Tag Archives: speakers

km5’s Sp1 Speaker and Mp1 Mixer Give CD Listening a DJ-Style Twist

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There’s something satisfying about choosing a CD, even if most of us have become accustomed to tapping a screen instead. The trouble is finding audio equipment you’d actually want to leave on display. km5’s newly announced Sp1 speaker and Mp1 mixer give its Cp1 CD player some equally minimalist company, letting you listen to favorite albums or try your hand at mixing them.

Both borrow the Cp1’s flat, frame-like format, with black or white finishes that let the pieces sit together without looking like an assortment of unrelated electronics. The Sp1 puts a perforated grille where the player displays its disc, while the Mp1 fills that space with knobs and sliders. They share the same size, but each makes its purpose clear through its front surface.

Designer: km5

The speaker has a few surprises behind that otherwise quiet appearance. A dot-matrix display sits beneath the grille, showing the time and playback information without carving out a separate screen on the front. Physical buttons occupy the top edge alongside a retractable metal antenna. That last detail gives away the Sp1’s other role as an FM radio that doesn’t need to borrow your phone.

Inside are two 1.77-inch full-range drivers and two passive radiators, though their presence alone doesn’t tell us how convincing the bass will be. Bluetooth and microSD playback offer other ways to listen, and you can record radio programs, too. Pairing two Sp1 units provides stereo playback, letting a single speaker become part of a larger arrangement rather than something you’ve outgrown.

The Mp1, meanwhile, invites you to do something with the music beyond pressing play. Its two channels have separate level sliders, with a crossfader below for blending between sources. Three-band EQ controls adjust the bass, midrange, and treble, while filters change the sound further. Loop buttons repeat sections of a track, giving a favorite passage permission to stick around a little longer.

Two Bluetooth inputs let the mixer receive music from sources such as a Cp1 and a smartphone, then send the combined sound wirelessly to a compatible speaker. You aren’t required to own an entire matching set, thankfully. Line inputs and outputs also accommodate wired connections, though the published information doesn’t establish how much delay the completely wireless arrangement introduces when you’re trying to mix.

Built-in batteries make it easier to move the arrangement away from a desk, with km5 quoting approximately 12 hours for the speaker and six for the mixer. Optional wall-mount accessories offer another way to free up a surface. The mixer can even be operated on the wall, an unusual invitation to get up from the sofa and fiddle with the music yourself.

Preorders are scheduled to open on November 16, 2026, with km5 expecting shipments in February 2027 or later, though pricing remains unconfirmed. There’s also a practical limit to that portable party setup. The speaker’s quoted battery life is twice the mixer’s, so it might be ready for another album when your DJ booth is looking for a charger.

The post km5’s Sp1 Speaker and Mp1 Mixer Give CD Listening a DJ-Style Twist first appeared on Yanko Design.

Duramobi’s underwater speaker turns your pool into a sound system

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Here’s a pool party experiment you’ve run without meaning to. Someone’s Bluetooth speaker is blasting on the deck, you duck under to rescue a dropped pair of sunglasses, and the playlist vanishes. Up top it’s Dua Lipa, down below it’s a muffled thud and the hum of the pool filter. Water is roughly 800 times denser than air, so nearly all that sound bounces off the surface like a guest who wasn’t on the list. Hong Kong’s Duramobi decided the fix was to stop playing music at the water and start playing it inside it.

The Duramobi Pool Audio System W150 is a portable underwater speaker that hangs off the pool’s edge on a telescopic pole, keeping the controls dry while a brushed aluminum transducer sits below the waterline. A transducer is a sealed driver that vibrates the water itself, so everyone in the pool hears the same thing with nothing in their ears. No drilling, no wiring, no contractor with a concrete saw. It holds up to 1,000 songs, runs 12-plus hours per charge, and comes with a Live Voice Remote so a coach can talk straight into the water. Music, coaching, and a proper cannonball soundtrack, all headphone-free.

Designer: Duramobi

Click Here to Buy Now: $229 $399 (43% off). Hurry, only 287/300 left!

Turning the whole pool into the speaker

Sound moves about four times faster through water than through air, and your skull is happy to pass those vibrations along to your inner ear, which is why underwater music feels like it comes from everywhere at once. The W150 leans on that. Its transducer pod, a round disc with a brushed aluminum face, shoves vibrations straight into the pool instead of shouting at the surface. Duramobi says one unit covers about 20 by 20 feet (6 by 6 meters), which is a whole spa or a decent patch of backyard pool. Stand in the water and the music simply surrounds you, no earbuds and no fiddly straps.

A telescopic pole stretches from 13.4 to 35.4 inches (340 to 900mm), so the transducer stays submerged whether your pool is filled to the brim or sitting a few inches low. Duramobi calls the retractable design patented, which is a polite way of saying somebody sweated the details. Controls sit on the dry body above the waterline, so wet fingers can reach them without a dive. Bigger pools just get more units, with the setup guide suggesting two for a 39 by 20 foot backyard pool and four to six for an 82 by 69 foot resort pool. Multiple units sync, so the whole pool plays one song instead of an argument.

