A Bridge Between Soundbars and Headphones: The Wearable Sony BRAVIA Theater U TV Speaker Discreetly Envelopes You in Rich Surround Sound

The Sony BRAVIA Theater U wearable speaker offers an exciting alternative to big, booming soundbars. It projects audio upwards from your neck to envelop you in a personalized soundstage that doesn't disturb your household.

I thoroughly enjoyed vetting this wearable speaker across the same setlist of scenes and songs that we test the best soundbars against, and it delivered an impressive performance.

The Sony BRAVIA Theater U is a small, affordable alternative to soundbars that creates an impressive, multi-directional surround sound experience, that's full of warmth and depth, for enjoyable TV sessions without headphone discomfort or noise nuisance for your neighbors or others in your household.

My One-Minute Summary

The Sony BRAVIA Theater U is an impressive audio experience that personalizes an enveloping surround sound experience that's rich in detail, depth, and vibrancy. Movies and TV shows have realistic sound direction and impact, and music sounds warm, rich, and deeply enjoyable.

This is a fantastic alternative to full-sized soundbars for anyone who wants the full movie or music experience without disturbing family members in other rooms or nearby neighbors, and without having to wear headphones that can become uncomfortable for long periods of time. For its low price, it could easily have sounded worse.

It is essentially a portable speaker, though, so it can't be expected to remain silent for other people in the same room. The sound also isn't as 'full' as soundbars or headphones, particularly during busy scenes, as certain elements – notably the dialogue – can sound less authentic when lots of layers are present.

If you're looking for a more 'booming' sound when watching movies and TV shows, the Fire TV Soundbar Plus [at Amazon] is a great alternative at a similar price, and it has night mode for softening loud impacts to help prevent disturbing others. Or, for a more high-fidelity music listening experience, I'd recommend the highly-rated Sony WH-1000XM5 overhead headphones.

Sony BRAVIA Theater U: Specifications

Sony BRAVIA Theater U: Setup

Unlike soundbars that need wiring to your TV, especially systems such as the Samsung HW-Q990F, which need cables around the room, the Sony BRAVIA Theater U simply needs to pair via Bluetooth. Mine was ready to pair instantly, and within a minute, I was listening to music from my phone.

If you're using it to watch TV, make sure to check that yours has Bluetooth connectivity. Otherwise, you'll need an adapter, such as the affordable MiiLink Bluetooth TV adapter at Amazon.

If you want to adjust the sound settings, you will need to download the Sony Sound Connect app. Pairing the device to the app took fewer than five minutes, after being prompted through data permission screens and two device pairing screens.

There’s the option to create or sign in to a Sony account, but this isn't an essential step, as all the features are available without one.

Sony BRAVIA Theater U: Design and Features

The Sony BRAVIA Theater U is comfortable to wear. The bridge gently rests on the back of your neck, and the speakers fall along your collar. It isn’t remotely heavy (only 9.5 oz), and it remained comfortable, without any warmth coming off the device. The longest duration of continuous use during my testing was three hours, which is enough for the majority of films.

The bottom is lightly padded synthetic leather, and you can adjust the bridge so that it molds to your neck more closely, or to angle the speakers more outwards.

The fabric speaker cover is a nice touch and contributes to the overall soft feel and aesthetic, but I do worry about its durability. It is only IPX4 rated, which can protect against splashes, but I'd urge caution when wearing it to not spill drinks.

The fabric cover is similar to what I've seen in the Fire TV Soundbar Plus and the Yamaha True X Bar 40A. Personally, I like the warmth of this aesthetic.

The sound isolation is impressive. It can sound loud and immersive while you’re wearing it, but then if you lift it off your neck and hold it in front of you, it is a lot quieter.

But don’t expect it to be silent. Other people in the room will still be able to hear what you’re playing, almost as if you’re playing music from your phone or a quiet portable speaker. The benefit here is that you will still experience a ‘surround’ sound effect without big speakers that take up space and disturb others.

It’s perfect if you live in an apartment, shared house, or have others in your household, but not if you’re hoping to listen privately to your own movies in a room with others.

There are buttons on the speaker to adjust volume, turn the power on or off, pair via Bluetooth, and mute the microphone.

It’s stereo sound, evident from the fact that I can turn my head left and right and hear different sounds coming through. There are four EQ presets, two options for Custom combinations, and a dedicated one for 'Manual' (swipe through the images below to see how it looks):

Image 1 of 3

Oddly, one preset is called Vocal, and one is called Speech, and they largely sound the same.

