Purist audiophiles always come back to the DAPs and high-resolution audio players to enjoy their favorite music collection in high definition. Sony has a foothold in the hi-res audio game for as long as memory goes back, and they continue to offer some of the best players for music listening. Walkman MW-A306 released last year is a favorite one for music lovers.

Teenage Engineering resonates the same value for its consumers with a broader portfolio of innovative and unconventional audio gadgets. Both Sony and TE have things like modern design, Gen-Z targeting and sublime quality at their helm to attract a niche set of audio lovers. We certainly love TE and so does the community of designers who have been mustering up cool concepts inspired by the Stockholm-based electronics company. If you’re a purist audiophile, this portable CD player with built-in speaker is a must-have addition to your collection.

Designer: Evgeniy Vakulich

This cool concept of collaborating together the two loved brands is surely going to bring the heat to the likes of Astell&Kern, Fiio, iBasso and Shanling. Interestingly called the Pony Project, the DAP has the design DNA and color theme of Teenage Engineering. It gets a digital display to show the currently playing music and library elements to search for tracks. All the other buttons for toggling the elements like the tempo, loop, mode or FX. The tactile input for the L-Shift, R-Shift, Mic, Select and Start is heavily inspired by the Teenage Engineering aesthetics.

The top of the gadget has the volume rockers, bass and treble, power and stop buttons. A lot of mind has been put into the design and conceptualization of the music player by Evgeniy. The popular color theme of the TE products is so good to see in a DAP which usually comes in contemporary dark hues. If you’ve already not noticed, the audio player comes with the Pony branding which dupes the Sony brand name.

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In places like Phoenix, where temperatures can reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit, or Florida, with its oppressive humidity, staying comfortable outdoors often feels like an overwhelming challenge. Sony’s latest update to their wearable thermal device, the REON POCKET 5, is a cutting-edge wearable climate controller that integrates effortlessly into daily life. For me, this accessory is indispensable.

Designer: Sony

This advanced wearable activates to cool or warm as soon as it contacts your neck and deactivates upon removal without manual controls. This automatic function liberates you from the hassle of manual adjustments, allowing a smooth transition from vigorous yard work to business meetings without the discomfort of sweat-stained clothing. As a parent, I hardly ever miss a tennis lesson or match, regardless of the weather. It can get chilly in the winter when you’re not moving much, and standing under the scorching sun isn’t enjoyable in the summer. This is why I’m extremely excited about this product.

Its sophisticated sensor array and thermal design technology are at the heart of the REON POCKET 5’s effectiveness. The device is equipped with five sensors: three dedicated temperature sensors, one combined temperature and humidity sensor, and an acceleration sensor for detecting motion. This comprehensive sensing capability allows the REON POCKET 5 to provide situation-specific adjustments finely tuned to environmental conditions and user activity. Whether facing a sudden rise in temperature or an increase in physical activity, the device adjusts its output to maintain optimal comfort.

Sony’s expertise in mobile device design is evident in the thermal management of the REON POCKET 5. The heat dissipation mechanism, perfected through hundreds of simulations, is crucial for maximizing the efficiency of the device’s Peltier element. This element, a core component of the device, uses electrical current to produce a cooling effect on one side and a warming effect on the other, making it ideal for both cooling and warming applications, depending on your needs. 

Moreover, the REON POCKET 5 is robust, being splash- and dust-resistant, making it suitable for both rigorous outdoor activities and everyday urban use. This durability ensures that the device can perform under various environmental conditions without faltering.

For commuters and those frequently transitioning between different environments, the REON POCKET 5’s SMART COOL⇔WARM MODE proves invaluable. This feature automatically adjusts the cooling or warming temperatures by detecting both the temperature inside your clothing and the ambient temperature around the device. It seamlessly switches modes based on environmental changes, even during days with significant temperature fluctuations, enhancing comfort without any manual input required.

The REON POCKET 5 also focuses on comfort and adaptability. Its innovative triple-layer construction features a flexible mechanical tube, a shape-holding wireframe, and a soft silicone cover, ensuring the device fits securely and comfortably for prolonged periods. The adjustable neckband is designed to accommodate a wide range of neck sizes and maintain the chosen position, providing personalized comfort that adapts to the wearer’s unique body dimensions.

