Devialet makes speakers that are unlike anything else. The French hi-fi company is best known for its Phantom line of wireless speakers, which have two huge force-canceling woofers that mesmerizingly pulsate in perfect symmetry; basically, they are speakers meant to be heard and seen. It’s an experience.
Now, however, Devialet is stepping into uncharted waters — by announcing its first-ever portable speaker. It’s called the Devialet Mania ($790).
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Devialet Mania
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The Devialet Mania is probably best described as a high-end version of the Sonos Move. It supports streaming over both Wi-Fi (AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect) and Bluetooth; you can listen to music over Wi-Fi at home and then bring it outside and stream over Bluetooth. When connected to Wi-Fi, you can group it with other Devialet speakers (or any AirPlay 2 supported speakers). It’s also Devialet’s first-ever smart speaker; it comes with Amazon’s Alexa built-in and thus works very much like an Echo smart speaker. Google Assistant is not supported at launch.
CourtesyThe Mania very much feels like a Devialet speaker — just smaller. It has a similar spherical design as the Phantoms and boasts a total of six drivers, including four full-range drivers and two subwoofers, that latter of which you’re able to see and feel pulsate while listening. On the flip side, the Mania is a true 360-degree speaker (unlike the Phantoms, which still have a front-firing midrange driver and tweeter), so you should be able to hear the same sound no matter where you’re standing around the speaker.
Devialet has integrated the Mania with a unique technology called ASC (a.k.a. Active Stereo Calibration). It uses its built-in four microphones and smart AI to automatically adjust the Mania’s sound depending on where you have it — but this isn’t unique as many other speakers do this (think Sonos’s TruePlay).
