level of resolution, sonic organisation and overall cohesion. There are plenty of Bluetooth turntables on the market, but very few are able to deliver a sound that is as capable and musically enjoyable as the PS-LX3BT at its price point.

To quote from our review: “We’re taken with just how composed, controlled and well-organised the Sony sounds, marvelling at the effortless cohesion and solidity it brings to the entirety of Michael Jackson’s Bad album.” Result!

What a difference a cartridge makes

On the face of it, the step-up PS-LX5BT isn’t that different from the PS-LX3BT. It looks pretty much the same in terms of size and shape, has a similar tonearm, the same buttons and the same functionalities. Bluetooth, a phono stage, automatic operation; it's all here.

So why are you paying £399 / $500 / AU$599 over the £299 / $400 / AU$469 of the cheaper model? Well, because minor tweaks make the PS-LX5BT the logical step-up, and also worthy of a place on our list of the best Bluetooth turntables.

The moving magnet cartridge fitted to the PS-LX5BT is a step up over that found on the cheaper player, and it also features a slightly different arm tube, a thicker slip mat and detachable interconnect cables. That doesn't seem like much for a £100 / $100 / AU$150 advance, we admit.

Yet it all adds up. As we say in our review: “What we find is that the PS-LX5BT is noticeably better, and does a fine job of justifying its not-inconsiderable price increase over its more entry-level sibling. The costlier deck is more open, spacious-sounding and more detailed than the LX3BT. It grants more space around instruments and gives the music greater breathing space within its broader, wider soundstage.”

Even in isolation, it’s an excellent turntable that proves itself worthy of consideration if you're after a deck that has the conveniences of Bluetooth, automatic operation and built-in phono stage in one unit. Thanks to its organised, authoritative yet punchy sound, it is very easy to recommend.

The LX5BT is brilliantly versatile record player that also works well plugged into a budget hi-fi separates system, and one we rate highly if you like the convenience of the PS-LX3BT but with even greater sonic headroom.

Sony’s return to making Bluetooth-enabled, fully automatic turntables has been a triumph. While you could well go for a price-comparable purist alternative, such as the Rega Planar 1 Plus (which includes a phono stage) that will deliver further gains in subtlety, rhythmic precision and dynamics, both the PS-LX3BT and PS-LX5BT's versatility and ease of use give them their own unique appeal, especially for vinyl newbies.

Given their overall quality and aggressive pricing, they come highly recommended if you're after their particular set of talents.

MORE:

Also read our review of the Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT

Best Bluetooth turntables 2026: wireless record players tried and tested by experts

Vinyl on your radio? Discover four non-traditional but easy ways to listen to your turntable

A few years ago, I somewhat infamously declared that I would never own a turntable.

My main arguments were that turntables just aren’t really compatible with life with a toddler, and that I simply couldn’t afford to embark upon a new hobby as expensive as collecting vinyl.

Quite rightly, I was called out by a few people for not even trying out the whole experiment.

So, for Vinyl Week 2026, I decided to give it a go, and, despite everything about my current set-up being objectively wrong for vinyl, I’ve ended up loving it for reasons that have surprisingly little to do with sound quality

What’s more, if my family has anything to do with it, the turntable will be staying.

Analogue over the airwaves

Since I wrote that last piece about my issues with turntables, my family and I have moved to a bigger house that is theoretically roomy enough for more lovely home cinema and hi-fi kit.

My then dangerously inquisitive and clumsy toddler is also now a relatively sensible seven-year-old who can be fairly relied upon to take care of the various electronic bits and pieces that often find themselves living in or visiting our lounge.

On the other hand, though, I promised when we moved to this new house that I wouldn’t turn the living room into a full-bore cinema, and so my carefully hybridised hi-fi and AV system, which featured 11 speakers and a subwoofer, went into storage and was replaced with a much neater and tidier (and remarkably impressive) Sony HT-A9 system consisting of four wireless speakers and an optional subwoofer.

As brilliant for our needs as the HT-A9 has been, it presented an immediate obstacle to my vinyl experiment: it doesn’t have an analogue audio input. In fact, it doesn’t have any digital audio inputs, either – it’s a pure, simplified, HDMI-only affair.

While RCA-to-HDMI converters do exist, I don’t much like the sound of using one of those. Besides, all of my HDMI sockets are already occupied.

Thankfully, very good Bluetooth turntables now exist, and Bluetooth is something that the HT-A9 does support. So, after a quick call to Kashfia Kabir, my cracking counterpart on What Hi-Fi?’s hi-fi side, a loan of the five-star Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT had been arranged.

A vinyl introduction and spousal approval

An added benefit of going wireless was that I didn’t need to make space for the turntable on the overburdened rack at the front of the room by the TV.

Instead, I could place it on another unit towards the back of the room, next to books, family photos and some sort of fancy air freshener arrangement that I’ve chosen never to ask about.

