Sony has made some great speakers in their time, some of them portable. As time has gone on they have improved and become even more portable, able to be used anywhere with a durability unseen in past years.
Here at EFTM we got our hands on their latest portable, durable speaker, the SRS-XB13 (I’m still not convinced that their naming scheme is the best for marketing purposes) and put it through its paces and see just how it performs.
If you look at the marketing material from Sony you’ll see a beautifully styled speaker with an air gap at the bottom, speaker at the top and a hanging/carry strap on the side. Taking it out of the box you will not be disappointed in the product compared to the marketing material here (there’s no Big Mac photography tricks going on here). It’s a good looking speaker that is light to pick up and fits comfortably in the hand.
The rear of the speaker houses five simple controls — a power button, Bluetooth button, a play/pause button and a volume up and down button. Pairing the speaker is dead easy although it does lack the NFC pairing other Sony speakers have had in the past. Press and hold the Bluetooth button and a notification will pop up on your Android phone asking if you want to pair with the Sony speaker (Google’s Fast Pairing in action. For iOS you need to follow the usual Bluetooth pairing procedure after long pressing the Bluetooth button).
The speaker may be small but packs a decent punch thanks to its Sound Diffusion Processor and 1.5-inch speaker on the top. The sound is a decent quality but with a single speaker do not expect it to have a massive range. The bass is surprisingly good for such a small speaker. Unfortunately, the sound does not go super loud, but you shouldn’t expect that from such a compact speaker.
The sound is well balanced without being over enhanced in any of the various aspects such as high end or bass. This is a good and a bad thing, but the sound is certainly good enough to get you through a day but don’t expect to wow a crowd with the quality and range of sound from it. If you are within about 5m of the speaker when outside the sound is still good. Inside the music travels a lot further as you’d expect. If you want, you can also pair two of the SRS-XB13 together for a better quality stereo sound.
Using the speaker for phone calls wasn’t too bad although the microphone wasn’t as good as using your phone — but you shouldn’t expect that. The person on the other end of the call was still able to hear me well enough and discern what I was saying.
The SRS-XB13 is charged using USB-C but it is definitely not fast charging so make sure you have it fully charged when heading out for a long stint with it. Sony say the speaker will give you up to 16 hours and in my testing, I was able to get close to that with the speaker up quite loud.
Sony has also included an IP67 waterproof rating with the speaker which makes its durability a guarantee. For a recap IP67 means a device is “100% protected against solid objects like dust and sand, and it has been tested to work for at least 30 minutes while under 15cm to 1m of water.” Take this to the beach party without having to stress about sand or water ruining it.
The only issues I had with the speaker were the slow charging and the less-than ideal microphone. The sound was what you would expect, actually it was better than you’d expect, from such a small speaker — just don’t expect it to sound as good as those Sonos or Sony bookshelf speakers you paid four times as much for.
All things considered the Sony SRS-XB13 is a great little speaker that is super portable (compact) and durable while producing a decent sound — perfect for use when you are out and about, anywhere, especially around water such as the pool or beach. At a RRP of $89 it won’t break the bank — grab one (or two for that stereo sound) at all leading retailers.
You might not have to wonder much about the price of Sony’s upcoming WF-1000XM4 earbuds. As Android Police reports, The Walkman Blog has spotted a Slovakian listing for the new buds that quotes a price of €279.90, or about $340.
That price likely includes tax and isn’t guaranteed to reflect the final cost, but it still suggests the WF-1000XM4 will be one of the more expensive sets of true wireless earbuds on the market. Sony originally priced the current-generation XM3 at $230, for example, while Apple’s AirPods Pro officially carry a $249 sticker.
Sony might have reasons to hike the price of the WF-1000XM4 beyond its brand name, provided the listing is accurate. They’ll offer the company’s usually strong active noise cancelling, high-resolution audio support, 360-degree sound, and smart features like automatically pausing playback for conversations. You might also get a lengthy eight hours of listening with ANC turned on (12 off), and another 16 hours with the battery case. These buds might last long enough to help you soundtrack a typical workday.
