The Century Series, Philips goes retro to celebrate over 100 years of audio innovation

The allure of retro design continues, this time snaring one of the original and much-imitated audio brands. Philips is celebrating over 100 years of manufacturing audio products in 2025. The company itself was originally founded in Eindhoven 1891 and had several decades of innovation in lighting and other areas of electrical engineering.

Nevertheless, it’s time for a family of devices that cement the Dutch company’s audio legacy and reclaim the forms of old from the myriad imitators that have reinvigorated the home hi-fi market with old-school design cues like wood and non-rectilinear forms. Enter the Philips Audio Century Series, five products that include two turntables, two new headphone models and a DAB/FM radio.

The range includes two different pairs of headphones, the Ringo (Philips H2000), a simple on-ear headphone designed to be compact and lightweight and evoke the headphones issued with early portable audio, and The Freddie (Philips SHP9500CY), which amps up the retro styling with an over-ear design that’s intended for listening at home.

The latter has a double-layered ear cushion, a detachable 3m chord and large 50mm drivers to create an expansive sound. The Ringo is pitched at a more pop market, a wireless headphone in three colours (Crystal Teal, Deep Black, and Silk White), complete with 40mm drivers and Bluetooth 5.4, up to 20-hours of playback and full compatibility with the Philips Headphones app.

It's joined by The Janet (Philips V2000), a portable radio with both DAB+ and FM. The retro form, with its grille, prominent logo and dial is offset by a 2.4-inch colour TFT screen. The Janet also serves as a Bluetooth speaker for streaming from mobile phones and, as befits the form factor, it can serve as a perfect radio alarm clock. The onboard battery allows for complete portability, with 16 hours playback.

In addition to reviving old form factors and styles, Philips is using the Century series to double down on its use of recycled plastics. All new models contain a large amount of post-consumer recycled plastic in their casings, and components like The Janet’s battery are designed to be easily replaced. All packaging will also be plastic free.

The final two devices are record players, starting with The Stevie (Philips V3000), a simple entry-level turntable system with integrated speakers. Described as either ‘my first all-in-one turntable system’ or even ‘an easy return to vinyl’, The Stevie breaks down barriers to entry with two onboard bass-reflect speakers and an Audio Technica MM cartridge.

Additional speakers can be added via Bluetooth and the onboard speakers can be used for other devices via an audio in connection. There’s also a conventional headphone socket. It’s joined by The Tina (Philips V9000), which claims 120W of onboard power as well as an integrated DAB+ and FM tuner. There’s also Bluetooth and USB audio and the ensemble is app enabled for control and playback. Like The Janet, it can drive additional speakers and serve as a streaming platform.

It’s curious that the company hasn’t seen fit to offer something to celebrate two of its most significant audio achievements – the development and introduction of the compact cassette in the late 1960s and the creation of the compact disc in the early 1980s. Perhaps something else is in the offing that’ll tap into the recent revival of both formats.

The Century Series will be available from Autumn 2025, with prices to be announced, Philips.co.uk