Rather than object to this invasion of the less gadgety end of our living room, my long-suffering wife immediately approved with a “that looks great!”

I think it helped that the Pro-Ject is a very handsome turntable, particularly in the walnut finish of our review sample, but one of the great things about record players in general is that, unlike almost any other source component, they tend to aesthetically enhance a room.

My son, who is so used to me boxing and unboxing bits of kit in our living room that he hadn’t even taken any notice of proceedings until this point, then looked up from his Nintendo Switch to ask, “What’s that?”

“It’s a turntable”, I replied. “It plays music”.

“Does it play CDs?” he asked.

“No, it plays vinyl records, which are similar but also entirely different,” I said, slightly surprised he was even aware of CDs.

Having predicted this degree of inquisitiveness, I then played my trump card and handed him a flat, square Amazon package to open. Inside, he found a brilliantly bright and colourful copy of the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack.

Excited, he asked, “Is it a CD?”

“No, son, it’s a record”, I replied, before carefully extracting the black disc (I couldn’t afford the fancy coloured version), holding it close to him, pointing to the groove and briefly trying to explain how vinyl works.

“It’s cool that you get this extra stuff with it,” he said, turning his attention away from the boring dad-splanation and towards the poster and card that came in the package.

And fair enough, I thought. Part of the joy of vinyl is undeniably the artwork, the physicality of it and the fact that little extras are often included.

Besides, his attention quickly returned to the record as I placed it on the platter, set it spinning and moved the tonearm into place.

Bluetooth surprises and limitations

Kash had warned me that Bluetooth turntables can be a bit of a pain in the bum. None of them (at least as far as I’m aware) have screens to assist in the pairing process, for starters, so making the connection can be tricky.

I was pleasantly surprised, then, that when I put the Sony HT-A9 into Bluetooth pairing mode and flicked the Bluetooth switch on the Pro-Ject, the two simply connected almost immediately. And, in fact, whenever I now turn the turntable on, the HT-A9 automatically powers up and switches to its Bluetooth input. Neat.

After a tiny bit of lovely, soft, vinyl crackle, Takedown started blaring out of the Sony speakers, and within a few seconds, both my wife and son declared that it sounded great.

I didn’t have the heart to point out that I’d spotted – and heard – a problem.

You see, because the HT-A9 is a home cinema system, it tells you what’s playing on the connected TV, and in the top-right corner of the screen, it was telling me that the Bluetooth signal being received had a data rate of just 327Kbps.

That’s MP3 quality, and while I had to agree with my family that a certain amount of vinyl charm was still present in what we were hearing, and that it sounded surprisingly dynamic given the amount of compression going on, it wasn’t doing anywhere near justice to the source – or getting close to the quality of streaming an uncompressed digital track to the system.

The problem, it turns out, is that while the Pro-Ject turntable supports aptX HD, the Sony system doesn’t support aptX at all. Instead, it predictably favours Sony’s own LDAC codec, which the Pro-Ject does not. This meant that the devices were falling back on basic, very compressed, SBC Bluetooth.

The solution? There isn’t one really. At least not with my system as it stands.

Bitten by the bug

Importantly, though, this limitation wasn’t actually ruining our enjoyment of the listening experience, and we spent a full afternoon swapping out records and properly focusing on music in a way that, as a family, we very rarely have before.

And that made me realise that there are benefits to having a turntable that go beyond audio quality. My son had literally never interacted with physical music media until this point – music to him had always been instant, invisible and infinitely skippable – and his fascination with the artwork, the spinning record and the turntable mechanism was a joy to behold.

We were suddenly listening to whole albums again, as well, and after my little boy got over his shock that he couldn’t simply skip a track he wasn’t keen on, this became a blessing, too.

So, as I mentioned, both my wife and son, to my great surprise, are very keen to keep hold of the turntable as long as possible, and my son has said that he’d like to start collecting vinyl.

I’m absolutely thrilled with that. No, I can’t afford to support an extensive record-collecting habit, but a new album every 2-3 months or so? I can probably do that. And I’m reminded that that is pretty much how I collected and consumed music when I was young, albeit on cassettes and then CDs.

Next steps

Of course, keeping the (or ‘a’) turntable does still present a problem: while my family might love the way it sounds currently, I’m much more aware of how much it’s being compromised, and I can’t live with that.

I don’t want to start from scratch, though, and, as I’ve mentioned, the Sony HT-A9 system has been brilliant for us.

The solution I’ve come up with, then, is to look into adding a pair of wireless, powered hi-fi speakers just for music.

I’ve long admired KEF’s LSX models, and while these don’t support aptX, they do have an optical input, into which I could connect an aptX HD-compatible Bluetooth receiver.

The brand’s newer Coda W speakers are bigger and less visually exotic than the LSX II LTs, but they do support aptX HD. They could be a solution, although they don’t have built-in streaming capabilities, which would be handy to have as well.