It’s still uncertain just when Sony will release its latest earbuds, although a retailer page suggests they might come soon. That timing may be important. If Sony can release the WF-1000XM4 in the near future, it might draw would-be listeners away from competitors’ older models — and the price might not be as much of a stumbling block.
PlayStation 4 owners are able to download a free gift courtesy of Sony starting today as part of an ongoing event. Kickstarted earlier this month to coincide with the company’s annual Days of Play promotion, gamers have spent the last few weeks working towards achieving a number of goals in an effort to unlock special rewards. To complete the first challenge, participants needed to collectively play 2.4 million games and earn a grand total of 7.2 million trophies across the console’s vast library of available titles.
Unsurprisingly, the task was met with fierce determination and resulted, last week, in both prerequisites being smashed. The prize for this dedication, as many may have guessed based on similar events in the past, is a snazzy new theme for users to customize their PS4 dashboards with.
Check out the visual makeover for yourself in the gallery down below:
Sony's Rewarding All PlayStation Owners With A Special Free Gift
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This time around, Sony has sweetened the deal by throwing in an extra PSN avatar and both can be downloaded free of charge upon turning you console on and receiving a notification. There is, however, an unfortunate caveat to this goodwill gesture.
As the PlayStation 5 is unable to be customized in the same way as its predecessor, this theme is incompatible with the next-gen device, meaning you’ll either have to make do with just the avatar or forego the cosmetics entirely. Naturally, this has prompted fans to once again call on the platform holder to reconsider its stance on the situation, but no official comment on the matter has been made.
As always, though, we want to hear what you think! Will you be taking advantage of this special freebie? Let us know in the usual place below.
Destruction AllStars has had a strange journey on PlayStation, and does not seem to be in the best of spots at the moment.
The game was originally planned as a full $70 release, as is the policy with new Sony PS5 first party games these days, but was then delayed three months, then put on PS Plus for two months, and now costs $20 in the store.
But unlike Sony’s higher profile, mostly single player hits, this foray into attempting to make something live and akin to a Rocket League hasn’t really gone that well. The game debuted to middling-to-poor reviews, and a 62 Metascore puts it as the 32nd highest rated PS5 release this year alone.
Now? The game’s population is starting to struggle, and developer Lucid has announced (to its reddit community of 2,200 players) that they’re going to start to need to put in bots during non-peak times to flesh out games more so there are enough combatants and matchmaking doesn’t take forever. This is also being hampered to some degree by the fact that there just aren’t a ton of PS5’s out there due to supply shortages.
I view this entire Destruction AllStars saga as a cautionary tale for Sony in two ways:
Destruction AllStars
Sony
First, I think it show them that this new $70 first party philosophy is clearly not a one size fits-all idea. The fact that they were ever going to price Destruction AllStars at $70 is ludicrous. Not because of the quality, but because of the type of game it is in the first place. They did avoid that trap with a smarter PS Plus feature and eventual lower price, but they almost didn’t. And other games have not avoided that like Godfall, again goofily priced at $70 new. Even a game like Returnal seems badly priced at $70, though the saving grace of that game was that it was good enough to purchase for many despite the higher price. But the point is, while few may balk at say, Horizon Forbidden West being $70, Sony needs to be more flexible with this idea that anything it makes should potentially be priced there. Things could have gone even worse for AllStars if they hadn’t make that shift at the last minute.
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The second warning here is that Sony, which rarely misses in the first party, narrative-driven genre, may have a harder time with live service games, which it says it wants to move into now going forward. “Live service” covers many genres, but in short, ongoing games that are not campaigns you beat once and move on from. That can be looter shooters or it can be competitive multiplayer games. It’s a wide range.
