When you think of portable speakers, most people think of cheap Bluetooth speakers that you can easily throw in your backpack when you go to the park. But Devialet has something different in mind with the Devialet Mania.
The high-end French speaker manufacturer wants to make the most luxurious and best-sounding portable speaker. The Devialet Mania costs $790 (€790) and is available today.
“We are launching a new product, the Devialet Mania. And it represents the end of a long process. We started with amplifiers, then there were the Phantom speakers, the Gemini headphones and the Dione soundbar,” Devialet CEO Franck Lebouchard told me. “We’re entering a new market with this portable speaker.”
When Devialet decided to build a portable speaker four years ago, the concept was pretty simple. Devialet wanted to design a battery powered speaker, but a high fidelity speaker.
“High-fidelity means many things. It means, of course, great sound quality. Hi-fi also means stereo sound, or at least stereo rendering,” Lebouchard said.
The Devialet Mania is a spherical speaker without front or back. There is a handle on the top of the device that invites users to pick it up and carry it.
But you won’t be putting it in your backpack to the park, as it weighs 2.3 kg (about 5 pounds). You can take it with you when you go on holiday, but it’s mainly designed to be carried around the house.
Image credits: TechCrunch
When you start playing music, the first thing you’ll notice are the two woofers that are set up in a “push-push” configuration to prevent unwanted vibrations.
At the top of the device, there are four full-range speakers, each pointing in a different direction. When you place the Devialet Mania on a table in the middle of the room, the full-range speakers alternately output the left channel or the right channel (clockwise: left, right, left, right).
That way, wherever you sit, you mainly hear the sound from the two full-range speakers in front of you and get stereo sound.
There are four microphones on the device as well as an accelerometer. The Devialet Mania detects when it has moved to a new location. Thanks to its built-in microphones, it can also detect when it’s next to a wall.
In this case, the Devialet Mania determines the front and back of the device. The two full-range speakers on the left of the device output the left channel, while the two speakers on the right output the right channel.
Using microphones to actively adapt the speaker’s sound was one of the selling points of Apple’s original HomePod. But Devialet also insists on sound quality, such as its proprietary SAM (Speaker Active Matching) technology.
“We are the only ones that combine portable, high-fidelity and automatic calibration,” said Lebouchard.
The Devialet Mania works with Devialet’s own app and has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. With Wi-Fi, it supports AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect. The battery should last 10 hours at normal volume.
There are a few built-in buttons that let you pause music, change the volume, turn on Bluetooth, and more. There is a single USB-C port on the device for charging.
And since the Devialet Mania has microphones, the company is integrating Amazon Alexa for the first time. You can disable the feature entirely with a physical slider near the USB-C port.
In addition to the base model that comes in black or white, there’s a $990 (€990) “Opéra de Paris” model with gold trim and an optional docking station; the base can also be purchased separately.
“If we want to become a global player in the audio industry, we need to have a product in every major segment of the audio market: wireless headphones, sound bars and portable speakers,” Lebouchard said. According to him, portable speakers and sound bars generate 6 billion euros in sales each year.
Image credits: Devialet
As for the company’s older products, Devialet released an update to its Phantom speakers in January 2021 with newer components and a matte finish. “With Phantom, we release a big update every two years,” Lebouchard said.
As far as amps go, the Expert Pro was the company’s first product, but it hasn’t been updated in a while.
“Amplifiers are not a priority for us because it is a very small market. But the Expert is an important product for our brand, for audiophile enthusiasts. We want to make the best amplifier in the world because we can’t say we’re the best sounding company in the world without selling the best amplifier in the world,” said Lebouchard. So I guess it means “stay tuned”.
Over the past year and a half, Devialet has shipped wireless headphones, a soundbar, and a portable speaker. Lebouchard told me there is one product missing from the line, and it’s headphones.
But don’t hold your breath for Devialet headphones, as the company isn’t sure it’s a strategic move. “When you were coming out, people went from headphones to wireless headphones,” Lebouchard said.
Image credits: TechCrunch