sony’s tiny wearable air conditioner brings the cold straight to your neck
By kat barandy I designboom
Sony’s Reon Pocket Pro Plus turns personal climate control into a small wearable device that sits at the base of the neck. The upgraded thermo device is designed for the familiar discomforts of hot commutes, humid afternoons, over-cooled offices, and shifting temperatures between indoors and out.
Instead of sending a blast of air across the face like a handheld fan, it presses a cooling and heating plate against the upper back, using direct contact with the skin to change how warm or cool the body feels.
The device continues Sony’s Reon Pocket series, first introduced in Japan in 2019, but the new Pro Plus refines the idea with a stronger thermal system, a more secure neckband, and a slimmer approach to everyday wear.
It is part gadget, part wearable accessory, and part small environmental tool, built around the idea that comfort can be adjusted locally rather than changing the temperature of an entire room.
the wearable device cools and warms the body through direct contact with the upper back. images via Sony Electronics
Worn around the neck, the Reon Pocket Pro Plus rests between the shoulders, where its curved plate makes contact with the body. Sony says the design uses dual thermo modules for cooling and warming, with sensors that track skin temperature and surrounding conditions in real time.
In Smart Cool or Smart Warm mode, the device can adjust automatically through the companion app, responding to the user’s set temperature range and the environment around them.
The detail that makes the device more interesting from a design perspective is its focus on contact. The new Adaptive Hold Design reshapes the neckband so the unit sits more steadily against the body, reducing the small shifts that can interrupt thermal transfer while walking or moving lightly.
While it’s a practical improvement, it’s also a reminder that wearables depend as much on fit and friction as they do on sensors or software.
the device has up to 15 hours of battery life
Unlike a typical portable fan, the Reon Pocket Pro Plus works through a chilled metal plate, with warm exhaust directed away from the wearer. Sony has redesigned the airflow vent so it can extend and change angle, making the device easier to hide beneath different collars while still allowing heat to escape. The update matters for something meant to be worn in public, where discretion can be as important as performance.
The PRO Plus also comes with a separate wearable sensing tag, which can be clipped to a bag, strap, or belt loop to measure ambient temperature and humidity away from the body. That external reading gives the system a fuller sense of the surrounding climate, allowing the wearable to respond to more than the temperature of the wearer’s skin.
dual thermo modules help the device respond to both heat and cold
Sony says the new model delivers up to fifteen hours of battery life in Smart Cool mode, with on-device buttons for switching between cooling and warming when a phone is out of reach. The companion app allows more detailed control, including personalized temperature settings and automatic modes.
The device is fanless, which helps it remain discreet in offices, trains, cafés, and other shared spaces where a noisy cooling gadget could easily become annoying.
The larger idea is timely. As heat waves become more frequent and interiors remain unevenly conditioned, comfort is becoming harder to treat as a single building-wide setting. The Reon Pocket Pro Plus points toward a more individualized layer of climate control which moves with the body instead of asking the room to change.
the redesigned neckband keeps the cooling plate more steadily positioned while the wearer moves
name: REON POCKET PRO Plus brand: Sony Electronics availability: UK and Europe, with wider rollout details varying by market price: £199 / €229 battery: up to 15 hours in SMART COOL mode
This article was originally published by Designboom.