The customization available for the Custom and Manual EQ settings surpasses what I've seen in almost every soundbar, even the premium Sonos Arc Ultra. You can adjust five frequencies to plus and minus 10; typically, soundbars only allow you to adjust the bass and treble.

You can connect to two Bluetooth devices at once, ideal for switching between music on your phone and playback on your TV.

You can also set an automatic power-off time to preserve battery. Tapping the power button once lets you know your remaining battery life using a voice prompt.

Sony BRAVIA Theater U: Sound (TV and Movies)

The Sony BRAVIA Theater U delivers a strong, immersive soundstage. It took a little getting used to the sensation of sound coming from beneath my ears rather than projected from the screen, but after 30 minutes, that unfamiliar feeling had disappeared, and it felt as if I had been positioned in the middle of the scenes I was watching.

It isn't as full-bodied or powerful as a full soundbar, but at this size, I would have been surprised if it were. Instead, the experience is smaller but still detailed, with clear sound direction, even if dialogue can occasionally fall flat. I adore the concept, and I'm confident it can be useful for avoiding disturbing sleeping family members or nearby neighbors.

And although I had felt flatness when listening to music (more on that below), everything felt more encompassing during a movie. Naturally, this is where directional sound is most accurately heard, rather than in a song.

There is a gorgeous richness in low-toned voices. I felt it immediately during the opening of Princess Mononoke. And vocals aside, the bass was impressive when building tension.

As you get the slightest vibration on your shoulder (that fortunately isn’t distracting or uncomfortable), it feels like the rumbles that soundbar’s subwoofers are designed for.

Of course, the difference with subwoofers is that the sound is coming from beneath you, but once you become accustomed to it happening on your upper body, this is an effective compromise for personalized surround sound. The sound effects and music all sounded clear and impactful, and there’s a surprising amount of detail.

Even during busy moments, every sound and voice was clear, but the vocals certainly sounded more full-bodied from a full soundbar, like in the Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 8.

A few minutes into the tense courtroom dialogue of The Trial of the Chicago 7, I almost forgot that I had a speaker around my neck. I could hear the hushed tones within every character’s voice, and it was as if I had been dropped right into the middle of the room, where voices were surrounding me from clear positions in the room.

It didn’t feel like the sound was coming from below me anymore. Nothing was unclear, and I could even make out the subtle background sounds that I hear in premium soundbars like the Bose Smart Ultra, even if they weren’t quite as crisp.

And during Breaking Bad, I appreciated once again how effectively tension is achieved. With the ‘Speech’ EQ setting, this nervous scene between Walt and Hank sounded a bit inauthentic, but when I turned on Bass Booster to complement the male vocals, it sounded deep and resonant. I could hear the characters' breaths as they moved from whispers to shouts.

During action-heavy moments, however, voices can sound weak, as I noticed a stark contrast when listening to dialogue compared to the crashes and thumps of Avengers: Infinity War’s New York battle scene. I could hear the harmonic tones in Dr. Strange’s spells, and deep crunches from the destruction of the environment, but the dialogue never sounded quite natural – although I never struggled to make out what the characters were saying.

There is fantastic dynamic range, though. I noticed early on that if I turned the BRAVIA Theater U up too loud, it hurt my ears, so I was concerned that a whisper-to-explosion scene might pose issues. But it never became too loud during action scenes, and I never had to quickly adjust the volume. This is a common problem that even many of the most premium soundbars haven't overcome.

During Our Planet, Foley, wildlife sounds, narration, and orchestral music sounded wonderful together, but clarity was lost when more layers were present. I also noticed a slight weakness in the trebles – David Attenborough’s voice sounded scratchier than usual when flocks of birds were flapping their wings, but when isolated, his voice felt natural.

Across the board, the sound quality is noticeably (and justifiably) weaker than a full soundbar, but within the context of what this device is, I was impressed by the depth, the detail, and the directional soundstage.

Sony has achieved personalized surround sound that envelops you into the scene, without being heard through walls, keeping the peace with family members and neighbors.

Sony BRAVIA Theater U: Sound (Music)

Overall, the sound quality sits somewhere between a soundbar and a pair of headphones. It’s a nice feeling to be able to walk around with your own personalized music playing, while still being able to hear your surroundings.

I personally love listening to music while cooking, and I enjoy hearing the sounds of food frying and sauce bubbling, but I don’t want to loudly play music for everyone in the house to hear. And as the transparency mode on a pair of headphones sounds glitchy and unpleasant, the BRAVIA Theatre U is the ideal middle ground.

