In October 2017, Sony Audio released a new 1000X series wireless noise reduction headset in Beijing, and at the same time, it launched Sony's first voice assistant with artificial intelligence for the Chinese market Intelligent Bluetooth speaker ——Sony LF-S80D. At the press conference, Sony said that the LF-S80D is a smart speaker tailored for the Chinese market.

Sony LF-S80D smart Bluetooth speaker is a smart speaker product launched by Sony in cooperation with iFLYTEK and JD. Its internal smart background and mobile app are the same as Dingdong smart speakers, and voice is provided by iFLYTEK as Dingdong smart speakers.

appearance

Sony LF-S80D intelligent Bluetooth speaker has three different colors: red, white and black Love to play computer games I got the red version. In terms of appearance, the author (Mo Changyou) compares the Sony LF-S80D intelligent Bluetooth sound with the Bose SoundLink Revolve Bluetooth speaker.

Both the Sony LF-S80D intelligent Bluetooth sound and the Bose SoundLink Revolve Bluetooth speaker adopt the design of a metal body. The top and bottom of the Bose SoundLink Revolve use skin like glue, while the top and bottom of the Sony LF-S80D are matte treated and polished plastic, respectively. Both of them adopt cylindrical design, and the openings of loudspeakers are distributed around the cylinder. Both buttons are distributed on the top of the body, and the charging interface is located on the top. It is worth mentioning that the Bose SoundLink Revolve also supports micro USB interface charging; Sony LF-S80D supports Micro SD card.

Sony LF-S80D adopts the popular cylindrical capsule design. The speakers are 360 ° distributed on the side of the body. The simple design style makes it easy to integrate into various family scenes and coffee shop scenes.

Many people may have questions about why Bose SoundLink Revolve is used to compare with Sony LF-S80D. First of all, it should be noted that Bose and Sony Audio have similar brand positioning, and both of them have obvious competition in product lines such as Bluetooth speakers and wireless headsets. What is different from Sony Audio is that Bose is not so grounded, the localization work in China is not in place, and it is impossible to cooperate with domestic companies to launch customized products like Sony Audio.

Bluetooth speakers at the same price, Bose SoundLink Revolve is mainly wireless and portable; Sony LF-S80D is the main smart voice; Although the positioning of the two speakers is different, they are both in the category of Bluetooth speakers, and the price is close. The reason why I put them together is to explore the performance gap between the two speakers in terms of pure external audio quality.

intelligence

Sony LF-S80D uses the "Smart Speaker" App. Open the Smart Speaker App and select Sony LF-S80D to add devices. Follow the operation instructions to complete the networking process.

Although the smart speaker app used by Sony LF-S80D is still the product of cooperation with JD and iFLYTEK, there are some differences between Sony LF-S80D and Dingdong smart speakers from the perspective of app interface, but the function options of both are roughly the same.

use:

In terms of voice recognition, Sony LF-S80D needs to wake up by default through the voice command "Ding Dong Ding Dong"; The wake-up words can be changed in the App. We can change them to "Bailing Bailing" or "Xiaowei Xiaowei".

It can be used as the central control of smart home. Currently, it supports more than 2000 devices such as JD Microlink, Midea Home, and Mijia's Zhimi Technology. More devices will be connected in the future.

Function:

Play music on demand in the music library through App connection;

Support the control of smart home products within the support range through voice operated switches;

Support voice query weather, stock, alarm clock adjustment, reminder, translation, music play, news play, encyclopedia question and answer, joke telling and other functions;

Experience:

In the actual test, Sony LF-S80D can perform wake-up operation with normal speech volume within a radius of 3 meters. Conventional voice operations, including but not limited to alarm clock adjustment, weather/stock check, voice on demand, news listening and other simple voice operations, can be successfully completed with a response time of about 2 seconds. In terms of music library, Sony LF-S80D uses Baidu Music's music resources, which are diverse. Even GREeeEN albums that can be downloaded only after paying on QQ music are available, as well as the less popular talking (kanna boon).

tone quality

Bose SoundLink Revolve

As a Bluetooth speaker, the size of the speaker can largely determine its sound quality. The larger the speaker unit is, the easier it is to make good sound. Although the Bose SoundLink Revolve is much smaller in size than the Sony LF-S80D, its sound quality is not as bad as we thought.

The Bose SoundLink Revolve is characterized by prominent low frequency and large volume, but it is not enough to dive down and lacks stamina. When the volume is turned up more than 60%, you will obviously feel that its voice is a bit mixed; The intermediate frequency is not the strong point of Bose SoundLink Revolve. When the low frequency is prominent, its intermediate frequency performance is relatively less eye-catching, and its density is thin. When the speaker is opened up, you can obviously hear the trill. The female voice is impure and has no sense of youth; The high-frequency timbre is simple, and the high-frequency attenuation is generally smooth, with a small amount of overtones.

Sony LF-S80D

Although the overall speaker volume of Sony LF-S80D is much larger than that of Bose SoundLink Revolve, the style of Sony LF-S80D is not low-frequency protruding. Ordinary users will not conclude that "the sound quality of Sony LF-S80D is much better than that of Bose SoundLink Revolve".

The style of Sony LF-S80D is different from that of Sony's previous XB series wireless Bluetooth speakers. The XB series is a portable Bluetooth speaker that Sony focuses on low frequency, while the strength of Sony LF-S80D is the mid frequency part. The low-frequency sense of Sony LF-S80D is smaller than that of Bose SoundLink Revolve, which is less "dynamic and dynamic", but its low-frequency is elastic; If the Bose SoundLink Revolve highlights the low-frequency part, the Sony LF-S80D highlights the mid-frequency part. The mid-frequency voice of the Sony LF-S80D has an obvious tendency to protrude, especially in the female voice. The female voice is more delicate and has a dense timbre, which is not as thin as the Bose SoundLink Revolve. It can be said that it is a "little female poison" in Bluetooth speakers; The high-frequency performance of Sony LF-S80D is not as outstanding as that of IF, but it still performs well. Compared with the Bose SoundLink Revolve, it has less overtones and higher extension. The high-frequency timbre is gorgeous, which is more in line with the public taste.

summary

At present, there are many smart speakers in the domestic market that sell smart home central control and artificial intelligence voice assistant, but most of them focus on intelligence, ignoring the sound quality as the most basic quality of speakers, which is the most convenient for Sony. If you ask me what is the biggest difference between Sony LF-S80D and other smart speakers? The answer is sound quality. This answer is not "geek" or "AI" at all, but it is very "Sony".

The intelligent platform is provided by JD, the artificial intelligence voice assistant is provided by iFLYTEK, and the sound quality is controlled by Sony. In this way, a smart speaker with excellent sound quality was born. Compared with many smart speakers on the market, the author always believes that Sony LF-S80D has two major weapons: one is the Sony logo, and the other is Sony audio quality.