There is no shortage of small, wireless speakers on the market that use Bluetooth technology. But the sound quality of many of them leave a lot to be desired.
ONEmicro is a small, portable wireless speaker that uses the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard instead of Bluetooth. DECT provides superior sound quality, its manufacturer, ONEaudio, says. The speakers have been tested at over 90 dB and they fill up 120 square feet of space. The battery lasts 20 hours in HQ mode and 25 hours in ECO mode.
Consumers can use them in stereo or surround sound configurations. ONEmicro ships in October at future pricing of $199 for two speakers and a USB dongle for connection to Android mobile devices or iOS devices by using a Lightning USB camera adapter also. But Kickstarter backers can order a white one for a pledge starting at $118 for super early birds. Versions of the speaker in blue, green and pink are expected to also cost $199 at retail, but Kickstarter pledges for those versions each start at $128. ONEaudio is looking to raise $15,000 by Oct. 5.
ONEaudio already provided an example of DECT sound quality with its first Kickstarter product, the larger ONEclassic. DECT covers 110 countries, including DECT 6.0 in the U.S. Consumers in Japan are out of luck for now, but J-DECT support is under development for that country, ONEaudio says.