French startup firm Devialet, whose high-end speakers have won admirers from Jay-Z to President Marcon, debuts its Phantom Reactor speaker which starts at £990 (around €1200). The company hopes that it will appeal to the customers who might have shied away from the flagship model – Phantom – which starts at £1490 (around €1700).
Devialet is backed by Bernard Arnault, France’s richest man who is also the head of luxury goods company LVMH, and by Taiwanese electronic giant Foxconn. Since its founding in 2007, the company has raised more than $160 million (around €139). Founded by Pierre-Emmanuel Calmel, Mathias Moronvalle, Emmanuel Nardin and Quentin Sannie in 2007, Devialet is headquartered in Paris known for innovation and excellence in audio inventions. Since its founding, it has raised a total amount of $161.2m (around €140.3).
Devialet also entered a co-branding partnership with Paris Opera and had its leading line of Phantom speakers sold in Apple stores which raised the company’s profile. However, ever since Apple launched its HomePod speakers, the Phantom speakers have been disappearing from Apple shops.
Phantom Reactor
The Phantom Reactor is four times smaller compared to the Phantom speaker. The mini speaker starts at £990 (around €1133) for the Phantom Reactor 600 and go up to £1290 (around€1476) for the Phantom Reactor 900.
Compared to Apple’s HomePod which costs $349 (around €304), it still is expensive nonetheless. But don’t get discourage with its price tag, because the specs and features that it comes explains why it carries such price.
The speaker sports an amazing sci-fi chic appearance with white coating painted all over its outer design and measures in at 219mm (Length) x 157 mm (Width) x 168 mm (Height). However, don’t be fooled by its size, because it’s capable of delivering superb sound quality and extreme volume levels without as much as a hint of distortion as it approaches those louder peaks.
It comes with Bluetooth, AirPlay, UPnP and Spotify Connect (with Chromecast Audio set to be included next year) support. In addition to this, it also features a hybrid minijack, Ethernet and optical point for TVs.
Sure, the Phantom Reactor is a bit expensive compared to your average speaker. But the overall experience that it offers is totally worth every penny.
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