Sonos' wireless headphones might not be coming this year after all
No new product categories for Sonos for the rest of the financial year
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After months of rumors about the newSonos wireless headphones, the company’s CEO has finally weighed in on when, exactly, we might see them appear – unfortunately, it wasn’t good news.
CEO Patrick Spencetold investorsthatSonoswill be “focused on launching new products in our existing product categories" for the remainder of this financial year.
Since headphones would constitute a new product category for the smart speaker and soundbar company, there’s almost no chance of us hearing about wireless headphones until the end of the financial year – September 2022 at the earliest.
The silver lining? Spence did tell investors that the company planned on launching another product by the end of the financial year, which means we at least have one more Sonos smart speaker or soundbar coming our way by the end of 2022.
Analysis: Sonos has everything it needs – it’s just a matter of time
As TechRadar’s sister siteWhat Hi-Fi?points out, Sonos recently acquired a company specialising in Bluetooth LE Audio and UK headphones maker RHA Audio, two key components the company will need if it wants to get into the headphone market.
RHA Audio, the company that’s now known as Origin North Ltd, has produced dozens of award-winning headphones and earbuds over the years, including some that made ourbest earbudslists. Having that company on-board should help Sonos to map out the design of the new headphones sometime in the future.
The other component Sonos needed to acquire was a company that specialized in the new Bluetooth LE wireless codec. LE promises better sound quality and lower energy usage than the current Bluetooth 5.0 standard. Using that standard, Sonos’ headphones could have a supremely long battery life and a higher audio quality than its competitorsSony, Bose and Sennheiser.
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The last piece is Sonos’ own edge – and that’s interconnectivity with other Sonos products via Wi-Fi. This has been Sonos’ strength for years and imagining how you could seamlessly transition from in-home audio to on-the-go wireless with a pair of headphones feels like a dream come true for a lot of audiophiles out there.
What Sonos will do with all these pieces remains to be seen – and with today’s news it seems like we won’t know for at least another seven or eight months if we’re lucky.
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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