Joining ranks with Samsung in taking inspiration from Apple, Sony’s latest connected speaker has an uncanny resemblance with Apple’s HomePod. They are calling it the LF-S50G (a mouthful, I know!) which even works like the HomePod except it relies on Google Assistant and not Siri.
However, Sony is comparing the product only with Google Home and says that it stands out in the home speaker market because of its superior quality audio. Well, now no one can deny that Sony does offer amazing sound quality.
The device features subwoofer for bass, an omnidirectional 2 staged diffuser to scatter the sound throughout the room and a full-range speaker for vocal and treble notes. You can pair up the device through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or NFC and it supports multi-room audio controls. Available in white or black, the device also comes with splash-proof.
The speaker can recognise gesture controls to play music, adjust volume or skip a track which is an upgrade from Google Home which lacks such features. Gesture control can come in handy when you don’t want to shout to your speakers during a party.
The LF-S50G is going to be launched at $199.99 (roughly Rs. 12,800), and the company will begin shipping in October in the U.S.
At the IFA this year, many other Google Assistant-enable speakers have already debuted. Back in May this year, Google released its assistant SDK to speaker manufacturers and recently followed up to announce third party devices. Other notable speakers with Google Assistant include: Anker’s new Zolo Mojo that costs only 70$ in the U.S but doesn’t have the best audio quality, Panasonic is also coming up with its GA10 speaker, but its specs aren’t yet out.