The luxury brand’s first wireless speaker designed for portability is its cheapest yet—but still not cheap.
Although priced well out of our meager budgets, we can’t say we haven’t drooled over Devialet’s audio gear, including the company’s $2,200+ wireless Phantom 1 speakers that manage to both look good and sound even better. They weren’t completely wireless, however: an issue that Devialet is addressing with its first truly portable, battery-powered speaker. It’s called the Mania, and it has more than just looks going for it.
While the Devialet Phantom 1 looked like a futuristic Star Trek prop, the new Mania looks more like a kettlebell, like you’d find at a gym. The bulging loop atop the speaker’s mostly spherical design (the bottom’s been flattened so it doesn’t roll around) makes it easy to grab and go, but it’s the Mania’s support for both Bluetooth and wifi, as well as a 3,200 mAh rechargeable battery good for about 10 hours of continuous playback, that make it truly portable.
You can expect shortened battery life with the volume fully cranked, because inside the Mania are actually six separate drivers with four full-range speakers projecting outwards in every corner, plus two “high-excursion” woofers that all work together to create sounds as loud as 95-decibels emanating in all directions.
