Sony - LF-S50G Smart Bluetooth Speaker - Black

Bought this item Online on Sale at $49.99 (as advertised on CNET) and had to contact Best Buy to ensure delivery after I received a Cancellation Text Message from Corporate in my phone. Had to use Texts and Twitter to resolve, but I’m happy because Best Buy did hold up their end of the transaction. For the price I paid, this unit sounds really good. As I went in with eyes open having read that Sony won’t be updating the Google Assistant, the software works surprisingly well. The voice recognition microphones work as good or better better than my Echo products with music playing or any other background noise. I initially bought this Sony Product to play music in the my garage, but the color scheme matched my kitchen, so it sits in a corner on my counter under my cabinets which increases the sound of the bass and the unit blends in with our white wall tiles.

Pros Splash proof NFC tag for quick Bluetooth pairing Gesture controls are great for keeping it clean Dots on front make it clear when Google Assistant is listening Built in clock makes in useful in more places Clock has 4 brightness setting and can even be turned off Comes in multiple colors Attractive design makes it acceptable to place in the open Physical mute button Music automatically pauses when it hears the wake word Wake word is recognized even when the speaker is fairly loud Includes Chromecast Audio Cons Speech has enough bass to almost sound muffled Gesture controls for volume are finicky No backup physical controls for volume Mute button is not easily accessible Gestures can prevent you from placing it as close to walls The Sony S50G is one of the latest offering in an expanding line of Google Assistant powered speakers. Each one attempts to make more premium versions for those who like more than what the standard smart speakers from Google offer. The S50G, while still very affordable, offers a lot of nice features and an attractive design that would make this a welcomed addition to the home for those looking for a Google Assistant powered smart speaker. The S50G comes in several colors, all with a fabric body and a chrome accent ring at the bottom. Sony claims the S50G is splash proof which comes in handy if you plan to place this in the kitchen or bathroom. Included is a hidden vertical clock behind the front fabric. Four levels of brightness are available as well as off. The brightest setting makes it very viewable in the brightest rooms whereas the dimmest setting could serve handy for someone who would like to make this their modern version of a bedside clock radio. It can be controlled either via a smartphone or directly via gestures. You have swipe forward to active Google Assistant, swipe back for play/pause, swipe right for next track, and swipe left for previous track. On top there are also sensors that, when you twirl your finger in either a clockwise or counterclockwise manner will turn the volume up and down hands free. On bottom is a dimmer button which controls the brightness for the clock. On the back bottom is a mute button to turn off the microphone as well as an NFC tag you can tap to quickly pair your phone for music streaming via Bluetooth. However; for maximum audio quality Chromecast Audio is recommended as the speaker streams the music directly. No audio output is included but with Chromecast you can group other Chromecast devices to expand your speakers. To use gesture control, you will need some space between the speaker and any walls to allow you room to move you hand fully over the unit. It doesn’t require much but you cannot have it flush and use the gestures. Too close and it makes gestures feel overall awkward. Gestures work very well for most tasks except changing volume. Often you may find yourself twirling your finger waiting for the speaker to recognize you want to turn up the volume to suddenly having the volume change quickly to far higher than intended. Once this happens, there will be a pause of a few seconds before you can turn it back down as it seems the speaker has a built-in timer of 2 or 3 seconds before it allows another volume change once you stop. To prevent this, move your finger more slowly in a circle to change the volume gradually or even change it directly via your smartphone. Overall sound quality is quite good for such a small package. In most cases, half of max volume is good. Max volume goes well beyond comfortable listening for most people but doesn’t distort. However; certain tones do become more emphasized making listening more unpleasant and extremely high volumes. In the end, the normal volume range that most people would listen to music is quite large and the sound quality is overall pleasant. If you know about Google Assistant, then you already know what it is capable of. It has the same feature as on any other device. What you might not realize is the S50G is able to take advantage of specific voice recognition for users. This is particularly handy as, once activated and trained, it will realize specific voices and answer questions only to that user. For example, you could have multiple user profiles trained with their respective Google accounts configured. When a person asks a question such as, “What is on my calendar?” Google Assistant will recognize who asked the question and look in the specific calendar of the person who asked the question. This is much better than the first generation of assistants which required a single account, and anyone could access that information simply by asking. This approach is much more personal and private. Unfortunately, our family has been unable to use this feature yet due to laryngitis. Google Assistant could still understand us, but we didn’t want to train voice profiles with a compromised voice. The good thing is regardless of if voice profiles are configured there is a guest profile which applies to anyone else. You don’t get as much access, but it allows anyone to ask general questions of Google Assistant or issue commands. If you feel saying “Hey Google” feels more natural than “Ok Google” you are in luck. The S50G offers the updated version of the assistant which allows the more natural wake word. Furthermore, you can say Hey Google even when the volume is quite loud it will recognize the wake phrase, pause playback, and listen for commands or questions. This is definite improvement over previous generation of assistants which would require you to feel as though you were screaming to wake the assistant if the volume was even slightly turned up. Overall, the Sony S50G is a quality smart speaker package with features to make nearly anyone happy. It would make a great addition to any room in the house. About the only significant issue was gesture volume control which is a rather minor gripe. If Sony could somehow improve response with a future update it would make this unit about as perfect as could be for the price point. If you are in the market for a Smart Speaker with Google Assistant device you should give the Sony S50G a look.