Alternatively, I could save some money and look at the Ruark MR1 Mk3 speakers, which also support aptX HD right out of the box. I’m slightly concerned that they may not be beefy enough for my relatively large living room, but I won’t know unless I try.

So, yes, it’s system upgrade time, and you could say that taking the Pro-Ject turntable home has actually created a headache for me. I don’t see it like that, though.

For starters, researching and trying out new bits of kit is the biggest thrill of this hobby of ours, and my system has been static for a while now. It’s nice to have a new project.

Most of all, though, this experiment has inspired my wife and I to change the way we consume music, at least some of the time.

My son, meanwhile, has discovered a whole new way to interact with music that reminds me of how I fell in love with artists and albums when I was young, and that’s something I’m keen to nurture and support as much as possible.

So, while a few years ago I was adamant I’d never own a turntable, I'm now figuring out how to build a system around one – and, more importantly, how to share it.

MORE:

Check out all of our Vinyl Week coverage

Here are the best Bluetooth turntables you can buy right now

Have a read of our full Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT review

Wind the clock back by 20 or 30 years, and there was essentially one main way you'd be listening to a turntable. Provided you didn't have a model with speakers built into the unit, you'd be connecting your deck to a traditional hi-fi system, using a separate amplifier and stereo speakers to create that classic vinyl setup.

That's no longer the case. In this era of wireless streaming, Bluetooth support and integrated systems, there are so many ways you can enjoy listening to your turntable – especially modern ones with versatile features – beyond plugging it into a classic hi-fi set-up.

Just look at the recently reviewed Sony PS-LX3BT and PS-LX5BT, and the five-star Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT, all of which offer Bluetooth streaming, as well as built-in phono stages. The premium end is catered for, too, courtesy of Cambridge's very capable Audio Alva TT V2. Vinyl is here to stay, and in 2026, there are more ways to enjoy your records than ever.

Bluetooth speakers

Kids these days. They want the style and social cache of a sleek turntable, but also the modern convenience of Bluetooth without all of those trailing wires infesting their bedroom or student digs. Talk about wanting the world on a plate.

Luckily, you can have your cake and eat it when it comes to a modern vinyl set-up. Get yourself a Bluetooth-ready turntable – our list of the best Bluetooth turntables will see you right – and you can beam your music out wirelessly to a compatible Bluetooth speaker as your records spin merrily away. It's something we tried with the Sony PS-LX3BT Bluetooth turntable and a JBL Charge 6 portable speaker, and in all honesty, the result was surprisingly good.

As we wrote in our review: "The resultant sound hangs together admirably. Nas' Illmatic sounds alive and characterful, with bolder tunes such as N.Y. State of Mind still punching through with verve and intent."

It's not how we'd recommend listening to your vinyl on a day to day basis, but if you want to impress your mates or just get your tunes firing quickly and easily without getting your whole system set up, pairing it to your Bluetooth speaker can be a great way to go.

Wireless headphones

Many Bluetooth turntables sell their wire-free abilities as being perfect for connecting up to a pair of wireless headphones to give your listening sessions a bit more privacy.

Again, we don't necessarily feel that beaming out your lovely vinyl records via lossy Bluetooth is going to provide you with the absolute pinnacle of sound quality, but it actually makes a lot of sense if you have a Bluetooth-ready record player and want a quick and easy way to switch from speakers to something more private.

Let's say it's getting into the evening, and while you've been pumping out your records with great aplomb to a nearby set of speakers (wired or otherwise), the rest of the family is just about ready to go to bed. You don't want the tunes to stop, nor do you want to disturb your relatives and spend the next few weeks sleeping in the shed.

The solution? Dig out your best wireless headphones – such as the excellent Sony WH-1000XM6 – and keep your listening confined to over your ears. It also means you aren't physically tethered to your turntable with a cable; you can roam free and head into the kitchen (within range, of course) and listen uninterrupted to your records.

Some decks even offer hi-res codec support – aptX HD on the premium Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 (£1700 / $1999 / AU$3699) to even aptX Adaptive on the Sony turntables. This lets you stream your tunes in 24-bit high-resolution audio (up to 48kHz on HD; 96kHz on Adaptive) to compatible cans, such as the Sennheiser HDB 630 (£400 / $500 / AU$1000). Note however, that these are still lossy Bluetooth methods, so won't give you absolute sonic fidelity.

Powered and active speakers

Now this would make for a very nice little modern hi-fi system. Get hold of a pair of KEF Coda W (£799 / $1000 / AU$1450) active speakers, connect them up to a turntable, either via Bluetooth or via the supplied phono input, and you've got yourself a neat, great-sounding vinyl set-up that won't take up much space on your desktop, rack or wherever you keep your turntable.

With active speakers, you've got a couple of options regarding how you listen. Bluetooth is convenient if you have a compatible turntable, such as the versatile Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT (£479 / $599 / AU$870), and don't want the clutter of cables.

