Sony’s latest glass speaker is a more affordable dose of bizarre design

Sony is releasing another one of its glass lantern speaker hybrids, and it comes in at $100 less than its predecessor. The LSPX-S3 is a $349 wireless Bluetooth speaker that vibrates a glass tube to act as a tweeter, which Sony says allows it to send sound in all directions around it. There’s also a light inside the glass with 32 different brightness levels, allowing the speaker to act as a bedside lamp or candle-replacement on the dinner table.

As its name suggests, the LSPX-S3 is Sony’s third with this unusual form-factor, and it’s also the cheapest yet. The original LSPX-S1 sold for $799 after its launch in 2016, while the LSPX-S2 cost $449. The third-generation speaker is still expensive (at $349), but the thought of buying two of them to pair together in stereo no longer seems patently ridiculous.

Alongside its glass tweeter, the LSPX-S3 also has a mid-range driver and a passive radiator for low-end notes. Battery life is rated for up to 8 hours, it charges over USB-C, and there’s support for Sony’s LDAC codec — which we consider the gold standard for Bluetooth audio if you’ve got a device that supports it.

Sony’s new glass speaker will be available to order from August.

creativeconfessions
22/07/2021
2055 Views