This gadget is the very definition of tech-savvy and gives you the user the means to be so. I was excited for this testing; having played with a couple of other like devices, (you might know at least one of them). The un-boxing was almost equally as joyful as the gifts inside. I know it silly to mention but someone put good work into the design and construction of the packaging and they deserve a bit of recognition. After opening, I read the how-to pamphlets and down loaded the Google Home app for my android phone (I did not test with any Apple products). Set up was easy, the app wizard walks one quickly through the installation, and device setup (needs WiFi or a strong Bluetooth connection to work). Immediately there following, you are able to begin the barrage of "Ok Google" & "Hey Google”‘s you will throw at it. Commands like: Tell about my day, tell me a joke, what is the weather, and play XYZ song. The personal concierge the aspect of this unique Sony Google Assistant is.. Well just neat! If you are, like me and live off a calendar but often do not write things down because of the assumption that you will remember. This is a quick and easy work around for reminders, lists, events, and whatever else comes up. The sound quality alone is enough reason to purchase this but then Sony goes and pours all the gravy on the biscuit with the incorporation of Chromecast & Google Assistant. I love the touch free hand-gestures to access certain features. This is really cool, once you get the hang of it so that you do not always have to access the app. The unit is much larger than I would have thought as well. It gives the unit a "Focal Point" presence within the room. (I am sure this has something to do with the wonderful sound too, lol). I have discovered that others may connect (I must have missed that and wondered why at first this was not a feature) to the unit as well and after setting up the voice recognition part of the process can too enjoy the life simplicity's. The exterior is truly a work of art and the interior seems like something out of a futuristic movie. Again, I find it cool and think everyone should have one.

I’m currently testing this out as a smart alarm clock. Setup was very easy. Just plug it in, install the Google Home app on your phone/tablet and follow the directions to connect it to the internet. I like how the setup didn’t require me to type in my access point password (which is kind of long and hence a pain to type in using a phone/tablet) so it gets extra points for setup usability and friendliness. The sound quality is very good but somewhat lacking in bass. Vocals are very clear and classical music sounds great but music with a lot of bass sounds a little flat to me. Voice recognition is excellent. It can pick up my voice commands from the next room and I rarely have to repeat myself. It’s a great helpful assistant. It’s fun asking “Hey Google, what’s on my calendar?” and have it respond with a list of upcoming events on my Google calendar. I usually ask it for traffic and weather information before heading out to work. Because of the built-in clock display, I decided to try it out as my bedroom alarm clock. So far it’s working out great. To set up the alarm all I have to do is say, “Hey Google, wake me up at 7:30am tomorrow” and it wakes me up the next morning as directed. Pretty cool. I’ve been looking for a next generation alarm clock because I hate having to reenter the correct time after a power outage. With a smart alarm clock, it will always have the correct time when power is restored. I tried using the hand gesture controls but couldn’t get the hang of it. So far, it seems more like a gimmick to me. I’m looking forward to upgrading my home with smart devices and having the ability to control them with the Sony LF-S50G.