If you can't stretch to the Coda W, don't worry. Budget and compact powered/active speakers with Bluetooth, such as the Award-winning Ruark MR1 Mk3 (£399 / $579 / AU$899) and five-star Onkyo GX-30ARC (£339 / $349 / AU$649) are great candidates for plugging in your turntable via Bluetooth for a neat system that you can fit onto your desk.

The same goes for any active speakers that don't include a phono stage – such as KEF's LSX II LT (£899 / $999 / AU$1695) wireless speaker system. That's a tidy system that gives you high-quality, hi-res wireless streaming in a pair of stylish speakers. There's no phono input here, so using Bluetooth for the turntable connection makes for a convenient, compact vinyl-and-streaming system.

Don't want to use Bluetooth? Many powered/active speakers that include a phono stage have an audio input, so you can always use a wired connection for better sound quality and/or in case the deck you're using doesn't support Bluetooth.

With some turntables, such as Sony's latest duo of affordable Bluetooth decks, their built-in phono stage is so good that it doesn't matter if your active speakers have a phono stage or not. Alternatively, to use the Sony's superior phono stage and bypass that of the Ruark/Onkyo speakers, simply plug the turntable into the 3.5mm audio input (not the phono input) – you'll just need an RCA phono to 3.5mm interconnect cable.

If Bluetooth isn't a priority, but you want affordability and a built-in phono stage to hook up to your active speakers, then the Rega Planar 1 Plus turntable (currently around £399 / $595 / AU$899) is a tip-top sonic pick.

Bluetooth-ready radio

Yes, you can listen to vinyl on a good old fashioned wireless, wirelessly.

It's an unconventional way to enjoy your records, but many digital radios now boast Bluetooth reception as standard and sound great with music, too, such as the Award-winning Roberts Revival Petite 2 (around £100) and the Ruark Audio R1S (£299 / $380 / AU$649). Simply connect your Bluetooth turntable to the radio's Bluetooth, and off you go.

Vinyl records playing on a radio via modern Bluetooth technology? It's the sort of thing that would have blown Marconi's mind.

In truth, it's no different to beaming your tunes to a Bluetooth speaker, as demonstrated above, although radios don't tend to feature higher-quality codecs. It does lead to some wonderfully quirky combinations – we tried the ultra-portable Audio-Technica Sound Burger with the Revival Petite 2 radio, which was surprisingly fun.

You might even end up getting a very nice sonic return if you're happy to pay a little more for a radio with great sound quality, such as the Revo SuperConnect Stereo (£489 / $599 / AU$899) or the Ruark R2 Mk4 (£479 / $590 / AU$920) for a talented if unconventional vinyl set-up.

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The great appeal of the recently-reviewed Sony PS-LX5BT, and indeed its cheaper PS-LX3BT sibling, is how many ways there are to listen to the turntable.

You can stream to wireless headphones via Bluetooth or plug it in to a classic stereo set-up, while the deck's built-in phono stage means you can hook the deck up directly to a pair of active/powered speakers if you're not keen on traditional hi-fi separates.

For those who simply don't have the space or funds for multiple boxes or a classic hi-fi set-up, and can only house, say, a pair of powered or active speakers on a desk, then you're in luck. Because the both the PS-LX5BT and PS-LX3BT have the talent to create a great-sounding and compact desktop vinyl system.

That's because the phono stage built inside the Sony automatic turntables is really rather very good. That's a real boon, especially if you're dealing with powered or active speakers whose abilities can slightly fall short when it comes to their own built-in phono stage.

Take the KEF Coda W, an immensely gifted pair of active standmounts, but whose phono stage is not what we consider to be a great performer. As we said in our review, hooking a Rega Planar 3 RS Edition to the speakers offers "a clear and enjoyable listen", but it's "lacking in terms of dynamics and clarity compared with the KEFs’ other inputs".

Using the Sony PS-LX5BT turntable's phono stage is the natural way around this issue, and means that you don't have to buy any external phono preamps or even invest in a separate stereo amplifier if you don't wish to. The phono stages of both decks are so good, they'll ably give your KEF speakers a vinyl boost, and make for an attractive, compact mini-system in the process.

These talents extend to other powered or active models we've tested over the past few months and years, too. We're immensely keen on the Award-winning Ruark MR1 Mk3 (£399 / $579 / AU$899) powered desktop speakers, and while we praised the phono stage quality rather highly in our review, we found that the one in the PS-LX5BT and PS-LX3BT is markedly better in terms of clarity and dynamics.

Pairing either one of those decks with the Ruarks would make for a wonderfully neat, engaging little vinyl system – again, no amps or other separates, just the compact MR1 Mk3 and one of the Sony turntables.

The cheaper Onkyo GX-30ARC (£299 / $349 / AU$649) would also be a lovely fit. Again, the desktop-friendly Onkyos have their own phono stage baked in – and it's actually rather good, truth be told – but you'll eke out greater sonic gains if you switch to the phono stage of the new Sony turntable. The Onkyos can sound just a touch removed and analytical, so using either Sony deck just helps to give a bit more punch and pizzazz to proceedings.

