Speakers from the guy who wants to pump it and get the party started are arriving in Australia, as the LG and will.i.am collaboration hit home.
Celebrity gadgets may not have the draw they once did, but gear worked on with famous people still makes its way out at time. A Kardashian limited edition from Beats or an Olivia Rodrigo pair of mid-range earbuds from Sony has been the crux of what we’ve seen in recent years, but there was another tidbit of news that came from CES delivering more celebrity tech if you looked for it.
Back at CES, LG announced it was working with Black Eye Peas frontman will.i.am to build new speakers, complete with integration for the musician’s online radio service.
The speakers were made in collaboration with the will.i.am, who has won eight Grammy Awards, and also come with a rather surprising feature: support for Apple Music over that of Spotify.
Australia will see three of these, including the compact LG XBoom Grab, the slightly bigger LG XBoom Bounce, and the much larger box-style XBoom Stage 301, delivering what LG says is a warm and balanced sound profile, while offering two modes: one with a more mellow sound and the other with more bass.
Between the trio, the XBoom Grab will literally be one you can grab, providing a compact speaker with up to 20 hours of battery life and AI sound optimisation using technology to process the audio in real-time and optimise the sound based on the environment.
A little bigger, the XBoom Bounce keeps the AI sound feature and marries it with an AI Lighting technology, to pulse lighting to match music. This speaker is a bit bigger but still relatively compact, offering up to 30 hours of charge.
Meanwhile, the Stage 301 actually delivers less battery life than its more compact siblings, but includes more speakers, too.
By comparison, the XBoom Stage 301 includes a 6.5 inch woofer and two 2.5 inch mid-range drivers, providing support for AI sound, AI lighting, and even the ability to plug in a microphone or instrument. Think of the LG Stage 301 as a party speaker of sorts, providing up to 12 hours of battery life, but with an optional replaceable battery if you need more on the go.
All three also come with something surprising: Apple Music sync, as opposed to Spotify sync. That’s an interesting shift, and one we’ve not seen companies outside of Apple really focus on.
As it is, Apple HomePod speakers (which aren’t battery-based) can play the Dolby Atmos content from Apple Music, but no other speaker can, these included. However, LG’s will.i.am speakers will include Apple Music support, a surprise for sure.
They’ll all also play with Will.I.Am’s own music service, Raidio.FYI, a platform that connects music with community activities, but hasn’t yet really taken off. Raidio FYI has launched in Australia, but doesn’t currently have the demand or notoriety as the other major players, of which Spotify and Apple Music lead.
That makes this addition more of an extra, while Apple Music’s involvement could be handy for folks already living in an Apple world.
“With the ‘XBoom by will.i.am’ range, LG is enhancing the audio experience and reinforcing our commitment to making life good through innovation,” said Tony Brown, General Manager of Home Entertainment at LG in Australia and New Zealand.
In terms of pricing and availability, Australians can expect to find the new speakers at stores across the country, with the XBoom Grab retail for $229, the XBoom Bounce for $299, and the Stage 301 for $449.