But Sony has not shown they’ve got a good handle on this genre like they have with their narrative-based games. Destruction AllStars is one such example, clearly, but I also seem to remember how badly Sony botched another stars-based game, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, which should have theoretically been its own Smash Bros, but was just…not very good. When you think of all Sony’s classic hits, pretty much none of them are in this genre at all.
My guess is one of the biggest upcoming experiments for this idea will be Naughty Dog releasing The Last of Us: Factions, a multiplayer spin-off of that series, building on the MP from the first game. But generally speaking, this seems like an area Sony is going to need to really focus on to improve. Not that Microsoft is the master of live service titles either, but they do have a leg up in multiplayer generally (Halo, Gears). Sony has never really had an answer for that.
We’ll see what the future holds. Hopefully Sony can learn some lessons from AllStars’ struggles here and apply them to the future.
Listen, the criteria for portable Bluetooth speakers are not complicated. They’ve got to be easy to carry, sound decent, and not get trashed if you have butterfingers or get caught in the rain. The Sony SRS-XB13 ticks off all these boxes, but it isn’t the best we’ve ever tested. You’ll have to make some compromises, but considering it’s only $60? It’s easy to forgive its shortcomings.
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Hey, It’s Actually Portable!
When it comes to Bluetooth speakers, I got some beef with the word “portable.” Sonos said the 6.6-pound, roughly 10-inch tall Move was portable. Ultimate Ears told me their 13-pound Hyperboom speaker was “technically portable” and yeah, I guess it is in the sense I can technically heave it from one room to another. But we all know that’s not what people want when you say portable. What they’re looking for is a speaker that you can chuck in a bag and just go.
The XB13 is actually portable. It’s a tiny, squat lil guy, measuring 3.43 by 3.43 by 4.41 inches. In person, the speaker is way tinier than I thought it would be when Sony initially sent over the official images. It also weighs a mere 11.7 ounces, which is noticeably lighter than the UE Wonderboom 2 (15 ounces), the Sonos Roam (15 ounces), and the Boom 3 (21 ounces). It’s also got a removable strap so you can easily hook it onto a bag or off a tree branch—whatever, I’m not judging. Also, it fits in a cup holder for road trips!
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There’s not much to report in terms of design. Maybe it’s because my review unit is black, but it looks like someone sawed off the top two-thirds of my water bottle and stuck a speaker grille on top. The controls are at the back, easy to see, and intuitive to use. But enough about aesthetics. This is a speaker meant to keep up with you while you’re traversing the great outdoors—and on that front, it’s held up pretty well.
Granted, I’ve only had this thing for about a week and I did not climb a mountain and chuck it off the peak. But I did let my cat knock it off several high surfaces, and it survived his shenanigans without a scratch. Sony says it’s got a special UV coating to help it withstand the elements. It survived the elements of Manhattan, but again, I haven’t had it long enough to tell you if it’d survive several hours of a blazing desert sun. It does, however, have an IP67 rating and did not die when I purposefully dropped it into a pool. So there’s that. Long story short, this speaker will be fine if you spend a lot of time outside or are particularly clumsy.
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Solid Audio for the Size
With a launch price of $60, I don’t think anyone here is expecting spectacular sound quality. The XB13 has a single driver and a passive radiator—there are limitations that come with that. Sony also packs in what it calls a “Sound Diffusion Processor” so you can get a decent approximation of 360-degree sound.
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Photo: Victoria Song/Gizmodo
In terms of sound profile, this is a fairly balanced speaker with an emphasis on clear vocals and bass. Seriously, I stuck the XB13 on my monitor stand to test a few songs and had to move it because the bass was thumping too hard. And if you want stereo, you’ll have to buy a second XB13. (I only have one of these guys, so I wasn’t able to test how the XB13 sounds in stereo—though I appreciate that stereo pairing is super simple. You just hold the Bluetooth button.)
