Two years ago, Sony released the LSPX-S2 Glass sound speaker. It looked a lot like a candlestick but was actually a wireless speaker, and it’s now repeated the trick with LSPX-S3.
There don’t appear to any visible upgrades in terms of features or design over the older model, with the latest wireless speaker carrying over the Advanced Vertical Drive Technology. It uses three Actuators to vibrate the glass tweeter to spread sound in every direction.
Sony says the organic glass tweeter is capable of producing “clear and powerful high tones”, with a 46mm speaker for mid-range frequencies and passive radiator included to enhance the low-end. More bass can be added by enabling the Bass Boost mode in the Sony Music Centre app.
Battery life hits the same mark with up to 8-hours of battery, as well as USB-C connectivity for charging. Having a built-in battery also means the LSPX-S3 is portable, so it can be taken to wherever in the house, subtly illuminating the area around it.
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There’s Bluetooth wireless support as well, with the glass speaker featuring Sony’s LDAC codec for playback of high quality music streams (say, a Tidal Master file) over Bluetooth. There’s also a built-in microphone, so calls can be routed via the speaker if you’re bored of taking Zoom calls in the conventional way.
One feature we don’t remember being available on the previous model was stereo pairing. If you have two Glass Sound Speakers, they can be paired together so one can act as the left channel and the other as the right. We’d imagine this would mean of a ‘sweet spot’ in terms of listening, require a specific seating position to get the stereo effect.
Design-wise the Glass Sound Speaker exudes minimalism, designed to blend into a room’s surroundings. While the speaker’s stated purpose is to play music, the candlelight mode features four different lighting modes and 32 brightness levels, which can be adjusted by the sliding the touch sensor on the speaker.
Small and compact in size, the Sony LSPX-S3 is environmentally focused, too. Less than 10% of the packaging is made from plastic so a fair chunk of the packaging can be put into recycling boxes.
The Sony LSPX-S3 goes on sale in August 2021, and will be significantly cheaper than the previous model at approximately £315 / €350 / $349 – more than £200 cheaper than before.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
