Devialet Mania premium portable speaker packs stereo sound
Le petit portable pumps out sound to make you say "Sacre bleu"
For its first foray into portable audio, Devialet isn’t diluting either of the things the French speaker specialist is best known for: design worthy of an art gallery and extraordinarily impactful sound. The Devialet Mania might be the size of a teapot, but it packs a whopping six separate drivers, and promises Hi-Fi grade stereo playback.
Naturally it has Bluetooth on-board for convenience, along with Spotify Connect, but it’s far better to stream songs using the built-in Wi-Fi and AirPlay 2 for the best possible bitrate.
The battery-powered sphere, which has been in the works for four years, miniaturises the firm’s familiar styling, with premium materials and distinctive shapes that’ll look good just about anywhere you pop it down. It’s arriving in three colours: dark grey, light grey, and a special gold and grey edition in partnership with the Opera National de Paris.
It uses intelligent room calibration, with four individual microphones to measure reflective surfaces and tweak the output of its four full-range speakers to ensure they’re always delivering stereo – whether it’s placed in the centre of a room, in a corner, or against a wall. A g-sensor knows when the speaker has been picked up and moved, so knows to recalibrate on the fly.
Then twin woofers, set out in a push-pull arrangement, deliver the “visible sound” Devialet’s customers expect with 4mm of driver movement. The combo has an impressive 30Hz-20,000Hz frequency range, and fully cranked it’ll be putting out 95 decibels – or almost enough to drown out a tube train. And that’s before you add it to an existing Devialet system for any multi-room shenanigans.
Devialet’s smartphone companion app has several user EQs to choose from, and lets you add Alexa voice assistant support. A dedicated hardware button on the speaker then lets you mute the mics if you prefer your privacy.
The built-in handle and IPX4 water resistance mean it can take the party outside, while the built-in battery should be good for up to ten hours of playback per charge. The Mania can top up directly over USB-C, or through the included base unit via convenient conductive pins.
This is a seriously premium speaker, so you can expect an equally premium price. The Devialet Mania goes on sale today for £690, direct from the firm’s website and physical stores.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor