Philips looks to take on Sonos with its new Fidelio Wireless AV platform
Control your multi-room speaker setup using only your phone
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Philips has taken the wraps off a new multi-room speaker platform called Fidelio Wireless AV that can act as a control center for your Philips speakers and TVs.
According to Philips, the Fidelio Wireless AV is based on DTS’ popular Play-Fi system and says that once you’re set up with it, it’ll be easy to control playback between compatible TVs, mobile devices, soundbars, and speakers located throughout the home
The first speakers to be included in the platform are the Fidelio FB1 wireless soundbar, the Fidelio FW1 wireless subwoofer, and the Fidelio FS1 bookshelf wireless speaker, all of which should be available in the second half of 2022.
Of course, you won’t need every product in the series to create a system - you can start with one or two of the speakers, and work your way up from there, building your home theater setup bit by bit.
Analysis: This sounds an awful lot like Sonos…
When any company introduces a new multi-room audio product, it’s hard not to immediately draw some parallels toSonos- a company that built its entire reputation on wireless multi-room, multi-channel setups that could be built one piece at a time.
The big differentiating factor between Sonos and Fidelio Wireless AV is that the latter will likely include TVs from Philips - an area that Sonos has never expanded into.
Like Sonos, the Fidelio Wireless AV system won’t require a separate bridge for connectivity, as the entire setup sounds like it can be completed using an app on your smartphone.
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What Sonos has as its advantage, however, is several decades’ worth of experience and products in this space. It’s been makingwireless speakersfor years and its soundbars have been lauded with several awards. If Philips wants a piece of that multi-room pie, it must prove it has usability and performance at least equal to Sonos.
We’ll save our judgments for the full reviews of the speakers and the Fidelio Wireless AV system when we get it in our own homes, but it’ll be an interesting product to keep tabs on in the coming year.
Nick Pino is Managing Editor, TV and AV for TechRadar’s sister site, Tom’s Guide. Previously, he was the Senior Editor of Home Entertainment at TechRadar, covering TVs, headphones, speakers, video games, VR and streaming devices. He’s also written for GamesRadar+, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and other outlets over the last decade, and he has a degree in computer science he’s not using if anyone wants it.
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