Latest news with #LEAudio
Stuff.tv
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Stuff.tv
These retro wireless headphones are hotter than Mr Motivator's lycra onesie
Unless you're wearing a shellsuit while watching a Betamax video of Roland Rat driving a Sinclair C5 to Woolworths to pick up a copy of No Jacket Required by Phil Collins, there are few things that look more '80s than these KM5 Lightwear Headphones Hp1. Originally crowdfunded in Japan last year, enough people wanted to look like Marty McFly that these retro headphones are now available to buy for £159/$189 – and they've had some important upgrades to make them fit for use in 2025 rather than 1985. For starters there's Bluetooth 5.4 with LE Audio support, so you don't need to worry about finding something with a 3.5mm port to plug them into, and even though they sit on your ears rather than fully covering them you get noise-cancelling with a transparency mode too. At 103g they're more than twice the weight of the original Sony Walkman headphones they mimic, but those didn't have a 120mAh battery attached on each side, plus they still make the new Sony WH-1000XM6 look like they're made out of lead. There are no wires to connect the two sides, so you need to charge both batteries independently. Fortunately there's a special split cable included in the box, and they should last up to 24 hours between charges, which is more than enough for the full discographies of both Phil Collins and Roland Rat. As well as those batteries, each earcup is also home to a 40mm driver and a set of controls. You can adjust the volume, skip through your tunes, and also summon your phone's voice assistant. The KM5 Lightwear Headphones Hp1 are available in two different colours, both with swappable magnetic ear cushions. The white ones come with gray and turquoise, while the black ones get black and dark red. Choose the pair that best matches your shellsuit.
Android Authority
15-05-2025
- Android Authority
Sony's new flagship headphones automatically use your Pixel's Bluetooth LE Audio
TL;DR Sony's new WH-1000XM6 headphones will use Bluetooth LE Audio by default on Pixel phones with Android 16, no manual activation needed. This is because Google added them to an LE Audio 'allowlist' after testing, unlike most devices where the feature is experimental. Other devices like Samsung's Galaxy Buds 2 Pro & Sony's WF-1000XM5 are also on this list, ensuring automatic LE Audio use. Sony makes some of the best headphones you can buy right now, regardless of whether you're an Android or an Apple user. This week, Sony unveiled the WH-1000XM6, its latest flagship headphones with a significantly faster QN3 processor, improved ANC, superior voice call quality, and other upgrades over its predecessor. Similar to last year's model, the WH-1000XM6 supports LE Audio. However, a small difference is that Pixel phone users will find LE Audio enabled by default, eliminating the need for manual activation. You're reading an Authority Insights story. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else. With the release of Android 13 in 2022, Google introduced support for Bluetooth LE Audio, a new standard enabling audio streaming over a Bluetooth Low Energy connection. Despite a growing number of LE Audio-compatible products on the market, Android still doesn't utilize this standard by default. Instead, users must manually enable LE Audio for each device by navigating to its Bluetooth details page and toggling the 'LE Audio' option. Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority The reason LE Audio requires manual activation lies in its 'experimental' status in Android, as indicated in the toggle's description. This means Google cannot assure users that enabling the feature will be entirely bug-free or stable. Additionally, feature parity with traditional Bluetooth Classic isn't guaranteed; for example, Android only introduced support for spatial audio over Bluetooth LE Audio in its 2024 release. However, Android does enable LE Audio by default for a select list of audio products. For these devices, Google has personally tested and verified full LE Audio compatibility, meaning the feature is not considered 'experimental.' Consequently, the 'experimental' tag is absent from their Bluetooth device details page. Initially, this list featured only the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. It later expanded to include the Sony WF-1000XM5 in late June 2024 and the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro in late November 2024. With the latest Android 16 beta, Sony's new WH-1000XM6 headphones also join this list. This means that when connected to a Pixel phone running Android 16, the WH-1000XM6 will automatically use Bluetooth LE Audio by default. Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority The Bluetooth device details page on a Pixel 9 when the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro is connected. Android 16 Beta 4 was released nearly a month ago, meaning the WH-1000XM6 was technically part of Android's LE Audio allowlist even before its official unveiling this week. This isn't particularly surprising, as Sony likely provided Google with pre-release hardware to test the headphones' compatibility with Android features such as LE Audio and Fast Pair. With the WH-1000XM6 now joining this curated list, Pixel phones will automatically use LE Audio by default with the following audio products: SM-R510 (Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro) SM-R630 (Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro) WF-1000XM5 WH-1000XM6 G2 (unknown) AG2 (unknown) For other LE Audio-compatible products not on the official allowlist, users must still manually activate the feature via the Bluetooth device details page. However, a developer option provides a workaround to use LE Audio by default, even if a specific device isn't on Google's pre-approved list. To do this, navigate to Settings > System > Developer options and toggle 'Bypass Bluetooth LE Audio Allowlist.' Once enabled, Android will attempt to use LE Audio with any connected audio product that supports the standard. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