Beach club looks with a sealed, chlorine-resistant shell

The main body is a black triangle with a carry handle, a digital display, top-mounted buttons, and a vertical light strip that glows down its face like a lightsaber with better manners. Blue, orange, or yellow accents set the mood, and the mood is beach club instead of lab equipment. The composite shell uses encapsulated construction (sealed solid, in other words) and carries an IP68 rating, which covers dunking to about 4.9 feet (1.5 meters). Duramobi also lists resistance to chlorine, salt, and corrosion. At roughly 4.9 pounds (2,240g), it carries about like a loaded lunch bag.

Twelve-plus hours of battery covers a morning of laps and an afternoon of floating, though actual runtime shifts with volume and mode. A magnetic charging attachment means no port flap to forget about, and a full top-up takes about an hour and a half. Up to 1,000 songs live on the unit itself, so your phone can stay in the bag, far from splashes. Prefer streaming? Bluetooth 5.3 works with Android, iOS, and Windows. Four EQ modes (Home, Spa, Train, and Resort) tune the sound for where and how you swim.

Coaching cues that follow swimmers underwater

The Live Voice Remote is a handheld that lets a coach talk straight into the water, which fixes the oldest problem in swim coaching: brilliant advice shouted at people who are underwater. It doubles as a remote for play and pause, volume, and EQ, so nobody has to trek back to the speaker mid-set. Coaches can pair a pace-setting playlist with spoken cues, and every swimmer hears the same thing at once. Everyone gets the same instructions together, with no headphones and no frantic hand signals. The remote comes in the same kit as the speaker, so the coaching setup is one box.

The use case list is wide: swim training, synchronized swimming, aqua fitness, swim schools, hotels, resorts, and backyard pools. Synchro teams are the obvious fans, since staying in sync underwater is half the job. Resorts get something more romantic, a pool soundtrack with no trenching of the deck. French composer Michel Redolfi staged underwater concerts in the early 1980s, with listeners floating in pools and ocean coves with their ears submerged, so the idea has real art-world credentials. Bach underwater, Redolfi once joked, sounds like Bach in the bathroom, so choose your playlist wisely. The W150 just swaps experimental synths for your Friday favorites.

Three-step setup, zero construction

Adjusting the pole, pairing your music over Bluetooth (or picking from the built-in library), choosing an EQ mode, and lowering the transducer into the water is the entire setup routine. No drilling, no excavation, and no permanent pool hardware means renters and hotel managers can use it as easily as homeowners. A coach who shares a pool with three other clubs can set it up before practice and pack it away afterward. When the session ends, the unit comes out of the water as easily as it went in. Charge it magnetically while everyone towels off, and it’s ready for the next set.

Click Here to Buy Now: $229 $399 (43% off). Hurry, only 287/300 left!

The post Duramobi’s underwater speaker turns your pool into a sound system first appeared on Yanko Design.

Pokémon Beats Pill Adds Charms Without Raising the Price

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2026 is the year when Trainers everywhere celebrate Pokémon’s 30th anniversary, so we expected a lot of new merchandise, themed events, and collaborations with other well-known brands. We’ve seen footwear and apparel rollouts with adidas and PUMA, LEGO sets, even a partnership with the European Space Agency, and food collaborations like Pokémon-themed Hershey’s Kisses. If you’re looking for audio equipment featuring your favorite monster, you’re in luck with this newly announced collaboration.

The Pokémon Beats Pill is a Bluetooth speaker announced by audio brand Beats in partnership with The Pokémon Company International. It features two familiar Pokémon characters, the ubiquitous Pikachu and the more mysterious Mimikyu. It brings the bright yellow and minimalist gray associated with these characters to a portable speaker with what Beats calls its signature sound. Both Beats collectors and Pokémon Trainers may want to have this special-edition collaboration to bring their music and other audio content to life.

Designers: Beats x Pokémon

The speaker’s design is a contrast between the electric yellow most identified with Pikachu and a grayscale interpretation of Mimikyu, with the latter hiding beneath a cloth that resembles the former. More than just attaching a logo to the Bluetooth speaker, this is a character-driven design. Both Pokémon appear on the grille, while the speaker itself remains compact and elongated like other Beats Pill devices.

According to Beats, this is also the first Pill release that comes with charms. Trainers who like collecting accessories get the iconic Poké Ball, Pikachu-inspired lightning bolts, and the equally recognizable Beats “b.” The color-matched gray carry lanyard is removable, so there’s a practical carrying accessory alongside the collectible details. It also comes with interactive packaging, which Beats says includes a movable piece, plus special-edition stickers. The exact packaging mechanism isn’t explained in detail on the collaboration page.

