Philips Audio news: Luxury Fidelio home cinema, Bluetooth speakers and sports headphones on the program

Small batch of sound innovations from the beginning of the year at Philips. Indeed, the manufacturer presented no less than three ambitious products to expand its beautiful Fidelio range (a soundbar, a matching subwoofer and a versatile satellite speaker), as well as three nomadic/adventurer-oriented products (true wireless earphones and waterproof Bluetooth speakers). Two facets of the brand, but both very elaborate.

An increasingly premium and audiophile home cinema

Ever more present in the world of the living room, the Fidelio range therefore welcomes three new "speakers", all oriented towards TV use. This is not surprising since the manufacturer has at the same time unveiled its The One TV series, as well as the very high-end OLED807 OLED models.

These new features give pride of place to the integration of the DTS Play-Fi network ecosystem. The latter is a kind of multiroom protocol, already integrated (on certain products) by several Hifi brands such as Arcam, Audiolab, Klipsch, McIntosh, Martin Logan, Onkyo, Paradigm, Quad or even Rotel. This system has the advantage of being able to send sound in Hi-res, of setting up a multiroom configuration, but also of being very flexible on the home cinema part. For example, it is possible to manage the latency of a loudspeaker or to define precise roles. A pair of connected speakers can be used, for example, as stereo speakers for a movie or as surround speakers.

The first novelty and probably the most complete is the Fidelio FB1 soundbar, which seems to be a very good example of the know-how that Philips deploys throughout the range. This know-how is expressed first of all in the form, in which we find an increasingly recognizable Fidelio touch. Indeed, this very sober model overflows with small luxurious touches, such as the use of brushed aluminum here and there, the presence of a metal grille or the integration of Muirhead leather elements. As a reminder, this high-end Scottish leather is already present on the Fidelio X3 Hifi headphones, the Fidelio L3 mobile headphones, as well as on the Fidelio T1 headphones - a desire for unity visibly.

We can note that, although technically not as high-end as the excellent Fidelio B97, the Fidelio FB1 soundbar looks more refined in form.

Obviously, nothing is left to chance on the sound part. For starters, the front speakers are split into independent groups (left, center, right channels), visibly amplified and processed by dedicated units. For surround representation, the Fidelio FB1 uses not one but two speakers per side, which improves accuracy. Finally, Atmos compatibility requires, two up-firing type speakers (pointed towards the ceiling) are integrated to bring verticality to the sound.

Announced as 7.1.2, this Fidelio FB1 consists of no less than 15 speakers, for a total power of 300 W RMS. It will be available in June, for a price of 800 euros.

What does it take to best support a soundbar? A subwoofer of course. The Fidelio FW1 will perform this very precise role, all within contained dimensions (very flat format) and still displaying the characteristic luxury of the Fidelio range: in fact, in addition to the wooden box, there are still touches of aluminum here. brushed and Muirhead leather.

This very premium subwoofer will however have to compensate for its fairly low volume with an optimized sound architecture. A single 8-inch (20 cm) speaker pointed downwards is supported by two passive radiators placed back to back (back-to-back structures). What to offer abyssal bass? The Fidelio FW1 will also be available in June, for 800 euros.

Simpler in appearance, the Fidelio FS1 is mainly presented as a satellite speaker (for surround use, for example). But its possibilities are much wider, since it can operate completely independently, like a classic multiroom speaker. Sold individually, the Fidelio FS1 can be paired with a second model (or even in a quartet) to complete a Hifi or home cinema configuration.

This small speaker, still marked by the use of aluminum and leather, has a three-way architecture: a front tweeter, a speaker for the midrange, a boomer and two passive radiators, for 60 W RMS of power. .Available around September 2022, the Fidelio FS1 is announced at 300 euros per unit.

Sport, colorful but audiophile

Less premium but no less neat, the three models A7507, S4807 and S7807 respectively designate zero-wire headphones and two waterproof Bluetooth speakers.

The A7507 headphones are particularly interesting, because their characteristics remind us of the Fidelio T1, but in a sportier way. Taking advantage of a more colorful design (black and red or white and yellow) and visibly more compact, these headphones have a Bluetooth 5.2 chip with support for the LDAC codec, still very rarely integrated on headphones. Another advantage is the use of an advanced active noise reduction system and bone conduction technology to improve call quality.

If the headphones contain a single transducer (compared to two for the Fidelio T1), this is already a high-end reference, with a membrane coated with graphene. Finally, the announced autonomy amounts to no less than 8 hours on a single charge and 29 hours with the case. Although the A7507s are advertised as suitable for sports, we do not yet have information regarding their IP certification.

Finally, the latest Philips announcement concerns a duo of small Bluetooth speakers. These are waterproof (IPX7 or IP67 therefore), built around robust frames, and allow a Multipoint connection (several devices connected at the same time).

The S7807 is the more imposing of the two (104 x 104 x 280 mm) and above all the more ambitious from a sound point of view. It uses two 70 mm speakers for bass / midrange, a simple passive radiator and two 20 mm tweeters.

Much more compact, the S4807 measures only 70 x 70 x 169 mm and incorporates a single 45 x 80 mm transducer supported by two passive radiators.

Unlike the new Fidelio products, Philips has not yet communicated prices or release dates for these three new products.

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