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The thing is, there’s only so much you can do with a single driver. It’s just not going to sound as good or get quite as loud as bigger speakers with multiple drivers. If you’re someone who’s adamant about sound quality, this isn’t the speaker for you. For everyone else, the XB13 sounds pretty good considering how small it is. Do the first few beats of Britney Spears’s “Toxic” sound kind of off? Yeah. Especially compared to how the song sounded when I played it on my UE Boom 3 and the Sonos Roam. Does it sound generally flatter all around? Yup. And no, songs like Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue’’ don’t sound expansive in the way they would on a speaker with a great soundstage. But I guarantee it’s not a dealbreaker in 99% of scenarios in which you’d use a speaker like the XB13. My jams sounded good in the shower. My queen Phoebe Bridgers sounded great screaming her head off in “I Know the End” when I was cooking dinner. My friend said I sounded “decent, kinda good but not the best” when I used the XB13 to take a call. That pretty much sums it up: The XB13 is not the best, but hey, it’s good enough.
A situation where the XB13 might struggle is a large party. The speaker can get decently loud if all you want is to play music in a medium-sized apartment or for a group of 10-15 people at a backyard barbecue. I put the speaker in my bedroom and could still hear it clearly from the furthest corner of my office, bathroom, and kitchen. To be fair, I live in an 877-square-foot apartment. Outdoors, the XB13 would be perfectly fine for smaller settings—picnics, lounging at the pool, on a hike, etc. I just wouldn’t go in expecting it to be great for a giant bonfire party next to the ocean.
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Don’t Expect Fancy Extras
These days speakers can do a lot, but the XB13 keeps things simple. It’s easy to pair, especially if you have a phone that supports Google’s Fast Pair feature. It’s got built-in mics so you can use it to take calls, which it does decently but not spectacularly. You get an estimated 16 hours of battery life, which is pretty solid for this category and price range. And, hallelujah, it uses USB-C for charging.
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Photo: Victoria Song/Gizmodo
However, if you’re looking for a speaker that can charge your phone, this ain’t it. If you want a super-fast charge time… this ain’t it either. My unit came out of the box with about 50% battery and it still took around two hours to get to full. (Though, that was on your standard 5V charging brick.) Sony has added some fast-charging features to its lineup, but those are for its larger X-Series party speakers.
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And if you want to play around with equalizer settings, it gets kind of convoluted. As far as I can tell, there’s no way to switch between pre-set modes like on some other Bluetooth speakers, and the XB13 isn’t compatible with the Sony Music Center app. You can, however, adjust your phone’s EQ settings—if it has them.
How Does It Stack Up Against Other Bluetooth Speakers?
If you’re looking for a hardy, compact, decent-sounding Bluetooth speaker that won’t bust your wallet—the SRS-XB13 is a good choice. It’s got a $60 suggested retail price, but you know this thing is going to go on sale for less than $50 at some point. That makes it an appealing option for anyone on a tight budget who isn’t too precious about audio quality.
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You can see how small this guy is compared to the Boom 3 and my not-very-big water bottlePhoto: Victoria Song/Gizmodo
However, there’s also Ultimate Ears’ Wonderboom speakers. I no longer have one, but I loved the absolute shit out of my original Wonderboom for several years until it got lost during a move. In general, I prefer the sound on my $150 Boom 3 (and from what I remember of my Wonderboom). UE’s since released the Wonderboom 2 for $100, and since it’s been two years since it launched, you can often find it on sale. It’s a bit outdated with micro-USB, shorter battery life at 13 hours, and no mic for call features—but these are small potatoes if you like how UE speakers sound. If you just want a speaker that can follow you from room to room and maybe the occasional trip, you’re better off investing in a Bluetooth speaker that sounds better, like the $150 Boom 3 or even the $169 Sonos Roam.
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What it comes down to is portability. The Wonderboom 2 is a compact and durable speaker, but it’s bulkier and heavier. Also personally, I’ve always hated the speaker’s loop when trying to clip it onto bags or hanging it somewhere close by. Of the portable speakers I’ve tested recently, the XB13 is simply the easiest to stuff in a bag, wrap around your wrist, stick in a cupholder, and go. I don’t have to worry about scuff marks (the Sonos Roam), or weird gunk getting in the fabric exterior (all UE speakers). It’s also the lightest speaker I’ve tested in a hot second. It’s not perfect, but for the price? It’s actually a pretty great travel buddy.
