Wireless audio continues to dominate the residential channel, and into the fray once more comes WiiM with a follow-up to its debut speaker from back in May. Enter: the WiiM Sound Lite.
Specs Worth Noting
The Sound Lite stacks a custom 4-inch long-throw woofer with dual 1-inch silk-dome tweeters, delivering what WiiM says is rich, room-filling sound with up to 24-bit/192 kHz playback and a 100W peak output.
For those who remember, those specs sound awfully similar to that of the original Sound. Gone, however, is the touchscreen and in its place is seemingly a wealth of connectivity and control options that add far more versatility to this newer model.
Wi-Fi 6e and Bluetooth 5.3 come standard for wireless while a 100 Mbps Ethernet port is available for hardwired reliability. Beyond that the speakers can stream from Google Cast, Spotify, TIDAL, Qobuz Connect, Alexa Cast, DLNA, Roon and LNS. A big point of value for the speaker, WiiM points out, is its open-platform model.
Through the WiiM Home App, integrators and homeowners also get whole-home management, EQ personalization, RoomFit room correction, smart presets, multi-room grouping and universal search across sources.
WiiM and the Wireless Audio Ecosystem
Finish options for the WiiM Sound Lite will be available in White and Black. Photo courtesy of WiiM
As mentioned previously, this is WiiM’s second entry into its smart speaker portfolio, though, prior to that, the company garnered some considerable attention for the performance of its streaming amplifiers.
Expanding on that ecosystem, the WiiM Sound Lite offers a bit of play there, being able to be used as a standalone speaker or as a center/surround speaker in a 5.1 home theater setup. WiiM even has their own sub that can contribute to that assuming someone wanted to stick to the entire ecosystem.
With the compactness and sound quality of WiiM’s devices catching eyes, and its expansion now focusing more on delivering whole-home wireless audio, news outlets are already starting to put it into context next to Sonos, of the current kings of wireless multiroom audio in custom integration.
We’ll have to see if Sonos’s stumbles this year provide enough of an opportunity for WiiM to catch up though, or if the markets each are targeting wind up staying separate from one another. We’ll know true intent if WiiM starts plugging into Crestron Home and the like.
Pricing and Availability
At $229 with broad streaming support and room correction, the Sound Lite brings forward plenty of sought after features in speakers nowadays.
The fact that it’s targeting wireless multiroom audio is a benefit for it as well, considering how popular that specific category of audio has become among homeowners who really just want to listen to music wherever they are in their home with minimal headaches for the installation and access.
Either way, integrators interested in test driving one themselves will need to wait for Christmas (December 25) for the speaker to hit availability.