The familiar shape has a practical side, too. Its 20-degree upward tilt is designed to direct sound toward your ears when it sits on a table, while the soft-grip silicone backing is intended to make it easier to hold. At 8.6 inches long and 24 ounces, it’s portable enough for a bag, although not pocket-sized. Keeping the existing Pill shape also means the Pokémon treatment doesn’t turn it into a bulky character figurine that needs its own dedicated space.

Specs-wise, the speaker has a bespoke acoustic system that Beats says delivers room-filling sound and deep bass for your favorite tunes, podcasts, or audiobooks. It offers up to 24 hours of battery life and has an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance. That battery figure is a manufacturer claim, not a guarantee for every listening session. You can also charge a compatible phone from the speaker via USB-C, using some of its battery in the process.

You can listen over Bluetooth or plug in a compatible device via USB-C for high-resolution lossless audio. The wired connection matters here; lossless playback isn’t being promised over Bluetooth. You can even pair two Beats Pills together in Amplify Mode or Stereo Mode. The former synchronizes playback across both speakers, while the latter separates the left and right channels. You’ll need a second Pill for either option.

The speaker also supports both iOS and Android devices, so you don’t need an iPhone to use it. One-touch pairing and supported device-location features add to its everyday usefulness. It can also serve as a speakerphone, letting you take calls through the paired speaker rather than reaching for your phone every time. The Pokémon Beats Pill is scheduled to become available in the United States for $149.99 on October 15, 2026, at 8 a.m. PDT, through Apple and Target online and at select Target stores.

For Pokémon fans, the appeal is having a collectible that doesn’t have to stay on a shelf. The collaboration’s announced changes focus on appearance, accessories, and packaging, rather than a Pokémon-specific audio upgrade. If you already own a Pill, the reason to choose this one is mainly the character treatment. For someone looking for a portable speaker, though, Pikachu and Mimikyu give a familiar everyday device some personality.

The post Pokémon Beats Pill Adds Charms Without Raising the Price first appeared on Yanko Design.

Edifier’s $52 gaming soundbar lets you ditch your headset without losing voice chat

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Gaming soundbars became popular in the 2017s, but the trend faded; in the last couple of years, this category of audio accessories has seen renewed interest. Razer kicked off the new wave, with several mainstream brands and some offbeat makers releasing their own versions. Creative recently launched their B3 soundbar for gamers at a very affordable price, and now Edifier is upping the ante with an even sweeter deal.

The China-based audio accessories maker, known for high-end bookshelf speakers, has come up with a very cool-looking soundbar for gamers. Dubbed the Hecate G2000 Bar, the desktop audio boomer is all set to be available from 16 October onwards for a price tag of 349 yuan ($52), which is an introductory price slashed from the normal price of 387 yuan ($58).

Designer: Edifier

The G2000 Bar combines a compact footprint with an angular, mecha-inspired design intended to fit into a gaming setup without taking up much desk space. It will be available in black and white, with a built-in five-degree upward tilt that directs sound toward the listener rather than across the desktop. Five interchangeable themed stickers let users customize the front panel, while 12 RGB lighting effects, including rainbow and flowing-light patterns, add some visual flair. Lighting can be adjusted via the Edifier Connect mobile app or Hecate PC software.

Under the hood, the soundbar uses two 56mm full-range drivers with copper-clad aluminum wire voice coils, paired with two 60mm passive radiators. The arrangement is designed to deliver fuller audio and reinforce low frequencies without requiring a separate subwoofer. Output is rated at 3W per channel, or 6W in total, with peak power reaching 12W. The stated frequency response spans 67Hz to 20kHz.

For gaming, the G2000 Bar supports THX 7.1.4 spatial audio processing, which aims to create a more immersive, surround-like listening experience from a desktop soundbar. Six dedicated audio presets cater to different gaming genres, including first-person shooters, role-playing games, and racing titles. These modes give players a way to tailor the sound to different types of gameplay without manually adjusting equalizer settings.

The other notable addition is a detachable microphone mounted on top. It uses AEC 2.0 acoustic echo cancellation, a dedicated digital signal processor, and AI-assisted noise reduction to limit background sounds and reduce audio feedback from the speakers. This could make voice chat more convenient for players who prefer open speakers to a gaming headset, although performance will depend on the surrounding environment.

Connectivity includes Bluetooth 6.0 and USB sound-card input, allowing the soundbar to work with compatible PCs, laptops, mobile devices, and consoles. An independent 9V DC power adapter supplies power, while physical controls on the top metallic panel provide access to volume adjustment, microphone muting, and audio-mode switching.

With its compact design, customizable lighting, spatial audio processing, and integrated voice-chat features, the Hecate G2000 Bar brings several gaming-focused conveniences to an affordable desktop soundbar. Its initial pricing makes it an interesting option for players looking to simplify their setup without committing to a separate speaker system and microphone.