The thing about TVs today is they are all amazing. Great picture quality which of course gets better the more you spend – that’s beyond question. But how good is it to use, what is the user experience like. My night with the Sony X90J proved that user experience is key, and in this case its thanks to Google TV.
Sony’s Bravia TV lineup in Australia is probably the simplest to understand of all the big brands, with the X series and A series differentiated by the panel type (X = LED, A = OLED). The Z series is the big mother of the bunch, as an 8K LED.
Then their number system is a simple higher is better. X80 being the entry level, X95 being a whole stack better. If you’re wondering how to pick the 2021 model from last years, that’s what the J means.
Now I have to say, I saw the X80J alongside the X90J last week, and the X80J is a bloody fantastic TV. Edgelit as opposed to the X90J which is Full Array backlit.
But the black level were pretty impressive, so let me be clear – if your budget allows you to just scratch the Sony range with the X80J (which comes in 43, 50, 55, 65, 75 and 85 inch sizes) then grab it.
But it was the X90J I spent the most time with, thanks to Sony putting me up in a Sydney Hotel room where the TV had been installed.
The X90J comes in 50,55,65 and 75 inch sizes, features Sony’s XR 4K upscaling and 200Hz Motion Clarity. I watched a demo of a fast moving picture which really showed how the 90J bettered the 80J in that front, as well as against a competitor product at the same price range which again, it bettered.
Two HDMI ports support Variable Refresh Rates, while one supports eARC.
All those things are ticks in feature boxes if you’re comparing TVs. But here’s one Samsung and LG struggle to tick. Apps, Smarts, Connectivity.
Yes, Samsung and LG have great operating systems, and loads of apps. But – nothing like Google TV.
Google TV in the new Chromecast is my go-to recommendation for enhancing any TV.
Built into a Sony TV, it’s a gamechanger. Fast response, smooth scrolling, voice commands, it’s everything
This was as easy to use as Google’s own Chromecast with Google TV – but bundled in and using the TVs own remote.
No issues with the picture quality, however you need to remember Sony’s own OLED range is literally next level in that regard. But at a premium.
Topping out at $4,299 for the 75 inch model, the Sony X90J at 55 inches comes in under $2,000. I think the sweet spot is the 65 incher at $2495.
Sony has a loyal fan base, people who have owned and used Sony products like their TVs – and for good reason. These are robust, but importantly high quality great performance TVs.
Google TV is the Operating System to have. The rest are working on future revenue and growth strategies, and time will tell if that’s the better bandwagon – but right now, I can’t fault the Sony Bravia X90J with Google TV – mainly for it’s inclusion of Google TV.
We've been feasting on a treasure trove of Sony WF-1000XM4 leaks, promising longer battery life, IPX4 sweat proofing and support for high-resolution audio via Sony’s LDAC wireless tech.
Today, much of this information has been confirmed via an official looking promo video, with a few new details for good measure. Originally posted to YouTube, the clip is now mirrored on Reddit after it was inevitably pulled from the service.
The 2:33 video is exactly the kind of thing you’d expect to see at a launch event, complete with the WF-1000XM4 buds pulled apart in cross section, beautiful people modeling the earbuds in a variety of urban locations and captions highlighting the key features as they’re demonstrated (albeit in French).
(Image credit: Reddit)
Still, it’s not too hard to figure out what’s being highlighted, especially when some of the features come from yesterday’s Sony WF-1000XM4 leaks. IPX4-certified water resistance is flagged again, as are the key battery stats: up to 8 hours off a single charge with ANC (active noise cancellation) enabled, or 12 with it switched off. Combined with the charging case, this means you should get up to 36 hours of battery life, and the video also boasts that you can get an hour’s playback from just a 5-minute charge.
