Acer Halo is a colorful contribution to the smart speaker market
Acer is getting into the smart speaker game with the Halo, powered by Google Assistant.
Acer's new smart speaker will be available in early 2021.
If you're interested in smart speakers, but not impressed by what you've seen from Amazon, Google or Apple, there are third-party speakers out there. Acer on Wednesday announced the Acer Halo, a $109 smart speaker with DTS sound, LED display and more.
The Acer Halo sits on a base lit up by RGB lighting you can customize. The glowing lights can sync with streaming music, too. That music streams from a speaker with DTS sound designed to project in 360 degrees to fill the room.
On the front of the speaker's gray fabric cover, an LED light display provides visual information like weather or time. Acer is working on an app that will let you personalize the message or image displayed via LED.
An LED display on the front of the speaker displays information.
The smarts behind this speaker come from Google Assistant. You'll use the usual "Hey, Google" voice command to request music, podcasts, news and answers to questions. The Acer Halo is equipped with two far-field omnidirectional microphones to detect ambient noise and voice commands. A physical switch is available to mute the microphones.
Acer isn't the first third-party manufacturer to try its hand at a smart speaker. We've seen successful models from Bose and Sonos, among others. The Acer Halo Smart Speaker will be available in North America in early 2021 starting at $109. Its European price of 119 euros converts to about £110 or AU$200.
