If you are a regular reader at Smart Home Geeks you will remember we reviewed Lithe Audios ceiling speakers.

They have now released a new WiFi ceiling speaker, so we were eager to see how it compares to their impressive Bluetooth ceiling speaker.

What does the Lithe Audio WiFi Speaker do?

These speakers sit in your ceiling, hidden out of sight. You connect to them wirelessly with the Lithe Audio app, using 2.4 GHz WiFi.

Up to 30 speakers or zones can be connected giving an impressive multi-room experience.

LITHE AUDIO Wireless WiFi Multroom Audio Ceiling Speaker

The speakers pack a punch with 60W RMS and inbuilt Apple AirPlay – the only certified AirPlay Ceiling speaker on the market.

They don’t stop there also having in built dlna and UPnP for direct streaming from a media server.

How easy are they to setup?

Setup was simple, as you would expect from Lithe Audio.

First cut the hole, using the supplied template. Then work out how you plan on powering them. They can either be wired into a lighting circuit or can be plugged in, a plug is supplied.

Once powered up you need to install the free Lithe Audio app. Connecting the app is easy, press the reset button for 5 seconds and connect to the speaker via WiFi. The app is simple and intuitive to use.

You can then connect it to your home network and give the speaker a name. To setup AirPlay you use the apple setting and it automatically finds the speaker.

Next the fun part of connecting to a source and playing music!

How much do they cost?

£329.99 for a single speaker
£399 for a pair with a master and a slave

This is very comparable with market leader pricing although at the top end.

What’s it like living with it?

Wow! We are big Sonos fans at Smart Home Geeks, with one in every room. However we can happily say the sound quality and connectivity of Lithe audio surpasses Sonos.

AirPlay is great and ’just works’ – the app never dropped or had frustrating connectivity issues or lag.

Sound quality is superb, both treble and bass sound exceptional.

They however do not support Apple Music – for us no issue but for some it might be a deal breaker.

What are our final thoughts?

If we were looking for a whole home audio solution this is the one we would now choose. The speakers can be easily fitting in the ceiling , out of the way and effortlessly controlled and used.

Watch out Sonos – Lithe is here!!

This is a review of the SoundSOUL Bluetooth Water Speakers Fountain Speakers.

What does SoundSOUL Bluetooth Water Speakers Fountain Speakers do?

As the name slightly gives away these are dancing water speakers! They can either be plugged in via USB or use the inbuilt battery.  Charging time is 2 hours for a 3 hour playtime or 6 hours standby.

The two speakers come as a pair, with each having 4 coloured LED lights inside as well as a water that dances and moves inside the speaker with whatever is played. The unit is sealed and feels well made.

The best way to understand what they do is to watch them.

How easy is it to setup?

There is not really any setup, the speakers connect to each other via a link cable.

You can either connect to a media source (Phone / Laptop etc) via the supplied aux cable or via Bluetooth.

How much do they cost?

£50.99 on Amazon – at time of reviewing (2/1/18) on sale £25.99!

Soundsoul Bluetooth Water Speaker

What’s the connectivity?

They connect via a supplied aux cable or via Bluetooth.
The smart part is the Bluetooth connection is pin less, this means it can be connected to Alexa!

What’s it like living with it?

These are a really fun portable speaker, the lights and water dancing look great.
The fact it can connects to Alexa via Bluetooth is a big plus.

What are our final thoughts?

Perfect for a kids bedroom. The sound quality is good enough, we didn’t expect mind blowing audio as the main feature of these speakers is the fun!

Aptly named…. The Lyric Speaker.

This is the first time a speaker will display lyrics as well as a visual representation of the music. The concept behind the speaker is to allow the listener to really connect to the lyrics and music, in a way they have never done before.

Here is a demo video:

This is achieved using its innovative inbuilt “expression engine” that matches the song to the displayed font, speed and animation.

For example, if a slower song is chosen the speaker will show a more delicate font that flows across the speaker. If no lyrics are in the track, for example classical music abstract shapes and animations will be shown.

The Lyric Speaker connects to WiFi via the app and supports all the major streaming providers: Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, SoundCloud and YouTube.

Unlike competitors the speaker can play 96khz/24bit FLAC files and has a range of 40Hz, with two inbuilt coaxial speakers as well as two drone cones.

All sounds pretty interesting and nothing we have seen before. The only challenging point is the price.

The COTODAMA Lyric Speaker is available in the UK now from their website
https://lyric-speaker.com/en/  for £4,320.

The post Meet the worlds first Lyric Speaker appeared first on Smart Home Geeks.

Here is what each of the new products does and how it fits into the impressive range.

PS. We recommend buying your Echo devices directly on Amazon, currently starting from under £50.

Improved Amazon Echo

The improved Echo is slightly smaller than the first generation Echo, introducing a more subtle design. It also features a removable cloth cover with additional designs going on sale soon – this is a great addition as the previous Echo did look a little industrial compared to other Smart Home Tech.

One other big change is the tech inside, Amazon has added a dedicated base speaker and improved the microphone to allow it to be activated from even further away and generally improve activation. It also now supports Dolby Audio so music should sound better.

The new Echo will be available in packs of 3. This is a clever move and has obviously been done to push their new multi room music solution using Alexa. As we said before, be afraid Sonos!

They have also dropped the price, it is now £90!

Shipping Starts October 2017 – just in time for Christmas.

Echo Plus

Amazon has obviously realised that the way to dominate the Smart Market is to release a platform or Hub that properly integrates other tech. Meet Echo Plus the smart hub.

It integrates with other smart tech via ZigBee. ZigBee really seems to be the protocol of choice with Philips Hue and IKEA Smart Lighting both using it as well over 100 supported tech.

The Echo Plus even comes with a Philips Hue lightbulb.

Amazon Echo Plus costs £140 and ships 31 October 2017.

Echo Spot

Recently Amazon Released the Echo Show and it received a very mixed response. Echo Spot is their second attempt at a Alexa with a screen, however it is much smaller than the show. It’s the equivalent of a Amazon Echo Dot of the show.

With design similar to a Nest Thermostat the Echo Spot has a 2.5 inch round screen with a camera on top.

The Echo Spot also doubles up as an alarm clock with the screen displaying a clock face. Somehow I think Amazon are telling us this is the one for the bedroom.

It supports video calling as well as all the standard Alexa features and Skills. You can connect it to your speakers via Bluetooth or an old fashioned cable.

At present only a USA ship date has been confirmed, that is 19th December 2017 and no prices.

Echo Connect

The Echo Connect requires a landline and becomes a speaker phone. Allowing voice dialling as well as the normal Alexa features.

We assume this is to try and introduce Alexa to a generation that might otherwise not fit into the existing range.

As yet no release date or prices on the Echo Connect.

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