But the video mentions other things not highlighted by yesterday’s leak. New drivers will not only boost sound quality but include support for the LDAC Bluetooth codec and DSEE Extreme upscaling technology. As with Sony’s over-ear WH-1000XM4 headphones, the earbuds will include support for 360 Reality Audio which brings 3D effects to your music. Also demoed: a feature called Speak-to-Chat mode, which will automatically mute the audio when it notices you’re talking, so you can hear what’s said to you in response.
Eagle-eyed viewers of the video may also spot an unexpected cameo from a mystery Sony handset. Is this the Sony Xperia 1 III?
(Image credit: Reddit)
The only things missing from the video were price and release date. For the former, yesterday’s leak suggested a MSRP of €279, which comes to around $340 – that’s substantially higher than the WF-1000XM3’s $230 price, even taking into account the fact that the European price point likely includes sales tax.
The release date remains a mystery, but if Sony has a polished promo video like this ready to go, you should expect the WF-1000XM4 to be available very soon indeed.
Has it really been six months since the PlayStation 5 launched? Wow, I guess time flies when you’re trying to find a PS5 in stock.
Even though the PS5 has reached its first major milestone, it would be wrong to dismiss the fact that millions of people are still searching for Sony’s elusive white and black two-toned machine. It’s slightly mind-boggling to think that after being on sale for over half a year, some people are yet to experience what Sony’s new console has to offer. And that’s a shame, regardless of where your gaming allegiance lies.
While this isn’t exactly an ideal situation for consumers – or indeed Sony – the upside is that the PS5 has already improved in a number of pleasing ways since it went on sale on November 2020. Annoying kinks have been ironed out, new quality-of-life features have arrived, and more compelling PlayStation exclusives are on the way. The wait might be excruciating for some, but you can at least take comfort knowing that when you do manage to secure a PS5, you’ll be getting a better console as a result.
But what has it been like owning Sony’s next-gen console from the very beginning? And do you really need to get a PS5 right now? Well, it hasn't been completely smooth sailing, if I’m honest, but it’s clear that the PS5 is still the number one next-gen console to beat right now.
The good, the bad, and the DualSense
(Image credit: Sony)
My opinion of the PS5 has tended to ebb and flow both positively and negatively, often changing with each passing month.
I played the PS5 religiously at the start and couldn’t wait to hear that familiar “beep” every time I turned it on. Exclusive games like Demon’s Souls, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Sackboy: A Big Adventure were all extremely enjoyable, and I also spent some time revisiting PS4 games that I missed out on like Ghost of Tsushima, which is now playable at a gloriously silky-smooth 60fps. (I’ll be picking up The Last of Part 2 for the very same reason.)
However, it’s the PS5’s pack-in game, Astro’s Playroom, that has left the biggest impression on me. It’s a genuinely magical experience and easily the most fun I’ve had on the PlayStation 5 to date, partly due to the way it shows off the PS5 DualSense controller.
The first night I played Astro’s Playroom, my partner and I gleefully passed the controller to one another and said things like, “Oh wow, you need to feel this. It actually feels like you’re jumping into water.” That’s a precious gaming memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life, so I thank the PS5 for that.
In fact, I attribute a lot of my goodwill towards the PS5 because of its clever new pad. It almost reminds me of when I first played the Wii; I just wanted to run out and tell people about how damn cool it was and how they had to try it for themselves. I just hope that developers continue to utilize it (like in Returnal, which uses the haptic feedback to mimic the sensation of rainfall in your hands), as some of the implementations by third-parties, and even Sony, have been rather lackluster.
Reality check
(Image credit: Sony)
I still love the PS5’s DualSense controller, then, and the majority of Sony’s exclusive games have been truly exceptional (apart from, Destruction AllStars). But the PS5 has some frustrating flaws that continue to grind my gears.
