Royole Unveils Smart Speaker With Wraparound Display

Most smart speakers are cylindrical in shape, like the HomePod, Echo, and more. Not all of them, however, have a display that can be used for other things. All of them are simply meant to play music, respond to their owner's inquiries, and fill the home with ambient sounds meant to make the home environment more pleasing.

But what happens when a smart speaker has a display? Even better, what happens when a cylinder-shaped smart speaker gets a display wrapped around it like the label on a soda bottle?

The answer to that comes in the form of the Mirage smart speaker from Royole, the company known for making the first publicly available foldable smartphone, the FlexPai. This eye-catching smart speaker, as per Android Authority, has a 7.8-inch AMOLED display wrapped around its body. The display is flexible and boasts of 1,920 x 1,440 resolution.

The display might allow users to enjoy the device slightly differently from other smart speakers in the market. It might show some cool visualizations (similar to or way better than those shown via Windows Media Player), and might allow for more user interaction. The Verge reported that during CES, the display did show some “cool-looking visualizers.”

Reports speculate that at least, the display can give users another way to control playback. Instead of telling Alexa (the device has support for Amazon's digital assistant) to play a song or skip to another track, or instead of tapping on buttons at the top of the device, users can simply tap on the controls displayed on the screen.

According to a tweet from the official Royole Twitter account, the Mirage Smart Speaker, which Royole created in partnership with Cleer Audio, boasts of three 48mm full-range drivers with 30RMS, along with a passive radiator.

It also has two far-field microphones that will be used to pick up a user's voice from a distance, perhaps from another side of the room. That way, the Mirage will be able to respond to its users. The smart speaker also has a 5MP camera, the use of which remains unclear at the moment. Perhaps it can also be used as a smart camera of sorts.

Royole said the Mirage Smart Speaker will be released sometime in Q2 this year, and will be sold for $899, a price that's unheard of in regards to smart speakers. This price is understandable, however, since the Mirage isn't just a smart speaker - it's a smart speaker with an AMOLED display wrapped around it.