Last year at IFA 2017, Sony unveiled the Xperia Ear Open-Style Concept. As its name suggests, this was a concept device that they prototyped into a proof-of-concept. The good news is that if you liked what we saw and wouldn’t mind if it became an actual product, Sony has since officially announced the Xperia Ear Duo.
For those who are learning about the headphones for the first time, these are basically headphones that will seamlessly blend your music, notifications, and ambient sounds together. This means that when you’re out and about with the headphones on, it will be smart enough to detect the environment it is in and adjust itself accordingly to best suit the situation.
This can be important because sometimes listening to headphones while out in public can be dangerous if you can hear oncoming cars or people. The headphones can also allow users to control their music playback, such as skipping tracks by turning their heads, thanks to built-in sensors. Users can also tap on them for other adjustments.
Given that our headphones are getting smarter, the Xperia Ear Duo will also be able to read out notifications you receive and remind you of upcoming events, and it can also send messages or emails on your behalf by you dictating to it. It will be priced at $280 and is expected to be released in May.