Even though Sony’s new system has been sitting proudly on my shelf since November, I still absolutely hate the space-age look of the console. I can’t believe how big the bloody thing is, even now, and it only just fits into my entertainment center. It looks stupidly awkward when placed horizontally, too.
It might sound like I’m being overdramatic, but I disliked the look of the PS5 so much that I immediately bought dbrand’s Dark Plates when they went on sale. And let me tell you: the PS5 looks so much better in black. I’ve already pre-ordered the Midnight Black PS5 DualSense controller to complete the look.
The PS5 isn’t quite as silent as I first thought, either. My particular unit exhibits some noticeable coil whine when playing certain games. I almost exclusively play games wearing headphones, but whenever I take them off, there have been times where I can hear a high-pitched electrical buzzing noise coming from the console. It’s not a deal breaker, but it’s annoying nonetheless and at odds with the Xbox Series X, which barely musters a whisper.
Cash for gold
(Image credit: Future)
And then there are the PS5 games themselves. While I’ve compared the PlayStation 5 to Microsoft’s Xbox Series X numerous times in the past when it comes to features, there’s no doubt that the PS5 isn't as good value, and requires much more of an investment to enjoy to its fullest. The big hitters cost $70 / £70 to play, and it almost feels like Sony is holding its player base to ransom with that price point.
Paying $70 for a game is still a big point of contention for me, and feels needlessly restrictive when the PS5’s closest competitor has an ever-growing buffet of gaming delicacies to gorge on. Yes, those games aren’t of the caliber of Sony’s offering, at least not yet. But there’s a reason why McDonald’s hasn’t been run out of business by a gourmet burger chain.
Sony’s internal storage solution is also a concern. The PlayStation only has 667GB of internal storage for PS5 games, which is a paltry amount when most demand at least 50GB of space. Yes, the PS5 SSD’s compression tech can help, but we should be able to expand the PS5’s internal storage by now, or at least know how much it will cost to do so. The fact that you can expand the storage capacity on both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S since launch makes this problem seem all the more ridiculous.
The PS5 also lags behind the Xbox Series X when it comes to features that – feasibly – it really should have. There’s no variable refresh rate support for compatible displays, and you can’t output at 1440p for some frankly unknown reason. The lack of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support also seems short-sighted, as though Sony simply wants to push its 3D audio on consumers, even if I personally consider it to be an inferior option to Atmos and DTS Headphone:X. Games that support 120fps on PS5 haven’t even reached double figures yet, either, while there are currently 74 titles on Xbox Series X that do.
Uncharted future
(Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment )
If there’s one thing that will continue to pay dividends for Sony and drive PS5 sales, though, it’s the strength of its first-party studios. With 25 first-party titles on the way in the near future, the company will have to keep delivering on the promise of the PS5 having the best games in the business. But as we’ve seen on PS4, it can’t always hit those heady heights.
There’s no doubt that Horizon Forbidden West looks phenomenal, as does Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, but those experiences take time to craft. And what happens if one of them is a dud? I’ve continually found myself pulled to Microsoft’s Xbox Series X simply because there’s more games to play right now, and all for the small price of a monthly subscription. FPS Boost has also made me revisit titles from years ago, much like you would after upgrading your graphics card on PC, which makes games I already own better than ever.
Yes, the Xbox Series X hasn’t delivered when it comes to genuine exclusives (though it's only a matter of time until all the studios Microsoft bought begin to deliver), but even without standout titles, it continues to grab my attention. I'm aware that most of the Xbox Game Pass library isn’t going to compete with the likes of Uncharted 4 anytime soon, but I’m always looking for something new and exciting to play – alone or with friends. The service encourages me to play new games that I previously wouldn’t have touched, and makes Sony's traditional methods of delivering games look outdated.
That being said, with its gorgeous new UI, compelling future games lineup and wonderful controller, the PS5 still has the wow factor. However, Sony needs to continue to push forward instead of waiting for the competition to kick it into gear, something which has been far too guilty of in the past.
