Aside from the sound quality and the design, what else do you want from speakers that can be connected to your mobile devices? Probably two of the top answers would be portability and battery life. A crowd-funded portable Bluetooth speaker is trying to be the answer to your mobile needs. The Hydrogen speaker may not have the longest battery life among its competitors right now, but it may be the only one that can recharge itself quicker than you can heat up your pasta in your microwave.
Yes, the makers of the Hydrogen speakers say you only need 5 minutes to charge it to full capacity because it is powered by supercapacitors. It can last up to four hours if you play it at 80% volume (because real people don’t play music at 100% right?) and can be recharged up to 500,000 times without breaking down (unless of course you literally break it down). It also has Class-D amplifiers and a 3″ full-range driver. It weights just 4 lbs and the device itself is 9″ x 8″ x 4″ which makes it pretty easy to carry around and obviously lighter than a boombox (if you can still remember what that is).
Design wise, it’s also pretty neat since the speakers are enclosed by a ported bamboo cabinet that has been crafted in Oregon. In fact, all the custom parts will be built in the state while all electronic components are assembled within the country and the final assembly will be conducted in Portland. All components of the speakers are built to last, according to the developers, and there are no plastic parts so there is no need to build any kind of tooling.
Their goal is to raise $10,000 and so far, they’re already at $8,840 with 3 more days to go to reach full funding. Aside from the Hydrogen, they’re also offering other previous and redesigned products like the Helium speakers, which are more for a home set-up. Shipping for the early bird funders is expected by January 2015 while the rest of those who chose to support this project will just have to wait two months after. It’s expected to retail at around $400.
SOURCE: Crowd Supply