I've got both the Google Home and the LF-S50G. While I love the Google Home I have a hard time understanding it sometimes because the speaker is so bass heavy. Sound come out muffled and doesn't travel across a room clearly... except for the bass that my daughter in the next room can hear. The LF-S50G is more of a flat sound which sounds a lot better when listening to speech. So news, weather, and such comes out clean and audible anywhere in the room. Downside is that music tends to sound rather flat for the music I listen to (Old School Hip Hop and R&B). The Home has it beat in the Beat department. Microphones seem to perform kinda equally - I generally have to repeat "Hey, Google" multiple times for them to hear me. I've got a semi-deep voice so mainly it's me - even drive through cashiers have a hard time understanding me so I have add a little treble when placing orders. Once the "Hey, Google" is registered the LF-S50G hears me a little better. I can give commands across the room at normal level (with a window AC on upstairs). With the Home I have to talk louder. Echo dot works waaaay better than both units when it comes to the wake up commands and speaking commands. So far, I think I may keep the LF-S50G unless the Sonos One has better audio and microphone performance. The main reason for getting the LF-S50G was to 1) be able to actually hear words without it being muffled and 2) not have to repeat myself. The LF-S50G only passes one of those tests. Makes you wonder why you can't tweak the mic gain and equalize the speakers on these speakers. So, which is better depends on what you want. Audible sound that isn't muffled - LF-S50G. Music with some decent bass from a tiny speaker - the Google Home (plus it's cheaper). I'd probably be better of hardware modding the Home and hooking up a JBL Charge to it (I love it - nice bass with clear mids and highs).

Sony put a nice spin on the home assistant. Clear , rich sounding (monaural) speaker with a built in clock. Adding the Sony speaker to my WiFi was easy, no glitches. I was listening to my Pandora account only using voice requests. Up/Down volume control can be accomplished by voice or a wave of your hand over the speaker. Once you learn the gestures, its easy to operate even while cooking in the kitchen. I was also successful connecting to my Smart Home devices and wink hub. My Insteon and Leviton light and fan relays now work via voice without a hub, just the Sony google Assistant. I had to see for myself how the cloth cover cage is removed for cleaning. Sure enough, an eight of a turn like opening a jar and it slips right off for a quick rinse under the faucet. Cool. Look on the bottom of the base and you'll find a soft key to set the clock display from hi - medium - low- off. Great for the bedroom. Also, there is a lock button, a Bluetooth and microphone OFF select button for privacy. (That is great thinking on design end). We'll see how the support and apps updates go. Sony's definitely on the right track!

