8Bitdo Retro Cube Speaker is inspired by NES controller

After you've owned a few, most wireless speakers start to look alike. The particulars — color, shape — may vary a bit, but overall the designs are very similar. That's not the case with 8Bitdo's new Retro Cube Speaker, a small wireless speaker with a design inspired by the original NES controller. Rather than featuring a touch panel or ordinary buttons, the speaker has a useable directional pad on the top.

The speaker is small enough to grasp with one hand, measuring in at 80.5mm x 80.5mm with an overall weight of 243 grams. The internal 800mAh battery offers up to 8 hours of music playback and can be charged in a single hour. Frequency ranges from 100Hz to 16000Hz and is delivered via a pair of 1.5 watt speakers.

As with most wireless speakers, the Retro Cube Speaker has a 10 meters range, which is about 33ft. In addition to Bluetooth connectivity, the speaker also includes a standard 3.5mm audio jack for wired connections. As well, there's speakerphone functionality for taking calls as they arrive without disconnecting the phone.

Most interesting is the D-pad on the top, with each edge performing a different function: push the directional pad one way to power the speaker on and off; push it another way to turn the volume up or down; the fourth direction is for pausing and playing audio. The speaker is available now through various retailers for $35 USD.

VIA: Gizmodo