Scheduled for release in Singapore in May 2024, with subsequent availability in Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, the REON POCKET 5 is a game-changer for anyone facing extreme temperatures. Its up to 17-hour battery life ensures all-day comfort, and it is capable of handling anything from an intensely hot day to a cold conference hall.

The post This Wearable Climate Controller Keeps You Comfortable in Extreme Weather first appeared on Yanko Design.

Even tinier than the PS5 Slim that launched in October last year, this fan-made gaming rig is small enough to slide into a backpack, has a glowing PS logo on the front, docks and charges two DualShock controllers on either side, and has a thermal performance that almost matches up to the regular PS5. Designed by YouTuber NFC, this ‘PlayStation Mini’ relies on a reimagined architecture and an external disc drive that helps cut space by nearly 70%, giving you a final console that’s merely 30% the size of its original self. No Ozempic was involved…

Designer: Not From Concentrate

When rumors of the PS5 Slim began making rounds on the internet, YouTuber NFC (short for Not From Concentrate) hoped that Sony would radically shrink the console and make the disc drive external instead of detachable. Instead, we got a marginally smaller console that had a disc drive that could only be used by snapping it onto the side of the vertical console. Not that anything’s wrong with the PS5 Slim, we think it’s an iteratively improved console, but NFC definitely found himself wanting more. The journey he embarked on is one that not all of us can take – it involved deep designing, engineering, and using CNC machines and 3D printers to build everything from new outer housings to inner thermal architectures, and even adding a logo and backlight to make it something so professional it looked like it came out of Sony’s own headquarters.

The resulting PS5 Mini is probably a one-off unit that NFC built for the YouTube video (you can watch the entire thing above), but it’s a sheer work of art and engineering. Anyone can rip circuitry off from the existing PS5 and cram it into a new plastic body… but only a few of them can do such a great job that the resulting PS5 Mini has a performance that rivals its bigger sibling. In fact, the tinier console is nearly 3.3 liters in volume, making it significantly smaller than the 10.5-liter PS5. It’s so small it fits into most backpacks and is no larger than a thick book.

The PS5 Mini comes with a construction featuring metal, plastic, and even carbon fiber parts. It has a completely new heat sink, a new chassis, outer body with massive grills on the side for air flow, a new fan, and even backlit plastic components that glow blue when the machine’s on. It also features not one but two DualShock controller docks that also charge your controllers when put in place, doing something that even the OG PlayStation couldn’t.

The new build features up to 20 redesigned components that were either made in NFC’s studio workshop on his CNC machine or 3D printer, or ordered from a fabrication website. The size of the new PS5 Mini was determined by the motherboard, which was a compact rectangular little component that served as the starting point for the console’s design. NFC uses a Black-Ridge CPU Cooler heat sink, and even a new fan and fan controller because the original PS5’s fan is a massive component that played a major role in what made the original console so big. NFC explains that Sony prioritized console ‘quietness’ with the old design, owing to the large fan size (larger fans move more air at slower speeds, creating less noise). The power supply was replaced with a smaller 250W GaN one, the front was capped off with carbon fiber that contrasted the white outer body beautifully, and NFC used the original PS5’s status LEDs to light up a new PS logo that now adorned the front.

The stand charges the controllers even when it’s switched off.

An external disc drive made sense, allowing the PS5 to be web-based when needed, and disc-based when plugged in.

Surprisingly, even the thermals match up to the original, with idle temperatures being a mere 1°C hotter, and gaming temperatures hitting a marginal but impressive 4°C hotter than the original. The way NFC did this is by literally wiring temperature probes into the different parts of the console to get a holistic reading of the console’s temperature at all times. The new fan works in theory, but NFC does point out that making everything smaller means having a marginally noisier fan. Luckily, this could easily be taken care of by placing the console near some speakers, that would wash out the fan’s sound.

