Chinese smartphone maker Meizu has officially entered the US market, but the company’s first product in the region is not going to be something that it’s popular for — smartphones, instead, the company is launching a brand new wireless speaker called as Gravity. While Meizu is a popular brand in China, out of its home country, the company is yet to make a big name. This could be a good opportunity for Meizu to show off what it’s capable of in the international markets.
Unlike other Meizu products like smartphones, which are financed directly by the company, it will be resorting to crowdfunding to manufacture the new Gravity wireless speakers. Given the size of the company, crowdfunding may not be necessary for a product like a wireless speaker, however, Meizu states that the company wants direct feedback from customers for its product, which is why it resorted to this method of financing. So, the company wants to test out the competitiveness of its product in a mature market like US where there are lots of wireless speaker options available.
Now, let’s take a look at why Meizu is calling its new speakers Gravity and it’s design.
If you have checked out the pictures in this article, you would know that Gravity comes with a floating design. When placed on a flat surface, at certain angles, it looks like the black speaker module floats in the air. This is made possible by using a transparent acrylic base at an off-central location. Further, on top of the speaker is a prism heads up display, which will show important track and playback information on its transparent surface. The company claims that it is the first to use a prism design on a wireless speaker. The use of a special coating called ‘Half Mirror’ makes it possible for the prism to hide the black display box inside it. The complete design of the Gravity wireless speaker was conceived by the Japanese designer, Kosho Tsuboi.
Gravity does have a unique look to it, and it is meant to be an artistic piece, in addition to being a powerful speaker. In the sound department, the company has teamed up with Dirac for getting good quality sound output from its small (size: 262mm x 58mm x 47mm) form factor. The company reportedly have used custom built speakers for Gravity with “dual passive resonance membrane” for a more vigorous low-frequency output. The amplifier is the latest 5-series chip from Texas instruments and the speakers also come with Dirac HD Sound at the hardware level.
Connecting to the speakers is easy, with the option of using the Gravity smartphone app to connect and operate the speakers via Wi-Fi. However, there is an aux port as well as Bluetooth connectivity option as alternatives. Given its design and the requirement of a power input at all times, it isn’t portable. So, naturally no batteries inside and you can’t carry it around like some other wireless speakers in the market.
As for the target market, the company is aiming the Western markets and China with this new wireless speakers. This would be the company’s first product that’s going to be sold in US. As for the pricing, the Gravity’s official price tag is going to be $249. But on Indiegogo, early backers can get it for just $169. Given that the company ships Gravity worldwide, we can expect good backing from fans around the world.
Now, coming to one another question that I am sure every US reader is going to ask. Does the company has plans to release smartphones in US? Well, at this moment, Meizu is not going to launch its phones in the region. This is because the company knows that US is a competitive and mature market and it would be hard to enter the market right now. So, at least for now, no Meizu smartphones are going to be sold officially in the region.
So, this was about the first US product from Meizu, the Gravity Wireless Speakers. If you liked what you read till now, check out their Indiegogo crowdfunding page and maybe even back the new speakers from the company.
Also, let us know what you feel about this new product.
