Sony SRS-NB10 review: Dropped the ball on sound, but not calls

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Every once in a while, a product comes along that makes you scratch your head a bit. The Sony SRS-NB10 Wireless Neckband is one such product. It is essentially a wearable speaker that rests on your shoulders, surrounding you with your audio of choice. It's not quite headphones, since nothing is in or on your ears, but it's smaller than a Bluetooth speaker.

To be clear, the SRS-NB10 is marketed towards business professionals who work from home. It's meant as an alternative to headphones or your computer microphone and speaker when taking meetings from home. It isn't intended to be a replacement for speakers or headphones. Even knowing this, after using the neckband for a few weeks, I'm still scratching my head somewhat.

The Sony SRS-NB10 Wireless Neckband is a niche product meant for those who work from home. It is ideal for anyone who takes frequent or long calls or work meetings since the wearable form factor is more comfortable than headphones or earbuds. However, since it's essentially a speaker that sits on your shoulders, it's not ideal for working around others, and the sound quality for anything other than calls is a big let-down.

We don't do arm-chair research. We buy and test our own products, and we only publish buyer's guides with products we've actually reviewed.

The Sony SRS-NB10 Wireless Neckband is available from most major retailers for $150 in either charcoal gray or white.

The main benefit of the SRS-NB10 is that it is very comfortable to wear. It rests on your shoulders, just behind your neck. Because it's so lightweight, I barely notice it there. That's a big advantage over headphones and earbuds, which can put pressure on the top of my head or in my ears, making them uncomfortable to wear for long periods. That extra level of comfort is very ideal for those who are in and out of calls or meetings all day long.

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Speaking of calls, the SRS-NB10 offers excellent call quality. I can easily hear the person on the other end of the line, and they can hear me. They could even hear me clearly with some background noise. There's also an integrated mute button right on the device, making it faster to mute yourself than finding the button in a Zoom meeting.

The SRS-NB10 allows me to wander freely in my home as I need to without so much as a flicker of Bluetooth range issues.

My favorite thing about this neckband, though, is the Bluetooth range. I live in a fairly small apartment, but normally, if I have my headphones paired to my computer in my office and walk away, I lose audio not too far out of the room. The SRS-NB10 allows me to wander freely in my home as I need to without so much as a flicker of Bluetooth range issues.

While the list of things I enjoyed about the SRS-NB10 is rather short, the list of frustrations is much longer. First and foremost, the sound quality is quite bad. Now, these aren't meant for jamming out, so I didn't expect great sound quality. But I was still surprised at just how bad it is. The drivers in the neckband are much like those found in headphones, not speakers. The result is a really tinny sound with no bass whatsoever. It's worse than some of the budget open-ear headphones I've reviewed, which are known for lackluster audio quality.

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Adding to the poor audio quality is the fact that you're stuck with the default sound since there is no companion app to adjust levels. It does have a good amount of volume, which you can adjust right on the device, but that's all the customization there is.

Also, since this is essentially a speaker, those around you will be able to hear what you're listening to. The neckband would not be ideal in traditional office settings or if your remote work setup involves other people. You definitely wouldn't want to wear this in public for that reason (please don't wear a neckband speaker on a packed flight). If you do have other people around, headphones should be your audio product of choice instead of the neckband.

The $150 that you would spend on these could buy you a really nice pair of headphones or earbuds with even better call quality and noise cancellation, making them more versatile and useful beyond one niche situation.

Now, all the above-mentioned problems wouldn't be so bad if the SRS-NB10 was priced as a cheap product. But that is not the case. The $150 that you would spend on these could buy you a really nice pair of headphones or earbuds with even better call quality and noise-cancellation, making them more versatile and useful beyond one niche situation.

If you work from home and take a lot of calls or attend frequent virtual meetings, the Sony SRS-NB10 would make sense for you. It's more comfortable than having earbuds or headphones on all day, so you can simply leave it on while you jump in and out of meetings.

If you work from home and take a lot of calls or attend frequent virtual meetings, the Sony SRS-NB10 would make sense for you.

The long Bluetooth range also means you can wander your house while on your call. But, if you're looking for an audio device for listening to music or need something that you could use around others, you'd be better off with a pair of headphones. In fact, for the price of this neckband, you could buy a nice pair of headphones with sound that's worlds better.

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