Sony's Smart Speaker Has A Low-Tech Feature They All Should Have

Sometimes the very simplest features are those you come to appreciate most of all. Sony clearly got that memo, anyway, hence the one basic piece of tech on its new LF-S50G smart speaker which, though not as clever as the Google Assistant, still elevates the gadget above its increasingly numerous rivals. That advantage? A clock.

That's right. Sony has bucked the trend for plain cylinders, squat cubes, and generally vase-like gadgets with nothing but a company logo and a speaker grille. The LF-S50G may have a silly name, but glowing behind its fabric cover is a simple clock that you could see from across the room.

Don't underestimate how much of a difference that could make. Speaking as someone with a number of smart speakers running a couple of different virtual assistants, in various rooms, one of the things I end up asking most often is what the time is. By putting it right on the front, it'll save me a question or pulling my phone out of my pocket.

Other than that, it's a handsome little speaker. It definitely bears some resemblance to Apple's upcoming HomePod, which is no bad thing, though where the Siri-powered speaker has a glowing light on top, Sony's has just buttons. We'll have to wait and see how the audio quality of the two holds up side-by-side, though.

Sony is at least off to a good start. The two-way facing speaker the LF-S50G uses can cover a 38 square meter room, the company claims, with a separate subwoofer for the low-end. It certainly held up to the not-inconsiderable hubbub on the IFA 2017 show floor where I had a brief demo. In addition to streaming accessed through the Google Assistant, there's Bluetooth for pairing up to a phone, and an NFC chip to make pairing that device up more straightforward too.

For most smart speakers on the market currently, sound quality has felt like an afterthought. Although the Amazon Echo and Google Home do a decent job with picking up spoken instructions, and talking back to you, playback seldom has quite the same polish. Sony isn't the only company looking to change that, mind, and from what I've heard of Apple's HomePod that's going to mark a big step up, too. Sonos has a smart speaker in the works as well, and we've seen a few more unveiled at IFA this past week.

Then again, none of them have a clock. Sony's LF-S50G goes on sale in October, and will be priced at $199.99.