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Divoom Astrotoo Is a Desktop Speaker Dressed as a Retro Computer

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Desktop speakers usually have a pretty straightforward job and an equally straightforward appearance. That makes sense when all you want is music, but it doesn’t leave much room for personality. Divoom’s Astrotoo takes a different approach, putting a display and oversized physical controls into a speaker that looks like a tiny computer terminal. It definitely gives your desk something playful and personal, and your friends something to be jealous of.

The rounded housing and recessed side panels give Astrotoo the appearance of equipment from an imagined future, albeit one with chunky buttons. White, pink, and green finishes offer different levels of restraint. At roughly 4.2 by 4.3 inches across its base, it won’t need the space of a computer, although its upright screen certainly makes it harder to overlook than a conventional speaker.

Designer: Divoom

Of course, those buttons aren’t simply there to complete the retro disguise. Three raised mechanical keys, a joystick, and an orange Back button handle music and display functions. You can reach over to control playback without opening another app, though customizing the display still involves your phone. It’s a familiar division of labor, with physical controls for everyday actions and software for the changes.

Despite the pixel art theme, Astrotoo doesn’t limit you to blocky characters and low-resolution graphics. Its 3.95-inch IPS display has a 480×480 pixel resolution, accommodating photographs and detailed clock faces as well. That means you can keep a family photo beside your monitor without making room for another frame. Music visualizations are also available, if you’d rather have your speaker put on a show.

The Divoom app lets you change visual content and clock faces, giving the device something to do when the music stops. Weather and stock information bring a more practical side to that small screen. That said, another dashboard isn’t necessarily what a busy desk needs. A favorite picture might be a better companion than financial numbers quietly competing for your attention all afternoon.

Divoom positions the 20W speaker for listening nearby, so the desktop proportions aren’t entirely about appearance. Playing music while answering emails or listening to a podcast during a break fits that purpose. Of course, the power rating doesn’t tell us how balanced the sound will be. The styling is easier to judge than the audio, which needs listening rather than a specification sheet.

Bluetooth 6.0 handles wireless audio, while microSD playback lets you bring a collection of stored music along without keeping a phone connected. Wi-Fi supports the connected display features. There’s also a battery, with Divoom claiming up to six hours of operation. That’s enough to move it between rooms for a while, but don’t expect it to stay unplugged through an entire workday.

The $199.99 US price makes this a considered desk accessory rather than a casual decoration. Divoom lists approximately 3.5 hours for USB-C charging, so it probably makes sense to leave a cable nearby. You can dress the screen as a futuristic control panel, but there’s nothing futuristic about discovering that your tiny computer needs plugging in before the afternoon playlist.

The post Divoom Astrotoo Is a Desktop Speaker Dressed as a Retro Computer first appeared on Yanko Design.

5 Tailgate Speakers Built to Survive a Full Saturday Outdoors

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A parking lot does not care how good your speaker sounded in the store. Too quiet for an open sky, too fragile for a cooler lid, too generic to earn a second look from anyone walking by. These five are built differently. Each earns its place in the setup before you even hit play, and holds it comfortably long after the sun disappears behind the stadium.

The best tailgate speaker is not the loudest one or the most expensive one. It is the one that handles the full arc of a Saturday outdoors without asking you to manage it. Good battery life, real weather resistance, and a design identity strong enough to start a conversation are the only criteria that matter when the truck is parked, and the grill is on. These five clear all three.

1. RetroWave 7-in-1 Radio

The RetroWave is not trying to look vintage. It simply does, because the people who designed it understood that warm tones and a tactile tuning dial carry a feeling that modern hardware cannot replicate on its own. For you, that distinction matters at a tailgate, where every object on the truck bed shapes the atmosphere of the whole setup whether you intended it to or not. The RetroWave earns its spot before a single note plays.

Seven functions live inside a body that reads as a single cohesive object, not a spec sheet assembled into hardware. AM/FM and shortwave radio, Bluetooth streaming, a USB charging port, and a built-in flashlight all coexist without crowding the design or complicating the interface. For you, that means one piece of gear that moves cleanly from pre-game energy to late-night wind-down without ever needing to swap anything out. It carries the whole day without announcing it.

Click Here to Buy Now: $89.00

What we like:

  • Analog character translates immediately in outdoor settings
  • Seven functions in one body removes the need to bring anything else

What we dislike:

  • The retro aesthetic will not appeal to everyone
  • Battery life under sustained outdoor use has not been independently verified at publication

2. Brane X

Most portable speakers fake their bass. They boost the low end digitally and call it sub-bass, and it fools you indoors but gets swallowed by open air the moment you step outside. The Brane X does not fake anything. Its proprietary Repel-Attract Driver cancels internal air pressure to deliver genuine sub-bass from a body barely nine inches wide. For you, that means a speaker that actually fills a parking lot instead of politely suggesting it could.

