Sony NB10 Wireless Neckband Speaker Review: Bridging Real and Virtual Sounds

Audio peripherals in general have always followed that traditional route, sticking to its heritage for as long as we could remember. At times we do get some bizarre products on the shelf, but they vanish in a short span of time due to their impracticality. Sony made something bizarre, that’s for sure but interestingly, it’s practical. Think of it as the child from a holy matrimony between headphones and speakers, and that’s exactly what the Sony NB10 Wireless Neckband Speaker is.

Look and Feel

1/4

The moment you see the Sony NB10 Wireless Neckband Speaker, you will realize it has a very similar kind of look as to what those neckband earbuds look like: sits around your neck but instead of earbuds hanging around the sides, the speakers are baked in the band itself. It has a rubberized build and with some plastic parts here and there, so that it fits just right on just about any kind of person’s neck and sits comfortably – which it sure does.

1/2

The grey-black (charcoal grey color) tone looks pleasant to the eyes, and it doesn’t stick out in public. Chances are people who see these would think it’s some neck massager – but it isn’t as obvious as the Sony NS7 Wireless Neckband Speaker.

Specification

The Sony NB10 Wireless Neckband Speaker has a neat specification, although it isn’t your usual audio gear that focuses on “clear” or “high fidelity” audio, the specification makes sense for a different kind of people.

• Full Range Speaker on both Sides
• Weighs about 113 grams
• SBC and AAC Codec Support
• 20 Hours Battery Life
• Hands-free
• IPX4 Certification

Experience

Initially, when I got my hands on it – it felt like a very bizarre product to use because I have never used anything like this and perhaps the closest product that strays away from the conventional style of audio gear is the Gentle Monster Sunglasses with Speakers built right into it. Anyways, the whole thing was just easy to setup and straightforward as well. You don’t have to do any tinkering whatsoever.

1/2

There are rubberized buttons on the left and right with the USB-C port under a flap which is a right move. On the left, there’s the Volume +, – and Play/pause button. On the right we have the Power/Bluetooth Combo button and the Mute Mic button. Once you pair with your desired device, be it smartphone or laptop, you are good to go.

Given that it does have a speaker, we wanted to play some music – to see how it does. The full-range speakers on both the sides are angled in a way that when you place it on your neck, you hear it clear and when you take it off, it feel like the sound is weak-ish in a way that, chances are, people around you can barely notice. They will know something is playing but wont know what is. It’s a different experience I can’t wrap around my head (no pun intended.).

The sound tuned in this Sony NB10 Wireless Neckband Speaker is more towards a neutral balance and expect it to have almost no bass and just some clear music. The listening experience feels “magical” because it’s not like you are wearing a proper earphone nor you are listening from the speaker.

The sound on the NB10 hovers around your ears in this airy space that gives an odd-yet-satisfying experience. When you do crank it up, you cannot hear much of the sound on the outside but set it to 50% you can hear good amount of sound on the outside but in this case, it’s on ambient sound you are listening to but it’s ambient music. I do wish it had some powerful drivers, so that it can take better advantage of music, perhaps a nice bass driver that sends some shiver down my clavicles.

Battery life on the other hand is neat, the 20 hours is plenty and best part is that it supports A2DP and HFP, that means you can also pair it to two devices and switch subsequently. So, say when I am in a Team’s call, the NB10 is smart enough to know to pause my music playing on my phone and connect to my PC, prioritizing the call instead. And say if someone is calling me on my phone, it stops the audio from the PC and prioritizes the phone. Multi point connectivity is genius.

People on the other side of the call said, I sounded crisp and clear – so the microphone is as what they say – the Precise Voice Pickup Technology is just as good as they claim it to be. In fact, listen to this sample recorded from the Sony NB10 Wireless Neckband Speaker.

How is this Different from Sony NS7?

Now, thing is – this isn’t the only Neckband Speaker we are reviewing from Sony, they’ve also passed the Sony NS7 which is like this behemoth of a Neckband speaker that does more than the NB10, with more driver, control over Headphones Connect app and even goes as far as pairing with your Bravia XB TVs. While it does everything the NB10 does, its more focused on delivering the ultimate immersive experience to entertainment – you can click here to read more about it.

Conclusion

The thing is as niche it seems to be, the Sony NB10 Wireless Neckband Speaker isn’t niche at all because right after using it, I know the target audience and in fact, I let one of my friends try and immediately he fell in love with it. Unlike how a speaker which can be a nuisance or rather not let you focus, and unlike a headphone that completely isolates you from the world, the NB10 does an interesting job in balancing both the virtual and real world.

Who is this for?

Sony NB10 Wireless Neckband Speaker is for those who wants to be aware of their surroundings and still be able to listen to their music, watch their shows, attend calls on Phone or PC, it’s the perfect bridge that connects both the virtual and real world simultaneously, without being a burden in any way possible. Honestly, I love it too. At RM 599 it is pretty pricey, but I think it’s worth the investment.

Thanks to Sony Malaysia for sending us the NB10 for making this review happen.