Sony Google Assistant Built-in Wireless Speaker LFS50G - White Sony puts its design and music experience to make an attractive bluetooth wireless speaker with built in Google Assistant. This is a nice product that compares well with other bluetooth speakers that seem to be coming available everyday. Sony does have a few touches others don’t but they can also a mixed bag. If you want to skip tracks or change the volume you can use hand gestures over the top of the speaker. This is nice where you might have wet hands like in the bathroom or kitchen. You do need to kind of train your hand gestures to make good use of this function. To play or pause you swipe your hand over the top of the speaker either forward and back. To skip you pass over the speaker either left or right. These are very easy to use but to change the volume you circle your finger over the top of the speaker. That’s a little harder to get your finger position correct and it takes a little practice. The circle seems smaller and a bit unforgiving. When you get it right it might be turning up or down faster or even slower that you're expecting. I suppose how easy this gets can depend on where the speaker is setting and how used to it you become. Of course you can always have the assistant do all of these same functions just by telling it to but that will pause playback. The Sony has a nice clock on the front that is kind of geeky with the time and minutes in a stacked format that I liked. And you do get lighting effects around the top circle when you use hand gestures. It's like the Google home but different in a nice way. Sony says the sound is in a 360 degree circle. I would say that is correct and makes placement of the speaker very easy. The sound coming out will always be mono. I played music installed on my phone using bluetooth and streamed through Google Play and Youtube Red. I was a little disappointed Sony is not supporting their own bluetooth LDAC streaming standard on this speaker. LDAC will be built into all android phones with Oreo Ver 8.0 like the Pixel 2. And it is already supported by many of their own bluetooth devices. The speaker has a flat neutral sound with maybe a little more emphasize on the highs than the bass. It can fill a good sized room with sound but the highs do start the get broken up at the higher volumes. The good news is at most listening levels the sound is clear and clean. To make the speaker work you must first have Google Home installed on your smartphone and then you will setup a bluetooth connection. After you go through the setup it connects to your WiFi and you complete the setup using your Google account. I setup my Wifi using the NFC touch on the back of the speaker to my S8+ and it connected with just a tap. It gets your WiFi password from the phone, neat. Google Assistant finally supports multiple account logins which is says it can identify using your unique voice. I still find the Google Assistant to be a learning experience for me to get right but this is the future and it will just get easier and better. Casting to my TV using its own smart TV features and a Google Chrome Cast worked well. The list of devices you can control seems to grow everyday for all of the top home assistants. We are watching the smart home become a reality and I think this is getting to be very interesting. And I like how this sounds

Sony, Google, and Best Buy need to clarify what you are really getting with this speaker. The Sony S50G description says it has the Google Assistant built in, but Sony should say it has a Google Assistant Lite version. You would assume that it has full functionality; however, they are misrepresenting what the speaker really includes by not incorporating all of the Google Assistant software and features one would assume you are getting or will get in the near future. A Sony rep told me that the AI (Google Assistant) will not be updated in the future to include calling and texting. He said there were some other features that are not included as well, but this is the main feature customers are complaining about. He does not know why there are no plans to include it in the future! Who knows what other updates will not be included in the future as well. The Sony S50G sounds a lot better than Google Home, but why would I pay more for a speaker that does not and will not include the full Google Assistant software? Google definitely has a gap in its product line and I thought I found what I needed in this Sony speaker, but it is unacceptable to not include the full features of Google Assistant and not tell its customers. The Google Mini and Google Home are not loud enough for me in some rooms and I’d love to have the Google Home Max, but I do not want to pay $400 to put the speakers around my house. The Sony S50G would be worth $200 if it included the full software. Another concern I have is the Sony S50G does not include control buttons on the speaker. The display at Best Buy includes buttons, but the actual speaker does not. It relies solely on voice commands and motion sensors. The Sony rep said they are confident the motion sensors will not fail, but they also said this is the first product that Sony has used these sensors. It’s nice not to have to speak commands every time you want to turn the speaker up or down and this worries me if something goes wrong with sensors. It would be nice to add an equalizer as well. The bass is lacking sometimes. I just bought a Sony receiver that I thought would cast to this Sony speaker through Google Home, Chromecast or Sony’s Music Center, but it will not. I am rethinking if I want to go with Sony and with Google. I’m not sure if the problem lies with Sony or if Google is not giving its partners the full Google Assistant. Google is making a mistake if they are not going to give their OEM partners access to its full software. They are in a market share battle with Amazon and are behind the game. They need to be doing everything they can to gain market share before people settle on their home automation software. It will be expensive to switch once you start buying everything. I’m going to wait to see if Sony and Google work this out, but they have until my return date; otherwise, I may need to go with Alexa to get what I want.