Xperia Ear Duo Pre-Order Available Now, Launching This Month

This is probably one of the longest waiting time between announcement and retail launch. Granted, Xperia Ear "Open Style", as the Xperia Ear Duo was initially called, was first shown off as a near-final prototype August last year. With the interest in ubiquitous smart assistants on the rise, perhaps Sony thought that now is the perfect time to bring the Xperia Ear Duo to the market. It doesn't hurt that the Apple AirPods also made two-piece earbuds more fashionable now.

That said, to compare the Xperia Ear Duo to the AirPods would be doing both a disservice. They have different goals in mind even if they share certain traits, like attention to audio quality, wireless syncing, comfort. And, of course, the AirPods work best or only with Apple devices while Sony has no OS preference.

The Xperia Ear Duo, however, is more concerned about letting ambient sounds in as much as it is keeping them out. Or to be more precise, it tries to make the audio you play through the earphones mix harmoniously and seamlessly with ambient sounds, like music that's playing in the background. At the same time, it makes sure that no one near you will hear your private calls or unique taste in music.

This somewhat odd characteristic is due to the Xperia Ear Duo's goal of being something you wear all the time. More than just an audio accessory for playing music and taking hands-free calls, the earphones are designed to be your virtual assistant's mouthpiece, offering relevant information all day long. That works for Sony's own Daily Assist, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri. And you can control it all via head gestures.

How that will play in practice remains to be seen, but we won't have to wait long. The Sony Xperia Ear Duo launches on b8ta and Amazon on 25th May for an SRP of $279.99. You can already pre-order one now from b8ta, who will also be carrying the Xperia Touch projector.