Huawei AI Cube: An Alexa-powered smart speaker with 4G modem
Marking its entry in the smart speaker space, Chinese giant Huawei unveiled its AI Cube smart speaker on Friday. The speaker is powered by Amazon Alexa, and surprisingly, also packs a 4G modem, thereby possibly making it the first smart speaker to boast Wi-Fi router capabilities. The only thing that's upsetting is that the AI Cube isn't a cube. Seriously, it's cylindrical. Here's a sneak peek.
Here is a weird one. It's the Huawei AI Cube, an #Alexa powered smart speaker. Except, it's not a cube. Amusingly, it said in tiny letters at the end of the promo video "product shape may be different!" 😆 #IFA2018 pic.twitter.com/tl1xcCLr7W
— Andy Boxall (@AndyBoxall) August 31, 2018
Despite its name, the sleek AI Cube looks pretty similar to the Google Home smart speaker, and comes with all of Alexa's functionalities. The speaker sports a 400ml sound cavity and an aluminium diaphragm. While you shouldn't expect eargasmic sound output, Huawei has promised solid sound on the low-ends and mid-ranges. Coupled with Huawei's proprietary Histen technology, the speaker promises competent performance.
Notably, the AI Cube's stand-out feature is its 4G modem. Last year, CNBC had reported that Huawei was looking to integrate voice assistants with its routers, so we should have seen it coming. Anyway, the AI Cube supports LTE download speeds of up to 300Mbps and is capable of working on 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels. Data transmission speeds on LAN can reach 1,200Mbps.
With 4G data costs going down, the addition of a 4G modem will add a lot of value to people who have ditched landline-based broadband connections for LTE-based alternatives. Additionally, networking technology has long been Huawei's strongest forte. It's expected to debut in Europe during the holiday season. Release dates for China and the US are unknown. Pricing details are also obscured for now.