To feel surrounded by a soundstage as if you’re in a room with a soundbar system, and with clear direction, is delightful. I could make out instruments coming from different positions, and it really does feel like the audio is enveloping you, especially during soft moments in songs. But this directional sound also means that, every time you turn your head, some of the sound is lost from one ear – a problem that you wouldn't experience with a full system like the Samsung HW-QS750F.

The sound quality is strong and clear, but compared to both soundbars and headphones, it can sound a little flat, and sometimes tinny. Headphone speakers are tiny (and sound incredibly tinny when you take them off your head), but they work to such great effect because they project audio directly into your ears. On the other hand, soundbars sound so impressive because they’re huge, and pack tremendous hardware to deliver big, expansive sound.

The BRAVIA Theatre U is somewhere in between. It isn’t as booming as a soundbar (and as it’s so close to your head, you wouldn’t want it to be), but it isn’t as fine-tuned as a pair of headphones, so the result is an overall sound quality that is rich, deep and immersive, but a little weak compared to either alternative.

I genuinely don’t know if there is a way around that, though, especially at this price. As a concept, I think Sony has achieved an impressive balance of immersion and individuality. But it’s worth noting that a strong pair of overhead earphones will almost always sound better, and will disturb your neighbors or sleeping family members far less.

I use the hi-fi DALI IO-8 at Amazon, but the Sony WH-1000XM5 is another highly-reviewed option, that only costs $100 more than the BRAVIA Theater U.

If you want to experience the BRAVIA Theater U's directional sound in full, and how immersive it feels when instruments layer in, listen to Robber by The Weather Station. It was impressive to hear it all come together, and to experience a sweeping soundscape along with individual percussive and plucking elements.

What If Nile Rodgers and Fela Kuti Were Friends by All Day Breakfast Cafe is another shining example. Altogether, it sounds warm, harmonic, and everything that you'd hope for in an expansive funk song, and I could still make out the individual tones within the brass instruments, and the slight taps on the cymbals.

If you prefer bass-heavy music, I was pleased by how true-to-form A Tribe Called Quest's Oh My God and Massive Attack's Angel both sounded.

Daft Punk's Phoenix was a little sharp at points (the song has a poignant snare drum and cymbal) but turning the volume down meant that I was still able to feel the impact without hurting my ears. The low synth that comes in around the midpoint was rich, too.

Overall, I'm impressed by what Sony has achieved here. Personalized music that follows you around the house, surrounding you in an enveloping soundscape, all without disturbing anyone in the room next door is endlessly valuable to anyone with neighbors or family members who can easily be disturbed by loud noises, while still being able to feel the full effect of the music that you love.

How Does the Sony BRAVIA Theater U Compare?

The Sony BRAVIA Theater U is a wearable TV speaker, so it can't directly compare to the best soundbars that we've tested. It costs $299.99 at Sony at full price but is often discounted (at the time of writing, it's $199.99), which is around the same cost as a budget-friendly soundbar or high-quality in-ear headphones.

The closest in price is the Fire TV Soundbar Plus, costing $149.99 to $249.99 at Amazon. Naturally, it is more powerful and can generate more impact and thicker bass, but the Sony BRAVIA Theater U's soundscape is more realistic, as the speakers are physically surrounding you.

The Fire TV Soundbar Plus is also larger, so it won't be a suitable option if you're short on space, and although it has a night mode, it is more likely to disturb people in nearby rooms when playing late.

But alternatively, the $399.99 Sony WH-1000XM5, one of the highest-rated over-ear headphones on the market, will likely achieve more precise sound, higher-fidelity music, and extra detail when watching movies and listening to music.

But headphones don't always remain comfortable when listening for hours at a time, so if you're looking for a personalized movie experience, the Sony BRAVIA Theater U is likely a stronger and more affordable choice.

How I Tested the Sony BRAVIA Theater U

I tested the Sony BRAVIA Theater U using a set list of scenes and songs that cover a wide variety of sounds, textures, genres, eras, and frequencies. This set list remains the same across every soundbar we test so that we can compare each model against the same criteria.

Within each listening experience, I adjusted the equalizer settings to experience how the Sony BRAVIA Theater U sounded at its most refined. I also assessed how easy the app is to understand, how intuitive it is, and the audio customization settings available compared to other models.

And importantly, I weigh up this performance against the price, to find out if it's worth the spend, and who it's best suited to.

While you're considering your options, discover how the compact, budget-friendly Sonos Ray or the affordable but powerful Fire TV Soundbar Plus can elevate your home entertainment without disturbing others. I vetted both myself and was pleasantly surprised by their sound at low prices.

Love the latest product news and helpful shopping advice? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.