Both the Sony PS-LX5BT and PS-LX3BT are impressively versatile turntables which sound excellent for the affordable price you'll pay for either model. We would point out that, while they share the same phono stage, the more costly LX5BT's better cartridge and better mat mean it sounds clearer, more open and more detailed than its cheaper companion.

Plus, if you want to integrate either deck into a more 'traditional' hi-fi set-up, you can bypass it its internal phono stage, too. They both have the natural sonic talents to stretch to accommodate some really rather good amplifiers, as evidenced by how well they play ball with the excellent Arcam A5+ amp (using its own phono stage) in our tests.

Nevertheless, it's gratifying to know that if you just want a simple, two-component system that can be set up in a matter of moments, both Sonys' built-in phono stages are talented enough to cope – and are even better than those of some of the best active and powered speakers available on the market.

Much of the appeal of both the PS-LX5BT and PS-LX3BT was clearly to provide a fast, simple and user-friendly way of getting your records spinning with the minimum of hassle – it's an ideal solution for vinyl newbies or those short on space. Pair either five-star deck with the KEFs, the Ruarks or the Onkyos, and that's exactly what you'll be getting.

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These are the best Bluetooth turntables we've tested

There’s a new AV receiver on the block: meet the Denon AVR-S980H, which is set to go toe-to-toe with one of our current Award-winners.

The new unit is being pitched as a scalable option that can run everything from basic stereo setups, all the way up to a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos or 7.2-channel system with 90 watts of muscle per channel.

Lyle Smith, president of Sound United at Harman, added: “With the AVR-S980H, we’re giving families an easy way to make every day experiences feel more engaging and far more enjoyable.”

Audyssey room calibration is onboard, adding to its "no hassle" setup and usage chops.

For people looking to cut the cord, the receiver supports Denon's Home speakers as rears, namely the new 200, 400 and 600 models.

The company says this is ideal for those wanting to create a “fuller home theatre experience in spaces where running wires isn’t practical.”

For music fans, the system supports Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and HEOS (Denon’s multi-room music streaming technology).

In terms of gaming, Denon has included support for 1440p pass-through and AMD FreeSync, which it says delivers “smoother visuals and more responsive gameplay.”

To tinker with the settings of the AVR, you can use the TV’s on-screen menu, the remote app, or a web-based interface from your smartphone or PC.

It's available now on Amazon for £799, although the retailer states it will ship "within three to seven months".

At that price, it has tough competition against our current best overall AVR – the Sony TA-AN1000. Although the Sony model launched at a higher price, it is now regularly available for around £699.

In our review, we praised the TA-AN1000 for its precise sound and impressive dynamics, ultimately earning it a What Hi-Fi? Award.

We will have to wait until we get the Denon model into our test room to deliver a verdict, but its impressive specifications have caught our eye. Hopefully, we'll get one in for review soon.

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Good news, everyone! Sony is back making Bluetooth turntables, introducing two new decks into the fold: the Sony PS-LX5BT and its slightly cheaper sibling, the PS-LX3BT.

The just-reviewed PS-LX3BT did a sterling job in combining Bluetooth streaming, a built-in phono stage, fully automatic operation and superb sonic performance at a very affordable price. While the PS-LX5BT promises all of those same features from a more premium deck, it will have its work cut out if it wants to justify the step-up in price from its five-star sibling.

After all, the differences between the two fully automatic turntables are subtle: a step-up cartridge, slightly different arm tube, mat and finish, and detachable interconnect cables. For those seemingly minor differences, you’ll be paying roughly £100 / $100 / AU$150 to get your hands on the more premium model.

That seems like a rather steep advance, so has the PS-LX5BT done enough to make itself recommendable over its more affordable alternative?

Build & design

While it’s a step up from the PS-LX3BT in terms of price, telling the PS-LX5BT apart from its cheaper sibling does take more than a mere glance. Given its identical shape and layout, you’d be forgiven for getting one deck mistaken for the other in a game of spot the difference.

That extra money has gone somewhere, though. The darker finish of the PS-LX5BT is a little more appealing than its cheaper counterpart, while the provided rubber mat is slightly thicker and of a noticeably better quality. Also, whereas the PS-LX3BT has captive audio interconnect cables, the cables on the PS-LX5BT are detachable, offering the potential for improved performance if you wish to swap them out for a better set of interconnects.

This being a fully automatic turntable, operation is not a complex affair. The PS-LX5BT is easy to use and responsive to our commands, without you ever needing to touch the tonearm (bar unclipping it from the arm rest). Playing and pausing tracks is performed via ‘start’ and ‘stop’ buttons respectively, and once your record arrives at the end, the tonearm will automatically move back to its start position without the need for a manual reset. Handy.

Elsewhere, the belt-drive design features an aluminium tonearm with a precision pivot bearing, as well as an aluminium die-cast platter, all of which are made to a satisfying solid standard.