Five drivers and four class-D amplifiers push past 200 watts combined, backed by a 72-watt-hour battery rated for twelve hours of runtime. IP57 waterproofing handles rain and the inevitable cooler spill without breaking stride. Wi-Fi streaming and Bluetooth 5.3 cover both strong and spotty signal scenarios across a large lot. For you, the ability to group up to eight units means the sound scales with the size of your crowd rather than capping out at the wrong moment.

What we like:

  • Genuine sub-bass output from a compact enclosure
  • Twelve-hour battery life clears even the longest tailgate

What we dislike:

  • Two hundred-plus watts at full volume will cut into runtime considerably
  • Wi-Fi streaming depends on stable network access in the parking lot

3. Beosound Explore

Bang & Olufsen built the Beosound Explore from hard-anodized aluminum instead of the polycarbonate most competitors default to, and that single decision changes how the speaker ages. Polycarbonate scratches and scuffs into a reading of neglect. Aluminum picks up honest wear and keeps looking considered. For you, that means a speaker that still belongs in your setup on its twentieth outing, rather than one that starts looking disposable before the season is halfway through.

Twenty-seven hours of battery life removes the anxiety that follows every other portable speaker through a long weekend outdoors. Dual full-range drivers produce True360 sound with no preferred listening axis, so there is no bad seat at your tailgate. IP67 water resistance covers submersion up to one meter for thirty minutes, handling every realistic outdoor scenario without fuss. For you, the carabiner strap means it travels without ceremony and arrives looking like it belongs wherever you set it down.

What we like:

  • Twenty-seven hours of runtime covers a full day and night without a second thought
  • Hard-anodized aluminum ages honestly with outdoor use

What we dislike:

  • The Bang & Olufsen premium is real and unavoidable
  • 360-degree output reduces directional volume control in loud open environments

4. Battery-Free Amplifying iSpeakers

The premise sounds like a trick: a speaker that amplifies sound without drawing a single watt of power. The iSpeaker uses passive acoustic geometry instead of electronics, channeling audio through a precisely shaped horn that physically increases volume without a battery or Bluetooth chipset. For you, that means zero charging anxiety at a tailgate where outlets are not a given. It works the moment you set your phone inside it and keeps working until you leave.

The design reads as furniture as much as audio hardware, which earns it a different kind of presence at a tailgate than a traditional plastic cylinder would. It sits on the table as a deliberate object, not a forgettable gadget. For you, that matters because it communicates something about the setup before a single note plays. No cords, no app, no pairing ritual. You place it, drop your phone in, and the afternoon takes care of itself from there.

Click Here to Buy Now: $179.00

What we like:

  • Zero battery dependency removes the most common outdoor-speaker anxiety
  • Passive horn amplification produces real volume with no electronics involved

What we dislike:

  • Output ceiling is physically limited by the horn geometry
  • Works only with phones that fit the cradle dimensions

5. Muzen Wild Mini

The Muzen Wild Mini looks like it was pulled from a gear locker rather than designed for a product page, and that is exactly the point. The all-metal body carries a military character that communicates durability before you ever pick it up. For you, that matters in a setting where gear gets moved, stacked, and occasionally dropped between the cooler and the truck bed. The Wild Mini does not ask to be handled carefully, which means you never have to think about it.

Bluetooth 5.0 handles the streaming, and a built-in flashlight with three lighting modes earns its place once daylight fades on the lot. A single charge delivers six hours of runtime at full volume, covering the core of a game-day schedule without needing a top-up. For you, the clip system means it attaches to a bag, a belt loop, or a tent frame with equal ease, keeping the speaker accessible without requiring a dedicated surface to set it on.

What we like:

  • All-metal build shrugs off drops and rough handling
  • The built-in flashlight adds genuine utility once the sun goes down

What we dislike:

  • Six hours is the shortest runtime in this group
  • The compact body limits total output volume compared to the larger enclosures here

The Right Speaker Makes the Saturday

None of these five ask you to compromise. The RetroWave brings analog warmth to a setting that usually defaults to generic plastic. The iSpeaker removes the charging question entirely. The Brane X delivers the bass a parking lot actually requires. The Beosound Explore brings luxury-grade materials to outdoor conditions they were genuinely built for. The Wild Mini goes anywhere without asking permission. Each pulls its weight differently, and that range is exactly the point.

A good tailgate speaker is the one you stop noticing because it never gives you a reason to worry about it. The battery holds, weather is not a factor, the sound fills the space, and the object earns a second look from whoever walks by. All five of these clear that bar. Pick the one that fits how your Saturdays actually run, and it will handle the rest without asking for much in return.

The post 5 Tailgate Speakers Built to Survive a Full Saturday Outdoors first appeared on Yanko Design.

