Philips debuts Fidelio L4 over-ear and T2 true wireless earphones

Philips has debuted the latest generation of its over-ear wireless headphones – the Fidelio L4. We were big fans of the well-priced L3’s so we’re looking forward to testing this new pair out. Once again they use a custom-designed 40mm driver, now with a graphene coating to improve the stiffness and so lower distortion.

There’s also a four-mic adaptive active noise cancelling (ANC) system. Philips says it has improved the system by moving the venting port for the external noise mic so it is less sensitive to wind noise.

Battery life has also been improved. The L4s now offer 50 hours of playback, only reduced to 40 hours with ANC switched on. The touch panel is now leather-covered and once again there is Google Assistant support.

Like the also-new Fidelio T2 true wireless earphones they support Bluetooth 5.3 in addition to the LC3 and LDAC Hi-Res codecs (you can use the USB-C or 3.5mm inputs for this) plus SBC and AAC as you’d expect.

Philips says that gains have been made with the new models – the L4 is 10 percent lighter than the L3 headphones, while T2 buds are 20 percent smaller than on the predecessor T1. The charging case for the IPX4 splashproof-rated T2 is also 40 percent smaller, too.

The T2s have three mics in each bud for ANC, while they also support Google Fast Pair and fast charging, too. The buds themselves will reach nine hours of playback with ANC on with another 27 hours of listening juice via the case.

Also today, Philips announced two new mid-range models for its Go Sports headphone range, headed up by the A5508 true wireless buds with 7 hours of battery life in the buds and another 21 in the case. They have hybrid—ANC with nose reduction and they’re IPX5 sweat and water-resistant. Also IPX5 rated is the A5608 bone conduction headphones which have six hours of playback plus fast charging.

Finally, Philips has also debuted a pair of sleep headphones, developed alongside Kokoon to reduce disturbed sleep. The thin-profile headphones have a 10 hour battery life but are just 6mm thick so you can lie on them.

Sensors will reduce the volume as you drift off while there’s a tiny heart rate monitor in them, too. They work with the Kokoon App so you can better understand your sleep patterns.

Pricing on all models is to be confirmed.

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Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website. Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.