Marshall's Uxbridge Voice takes on Amazon Echo Studio and Sonos One
The Marshall Uxbridge Voice with Amazon Alexa, a compact smart speaker with unique guitar fret controls, is coming next month for $200. A Google Assistant version is due in June.
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Marshall has announced its latest smart speaker, the compact Uxbridge Voice, which will come in both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant versions for $199. The voice assistants will make it possible to set up multiroom music, control smart devices and ask questions of Alexa or Google Assistant.
The Uxbridge Voice with Amazon Alexa, available from April 8, is the brand's most compact speaker. It connects via Bluetooth , AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect.
While the front of the speaker sports the usual Marshall grille, the top features a very unusual set of "guitar fret" controls that function as rocker switches. Though I haven't seen the speakers in person yet, I would have preferred the old-school gold knobs of the existing models.
Meanwhile, the Uxbridge Voice with Google Assistant will feature built-in Chromecast and will be available starting June 11.
The $200-and-under smart speaker market is quite competitive right now, with models such as the the Sonos One and the Amazon Echo Studio. It's also a good deal smaller than most speakers in this price range as well.