It’s not often that a company makes a giant pivot without being forced into it. Most companies try to change their DNA way too late after the market train has left without them, but Sony is different in that it’s management has read the tea leafs and has been proactive in driving a massive corporate change from being a maker of hardware to services-oriented.
Sony’s Hardware Influence On Modern Music
Post World War 2, Sony was one of the first Japanese companies to utilize an inexpensive workforce to manufacture consumer goods (a scenario that has played out many times in different parts of world since then). However, it wasn’t until the introduction of the miniaturized transistor radio that its fortunes took off.
It could be said that the music industry was turbocharged thanks to the arrival of Sony’s small palm-sized TR-63 radio and The Beatles at virtually the same time in late 1963. The radio became a popular Christmas present, and the Fab Four had just debuted at the top of the American charts. The radio’s handy single earphone was perfect for teenagers to listen to their favorite music secretly under the covers while falling asleep, and vinyl record sales boomed as a result.
But it really wasn’t until the release of the Walkman in 1979 that the fortunes of Sony exploded. Until then, listening to music either through vinyl records or the recently released cassette tape format was strictly limited to listening at home because the components were so large. The advent of the Walkman made it possible for the first time for a person to take their own music with them anywhere. The company went on to sell over 200 million units until it was discontinued in 2010, but it really put Sony on the map as a major consumer electronics player.
Sony went on to develop the compact disc along with Philips PHG , and that product once again changed the face of the music business. As many fans repurchased their music catalogs in this new digital format, the major record labels rolled in new-found revenue, becoming targets for takeovers by larger entities. The music industry changed forever as its entrepreneurs were replaced with corporate executives, profits soared, and it was all because of this round piece of plastic. Sony would go on to collect royalties on sales of almost a trillion CDs of various formats over the years, but any revenue generated was just a small piece of the product’s actual influence on the music business.
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Of course there was a time when the best television set on the market was a Sony Trinitron, and the company’s consumer and high-end audio gear was considered some of the finest you could buy. Cameras, computers, printers, semiconductors, batteries, and so much more were staples in Sony’s vast product lines.
The Move Into Media
Sony execs were smart enough to realize that the best way to enhance its hardware electronics sales was by having lots of media software material available for it (a strategy later successfully followed by Apple). In 1988 the company shocked the music world by purchasing Columbia Records, the largest and most influential label at the time. A few years later the name was changed to Sony Music, as it remains today.
In 1989 the company took another huge step into the media world by acquiring Columbia Pictures from the Coca-Cola Company KO , eventually renaming it Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Then, when Sony’s Playstation game console was released in 1994, the company had already created a subsidiary called Sony Computer Entertainment (now Sony Interactive Entertainment) to keep the console well-supplied with games. Since then, this division has been one of the most profitable for the company.
Exit Hardware
All this leads up to the Sony’s recent announcement that it was de-emphasizing its hardware business, and going harder into gaming, media, and services. The company indicated that it intended to make $18 billion in strategic investments over the next three years to meet that end, with the exception of a commitment to its sensor business. The company is already a major supplier of sensors for smartphones and cameras and they reportedly want to expand into automotive sensors as well.
The nostalgic way to look at Sony’s hardware de-emphasis is that the company was on the forefront of what was new and cool for many years. That’s now left to other companies to pick up that slack. In recent years you could already get the feeling that Sony was heading in a different direction just by looking at the products released at the Consumer Electronics Exhibition in Las Vegas. The writing was already on the wall.
Sony is obviously doing well in its current direction as last year it hit record revenues of around $81 billion (up 9% over the previous year) and record net profits of $10 billion (+101% over the previous year). That doesn’t mean that at least a little sadness doesn’t creep in while looking at the situation.
Sony has always made excellent consumer hardware products. Whatever Sony product you purchased, you knew it would work as advertised or better, and be reliable. There are a lot of great hardware manufacturers still around, but Sony was always special. Our quickly changing physical world will be a little worse off without its physical products.
