Move Over HomePod: This New Touchscreen Smart Speaker Blew Me Away

For years, smart speakers have focused on “360-degree” sound, designs made to fill a whole room with music. But the newest offering, Wiim Sound, has impressed me more than nearly any speaker I’ve tested. It’s an amazing solution for music-streaming fans, offering sound that competes with Apple’s pricey HomePod and provides more audio customization than any other smart speaker available.

That’s what you get when an audio brand jumps into the smart home world with a standalone model you can put anywhere, not just by the TV. Wiim (as in beam, not whim) is the product of Linkplay, an audio project that partnered with brands like Harman, Yamaha and Anker before launching its own brand of audio tech.

The latest result is the Wiim Sound, and while it’s on the expensive side at $300, it’s also thoroughly impressive, especially for Spotify streamers and Alexa users. If you’re looking for a higher-end smart speaker with incredible potential, your search has ended.

Wiim Sound design: Like an upgraded HomePod with a touchscreen

You can be forgiven for thinking the Wiim Sound looks like a HomePod at first glance. The size and cylinder shape are quite similar, and even the touchscreen controls at the top of the speaker are reminiscent of Apple’s large, powerful model.

However, Wiim’s speaker — which is slightly more squarish than the HomePod — has key differences, and they’re almost all improvements. In the front is a circular touchscreen you can set to various clock shapes and hues, then swipe to pick from preset streaming stations or EQ settings. Play music, and the album artwork will display instead.

The speaker also includes a remote control, complete with a push-to-talk connection to voice assistants. And it has ports that other smart speakers don’t, including an aux audio cable, giving you more setup possibilities.

Inside the speaker are independently tuned silk-dome dual tweeters and a 4-inch paper-cone woofer. I’ll get more into their performance below, but the results are very high quality compared to the usual audio of standalone speakers, even the HomePod.

Setup is simple once you’ve downloaded the app. Wiim walks you through basic steps and guides you through the RoomFit calibration process, which helps the speaker optimize itself for where you usually are in the room. With choices between the onboard touchscreen, the app and the remote control, you can choose your preferred control option — or tap into a voice assistant. That brings me to all the smarts in this speaker.

App controls, smart support and streaming — so much streaming

The Wiim Sound is built for streaming from your favorite platform, including Tidal, Qobuz, Roon, Soundtrack and many others. But it has the most native support for Spotify and its Lossless audio. As a Spotify user (its menus and stations work best for me), this was a welcome option, but you can still get Hi-Res audio from other sources if you like an alternative.

App settings offer more options than you typically see on a smart speaker. That includes not just alarms and standby modes, but Dynamic Bass, EQ settings, and presets. Those presets are one of my favorite additions, a way to set a song or station from a streaming service to immediately play. You can access your presets on either the app or the Sound’s touchscreen, saving lots of time. Wiim walks you through how to set presets with Spotify, but the same rules apply to most streaming stations.

Otherwise, it’s usually faster to open up your streaming app and make sure your music is casting to the Wiim Sound after it’s connected. Wiim does support smart home voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home, with a slight preference for Alexa. However, this is one case where I don’t really recommend using a voice assistant, even with the handy remote mic option. Alexa and its ilk don’t do well recognizing specific band names and songs, especially if you’re also telling them to play from Spotify to a specific home speaker. Instead of trying those jumbled commands, I usually prefer heading into an app.

On the other hand, if you don’t have a voice assistant yet, you could use it for other purposes, like controlling smart home devices, setting reminders and other various household tasks, so it’s still a good deal for those without a current smart speaker.

What about audio? It’s Wiim’s strong suit (especially if you use Spotify)

The Wiim Sound supports up to 24-bit/192kHz audio with 100-watt peak output and a 50Hz–20kHz response range. You’re unlikely to hit max audio optimization while streaming over Wi-Fi, but the results are still noticeable compared to other smart speakers.

In my testing, I got slightly better performance on the HomePod — the leader in smart speaker audio quality — when playing directly from Apple Music. However, in everything else, I was more impressed with the range and quality of Wiim’s speaker playing Lossless Spotify audio.

The Sound also offers far more detailed audio customization and preset options, which really pushed it to the top for me. There’s nothing like spending time tweaking individual audio settings or dipping into your EQ to enhance a specific favorite song. Treble and bass results were both very strong for a speaker of its size. 

Final thoughts on the Wiim Sound

The Wiim Sound ($300) does an excellent job of combining smart home features with its A/V expertise, resulting in one of the best smart speakers I’ve ever tested. Sure, its audio quality doesn’t quite reach the highest-end results of a Sonos speaker setup, but nothing really can.

For those who want a standalone, app-controlled speaker with a voice assistant and high-quality, highly customizable audio, Wiim offers a more reasonably priced choice. Its speaker also plays well with a variety of streaming services like Spotify and alternatives people may prefer, like Qobuz or Tidal.

You’ll still have to pay HomePod-level prices to nab this smart speaker, which may be a tough ask if you already own a reliable speaker. But non-Apple users looking for a true audio upgrade won’t be disappointed.