Porsche Design has a reputation for creating visually stunning (and surprisingly expensive) technological products that take their design cues – and sometimes their actual parts – from Porsche’s iconic family of sports cars. Over the past few years, PD fans have become accustomed to paying radically higher prices for its speakers, soundbars, smartwatches, smartphones, and laptops that are functionally identical to much less expensive (yet equivalent) products from other brands. This legacy continues strong with the launch of PD’s latest offering – a tiny dust and waterproof Bluetooth speaker called the PDS20.
This tiny 10-ounce, 3-inch diameter speaker will set you back $245.
Porsche Design says that the speaker, which is made of anodized aluminum, comes with two silicone straps that not only provide a carrying loop but also protection from shocks. (Should you drop the speaker directly onto the narrow bar it’s secured by a strap.) Unlike PD’s other speakers, which use literal Porsche auto parts, the only elements tying the PDS20 to the cars are the straps, which are two Come in Porsche vehicles. Colors – Agate Gray and Shade Green – Colors, PD tells us about the Porsche 911 Dakar.
The PDS20 uses a single, 1.75-inch driver and two passive radiators to produce sound. Strange, PD refers to this driver as a woofer. But presumably, it is also designed to provide mids and highs. There’s no word on how many watts are being driven through the speakers’ amplifier, but if you find the output too low – or if you just want stereo sound – you can stereo-pair two PDS20s over Bluetooth. Are.
You can also use the PDS20 as a speakerphone thanks to the built-in mic. PD claims you can use the mic to talk to your phone’s native voice assistant, though we’re not entirely clear which control on the speaker lets you trigger that interaction. Controls are integrated onto the face of the PDS20’s acoustic fabric grille, and we can see clear buttons for volume, playback, power, and Bluetooth pairing. Maybe it’s the mysterious two-dot button that lets you talk to Siri or Google Assistant.
The speaker’s battery is good for a claimed 10 hours of playback and takes three hours to recharge when empty. The PD includes a USB-A-to-USB-C cable for charging. The speaker’s IP67 rating makes it effectively dust and waterproof, but PD correctly points out that the waterproofing is “temporary”, meaning the speaker can survive for up to 30 minutes if submerged to a depth of more than a metre. Is.
Not to belabor the point, but the equally small Sony SRS-XB100, which has the same feature set as the PDS20, It costs just $50 on Amazon, Still, if you want a highly portable Bluetooth speaker tied to a famous German car brand, you can preorder the PSS20 at porsche-design.com.