The $179 iPhone Speaker That Never Needs Charging

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You’ve been waiting for your favorite artist to release their latest album, counting down the hours until it finally drops on your streaming service of choice. You open your phone and press play… and you’re a little disappointed. It’s not that the album isn’t great, it’s that your phone’s speaker doesn’t do it justice. You want something to amplify that sound right now, but your external Bluetooth speaker hasn’t been charged in weeks.

The Battery-free Amplifying iSpeakers can solve that problem for you, and you won’t need a single cable or Bluetooth connection to make it happen. This “dumb” speaker is actually smart enough to rely purely on acoustic engineering, channeling and amplifying the sound waves coming out of your phone so your music, podcast, or call sounds noticeably fuller than it would through your built-in speaker alone.

Click Here to Buy Now: $179.00

Designed by Ooi Masato and made in Japan, this battery-free device lives up to its name: it uses a precision-machined metal slot that cradles whatever phone you own, instantly amplifying whatever you’re playing. There’s no pairing process, no cord to plug in, and no anxious glance at a battery icon wondering if your speaker will cut out mid-song. You set your phone down, and it just works.

Design-wise, the iSpeakers follow a clean, minimalist aesthetic that looks just as at home on a cluttered work desk as it does on a nightstand or a bookshelf. The body is shaped around the golden ratio, giving it a visual balance that feels intentional rather than accidental (the kind of object you’d leave out on display rather than tuck into a drawer). It’s compact enough to toss in a bag, so you can bring your amplified sound with you to a picnic, a hotel room, or a friend’s backyard without hunting for an outlet. And because there’s no port, connector, or wireless protocol involved, it works with virtually any phone you own, including Apple’s freshly announced iPhone 18 Pro lineup and its first ever foldable, the iPhone Ultra, unveiled at today’s “Surprise and Shine” event. All you have to do is let the speaker slot cradle your phone’s speaker grille; there’s no compatibility chart to check and no software update to wait on.

The speaker itself is milled from Duralumin, the same lightweight, vibration resistant alloy used in aircraft construction. That means you’re getting a premium feel along with genuine durability. This isn’t a flimsy accessory that’ll crack after a few drops in your bag. The Japanese craftsmanship and golden ratio proportions give it a quiet sophistication that fits in seamlessly next to your laptop or coffee mug. If you want to get more out of it, you can also pick up the +Bloom and +Jet attachments, which let you customize how the sound projects, whether that means directing it upward for a fuller room fill or downward for a more intimate listening experience.

So how does this stack up against the Bluetooth speakers already crowding your shelf? Take a brand like JBL, whose Flip series has become a go-to for portable audio. Those speakers sound great and pump out serious volume, but they still ask you to charge them, remember to pair them, and eventually deal with a battery that won’t hold a charge like it used to. The iSpeakers skip all of that by design. You’re trading a bit of raw volume and bass depth for something Bluetooth speakers simply can’t offer: a device that will sound exactly the same in ten years as it does today, with zero maintenance and zero electronic waste. At $179, it’s priced closer to a premium Bluetooth speaker than a budget one, but you’re paying for a very different kind of value: permanence, craftsmanship, and simplicity over specs and app connectivity.

At the end of the day, the Battery-free Amplifying iSpeakers isn’t trying to replace your Bluetooth speaker for a backyard party. It’s solving a much smaller, more common frustration: the moment when you just want your phone to sound better, right now, without any setup. For anyone tired of charging cords, pairing screens, and speakers that die at the worst possible moment, this is a refreshingly simple fix, and a genuinely beautiful object to boot. Sometimes the smartest tech is the kind that doesn’t need power at all.

The post The $179 iPhone Speaker That Never Needs Charging first appeared on Yanko Design.

Razer’s Clio X Is Gaming Audio for When Headphones Have to Come Off

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Immersive gaming audio has always come with a catch: wear a headset and get isolated from everyone else in the room, or build out a full speaker setup and lose the intimacy of hearing something meant just for you. The Razer Clio X sits between those two extremes. It’s a speaker built directly into a gaming chair’s head cushion, delivering focused spatial sound aimed at exactly where your ears already are.

Inside that cushion sit two 1.5 in loudspeakers paired with two 2.2 in passive radiators, a more compact arrangement than the 1.7 in aluminum cone drivers found in Razer’s flagship Clio. That tradeoff isn’t a downgrade so much as a different design goal, delivering the same THX Spatial Audio experience and near-field clarity in a smaller, less bulky cushion that sits more naturally against a headrest without announcing itself as hardware.

Designer: Razer

Getting sound to that cushion happens over Razer’s HyperSpeed wireless connection, a 2.4 GHz link built specifically to avoid the lag that standard Bluetooth introduces during fast-moving game audio. There’s no headset clamping down on your head, no cable running from your ears to your desk, just a strap securing the cushion to a high-back chair and a wireless signal doing the rest of the work invisibly.

