OnePlus dropped a newspaper ad on Wednesday that has got geeks really excited. The half-page ad in the Times of India showed an upcoming speaker by OnePlus that features a unique transparent design.
Interestingly, this could be one of the best-guarded secrets from OnePlus as there have been no rumours or reports about the speaker.
The ad shows the stunningly transparent speaker along with the captions “Got the music in you?” and “The wonder of music meets the power of tech”.
The speaker appears to have a metal base, but the body looks like it’s made with polycarbonate or acrylic. There are no carrying handles.
It would be safe to assume that the speaker is not intended for outdoor or rugged use. It would fit nicely with your gaming set-up for sure.
There are at least five speaker drivers in the setup that indicate a 360° spatial configuration rather than a front-facing one to project the sound around the room.
Another major attraction is the backlit LCD display that shows several music genres. It is most likely EQ presets that can be tailored as per the user’s preferences.
It is interesting that OnePlus has teased this speaker at a time when people have been awaiting Carl Pei to launch a speaker for the Nothing brand. A single image of the rumored Pei project was leaked a few months ago.
OnePlus, however, has not mentioned any timeframe for the launch, but it simply said #comingsoon”. But a newspaper ad should mean something. We believe the launch is not too far in the future.
The first such offering from OnePlus is going to face tough competition in the market, especially from the original transparent speakers the Harman Kardon Aura Studio 4, Aura Studio 3, and the SoundSticks 4, as well as JBL’s retro-styled speakers with dual voice assistants, the Authentics 200 and Authentics 300.