Get Them Here:

Sony Bravia Theater U: https://amzn.to/3B2GZIT

Sony Bravia 8 TV: https://amzn.to/3Oqu8Dh

Sony Bravia Bar 9: https://amzn.to/3OsVQ2e

So this is the Sony Bravia Theater U, and basically its a neck band speaker that you can either use with your TV, or you can also use it with your phone and you can even take phone calls with it. Now the Sony Bravia Theater U works with any TV out there, but in this video we’re going to be testing it with my Sony Bravia 8 TV, so that we can get a sense of the full experience. Now this is actually Sony’s second attempt at a product like this, and this version is a lot better.

Now the Sony Bravia Theater U has a retail price of $300, but it does like to go on sale for $200. Now this shouldn’t be a complete replacement for your home theater set up, however the Theater U is a great compliment to your TV. Nonetheless if you want to pick this speaker up it’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.

So first theres the design of this neckband. Now like I mentioned at the top of this video, this is Sony’s second attempt at this type of speaker…. And this design of this neck band is a lot better. First off this neck band weighs in at 268g, which is just 18 grams more than the Sony 1000XM5 headphones… so this neck band is very light weight. But more importantly, the theater u is much more comfortable to wear cause the portion that goes around your neck is much thinner, and this neck band is a lot more flexible than the original. So thanks to the theater U’s light weight and added flexibility, this neck band is a lot easier to forget that you’re wearing than the original SRS-WS1.

And when it come to battery life, the theater u has an advertised battery life of 12 hours, and it just charges via a USB C port, which is great cause you can just use your phone’s charger to charge it up. Thankfully there is no charging cradle like with the original WS1. But my main critique here is, this neckband charges pretty slow at 5 watts speakers, so a ten minute quick charge is only going to get you 1 hours of playback time.

But then theres the connectivity of this neck, the Bravia Theater U does not require a base or a transmitter like with the original WS1. Which means you can just connect directly to your tv. And I feel that this is a great cause it means less cables going into your tv and less clutter to worry about in your living room or home theater.

And when used with a new Sony Bravia TV, in this case we’re using the Bravia 8, latency is not an issue. Which is feel is super important to point out, cause there are plenty of other tv’s or soundbars out there that allow you to connect your headphones to your tv, however, they have a slight delay to them. It not a huge delay, but I do feel that it is noticeable enough to diminish the viewing experience. So, I can confirm that with a Sony TV, latency is not an issue for the Bravia Theater U. However, your results may vary if you’re using an older tv that is possibly using an older Bluetooth version.

But if you have your Theater U connected to your Sony TV, then you can also quickly and easily adjust your sound settings directly from the tv it self, which is super convenient especially since everything has different mixing today… But also, you can have your sound coming out of both your TV, or home theater, and through your Theater U at the same time as well. And I think that this is great cause if your heard of hearing you can have the theater u for you, but everyone else can still hear the movie through your TV’s speakers or home theater… or maybe you’re trying to watch something, but you have to be in another room and you don’t want to miss anything. And also, you can pair two theater u’s together and have them both playing in sync.

Now obviously, when it comes to controlling your media, if you’re using the theater u with a tv, as you mostly should, you can adjust your volume by using your TV’s remote. But also, the Theater u does have it own built in buttons so you can adjust your volume directly from the neck band it self and you an even play or pause your content if you want. But also keep in mind, this Neckband does not connect to Sony’s Bravia Connect like with Sony’s new Bravia Bar 8, 9 or Quad or Sony’s new TV’s.

But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set, the Theater U is pretty straight forward. It has dual upwards firing X Driver Drivers, very similar to the drivers that you’ll find in the Sony ULT Field 1. And thats pretty much it. But now we’re going to jump into the Soundtest. Now We’re going to be using the Bravia Theater u, but we’re also going to be comparing it to the built in speakers found on the Sony Bravia 8 TV, and for curiosity sake, we’re also going to be comparing it to the Sony Bar 9 with acoustic center sync.

Sound test

So obviously, the Sony Bar 9 is going to sound a lot better than the Theater U. The Theater U is not a replacement for a soundbar. However, the Theater U does a really good job of giving you a surround sound experience without having to invest in a surround sound system… or more importantly, you can experience a surround sound without having to crank the volume super high on your TV, which is great for late night viewing.

Now with this neck band, I feel that it does a great job when it comes to the bass and mids, so vocals and dialog is very well pronounced. But when it comes to the highs, they aren’t as defined and that cause this neck band just doesn’t have any tweeters. But regardless, the theater u allow you to enjoy surround sound without having to crank the volume up super high. And this neck band really does a great job of putting you in or own bubble. Now obviously people around you are going to be able to hear what youre watching. But but actually being in the bubble is a completely different experience, and it also makes it very hard to hear your surroundings.

But with all of that being said, I feel that the Bravia Theater U is a great compliment to your Sony TV. First off, the Theater U is a lot more comfortable to wear than Sony’s previous attempt cause it is much lighter and a lot more flexible and a lot slimmer. Its also a lot easier to use cause theres no longer a chargning cradle or a transmitter that’s needed if you’re going to use this neck band with your Sony Bravia TV. But most importantly, the Theater U allows you to experience surround sound without having to crank up your home theater’s volume or without having to invest in a surround sound system. And the theater u is versatile cause fi you want, you can also use it with your phone and enjoy surround sound on the go.