Sony has launched its very own wearable speaker called the SRS-WS1, that effectively acts like your own little personalised bubble of immersive audio. 

If the form factor looks familiar to you, it's because Sony isn't the first company to try out this unusual concept. 

Bose has its SoundWear speaker, which again is like a big audio collar, while LG has the Tone Studio, which is similar but smaller. 

The main idea behind Sony's new wearable speaker is to give the user a personal true surround sound experience. Since the speaker is worn around the user's neck, you don't ever have to make sure you're sitting in the "sweet spot" to get the ultimate surround sound benefit. 

Sony has joined the wearable speaker trend with its SRS-WS1 image 2
Sony

With it sitting on your shoulders, rather than covering your ears, you can still join in conversations or be aware of what's going on in your immediate surrounding and it also means not have six or seven satellite speakers all dotted around the room. 

Rather than being "true surround", this places 30mm drivers and bass radiators on either side of your head to give you an immersive sound and feel.

The speaker ships with a transmitter in the box, which you connect to your TV to beam the audio wirelessly to the WS1. You can also connect this transmitter to any other piece of hardware, like your phone or Nintendo Switch

A full charge of the speaker will get you around seven hours of play time, but takes around three hours to fully charge from 0-100. Most likely because it uses a Micro USB cable in the charging stand, rather than more modern Power Delivery/USB-C tech. 

You can pre-order the SRS-WS1 now direct from Sony in the US for $249.99, with delivery expected around 5 December. After the pre-order period, it jumps up to its full price of $299.99. There's no word yet on a UK launch, or wider availability.