Power comes through USB-C rather than a built-in battery pegged to a runtime number, drawing from a 15-watt or higher PD2.0 source to hit full volume. That decision keeps the cushion running indefinitely during long sessions instead of racing against a depleting charge mid-match, though it does mean planning a power source alongside the chair itself, whether that’s a nearby outlet or a power bank for a portable setup.

Where the Clio X earns its place in an existing setup is flexibility. Someone already running a 2.0 or 2.1 speaker system at their desk can fold the Clio X in as a wireless rear channel instead, turning a stereo setup into something closer to real surround sound without running an extra cable behind the chair. Used alone, it just becomes the entire audio system on its own terms.

Picture a late-night session where headphones start pressing uncomfortably against your ears, or a shared room where blasting a soundbar isn’t an option out of consideration for someone asleep down the hall. The Clio X splits the difference, audio present enough to feel surrounding, contained enough to stay mostly private, all without adding a single extra object to hold or wear.

None of this replaces a dedicated home theater setup chasing maximum output, and nobody buying this expects it to. What the Clio X actually delivers is a specific, narrower promise: immersive audio that lives in the furniture you already sit in every day, asking for nothing more than a strap and a power cable to make itself useful.

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Xiaomi Built a $29 Speaker That Snaps to Your Phone and Stands It Up

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The compact Bluetooth speaker category has been fighting the same battle for years. Every new entry promises to be louder than your phone, smaller than a can of soda, and tough enough to survive a bag. Most deliver on those basics reasonably well, and most of them occupy the same category of objects that you put next to your phone rather than on it. That distinction tends to go unexamined, and it’s the one Xiaomi decided to question with its latest accessory.

The Xiaomi Bluetooth Speaker Magnetic Edition attaches directly to the back of a smartphone. The connection is magnetic, and a built-in Hall sensor detects the moment it locks on, triggering the speaker to power on automatically. No button to find, no pairing ritual to repeat. You put it against your phone and it starts. Pull it off and it stops. The whole interaction is designed to be immediate enough that the speaker stops feeling like an accessory and starts feeling like part of the phone itself.

Designer: Xiaomi

The stand function is the idea that makes this more than a magnet trick. Rather than simply hanging on the back while the phone lies flat, the speaker’s base props the phone upright at a comfortable viewing angle. That solves two things at once: you get a better listening experience than the phone’s own speaker provides, and you get a hands-free viewing position without hunting for a stand or balancing the phone against something that will slide the moment you look away.

The audio hardware is modest by design. A 1.5-inch full-range driver running at 3W isn’t built for a living room, and the 200Hz to 20kHz frequency response tells you this is tuned for clear, near-field playback rather than bass-heavy output. For someone cooking in the kitchen and wanting to follow a video without holding their phone, or listening at a desk without headphones, that kind of output is exactly right. The speaker isn’t competing with a dedicated tabletop Bluetooth speaker; it’s competing with a phone’s built-in speaker, and that bar it clears comfortably.

RGB lighting rings the base of the speaker and syncs its colors to the audio playing, adding some visual presence in lower light and keeping the device from reading as purely utilitarian when it’s sitting on a desk as a stand. The 650mAh battery powers the speaker independently from the phone’s own charge. Bluetooth 6.0 handles the wireless connection with AAC and SBC codec support, and the pairing typically carries over automatically each time the speaker is magnetically attached.

Two color options are available, with dark gray confirmed. Priced at 132 yuan during the Xiaomi Youpin launch period, with a suggested retail price of 199 yuan, roughly $29 or €25, it sits in a price range where the two-in-one premise doesn’t need to be flawless to be worth trying. That’s a meaningful advantage for an accessory built around a function that most people are currently meeting with improvised solutions anyway.

Most desk setups already include an accidental phone prop. A charging pad, a book corner, a keyboard edge, something doing the job that wasn’t designed for it. The Xiaomi speaker makes the argument that the prop might as well be a speaker too, and that at this size and price, consolidating both into one small object costs nothing in practicality and improves the experience every time you sit down to watch something, take a call, or simply want your hands back.

The post Xiaomi Built a $29 Speaker That Snaps to Your Phone and Stands It Up first appeared on Yanko Design.

This $179 Speaker Has No Battery And Makes Your iPhone Louder Anyway

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Every speaker you own needs something. The Bluetooth speaker needs charging – and the charging case, and the cable for the case. The wireless earbuds need their own ritual before the music starts. The smart speaker needs a wall outlet, a WiFi password, and a company’s servers staying online on a Tuesday. The Battery-free Amplifying iSpeakers from Yanko Design need none of it. They need your iPhone and the physics of a sound wave moving through precision-machined metal, and that is the complete technical brief.

No battery. No Bluetooth. No electricity. No app. No pairing. No charging. Just your phone, a slot in a piece of metal, and the same acoustic principle that made the phonograph work before Edison’s power grid reached the average American home.

