BenQ is perhaps best known for its home theater projectors. But the company has apparently been busy dabbling in high-end speaker technology on the sly, because it recently introduced a brand new Bluetooth speaker that comes as something of a surprise. Meet the Evolo, the world’s first electrostatic Bluetooth speaker.
Electrostatic speaker technology has been around for decades, yet few are familiar with it. Rather than use the round speaker cones most folks are familiar with to produce sound, an electrostatic speaker uses a sheet of a thin membrane that’s suspended in an electrostatic field. When a signal is applied, it vibrates to create sound. Since the membrane is so light, it is quick to react, and produces sound with extremely low distortion levels. Unfortunately, while electrostatic speakers can sound amazingly lifelike and vibrant in the treble and midrange regions, they aren’t very good at producing bass, and we’re not sure if BenQ has addressed that issue with the Evolo.
Even if it doesn’t go “boom” very well, it’s hard not to want after the Evolo. Few could deny that the Evolo looks incredible, and would fit in well with a range of decors — even if it does look a little like something straight off of J.J. Abrams’ envisioning of the Starship Enterprise.
If bass response isn’t of major concern, the Evolo is likely to please with the sort of sound your friends have never heard before. It can be played with its speaker panels folded in for a more compact form factor, or with them expanded for a larger sound field with better stereo separation. Or you can you just look at it and grin, we won’t judge.
The Evolo’s built-in battery means it is portable, too. Perhaps not so great for poolside parties, though. Expect about 12-hours of play time on a charge. We don’t know exactly what day it will become available for purchase, but we do know that it should arrive sometime in November, and at an expected price of $300.
