Skip to main content

Sony’s new fully wireless in-ears drown out the world while you break a sweat

Sony‘s new headphone lineup features an impressive array of tech-packed sports options, including a brand-new pair of fully wireless in-ears that feature IPX4 splash-proofing and active noise cancellation.

Called the WF-SP700N, the new fully wireless earbuds will bring Sony’s excellent noise-canceling technology to noisy gym environments, allowing workout junkies to focus on their reps instead of their neighbor’s conversations. The large, curved in-ears come with a compact one-touch charging case, and will offer a relatively minimal three hours of battery life, though the charging case will offer two full recharges before it runs flat. The lack of extended juice can be forgiven considering the features the earbuds pack. The WF-SP700N are the first IPX4 water-resistant fully wireless earbuds on the market.

Sony is launching two other sets of banded wireless headphones aimed at strenuous activities. The new WI-SP600N and WI-SP500N models will both allow you to work out without a tangle in your pocket. The former has a sleek earfin-inclusive design and the same active noise-canceling tech offered on the fully wireless WF-SP700N, but with six hours of total battery life. The latter doesn’t have the noise-canceling capability, but does boast a total battery life of 8 hours for extended listening.

All three new sport models feature near-field communication and are compatible with the Sony Headphones Connect app, allowing you to customize your listening experience from a smartphone or tablet.

“Ready to jump into action when you are, the wireless noise-canceling WF-SP700N, WI-SP600N, and standard WI-SP500 headphones will be every listener’s favorite new workout buddy,” said Dunja LaRosa, Sony’s head of North American mobile audio business, in a press release.

sony ces headphones mdr-1am2
MDR-1AM Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apart from the three sport-focused options, the company also announced a new iteration of its popular MDR-1AM over-ear headphones called the MDR-1AM2. The appropriately named follow-up features nearly identical looks to the original, but features refinements like a lighter weight for a more comfortable long-term fit, as well as fidelity-improving touches like a grill to aid with high frequency transmission.

All four of Sony’s new headphone models will be available to consumers in spring 2018. With a suggested retail price of $300, the MDR-1AM2 will be the most expensive of the bunch, followed by the WF-700N, WI-SP600N, and WI-SP500N, with suggested prices of $180, $150, and $80, respectively.

Parker Hall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
The Beats Pill is back, baby!
A pair of Beats Pill speakers.

In what's been one of the worst-kept secrets of the year -- mostly because subtly putting a product into the hands of some of the biggest stars on the planet is no way to keep a secret -- the Beats Pill has returned. Just a couple of years after Apple and Beats unceremoniously killed off the stylish Bluetooth speaker, a new one has arrived.

Available for preorder today in either black, red, or gold, the $150 speaker (and speakerphone, for that matter) rounds out a 2024 release cycle for beats that includes the Solo Buds and Solo 4 headphones, and comes nearly a year after the Beats Studio Pro.

Read more
Ifi’s latest DAC is the first to add lossless Bluetooth audio
Ifi Audio Zen Blue 3 DAC (front).

Ifi Audio's new Zen Blue 3 wireless digital-to-analog converter (DAC) will officially be available to buy for $299 on July 9. When it is, it will be the first device of its kind to support a wide variety of Bluetooth codecs, including Qualcomm's aptX Lossless, the only codec that claims to deliver bit-perfect CD quality audio over a Bluetooth connection.

Admittedly, there are very few devices on the market that can receive aptX Lossless (and fewer that can transmit it), so it's a good thing that the Zen Blue 3 also works with the more widely supported aptX Adaptive, LDAC, and LDHC/HWA codecs (all of which are hi-res audio-capable), plus the three most common codecs: AAC, SBC, and aptX.

Read more
The new Beats Pill might replace Sonos on my back porch
The 2024 Beats Pill and an aging Sonos Play:1.

If I were to build an outdoor stereo in 2024, I'd do it with a pair of portable Beats Pills instead of Sonos speakers. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

In 2017, after more than a decade in our home, my wife and I added a pool. With it came a covered deck, making what basically was a new outdoor room. Not uncommon at all in Florida, but new to us.

Read more