The PS-LX5BT is supplied with a pre-fitted moving magnet cartridge with a 2g tracking force, and we suspect that a good deal of the money you’ll pay, and hopefully the performance you’ll receive, is down to this step-up model over the one on the LX3BT. Additionally, you can remove the cartridge from the tonearm in this turntable, although you can only do a like-for-like replacement here, as you can’t adjust the tracking weight or bias for a different cartridge, which limits its upgradability somewhat.

Even with these minor tweaks adding to its prestige, the PS-LX5BT doesn’t necessarily exude high perceived value. It’s well made and reasonably substantial, but this is clearly a turntable that’s been designed for usability first and aesthetics second. Everything is functional and a tad utilitarian, and doesn’t have the glamour or sleekness of, say, a price-comparable Rega Planar 1 Plus (currently £399 / $599 approx / AU$899).

That, of course, is much of the point. Record players such as these are supposed to be minimum-fuss affairs, and, thanks to those large, hard-to-miss buttons for starting and stopping your records, as well as the dials for switching between 33 ⅓ and 45 RPM speeds and 7 and 12-inch records, that aim is achieved admirably by Sony’s simple, intuitive layout.

Still, we do have a few very minor quibbles. The player’s on/off button is found at the back, making it hard to access, while a permanent ‘on’ light might have been useful for taking the guesswork out of whether your PS-LX5BT is actually ready to use. Minor things, but worth noting.

Aside from that, this isn’t a turntable that’s likely to cause many problems for the user. Thanks to its automatic design, all you have to do is pop the rubber mat onto the platter, select your favourite record, hook up your cables to an amplifier or active speakers, switch your deck on and press start. Bob’s your uncle, you’re a vinyl aficionado!

Features

The PS-LX5BT sports Bluetooth streaming powers to satisfy modern users with varied listening devices. There’s support for the hi-res aptX Adaptive codec for streaming files wirelessly up to 24-bit/96kHz to compatible Bluetooth speakers and headphones, with the PS-LX5BT letting you have up to eight different devices paired at any one time.

Bluetooth streaming is reasonably easy to get up and running: just press the Bluetooth button in the front left corner of your turntable to put it into pairing mode and wait for it to connect to your nearby wireless device. As we found with the PS-LX3BT, however, there are a few minor pitfalls of which to be aware.

The Sony deck won’t play anything if you’re stuck in pairing mode, for instance, and sometimes you might need to switch out of said mode with a forced reset, either by turning your turntable off and on again or by changing the input on your connected amp and switching back to the correct phono one. That worked for us, anyway.

Those few kinks aside, it isn’t tricky to get sound beaming from your turntable to, say, a nearby JBL Charge 6 portable speaker or pair of Sony WH-1000XM6 over-ears. Nor, in fact, is it particularly challenging to get the PS-LX5BT cooperating across all modes of use – everything is clearly laid out, boldly labelled and, for the most part, doesn’t require any fiddly setting up in the first place.

Like its cheaper sibling, the PS-LX5BT comes fitted with a built-in phono stage, making it more versatile to use. This means you can connect it to an amplifier that doesn’t have its own internal phono stage, or even plug it directly to a pair of active speakers.

The operation is switchable too, meaning you can opt to bypass the Sony’s phono stage entirely to use either a separate external phono stage or one built into your stereo amplifier. Just remember to toggle the ‘line/phono’ switch found at the back of the record player for your chosen set-up.

Sound

Most of our listening to the PS-LX5BT is performed with a pair of Epos ES-7N speakers alongside the Award-winning Arcam A5+ amp (£749 / $1200 / AU$1595). We’re also keen to see if the LX5BT is a major upgrade from the PS-LX3BT, so we do a little switching between the two to discern whether those minor additions have paid sonic dividends.

What we find is that the PS-LX5BT is noticeably better, and does a fine job of justifying its not-inconsiderable price increase over its more entry-level sibling. The costlier deck is more open, spacious-sounding and more detailed than the LX3BT. It grants more space around instruments and gives the music greater breathing space within its broader, wider soundstage.

The PS-LX5BT is clearly the better option sonically, but even in isolation it’s an excellent turntable that soon proves itself worthy of consideration. The Sony spinner’s organised, authoritative sound deftly balances poise and punch, as evidenced by the manner in which it handles the heavier tracks peppered across Nas’ Illmatic LP.

Some acoustic guitar-focused loveliness courtesy of Will McNicol gives the PS-LXB5T a chance to show off its handling of subtle instrumental textures, and the Sony rises to the task with aplomb as accompanying violins and resonant cellos sing with authority. These are mature, finely-composed compositions, something which the PS-LX5BT seems to understand as it reflects such characteristics in its mature, even-handed delivery.

