Philips Fidelio T2

Chunky, but are they funky?

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In-ear headphones £250 whf.cm/FidelioT2

Another day, another pair of wireless earbuds taking a swing at the best of Bose and Sony. The new Philips Fidelio T2 have one predominant aim in mind: to knock the Sony WF-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds off their respective perches and shake up this most competitive of markets.

The T2 are placed at around the same price point as their Award-winning rivals, the superb Sony WF-1000XM5 (£259). They are, however, a lot more affordable than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (£300), but a little pricier than Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 (£229).

“Beautiful to look at, incredible to listen to,” says the blurb. Bold words, but we would be hard-pressed to call the Fidelio T2 actively “beautiful”. While we don’t mind a pair being a little plus-sized (see the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds), the Fidelio feel both chunky and plain, with a rather utilitarian design only slightly enlivened by the leather control area which makes up the buds’ outer surface. Looks are subjective, of course, so you may find the rather burly, no-nonsense aesthetics right up your particular street.

The earbuds might be a little on the bulky side, but they are nothing compared with the case itself which, although slimmed down from the first-gen model, is quite the mini monolith – it dwarfs the pebble-like Sony WF-1000XM5 case by quite a margin.