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It might come as a surprise to some that Sony actually makes smartphones. Actually, it might even come as a bigger surprise that it still makes smartphones at this point in time. Its mobile business has definitely fallen on hard times, forcing the brand to exit some global markets and sell only through online channels in others. Despite all that, Sony still believes that a smartphone has a place in its portfolio, especially as a means to access its treasury of entertainment-related content. That has been the guiding principle behind the design of its premium Xperia 1 smartphone series, but it seems that the product line’s sixth iteration will make some small but significant changes that almost undermine all of that in one fell swoop.

Designer: Sony (via zackbuks on Weibo)

Truth be told, the Sony Xperia 1 design has always been an oddity among its peers even today. It easily stands out from the crowd almost literally because of its extra tall and narrow body, designed to support a 21:9 screen aspect ratio that Sony has been advertising as the perfect format for ultra-wide content. It also distinguished itself with its 4K display resolution when all its competitors continue to play in 2K or even 2.5K figures only.

The latest rumor, however, changes the narrative a bit. According to the source, Sony will be downgrading that 4K resolution to something like 2K+ or QHD+, more in line with other high-end smartphones in recent years. More importantly, it is also making the screen a bit wider and shorter to achieve a more “normal” 19.5:9 aspect ratio, again similar to flagship devices from the likes of Samsung and Apple. It’s by no means going to be significantly smaller, as these leaked images show, but it definitely changes the shape of the phone to be less distinctive.

It sounds perplexing that Sony, which has never really minded smartphone trends and fads, would make such drastic changes, but it might all boil down to price. Sony Xperia phones have been notorious for their higher price tags compared to their peers, so downgrading one of the most expensive and uncommon components could actually do a lot to drive the cost down. Unless, of course, Sony decides to offset those savings by including features and hardware that incur just as much expenses.

That’s not to say that the Xperia 1 VI will be bereft of any notable features. Another selling point of the phone is its use of camera hardware close to Sony’s own Alpha line of mirrorless cameras. That said, its photography prowess has rarely been praised mostly because the phone barely reaches people’s hands, so making the next Xperia flagship more affordable could actually help remedy that situation.

The post Sony Xperia 1 VI phone design might lose what makes it special first appeared on Yanko Design.

The running community is used to the regular wireless earphones with ANC and splash-proofing. For the first time, there is a company that thinks the runners – and those involved in active sports – need a specially tailored pair of earphones, which is a little more. And who better to do that than Sony!

The masters of good sound and design excellence have revealed the Float Run (available on Amazon), which forgoes the traditional in-ear design for an off-ear style that allows the earbuds to rest outside the ear while holding snug with a clip-on, over-ear extension and a flexible neckband.

Designer: Sony

Those who remember bone conducting earphones would recognize the design instantly. Sony Float Run is engineered to be worn outside the ear, somewhat like the bone conducting ones that are clipped to the ear lobe. I have used this type of earphones; the sound and efficacy are not compromised but there is a pain point, they tend to release the sound outward so people around can hear what you are listening to.

How much has Sony figured that out and plugged the pain point is going to clear up only with use – we were not able to find clear evidence to this – but what we are clear about is that the Float Run is a comfortable fit and delivers high-quality sound to the listener.

The speakers of the Sony headphones are designed to float in front of the ears so you can enjoy comfort and convenience while running. Since the ears are not stuffed with the buds, the runners or sportspersons do not feel pressure in the ear, even after prolonged usage. The interesting aspect of the Sony device is that it allows you to hear the ambient sound naturally when you are wearing them.

The sound from the outside is naturally heard, so it can be safely worn while walking on the trail, running on the road, or pumping your muscles in the gym. If the sound from the outside is allowed in, the earbuds have to maintain a good speaker standard. To that end, the Float Run come with large, 16mm driver that allows excellent sound, thick base, and treble; though slightly higher volume than usual may be necessary.

Provided with IPX4 Splash Protection, the Sony earphone, which runs for up to 10 hours on a single charge, would allow you to enjoy music when you are sweating or running in a sudden shower. The Float Run weighs only 33g and is powered through the USB Type-C connector. If you like the idea of an earphone that doesn’t make your ear feel constrained, you can think of taking these home for usage during sports, including running.

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