What do you think about Sony's LF-S50G smart speaker?

[Strayan_Hades]

Hi,

 

Just been checking out smart speakers and came across the LF-S50 from Sony.

 

So far I'm sold on the similar design to Apples Homepod. With the additional LED clock on the front.

 

Sadly this product comes with some faults. Like the terrible gesture control and some of google assistance feature missing like making phone call (US) and application features. ( Not sure if these issues have been addressed since reviewers reviewed the speaker )

 

Ive only seemed to find 1 indepth unboxing/review on youtube and old news/tech articles. 

 

So what do you guys think about Sony's smart speaker?

 

Cheers.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Why can't Sony just integrate this technology into their existing Hi-Fi systems. Imagine telling your Hi-Fi to tune your radio or pause your CD with Google Assistant (I know I'm old school). They probably would sound so much better and won't be completely useless after a few years.

 

Heck considering how expensive these stupid smart speakers are, a Google Assistant enabled Hi-Fi might end up being cheaper too. Those Hi-Fis are sub 200 bucks anyways, even for a model with an included subwoofer. And they would stomp all over these smart speakers in terms of sound.

[Cynagen]

1 hour ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Why can't Sony just integrate this technology into their existing Hi-Fi systems. Imagine telling your Hi-Fi to tune your radio or pause your CD with Google Assistant (I know I'm old school). They probably would sound so much better and won't be completely useless after a few years.

 

Heck considering how expensive these stupid smart speakers are, a Google Assistant enabled Hi-Fi might end up being cheaper too. Those Hi-Fis are sub 200 bucks anyways, even for a model with an included subwoofer. And they would stomp all over these smart speakers in terms of sound.

You can do this now with a simple Bluetooth to RCA kit. Google Home devices have had Bluetooth built in since day one, and Google just pushed out the functionality to connect to external speakers for when you're playing music rather than listening on the Home speaker or Casting. Additionally, with the Home Max (big speaker) you can pair 2 of them together for stereo Bluetooth playback from 2 independent speakers rather than just one Max.

Provided your Google Home device isn't terribly far away from the stereo system, something like this would suffice; https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00IQBSW28/ezvid02-20 and is cheap too! There's even an Amazon Basics version that's even cheaper still, though I'd start worrying about audio distortion/noise from cheap DACs. Either way, the Sony LF-S50G is too costly for something that is super cheap to replicate if you already have a Google Home device. It's still technically cheaper to buy a Google Home Mini for $50 USD and the Amazon Basics A2DP receiver for $20 than spend up to $200 on a smart speaker that simply tries to be loud. Heck, the Amazon Basics model features a 3.5mm output jack so you can plug in a powered set of speakers, say something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Multimedia-Speakers-Mobile-Devices/dp/B00KK9481I/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1522572485&sr=1-4 for less than $30 means you can completely replace the LF-S50G with something that will project the sound, and possibly even sound, better for half the price. Not to mention because you're buying a proper Google Home device, if you live in the US and have Google Voice, then you CAN place calls with the speaker in addition, adding yet further functionality not offered on the Sony device. It looks nice, and I'm sure somebody will like it, but when I can buy individual components to replicate it and be able to reuse and upgrade individual components down the road, I prefer that to tossing out an old smart speaker for whatever reason that we came to rely on entirely.

[aaargh]

I have this speaker and use it as a bedside alarm clock/stereo. I really like the gesture controls. I seem to be one of the few people who really likes them though. If you get the hang of how they work, it feels incredible futuristic. I watched a video on Sony's website about how to use the gesture controls and it helped. I can just reach over from bed, no need to guess which button I'm hitting, just spin an invisible knob.

 

The only drawbacks I can find are that (as April 8th, 2018) it can't make calls and doesn't support Bluetooth multi-room audio like the Google Mini.