Aivia is a Smart Speaker with a Subwoofer

Hear this: a portable voice-activated smart speaker with a touchscreen, wireless charging and built-in subwoofers is on the market.

Vancouver-based SproutBox Design has announced the release of Aivia, a smart speaker powered by Google Assistant and Android OS. Aivia launched on Kickstarter last week and the Vancouver-based company behind the speaker has already reached its fundraising goal of $25,000.

The smart speaker sets itself apart from similar products by other well-known tech brands with its touchscreen panel, wireless phone charging station, eight-megapixel camera and Bang/Olufsen-designed subwoofer. Really more like a tablet and a speaker combined, Aivia lets users stream content over Bluetooth, wifi or AUX connections, in addition to accessing Youtube, Netflix and Spotify from the built-in 8-inch HD display.

Integrated with Google Assistant, Aivia’s voice-recognition and activation abilities let users control the device much like a Google Home or Amazon Alexa, finding requested songs across various music apps. The two large speakers and a dedicated subwoofer mean Aivia also produces high-end audio—resulting in what the company bills as better sound quality than other smart speakers on the market.

Aivia does have some tough competition following recent announcement by notable companies in the smart device and speaker industry.

Last week, Google unveiled its upgraded Google Home for music lovers called the Max. It comes equipped with 4.5-inch subwoofers, what Google said is 20 times more powerful than the original Google Home. Sonos entered the smart speaker market last week too, revealing its Sonos One speaker can now support multiple voice services, including Amazon Alexa.

Aivia runs for $399 USD, the same price as Google’s new Max and slightly more than the Sonos One at $350 USD. SproutBox expects the speaker to be delivered as early as October 2018.