Rumors of a new Huawei smart speaker have swirled for a while, but the first images recently showed up on Weibo and gave the world its first glimpse at Huawei’s new entry. The image is of a spec sheet that lists out details about the smart speaker, but the details are hard to make out unless you can read Chinese. There are several notable traits to the speaker itself, though.
The first thing that catches the eye is the design. Named the Huawei Sound X, the smart speaker closely resembles the Apple HomePod in shape. The spec sheet lays out the details: It will be 203mm high, 165mm wide, and weigh 3.5 kilograms. Most notable, however, is that it will be made of metal — a choice that sets the Huawei Sound X apart from the competition. Metal gives the impression of better build quality, which could attract the attention of a wider audience. The rest of the details come from a translation from Android Headlines.
According to the article, the Huawei Sound X will have a quad-core processor and 512 gigabytes of RAM. It will also have 8 gigabytes of internal storage and an internal microphone. Huawei is including physical keys for muting the speaker and controlling the volume. It’s also said to have a 60W double subwoofer that yields 360-degree surround sound. But those technical specs are no good without the ability to connect to the Internet and broadcast music, which the Huawei Sound X achieves through Bluetooth 5.0 and 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi.
Huawei plans to announce the Huawei MatePad on November 25. Given that the company isn’t likely to announce only a single product that day, many speculate the Huawei Sound X will also be announced at the same time. Though information is limited, more news and leaks might come out in the days to come.
Huawei is no stranger to the smart speaker market. The company released the Huawei AI Cube in 2018, a device that strongly resembled the Amazon Echo. Huawei also planned to release a Google Assistant-powered device, but trade sanctions from the United States brought the plans to an end. With this new iteration, Huawei might gain the international foothold it has failed to achieve so far with its smart speaker lineup.
Huawei has also released a slew of other smart home devices that include smartphones, operating systems for smartwatches, and routers.
