Sony's follow up to one of our favourite OLED TVs, new JBL speakers, Yamaha headphones and more

Another week, another entry into our regular Rewind hi-fi and home cinema news digest.

There may only be three entries into this week’s column, but they are for fairly big developments, covering the launch of successors to a swath of award winning, five-star products.

Here’s what you need to know.

The Sony A95L finally has a successor

The Sony A95L was one of the best OLED TVs available when it first launched.

But things move on, of course, and – thanks to the arrival of key rivals including the LG G5 – it is beginning to show its age.

So now Sony has lifted the lid on the A95L’s successor, the Bravia 8 II.

While we’re not completely sold on its name, which makes it sound like a replacement for the Bravia 8, not the A95L, there’s no denying it looks great.

Our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, walked away from his eyes-on demo of the Bravia 8 II at its launch in Japan incredibly impressed reporting:

“While we will have to wait until we have it in our own test rooms for independent, comparative testing, the Bravia 8 II at this stage looks like a meaningful upgrade on one of the best TVs ever made.”

He doesn’t dish out praise like that often.

If you’re after something a little cheaper, you will also be pleased to hear that the Bravia 8 II was just one of many new TVs to launch at the event.

Tom also got a look at the cheaper Bravia 5 Mini LED TV which will launch alongside the Bravia 8 II later this year.

• Check out our hands on preview of the Sony Bravia 8 II
• Check out our hands on preview of the Sony Bravia 5
• Read the full story: New Sony 2025 TVs: upgraded QD-OLED Bravia 8 II leads the charge

JBL’s new Bluetooth speakers are a hit

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If you have looked at our best Bluetooth speakers guide over the past few years you will have spotted a trend: there are usually a lot of JBL options in it.

Which is why last week we were pleased to finish testing the latest iterations of JBL's Charge and Flip speakers.

The Charge 6 is the larger of the two, though both fall firmly into the portable speaker category.

They both prove to be significant upgrades on their already impressive predecessors, offering more rugged designs, improved connectivity and, most importantly, better audio.

The end result is two new five-star products we can happily recommend to any music fan looking for a portable, water-resistant speaker to use in the garden, park or bathroom.

• Read our full JBL Charge 6 review
• Read our full JBL Flip 7 review

Yamaha has new headphones

Last week Yamaha teased its new YH-C3000 closed-back and YH-4000 open-back wired headphones.

What Hi-Fi?'s managing editor, Becky Roberts, managed to secure a pre-production pair of the YH-C3000 to play with ahead of their unveiling and came away impressed.

Yamaha hasn’t confirmed the headphones' specifications, or if they use the same planar magnetic drivers as the five-star special edition YH-5000SE, but during Becky's time with them she reported experiencing a very similar sonic profile.

This, together with their cool-looking, comfortable design means we are keen to see how the final finished version performs when we get them in for proper testing.

In comparison, the YH-4000 looks very similar to the Yamaha YH-5000SE, from both a technical and an aesthetic perspective. The only big difference we have spotted is that they are made with slightly different materials.

• Read the full story: I just spent a week with Yamaha's teased YH-C3000 headphones – and they're the cream of the closed-back crop

MORE:

These are the best wired headphones we have tested

We rate the best audiophile headphones money can buy

Our picks of the best wireless speakers