You know how it is when running with earbuds stuck in your sound holes. You can’t hear shit and that could be a dangerous thing in open environments. With this in mind, Sony presents its solution: Sony Off-Ear Headphones.
As the product name implies, Sony Off-Ear Headphones do not touch your ears. It is much like the Zulu Audio’s wearable speaker and neckband speakers we saw from LG, Panasonic, and even Sony itself, except that this “wearable speaker” is very much tinier.
So, yeah, instead of earbuds or cans, it is a speaker and inside each speaker is a large-diameter 16 mm sound driver that promised to deliver natural, immersive audio.
With nothing blocking the ear canal, users can easily hear their surroundings and yet, not the body-conducted sound of their own footsteps.
In addition, it is extremely lightweight, tipping the scales at a mere 34g or 1.2 oz. and it has a design that offers both comfort and stability when running, and it is, of course, IP rated – or in this case, IPX4 water resistance rating.
Audio transmission, including calls, are wireless via Bluetooth. Finally, the onboard, rechargeable battery provides up to 10 hours of use on a single charge.
Sony Japan has taken to Indiegogo to crowdfund its latest headphones. Yes. Sony. Indiegogo.The goal? 300 perks. At the time of this writing, the campaign that started on November 1st has seen over 400 perks claimed.
Limited numbers are being sold at 11,300 yen or about 99 U.S. dollars. Be warned though. The product won’t ship until August 2022. The campaign will end on November 30, 2021.
Images: Sony Electronics.
