OnePlus teases stunning transparent speaker with five drivers for 360° sound

OnePlus has caught the industry off guard by releasing a teaser ad for a new speaker with a completely transparent design, for which no leaks or rumours have appeared so far. The half page ad, which appeared in the Indian newspaper Times of India yesterday, shows the speaker in all its see-through glory, along with the captions “Got the music in you?” and “The wonder of music meets the power of tech”.

Although the exact size is hard to gauge from an image devoid of any reference objects, the absence of any carrying handle (and the inherently delicate finish of the material, most likely polycarbonate or acrylic) makes it safe to assume that the speaker is not intended for portable or rugged use. The speaker also appears to have a metal base or stand.

At least 5 speaker drivers are visible, indicating a 360° spatial configuration rather than a front-facing one to project the sound around the room. The other major feature is a backlit LCD display showing several music genres, most likely EQ presets to tailor the sound as per listeners’ preferences.

Apart from a “#ComingSoon”, there is no indication of the time frame for launch, although a newspaper ad is a good sign that it could not be too far in the future. Incidentally, this teaser comes at a time when customers are expecting news of a speaker from Carl Pei’s Nothing, after a single image of its unique design was leaked a few months ago.

While the eye-catching transparent design will surely attract some customers, the OnePlus speaker would face competition from the original transparent speakers, the Harman Kardon Aura Studio 4, Aura Studio 3 and the SoundSticks 4, as well as JBL's retro-styled speakers with dual voice-assistants, the Authentics 200 and Authentics 300. There are also budget options like the Anker Soundcore Motion X600 with with wireless hi-res spatial audio.