WiiM has taken the affordable audio world by storm in recent years with its high-value streamers and amplifiers, the most compelling of which so far have been the Pro Plus and Ultra streamers. The Chinese brand has emerged as an unlikely frontrunner in the budget streaming component space, and it isn’t stopping there.
Having formerly partnered with multi-room mogul Audio Pro to dip its toes into the wireless speaker waters with two ‘WiiM Edition’ models, the company is now diving into it with its very own smart speaker.
The WiiM Sound reminds us of something, don’t you think? Indeed, its resemblance to Apple’s established HomePod is difficult to ignore, but look past that obvious design inspiration and WiiM’s knack for offering extensive features and an accessible user experience begins to surface.
The Sound is based on WiiM’s operating system, controlled by the accompanying Home app, offering owners myriad ways to stream their music. There’s support for Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and DLNA, with Google and Alexa voice control covering the ‘smart’ in smart speaker, too.
The speaker can work in a multi-room environment with other WiiM products; two Sounds can be paired together to make a left/right stereo set-up; and home cinema integration is possible by using the speaker as a surround or centre channel in a Dolby 5.1 solution.
Room correction and EQ customisation could well be further useful in-app features, too. Not an app kind of music listener? An alternative means of playback control comes courtesy of a 1.8-inch touchscreen. This has been a much-rumoured feature for Apple’s next HomePod family member, so has WiiM beaten the tech giant to the punch?
Only time in our test room will tell us how competitive the Sound, er, sounds, of course, but its audio specs are promising, if not unique. A four-inch woofer and dual-balanced mode radiator tweeters together deliver 100 watts of “room-filling” audio, with hi-res support included all the way up to 24-bit/192kHz.
What may well be key to how competitive WiiM’s smart speaker turns out to be is its price, which will be announced later in the year.
The company’s success has largely been down to its cutthroat pricing, so we believe it’s likely the WiiM Sound will undercut the £299 / $299 / AU$479 Apple HomePod.
So what about this other ‘surprising first’? Indeed, WiiM is branching out into a second new product category this year – subwoofers. The Sub Pro's size makes it an unusual partner for something as compact as the Sound, but clearly WiiM believes the affordable sub is an opportunity market.
The Sub Pro is a 250-watt Class D design with an eight-inch driver and many of the company’s smart audio integrations – audio streaming (via wi-fi or Bluetooth) via the Home app and automatic room correction, plus an RCA input.
Again, pricing will be announced later in the year.
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