fun to use, hard to recommend

When Sony first showed me its newest product, the not-so-elegantly dubbed Immersive Wearable Speaker, I couldn’t quite figure out why it existed. After testing it out at home for a couple of days, I still don’t know the answer to that question.

I know what you might be thinking: “Wearable speaker? Like one of those things you clip to your bag?” Yes, but also no. What Sony has made here, and will charge $300 for when it ships in early December, is basically an airplane neck pillow minus the cushiony pillow and plus some intense home theater audio.

It’s undoubtedly fun to use, whether you’re checking out The Mandalorian or playing Death Stranding, but should anyone actually buy it?

Reader, I have no idea.

Old dog, same wearable speaker tricks

While I stand by my assertion that the Immersive Wearable Speaker (catchy name, right?) is a true oddity, it’s not technically new. It’s been available in Japan after being introduced in late 2017 and this is its western debut. Bose also released a very similar speaker back in 2017 called the SoundWear Companion for the same price. That device had a slightly different feature set, but the basic idea was the same: It’s a speaker you wear around your neck.

Sony’s take on the wearable speaker concept might look silly, but its actual uses are pretty simple, if a bit limited. After connecting it to the transmitter that comes in the package, you turn it on and it just … outputs audio. As far as I can tell, it’s only meant to be worn around your neck. You can definitely hear the audio if you’re not wearing it, but the sound is a little tinny and unappealing if you’re not using it as intended.

That means you shouldn’t expect to place this on a table and use it as a Bluetooth speaker. In fact, it doesn’t support Bluetooth at all.

The audio from the speakers radiates upward rather than outward, so it should theoretically piss off your roommates and neighbors less than a traditional speaker would. I was still able to hear the audio when I set it down and walked across my spacious bedroom with the volume at a medium level. But it’s much quieter than a regular home theater setup would be. 

If you’re wearing this in an average-sized living room, expect other people in the same room to overhear whatever you’re listening to. It’s a little like standing behind a regular speaker that primarily outputs in one direction: The sound is there, but it’s not ideal. That said, there’s something kind of cool about being able to experience portable home-theater-quality sound while still carrying on a conversation with someone in the same room. 

As for functionality, pretty much all you can do is adjust the volume and flip between three different vibration settings. Yes, this thing will vibrate in time with loud, bassy moments to whatever audio source you’re outputting to it. You can choose between weak, middle and strong settings, with the weakest option essentially turning the feature off. It reminded me of the vibration in a video game controller in that it generally added a little bit of oomph to things like explosions during action sequences.

I suspect some people will find the vibration off-putting. I kept it on the medium setting the entire time I used it, which was definitely enough for both films and video games. I actually had a moment when it started vibrating so intensely during a stressful horror-video-game sequence, that I had to pause the game and take it off for a second.

Still, aside from that one small incident, I found the vibration to be more novel than intrusive. You may want to dampen it and that’s your right, but it gave the audio a distinctive kick that a regular speaker or pair of headphones wouldn’t provide. 

Speaking of audio, I have no complaints about the Immersive Wearable Speaker’s output. You can really get this thing blasting if you want, but even on the lower end, it sounded way better than my TV’s default audio. As the name of the device suggests, it’s legitimately immersive. With the vibration turned on and the volume up reasonably high, I felt surrounded by what I was watching more than I normally do with my TV’s speakers.

Easy to set up, but not much to do with it

One of the big questions you probably have about this thing, aside from why it exists, is how exactly it works. Unlike its Bose equivalent which offers Bluetooth, Sony’s speaker comes with a transmitter to connect it to a TV. That transmitter needs to be plugged into a power outlet and then hooked up to a TV via an optical cable or audio cable, both of which are included in the box.

After you’ve done that, just turn it on and it’ll play whatever audio the TV plays. It’s worth noting that the TV speakers will continue to work at that point, so you can choose whether or not you want to mute them. For what it’s worth, I muted my TV while using the Immersive Wearable Speaker and didn’t feel like I was missing anything. But if someone’s in the same room, you’d probably want to keep the TV volume on for their sake.

There’s also a port on the speaker’s left side that you can use to hard-wire it to any device with a headphone jack using an included cable. Again, since there’s no Bluetooth, these are the only ways to use the Immersive Wearable Speaker. 

In all honesty, I can’t ever see myself doing this with a phone, tablet or handheld gaming device like a Nintendo Switch. But the option is there if you feel differently. 

The lack of Bluetooth functionality significantly dampens the usefulness of the Immersive Wearable Speaker. That puts it in sharp contrast to the Bose SoundWear, which primarily worked through Bluetooth. Without mincing words, this is a more limited and niche product than Bose’s equivalent, which, itself, was already limited and niche.

Despite the fact that I can’t quite figure out who the target audience for this is, I sincerely enjoyed using it. It’s awkward at first, but the weight and fit are actually comfortable to wear for long stretches of time. Sony pegs it at roughly three quarters of a pound, so you shouldn’t feel weighed down by it.

When I wore it, I eventually forgot it was even on my neck. When I wasn’t wearing it and I needed to watch or play something on the TV, I wanted to wear it.

One last thing: You can pair up to two of these things with one transmitter. Sony only sent us one, so I didn’t get to try that feature. But if two people are wearing these in the same room, then maybe they should just use a regular speaker.

Yeah, about that price …

So, the Immersive Wearable Speaker is quick to set up, effective at what it does and I liked using it. Normally all of those things would mix together into a recommendation from me to you, right? 

Unfortunately, that’s not the case here. Sony’s newest oddity is a conversation starter that bewildered everyone who saw it in the Mashable office. And, as much as it is a quality device, $300 is a big ask for a wearable with such a limited use case. If your TV speakers aren’t cutting it, you could always get a soundbar for the same price or less. And if that’s too loud at night for your roommates or neighbors, then you probably have a pair of headphones already.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure someone out there lives in their own personal puzzle where the Immersive Wearable Speaker is the missing piece. But that person just isn’t me … or anyone else I talked to about it.