We have heard the rumours for a while but they were yet to materialise, until now. Today at their press conference at IFA in Berlin Sony have announced their entry into the new smart speaker category, the LF-S50G.
The Sony LF-S50G (doesn’t quite roll off the tongue does it?) is a 360 degree wireless speaker that is designed to serve as the digital hub for your home, all controlled by your voice and Google Assistant. It promises to fill “the average room” with “high quality sound” and inside a relatively compact body (110mm x 162mm) it packs:
- A full range speaker to clearly reproduce vocal and treble notes
- A dedicated subwoofer to reproduce bass
- Damped bass reflex duct for neutral bass from a small speaker enclosure
- Omnidirectional two stage diffuser to spread sound in all directions
The LF-S50G can easily be used in the kitchen as it is splash resistant (IPX3). It also has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and NFC (for Bluetooth pairing) and supports Android and iOS. There is a gesture panel to begin playing music, skip tracks or adjust the volume and a display that is a digital clock — of course, this can also be done using voice controls and Google Assistant as well.
The LF-S50G will be available in Australia from early December 2017 for SRP $299.00 in three colours; blue, black and white. We hope to have one on hand soon to put it through it’s paces.
At $100 more than a Google Home are you interested in a smart speaker with better sound quality?
Looks like it’s on sale now on Sony website
http://www.sony.com.au/electronics/wireless-speakers/lf-s50g
It’s good to see a waterproof version. I have my 2nd GH in the bathroom which gets the most use. I have been worried about the steam getting into the mics so I put a rubber over the top. It still works perfectly and can respond while I’m in the shower. Having a speaker that is controlled hands free in the shower really well like the GH is my example of we are living in the future now.
Curious to see what level of functionality this has. Assistant is different between my Home, Pixel, and Huawatch…
Wondering if it will have all the functionality of Google Home?
Currently the Google Assistant SDK is nowhere near as functional as what is available via google home
Looking forward to this.
My family like our Google Home but for a large open plan area it’s not loud enough. We still use Sony SANS410 or SRSX77 for playing music. Hopefully out in time for Christmas and I’ll relegate the Google Home to the study.
Hopefully the Sony LF-S50G and Google Home play nice together when someone shouts Hey Google’
Glad to see this. Been waiting to see actual speaker makers put out assistant powered speakers rather than buy a second home. Here’s hoping they can include a good mic array.
Hope other speaker makers get on board. This seems like the perfect response to the Apple Homepod, a range of speakers at varying pricepoints. Hope the same thing happens with the muttered about headphones.