Sony - LF-S50G Smart Bluetooth Speaker - White

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.

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

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.

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.

So as of now this is not like Alexa. I have had this for over a week and have tried many commands it will give you headline news the weather sport scores movie times it will even spell words for you. There are some items that you can connect it to to control that is pretty cool it's not a very big list. I have a Rachio Sprinkler system there is no app for that to connect to. It will connect to my Samsung vacboot that"s nice. But it is limited on the other things i wish it did more. The touch free controls as moving you hand over it or your finger to turn it up or down doesn't always work. I try to have it make a phone call and it says it's not set up for that function yet. I ask it for my sports team updates and it say's i'm not set up for that yet. So not all that great in getting what you want done. Now the speaker is great music sounds very good it plays nice. The clock on the front is bright and readable. I guess i will have to wait for more functions to come i guess.

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!

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 recently purchased this speaker for my home office. Initially I was skeptical paying $70 more, not on sale, than its Google Home counterpart. Software: Initially, I heard that the speaker would not support future Google Assistant updates because it was a third party speaker. But, don't worry after pitting it against my Google Home, it does everything that does but with better sound. Keep in mind however, since it is third party it will not update first but later when the software becomes viable for non-Google products. Build Quality: The speaker is housed in a cloth mesh-like cover, which also partially covers the built in clock. It looks like an Apple HomePod knock off, but feels cheaper due to outside material choice. It has good weight to it however, making it feel like a more premium device without adding lead weights to the bottom. Water "Resistance": IPX3... seriously? I'm pretty sure my cotton shirt has an IPX3 rating. Long story short, if you accidentally spray it with minimal water, like the kitchen sink that the advertise, it should be OK...should. The water 'proofing' literally comes from the mesh shielding on the outside, offering minimal protection. BUT. This is a plug-in speaker. Why does it need to be waterproof? Google Assistant: This speaker does not make wifi-calls, or have voice to phone - to text features built in. This is not a huge deal, as i usually am within bluetooth range to my phone to answer calls and prefer not to have private conversations over loud bluetooth speaker. Beyond those minor details, it is the fully functional assistant. You can ask how your commute looks, how the weather is, who score what goals, etc. Touchless commands: You don't need to touch this speaker to change tracks, pause music, or turn the volume up and down. It is a cool feature in hypothesis, but poorly implemented. Unfortunately, the directions and their associated commands aren't exactly intuitive. Sometimes its is nice to use when your hands are dirty, wet, or other. However, this is nothing "Hey Google" or picking up your phone wouldn't do already. Bluetooth: Yes, it is a bluetooth speaker as well. This means you do not have to be on your wifi network in order to play a song. You simply, enter pairing mode, connect, hit play. UPnP (Universal Plug and Play): This speaker will not work on public wifi sources with the google assistant; such as libraries, dorm networks, school networks, or work. UPNP is usually disabled due to security measures, and there is no locally downloaded Google Assistant for offline use, which makes it impossible to use "Hey Google" offline. Yes, this includes the Alarm. Otherwise it still functions like a normal bluetooth speaker. PROS: Google Assistant with better sound quality Small and minimal in design Decently loud for a small speaker Decent Bluetooth range Splash proofing CONS: Splash[?] proofing Little higher price No wifi-calls No voice to text Summary: All in all a good little speaker for the price. If you want something minimal, around the size of a Google Home, but with better sound, this is not a bad purchase to shell out for. The novelty features you can live without, but sometimes come in handy when you didn't think it would.