Last week was one of the busiest this year for What Hi-Fi?’s team of experts. As well as having to cover the High End Munich show, we also had to contend with surprise product launches from big name brands.
These included the follow-up to a long standing recommendation in our best wireless headphones guide and a fresh rival to one of our favourite new OLED TVs.
Here’s everything you need to know.
High End Munich delivered the goods
This year’s High End show was always going to be special, as it’s set to be the last to happen in Munich. The show is packing its bags and jetting over to Vienna from next year.
So we always expected brands to celebrate the end of an era with style. But boy, did they go all-out.
At the show, our team of experts on the ground were hit with more product launches and cool looking new high end speakers, amps, streamers and more than they could count.
These included Chord’s new flagship Ultima Phonostage, JBL’s latest range of high end Summit loudspeakers, the WiiM Sound smart speaker and WiiM Sub Pro subwoofer and more.
Read the full story: High End Munich 2025 highlights
Sony’s latest flagship headphones are great
Last week Sony unveiled its new WH-1000XM6 over-ear, wireless headphones. The new headphones are a big deal for two reasons.
First, because they’re the successor to the Award-winning Sony WH-1000XM5 that have sat at the top of our best wireless headphones guide for quite some time.
Second, because they are a fantastic pair of headphones any music fan would do well to consider when shopping for a new set of cans, based on our testing.
Key upgrades include a new design with an improved hinge mechanism that makes them more comfortable to wear and easier to pack away. Under the hood there is also a newly developed 30mm ‘soft edge’ dome driver and completely new chipset.
The end result is a five-star set of wireless headphones that offer palpable improvements on their still impressive predecessor. Hence our reviewers’ conclusion:
“It feels like the Sony WH-1000XM6 have been a long time coming, and we are pleased to tell you they have been well worth the wait. They’re the best-sounding flagship pair we’ve heard from Sony to date, which is no mean feat.”
Read our in-depth Sony WH-1000XM6 review
The LG C5 OLED TV may have a fight on its hands
While our team of audio experts may have been squarely focussed on covering High End, our AV team had its own launch event to contend with.
Last week our intrepid senior staff writer, Lewis Empson, snuck off to Germany to get a hands-on look at Panasonic’s 2025 range of TVs.
And while this included some hands-on time with the Panasonic Z95B, which we originally saw at CES in January, it was the step-down Panasonic Z90B that caught his eye the most.
The set is a direct rival to the LG C5, which is the current recommended new model in our best OLED TV buying guide.
Featuring a new processor and higher max brightness, Panasonic claims the Z90B is its finest step-down OLED to date, and from what Lewis saw at the event, we’re taking that boast seriously.
If it delivers on even a fraction of Panasonic’s promises when we get it in for review, home cinema fans will be in for a serious treat when it launches later this year.
Read our full Panasonic Z90B hands-on preview
MORE:
These are the best stereo amps we’ve reviewed
We rate the best TVs money can buy
Our picks of the best headphones for serious music fans
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