Sony’s well-priced player can cut loose and have a good time when called upon, too. We spend a good chunk of time ploughing through some contemporary drum’n’bass courtesy of Rudimental’s Rudim3ntal album, with the PS-LX5BT capably switching gears as it sheds its opening night tuxedo and dons its roadman tracksuit to bring weight, muscle and rhythmic propulsion to track after heady track.

Bluetooth performance is solid, too. Naturally, you’ll get more detail and clarity when going wired, but as we beam Arcade Fire’s Pink Elephant record to a nearby JBL Charge 6, we’re impressed with how much of the music’s inherent feeling is retained. Voices remain authentic and natural sounding, while instruments and textures are still clear, nimble and punchy enough to keep us invested in our tunes.

If you want to push things further, then switching to an outboard phono stage will proffer even greater sonic gains. When moving over to the phono input of the Arcam A5+, it’s clear that the Award-winning stereo amplifier’s phono stage is clearer, more detailed and more musical than the one built into the Sony deck.

Verdict

The PS-LXB5T is an excellent do-it-all turntable. More purist alternatives, such as the Rega Planar 1 Plus, will reward you with a more musical, engaging sound and, to our eyes, a more attractive design, but that’s a deck with no Bluetooth and a manual operation.

On paper, the cheaper PS-LX3BT might appear to be the better-value buy. But if you’re looking for longer term satisfaction thanks to a noticeable step up in sonic performance and versatile features, the PS-LX5BT more than justifies its place within the market.

Review published: 15th April 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 4
• Features 5

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The Sony PS-LX310BT has been sitting proudly on our list of the best Bluetooth turntables for a number of years now, and for good reason. The five-star record player debuted all the way back in 2019, and yet in the years since its release, it’s been nigh-on unrivalled for its hugely appealing blend of simple usability, sonic prowess and outstanding value.

Picking up the PS-LX310BT’s mantle is the new Sony PS-LX3BT which, along with its more premium sibling, the PS-LX5BT, sees Sony make a much-anticipated return to Bluetooth turntable production.

The new LX3BT model promises the same combination of usability, flexibility and overall value as its predecessor, and if it can juggle a quite impressive number of proverbial balls while keeping costs low, and performance a priority, Sony may be onto another low-cost winner.

Build & design

The Sony PS-LX3BT isn’t the most alluring turntable in the world by any stretch of the imagination. Lift it up and you’ll be surprised by how light and somewhat insubstantial it feels in your hands, while that rather functional all-grey finish isn’t exactly going to set pulses racing unless you happen to be taking a break from watching paint dry.

Yet what were we expecting for this kind of money? At this level, we’re simply seeking a deck that’s easy to operate and simple to navigate, and that’s exactly what Sony has delivered – a fully automatic turntable that you can get playing straight out of the box.

In truth, we find the PS-LX3BT simple and unfussy in its set up and operation. The automatic operation means you don’t even need to touch the tonearm here. Playing and stopping tracks is made easy via ‘start’ and ‘stop’ buttons respectively, and once your record has reached its end, the tonearm will automatically return to its resting start position without the need for manual resetting.

The trio of control buttons on the player aren’t luxurious to the touch – if anything, they feel cheap and a little tacky – but they're so large and clearly marked that even your nan could operate them.

The new player features an aluminium tonearm with a precision pivot bearing, as well as an aluminium die-cast platter and a rubber mat. At the end of the tonearm is a pre-fitted moving magnet cartridge with a tracking force of 3.5g, but as there’s no easy way to remove the cartridge from the tonearm, your options for upgrading are pretty limited – though it is possible to replace the stylus.

This being an automatic turntable, there’s very little for you to do aside from take your new purchase out of the box, set it down onto a stable and level surface, hook it up to an amp and dig out your chosen vinyl. There’s no need to set tracking weights or fiddle with cartridges – plug it in, switch on the power button, release the tonearm from its fastener, press ‘start’, and the PS-LX3BT will do the rest.

Okay, the trickiest task you may have to contend with might be attaching the removable transparent lid, but even then, it’s hardly rocket science. If we were being picky, having the on/off switch at the front of the deck might be a little more user-friendly than having to lean over to search out the power button housed right at the back, and an ‘on’ light might have been nice for indicating when the turntable is powered up, but neither are huge issues.

This isn’t glamorous design, but it is pleasingly functional and well-suited to users who might not have much, or any, previous experience of owning a record player.

Features

Look above your trio of start, stop and up/down buttons on the PS-LX3BT and you’ll see chunky dials for switching between record sizes – either 7 or 12 inches – or picking either 33⅓ or 45 RPM speeds.

The deck also has Bluetooth, offering support for the aptX Adaptive codec for hi-res streaming up to 24-bit/96kHz to compatible Bluetooth speakers and wireless headphones.

Dear old nan might find getting to grips with the nuts and bolts of her new-fangled Sony deck easy enough, but she’s possibly in danger of coming unstuck when it comes to Bluetooth. It’s generally a simple process to get the PS-LX3BT beaming out to receptive headphones or portable speakers – just press the large Bluetooth button to put your record player into pairing mode and your nearby wireless device should connect automatically – but there are a few potential pitfalls to watch out for.

