Sony SRS-NS7 review

Neckbands usually sit on your shoulders and circle around your neck. The SRS-NS7 does that very well. It’s difficult to shake the neckband off your shoulders and that’s mostly because of the great weight distribution. It’s also got a really nice soft-touch material on the underside which is in contact with your clothing or skin. So there’s never any chaffing or irritation to your skin or clothes.

The top fabric hides the speaker drivers and the passive radiator. Meanwhile, the underside has radiator grills on both sides. Turn the volume up and the undersides start to send bassy vibrations to your shoulder. A new way to feel the music, eh?

Sony being Sony, locked away the Dolby Atmos feature behind Sony Bravia XR tellies. So if you have one of those, the NS7 can enable Dolby Atmos sound. If you don’t have one, tough luck. There’s also Sony’s 360 Reality Audio feature which works with select audio services only. Both these features seem important to make you feel immersed with audio, but they fail without the proper requisites. In fact, the 360 Reality Audio has been failing to be meaningful to anyone even with the Sony WH-1000XM series headphones. Even Sony’s PS5 doesn’t enable Tempest Audio when connected to the NS7 which is a bummer.

There’s a WLA-NS7 in the box. It’s a puck-size wireless transmitter that connects with your TV with an optical cable and sends audio over a Bluetooth connection. This BT connection is practically lag-free, and you will not feel the latency from your movies and TV shows.

You can also use a regular Bluetooth connection to connect the neckband to your smartphone and laptop. It’ll even let you take calls from one device when you’re active on another. Although this feature doesn’t work if the neckband is connected to the WLA-NS7.

Here’s the kicker, the SRS-NS7 sounds great for casual music listening. There’s almost a sense of fun to be had with the neckband speaker and there are only a few things that ONLY a neckband speaker can do. You can wear this thing around your neck all day and not feel the fatigue that comes with headphones.

Even as a work-from-home accessory, the SRS-NS7 fits perfectly. You can take a call and be in the kitchen cutting vegetables but also hear your surroundings perfectly. It’s that open ear design that takes the weight off your shoulders.

New Kid in Town by Eagles feels nicely centred. If you move your head then it may throw the stereo balance off but as long as your neck is straight, the SRS-NS7 will sound great. It’s a bit sharp since the speakers are sitting right under your ears. In Staple it Together by Jack Johnson the speakers create a fun melody but turn the volume over 50% and it starts to sound uncomfortable. It’s got the bass as well. 

TV shows are rather fun to watch but if you’re slouching on your sofa then the neckband speaker will move and so will the stereo image. There’s really no way to experience the surround sound on this without the Bravia XR telly. Although it is fun to play video games at night or even watch TV using this because the audio is shot directly to your ears which creates a nice sound bubble around your head. Anything that helps to not disturb the neighbours or your sleepy loved ones with loud soundbar audio at night is a win and the SRS-NS7 carves that niche without the headphone fatigue.

There’s no real reason to splurge ₹22,990 on a neckband speaker that cannot be used outside the house. The SRS-NS7 has its moments, especially during this pandemic and work-from-home state where you’re required to juggle household chores and office work every day. But convincing us to spend almost the same amount of cash on these as the WH-1000MX4 is a bit steep. We would rather grab the headphones at that price.

Watching telly is not as much fun as we predict. Although everything between music and taking work calls is perfectly fine on the Sony SRS-NS7.