Click Here to Buy Now: $179.00

The Battery-free Amplifying iSpeakers use acoustic resonance – the same principle that powered phonographs before electricity reached the average home – to make your iPhone louder without touching a single cable or draining a single milliamp.

One Slot, A Louder Room

The amplification here is acoustic, not electronic. A phonograph built in 1877 used the same governing principle – a horn-shaped resonance chamber that directed and amplified sound waves using geometry rather than power. The iSpeakers apply that same physics, precision-machined into a metal chassis designed specifically to receive a modern iPhone. The phone’s speaker fires into the chamber. The chamber’s interior geometry redirects, focuses, and amplifies the sound wave. Music comes out measurably louder on the other side – with no battery depleting silently in the background, no Bluetooth connection to drop at the moment the song hits its best part, and no firmware to update before any of it works.

We placed a phone into the iSpeakers and left it there for a week on the desk. The first thing that registers is not the volume, it is the silence around the process. No pairing animation. No connection sound. No status LED cycling through colours. Phone in, music louder. Phone out, music stops. There is no standby mode because there is nothing to stand by. The speaker is a shaped piece of metal that does one thing through pure acoustic engineering, and it does it every single time without being asked twice.

The second thing that registers is the material. Metal sounds different from wood. The passive amplifier market is dominated almost entirely by handcrafted wooden alternatives – walnut, maple, bamboo, each with their own warmth and grain character. Metal amplifies differently: crisper, more present, with a clarity that wood’s natural porosity softens. Whether that is better or worse is a matter of what you are listening to and what you are listening for. As a desk object in a considered setup, it is audibly distinct from every wooden alternative in the category and visually distinct from all of them.

Built for the Desk That Has Everything Except One More Cable

The iSpeakers are available in Silver in two configurations: Speaker Only at $179 and a modified configuration at $299 for extended iPhone compatibility. The price is unambiguously at the premium end of a market, and it deserves the scrutiny that premium pricing invites.

What the $179 buys over the Etsy wooden alternatives – which start at $15 and top out around $60 for handcrafted versions – is precision-machined metal construction, iPhone-specific acoustic tuning, and a design that belongs on the same surface as a considered desk setup rather than looking like a craft project that migrated indoors. The gap between a $25 3D-printed passive speaker and this one is not a matter of degree. It is a matter of what category the object belongs to.

For the remote worker, the minimalist desk builder, or anyone who has spent real money getting every wire off the surface and every device intentional – a speaker that contributes zero cables, zero charging cycles, and zero connectivity requirements to that arrangement is not a convenience. It is the only version of a speaker that is actually consistent with that philosophy.

What We Like

  • Zero power required of any kind – no battery, no USB, no wall outlet, no Bluetooth radio, no WiFi; the amplification is entirely acoustic, which means it works at 3am in a power cut and never needs to be charged before a trip
  • Precision-machined metal construction delivers a distinctly different acoustic character than the wooden alternatives that dominate this category – crisper and more present, with a clarity that reflects the material’s acoustic properties rather than softening them
  • iPhone-specific acoustic geometry means the channel dimensions and chamber angles are tuned to the iPhone’s speaker placement rather than being universal and therefore approximate – specificity in passive amplifier design is not a minor variable
  • Instant-on, always-ready operation – phone in the slot, music plays louder; no pairing sequence, no app, no startup delay, no connection to lose; this is the simplest possible interaction model because there is no interaction model
  • Zero cable contribution to the desk – in a setup where cable management is the work, a speaker that adds nothing to that count is a different category of object than one that adds even one

What We Dislike

  • For this design the buyer has already decided that acoustic amplification, cable-free operation, and metal construction are the priorities – anyone arriving at this product from a Bluetooth speaker mindset will not find the value immediately obvious
  • iPhone-specific design is a strength acoustically but a limitation categorically – Android users, regardless of budget or intent, are not the audience for this product, and that is not stated prominently enough before purchase

The Speaker That Remembered How Sound Works

The Battery-free Amplifying iSpeakers do not fix a problem most people knew they had. They reveal one. Once your music plays louder through a piece of metal that asked nothing of your power bank, your charging cable, or your WiFi router – the Bluetooth speaker on the desk feels exactly like what it is: a device that solved a problem by adding four more problems underneath it.

For the audio-minded, it is a precision-machined object applying one hundred and fifty years of acoustic physics to a twenty-first century pocket computer, with the restraint to leave electricity entirely out of the conversation. For everyone else, the Battery-free Amplifying iSpeakers is a $179 answer to the question of why a speaker needs a battery in the first place.

Either way, once it earns its place on the desk, a charging cable will not be going back.

The post This $179 Speaker Has No Battery And Makes Your iPhone Louder Anyway first appeared on Yanko Design.