Sony’s neckband speaker puts Atmos on your shoulders

Sony has announced a neckband speaker designed to create an immersive personal cinema experience in the SRS-NS7.
The SRS-NS7 is the first wireless neckband speaker to bring Dolby Atmos and 360 Spatial Sound to Sony’s Bravia XR model TVs.
Sony says the neckband is capable of delivering “crystal clear acoustics and powerful sound pressure for richer, deeper sounds for the ultimate personal cinema experience”. This is made possible due to its X-Balanced Speaker Unit, which increases sound pressure while reducing distortion.
The upward facing speaker ensures the sound is directed at you to lessen your chances of disturbing your family, while a passive radiator boosts low frequency response for thumping bass.

The neckband itself is flexible and ergonomically designed to fit comfortably around the neck, while Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer app can take photos of your ears to customise the listening experience.
The neckband comes with a wireless transmitter that you can connect to your TV with an optical cable and USB cable.
Then all you need to do is pair the transmitter with the neckband via Bluetooth to create a virtual arrangement of Dolby Atmos speakers around your head.
Along with your TV, you can also connect the SRS-NS7 with your laptop, tablet or smartphone. The neckband supports Sony’s 360 Reality Audio on a smartphone, which is compatible with a number of music streaming apps including Deezer, nugs.net and TIDAL.
The SRS-NS7 has a battery life of up to 12 hours, with a 10-minute fast charge able to provide up to an hour of listening.
There’s also an IPX4 water resistance rating, support for hands-free calling and Multipoint Connection, so you can connect to more than one device at a time.
If you don’t want to splash out on a neckband speaker, you can also achieve this 360 Spatial Sound experience on select Sony headphones by pairing them with the WLA-NS7 wireless transmitter and a Bravia XR TV.
Compatible headphones include the WH-1000XM3, WF-1000XM3, WI-1000XM2, WH-1000XM4, WF-1000XM4, WH-XB900N, WH-XB700, WH-H910N, WH-H810, WF-C500 and the WH-XB910N.
The SRS-NS7 is priced at £270 / €299, while the WLA-NS7 costs just £50 / €60. Both will be available to pick up from November 2021.