ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS Home Entertainment


Soundcore’s Sleep A30.


Naughty & nice: AV product trends for Christmas 2025


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This December, expect the AV market to be dominated by diversity, and swayed by social media. Steve May reports on the tech that’s best placed to keep tills ringing into the new year…


I


f there’s one thing retailers can bank on, as the festive season approaches, it’s that customers, predisposed to


gifting, are


looking for gadgets that fit both budget and lifestyle. And there’s a surfeit of stuff on offer, running the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. If ever there were a product designed to make jaws drop at the till, it’s Loewe’s first foray into luxury personal audio. Partnering with jeweller Jacob & Co., the brand has launched a pair of bespoke, limited-edition headphones that retail for a mere €99,000 (sapphires and white diamonds don’t come cheap). Clearly they’re halo pieces that highlight how headphones are crossing into the world of high jewellery - only ten in total are being released – but more significantly they serve as a reminder to all that aspirational storytelling sells, even when customers are only window-shopping.


Aslan Khabliev, Loewe CEO, declares the new headphones the finest in the world, talking about his the partnership with Jacob & Co. : “Our collaboration is unique and exclusive, bringing together two worlds that, at their core, serve the same discerning clientele.” It’s alright for some. For a more grounded recommendation, Bowers


& Wilkins’ Px7 S3 represent the kind of headphone many customers will genuinely aspire to. Priced at £399, they’re stylish, slim, and ergonomically improved over previous generations. Plush vegan leather earpads and redesigned controls, plus a new headband mechanism, offer buyers a better fit and greater comfort. The spec is worth shouting about: there’s support for aptX Adaptive and 24-bit/96kHz streaming, plus upgraded noise cancellation, to keep the outside world at bay.


Equally important is their lifestyle appeal They


fold neatly into a compact case and come in three stylish finishes (Anthracite Black, Indigo Blue, and Canvas White).


Battery life is the icing on the Christmas log.


You get 30 hours on a single charge. You’ll get seven hours of playback from a 15-minute top-up, so they’re always ready for daily commuting and long-haul flights. At the more affordable, impulse purchase end of the market, Anker is pushing its Soundcore AeroFit 2 (£75), which also focuses on comfort, with adjustable hooks and a large racetrack diaphragms for rich sound, and the Sleep A30 (£199), the latter being smart ANC earbuds designed to enhance sleep quality. With snore-


masking and real-time adaptive audio, they target a very different consumer need. Mariam Shahid,


Anker’s UK PR lead,


suggests such earbuds, designed for different life scenarios, provide a fresh selling angle in an over-saturated market.


Ms Shahid also highlights a new version of the Soundcore AeroFit 2 equipped with an AI assistant. “This latest model allows users to chat and ask questions at any time, while wearing the earbuds.”


Social media’s sway


So what of the impact of social media on business? It’s going to be significant, she says. “The influence of social media platforms on gifting has been growing year-on-year. Social media feeds are inspiring gift lists and much of the influential power of social media lies in the fact that the products consumers are seeing are wrapped up in content rather than being static adverts.” Anker is already working with ambassadors to inspire consumers, we’re told. Vinyl turntables remain a strong retail


proposition, both for newcomers and those upgrading sound systems.


Appealing to lifestyle buyers, Hi-Fi specialist


Pro-Ject has its Colourful Audio System 2 (£1,799) and Colourful Audio System E (£1,099). These bundles package turntable, amplifier, and speakers into matching systems that come fully accessorised with cartridges, cables, and even isolation feet. They’re they’re extremely well specified.


Loewe’s entry into the personal audio category in partnership with Jacob & Co.


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