One of the devices receiving increasing traction this year, especially at IFA is the smart speaker. JBL also has unveiled a new smart speaker called JBL Link Speaker that has been built with Google Assistant as the base. Besides the speaker, JBL has also raised the curtain on a slew of devices at IFA.
Within the JBL Link series, the company has unveiled three speakers, Link 10, Link 20 and Link 300. Driven by Google Assistant, all these devices can get activated the way it is done with the voice based assistant by pressing a physical button or by just uttering “Ok Google”. JBL has provided the Chromecast link to these devices as well.
Among the three speakers featured here, a battery powers the first two Link 10 and Link 20 while the third, Link 300 has to be plugged into a AC socket to gain power. The speakers fitted on to the devices also range from 2x8W in the case of Link 10 and 2x10W in Link 20 and the largest, Link 300, has a 50W speaker.
JBL has designed the three speakers in such a manner that the Link 300 speaker is expected to be used indoors, whereas, the other two can be carried along.
Accordingly, the Link 10 and Link 20 have dust resistance certification IPX7. Wi-Fi connectivity is a common feature with all the speakers in this Link range.
Since the announcement has been made in Europe and the products are likely to be first made available to buyers in the UK and a couple of countries in Europe, the prices of the speakers have been announced in Euros.
The Link 10, Link 20 and the Link 300 will be sold at €169, €199 and €299 respectively. In Indian Rupees, these prices convert to around Rs.13, 000 to Rs. 23,000. However, one would have to wait till JBL makes the official announcements on the release dates and prices for other international markets.
As mentioned, JBL also revealed many other products in the same event; one is a Boombox speaker that has a 20, 000mAh battery but not loaded with Google Assistant. This speaker, according to JBL can deliver 24 hours of playback. Being sold only through offline stores, this speaker will be priced at €499.
Besides these, JBL has launched a pair of wireless earbuds JBL Free which are fashioned the same way as the Airpods of Apple. A new wireless headphone UA Sport Wireless Train as well as a few bar speakers on the sidelines of the IFA 2017.