Sonos’ long-rumored first headphone could be based on a high-end design from RHA Technologies, a small but popular British audio company that encountered financial trouble earlier this year.
A source familiar with RHA’s plans tells TechHive’s sister site Tech Advisor that RHA was working on a headphone design with specs rivaling Apple’s AirPods Max. Sonos quietly acquired a majority stake in RHA—since rebranded as Origin North Ltd.—and RHA’s design could be the foundation for one or more new Sonos headphones.
RHA’s high-end noise-cancelling headphone—dubbed Atlas—were due to come to market in early 2021. Tech Advisor’s source describes a prototype as black, fairly large, “square-ish and slightly curved.” Tech Advisor reports that the Atlas featured a high-res Bluetooth codec, possibly aptX HD; aptX Low Latency; Google Fast Pair; and Google Assistant support for hands-free control.
What’s more, Tech Advisor’s source says the headphones featured “cracking” active noise cancelling and support for spatial audio with a “movie mode.” RHA apparently intended to price the Atlas headphone at “around the £500 mark” (about $670). Tech Advisor reached out to Sonos for comment and received a boilerplate answer about the company’s philosophy related to the acquisition of talent and technology.
Author: Michael Brown, Executive Editor
Michael is TechHive's lead editor, with 30+ years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the smart home, home audio, and home theater. He built his own smart home in 2007 and used it as a real-world test lab for product reviews. Following a relocation to the Pacific Northwest, he is now converting his new home, an 1890 Victorian bungalow, into a modern smart home.