Most smart speakers are stuck where they’re plugged in, but if you want a smart speaker to go, you may not have options. Except when you do.
The smart speaker invasion is here, and whether you choose an Amazon Echo or a Google Home, it’s clear you have options. However, almost all of your options have to remain in the one spot.
Call it a catch of the beginning of the smart speaker revolution, because most of the smart speakers you find lack a battery and have to be plugged in.
What do you do if you want to take an Amazon Echo Dot or a Google Home around your home with you?
A solution has arrived in the Australian market, as US gadget maker Ninety7 has announced it is launching a battery solution for select smart speakers, allowing you to plug the speaker in and give it power to go.
If you have a Google Home, Ninety7’s “Loft” will convert one of Australia’s first smart speakers into a portable smart speaker, adding up to eight hours of battery life to a base that integrates with the speaker using magnets.
Meanwhile, owners of Amazon’s tiny Echo Dot will have two options to make their smart speaker portable, arriving in the “Vaux” and the “Dox”.
The first of these, the Ninety7 Vaux, is more of a canister design, converting the hockey puck-styled Amazon Echo Dot into something taller like its Echo sibling. The Dot is dropped in to the Vaux and plugged into a microUSB connection, converting the Echo Dot into a more moveable speaker with more sound and a battery of up to six hours of life.
There’s also one other Echo Dot option arriving in the Dox, which isn’t a speaker, but more just a portable battery made to take the Amazon Echo Dot around.
“Consumers across Australia can now enjoy real portability with their Google Home and Amazon Echo Dot thanks to Loft, Vaux, and Dox,” said Kevin Brennan, CEO and Co-Founder of Ninety7.
“Our products allow users to untether from the electrical outlet while enjoying portability in a premium, well-designed product and Ninety7 is proud to partner with leading stores and online outlets to bring these innovative products to Australians,” he said.
Pricing of the smart speaker accessories is fairly friendly, with the Vaux speaker-upgrade of the Echo Dot arriving for $89.99, while the battery upgrade in the Dox will cost $59.99. Google Home’s upgrade in the Ninety7 Loft will cost $79.99 locally.
All three should see retail availability, too, arriving in the likes of David Jones stores across the country, as well as Amazon’s online presence.