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Sony Float Run launches to set users free from in-ear bud instability while working out

The new Float Run accessory. (Source: Sony)
The new Float Run accessory. (Source: Sony)
Sony's new Float Run is the OEM's most unique earphone product since the LinkBuds. However, unlike those TWS buds, this new gadget integrates earphones designed to stay just outside the user's ear canal during use. Their maker touts this new form-factor as made for runners, athletes or fitness enthusiasts, as it might eliminate discomfort, not to mention the dreaded risk of fall-out, while exercising.

Sony has just followed its innovative LinkBuds up with Float Run, a whole new type of earphone pitched at those who like to keep their audio peripherals on them while staying active.

The Japanese electronics stalwart has come up with the term "off-ear" to describe the Float Run buds, which, as they do not even go into the user's ear, is pretty apt. Instead, they are held in place with spectacle-like ear-hooks connected by a short flexible skull-band so that they "stay in place no matter how the runner moves".

Therefore, like the LinkBuds, active noise cancellation (ANC) is out of the question here. Then again, it allows the Float Runs to support unusually large 16mm drivers which, as Sony asserts, presage "no compromise" on their actual audio experience, delivering "a more natural and wider sound" to go with a work-out.

At 33 grams (g), the Float Run buds are also touted as limiting any drag or "pressure" during a session. Their new form-factor (a possible twist on this patent) also packs Bluetooth 5.0, an estimated 10-hour battery that charges via USB type-C and (somewhat surprisingly) SBC/AAC codec support with an IPX4 rating.

The Float Run (or WI-OE610) Off-Ear (or 'open') Wireless Headphone is currently available in black only, which makes their actual (near-) earphones, which are white, arguably eye-catching in what might not be a good way. They are currently priced at US$129.99 on sony.com, but will not be available until February 2023.

Buy some LinkBuds instead on Amazon

The new Float Run headphone type...
The new Float Run headphone type...
...integrates large drivers and ear-hooks...
...integrates large drivers and ear-hooks...
...the latter of which house physical controls. (Source: Sony)
...the latter of which house physical controls. (Source: Sony)

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2023 01 > Sony Float Run launches to set users free from in-ear bud instability while working out
Deirdre O'Donnell, 2023-01-24 (Update: 2023-01-24)