I tried Sony's new wearable air conditioner – does it really work?
Last year, Sony quietly launched one of the strangest gadgets it's ever made. It wasn't a new pair of headphones or a new TV (though it did launch those too), but a wearable air conditioner, giving the Dyson Zone a run for its money as one of the kookiest gadgets in tech.
This portable fan, the Sony Reon Pocket 5, sat at the base of your neck and kept you cool (or warm) via a temperature-controlled plate that chilled or heated the skin on contact. Now, Sony's back with a follow-up that's arriving just in time for the summer.
The Reon Pocket Pro is a bigger, more powerful, smarter wearable cooling device that promises faster cooling and a more streamlined fit thanks to its new curved design. It also comes bundled with the Reon Tag – a small external sensor that helps the device automatically adjust the temperature based on your surroundings.
While I've only spent a couple of days with the Reon Pocket Pro so far, I can already tell it's going to be a heatwave hero. But will it actually replace my trusty tower fan? Here's everything you need to know about Sony's wearable air conditioner, plus my first impressions.
The Reon Pocket Pro works similarly to its predecessor: it sits in the base of your neck and uses thermoelectric cooling or heating to regulate your body temperature. Instead of blowing cold air or pumping heat, the plate gets cold or warm on contact with your skin. The idea is that by cooling or heating your upper spine – where blood flows close to the surface – the device helps your whole body feel more comfortable. It kind of feels like an ice pack moulded against your skin, or a warm compress.
What sets the Pro apart is the upgraded hardware. It's larger than the Pocket 5 and has a new curved design with a better fit. It's still light at 85g, but the extra surface area means more of your skin stays in contact with the cooling plate to improve heat transfer. There are now two heating and cooling modules – what Sony calls 'dual thermo modules' – inside instead of one, which effectively doubles the surface area and makes the temperature changes more noticeable.
Rather than simply running both at once, the modules alternate with varying intensity to maintain more consistent cooling over time. Interestingly, Sony says that the newly developed fan delivers roughly twice the airflow of the Reon Pocket 5, helping to dissipate heat more effectively while keeping noise levels low.
The Pro ships with a single adjustable neckband that bends to fit the contour of your neck, making it more comfortable and secure than before. Sony says it's added a flexible silicone extension at the tips and a thicker tube around the wire frame to improve comfort and support during longer wear. You also get two airflow covers in the box. There's a shorter one for t-shirts and a longer one for collared shirts to help direct heat and airflow, depending on what you're wearing. While there's no official IP rating, the device is splash-resistant, with a rubber cap covering the USB-C charging port.
You can control it manually via the device itself or use the Reon app. Both let you switch between cooling and warming modes, as well as choose your preferred intensity. But the Pro also supports a smart auto mode that reacts to your body and environment. It comes bundled with the Reon Tag, a small wearable sensor that clips onto your shirt, feeding environmental data back to the app. Together, the system can adjust the temperature depending on the degrees outside, the humidity, and whether you're indoors or out.
It even knows when you're wearing it, automatically switching on or off when it detects contact with your neck, like how wireless earbuds pause when you take them out of your ears. Sony's also tweaked the Smart Cool mode to react more smoothly to changes in temperature and humidity, so it feels less like a setting and more like something that's just quietly working in the background.
Sony claims the Pro can last up to 15 hours on smart mode and up to 34 hours at the first level of the cooling setting. In my limited time with the device so far, with use over a couple of days, the cooling kicks in fast within a few seconds of turning it on. The plate started to chill my upper back almost immediately, giving some cool relief to my body.
The fan is quiet – Sony says it's 50 per cent quieter than the Pocket 5. It was barely audible even in a silent room, and the curved design makes it feel more stable and natural than I expected. It's also surprisingly discreet. It sits flush under a shirt or t-shirt and stays put thanks to the malleable neckband that's included in the box. I pulled it out in the pictures just so you can easily see it, but it can be tucked under your shirt so it's not seen.
It's not going to cool your whole body like a proper air conditioner, but for targeted comfort while commuting, working, or even just sitting around at home, it makes a noticeable difference, and was way more effective than a fan that just blew hot air at my face. This one actually cooled my body.
I've got the new Reon Pocket Pro to hand right now, and I'll be taking it on the sweaty Jubilee Line to test its effectiveness. Will it be better than one of those dorky wearable neck fans? My full review is coming soon.
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