If you’re unwittingly stuck in pairing mode, for instance, you’ll get no sound from your deck. We also found that getting out of said mode sometimes requires a bit of a manual reset, either by turning the turntable off and on again, or by moving away from the connected input on your amp and then switching back.

Quite impressively for a turntable of this type and price, the PS-LX3BT is equipped with a built-in phono stage, which is handy if your amplifier doesn't have one. This also means you can plug the turntable straight into a pair of active speakers, without needing to go down the traditional hi-fi separates route.

Alternatively, you can bypass the Sony phono output to use either a separate phono stage for an upgrade path or one built into a compatible stereo amplifier, such as the one found in the Rotel A8 or Arcam A5+ amps. Just make sure you’ve toggled the switch on the back from ‘line’ to ‘phono’ if you’re using an external phono stage.

Sound

We want a revealing system to expose the PS-LX3BT’s talents, so perform much of our listening with the Sony’s line-level output connected to the Award-winning Arcam A5+ (£749 / $1200 / AU$1595) integrated amplifier to test the turntable’s built-in phono stage. The speakers we use, meanwhile, are the Epos ES-7N (£1890 / $2850).

For a deck that does a lot on a shoestring, it’s perfectly fair to keep one’s expectations reasonably modest. Even with that in mind, it doesn’t take long before the PS-LX3BT confounds our expectations admirably. A sprinkle of textural insight here, a good dose of punch there – this is a far heartier metaphorical meal than we’d perhaps anticipated.

If our gastronomic metaphors are getting a little muddled, there’s very little that’s muddled about how the PS-LX3BT goes about presenting our music, as we move from classic pop through to drum’n’bass and a bit of good old fashioned prog metal. We’re taken with just how composed, controlled and well-organised the Sony sounds, marvelling at the effortless cohesion and solidity it brings to the entirety of Michael Jackson’s Bad album.

With that solid sonic foundation in place, the Sony deck has more than enough room to further showcase its talents. Jackson sounds like his iconic self as he howls, screeches and croons his way through the likes of Dirty Diana and Man In The Mirror, with the PS-LX3BT granting genuine energy and personality to the King of Pop’s irrepressible vocal stylings.

In fact, the Sony has a genuine sense of musicality, and at this level that was never a guarantee. Rudimental’s recent Rudim3ntal record is appropriately forthright and punchy through the PS-LX3BT, while Nas’ Illmatic walks a satisfying line between hazy smoothness and authoritative punch. The highest compliment we can give? We’ve completely forgotten we’re listening to a fully automatic turntable that only costs £299 / $400 / AU$469.

Okay, there were always going to be limitations. Whack on Avenged Sevenfold’s barmy avant-garde metal workout Life Is But A Dream, and just occasionally you’ll hear the Sony start to creak under the pressure as it strains to keep up with the constant pace changes across what is an often bafflingly bizarre and complex record.

Still, the overall ability displayed really is commendable, and that’s before we’ve tested out Bluetooth performance. We beam some of Illmatic out to a pair of Sony WH-1000XM6 over-ear headphones, a JBL Charge 6 Bluetooth speaker and even a pair of Ruark MR1 Mk3 desktop speakers and, lo and behold, the resultant sound hangs together admirably. Nas sounds alive and characterful, with bolder tunes such as N.Y. State of Mind still punching through with verve and intent.

While playing the Sony via its line-level output connected to the Arcam A5+ produced many nods of appreciation from our testers, switching things over to the Arcam’s built-in phono stage does take things up a notch. Through the Arcam’s phono input, the performance is more open and dynamic, all while adding greater leading-edge precision to the likes of Jackson’s Billie Jean and Man In The Mirror.

That said, switching back to the Sony’s built-in phono stage doesn’t evidence a disastrous drop-off. Music is a little smaller in its scale and loses some of the Arcam’s clarity, but as we quickly readjust, we find that our affections for the PS-LX3BT’s core performance haven’t been dampened much by hearing what the A5+ has to offer.

Sony’s phono stage is still a good one, especially when you consider how much the PS-LX3BT can do for such a modest outlay. To make an impromptu desktop system, we connect a pair of Ruark MR1 Mk3 to our test turntable, moving back and forth between the Sony's phono stage and that of the Ruarks, and discovering that the PS-LX3BT’s phono input is clearer, more open and more detailed than that of the MR1 Mk3.

Verdict

Right now, it’s hard to think of a turntable that does so much so well yet costs so relatively little. If what you seek is a plug-and-play automatic turntable with Bluetooth powers, impressive ease of use and a sound that’s accomplished and enjoyable, the Sony PS-LX3BT is a top-to-bottom delight.

For all those nervously setting out into choppy vinyl waters, this is the boat that will see you sailing blissfully through. Highly recommended.

Review published: 14th April 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 4
• Features 5

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