Every Friday on Current.com.au, the team chooses the most impressive new product from the preceding week to be named our Product of the Week. The main criteria for this award are that the product is saleable and can inject value back into the industry.
Parrot Zikmu Solo
With a unique name and a unique shape, this single-speaker sound system is certainly going to turn heads on the retail floor amidst the line-up of sound bars and home entertainment systems.
Designed in “true collaboration” by French high-end audio company Parrot and compatriot designer Philippe Starck, the Zikmu Solo represents a “blend of iconic design and good innovation” according to Chris Roberts, vice president and managing director of Parrot for the JPAC region.
With a similar curved design to the previously released Zikmu two-speaker set, the Zikmu Solo loses one of these speakers in favour of a simplified surround sound experience provided by a single speaker — making it ideal for smaller rooms or apartments.
At the base of the speaker is a Neodymium woofer that projects sound to the floor before it “bounces into the room at 360°” while three loudspeakers on the upper part of the Zikmu Solo — including two High Aspect Ratio Panel (HARP) drivers and one central Balanced Modal Radiator (BMR) — diffuse sound to the left, right, front and rear.
While there’s a lot of fine technology involved in creating the sound, as with all audio products, the Zikmu Solo is best experienced firsthand.
Parrot demonstrated the Zikmu Solo for Current.com.au, and we were impressed by the quality and volume that could come from the speaker. But perhaps most impressive is the accompanying Parrot Audio Suite app.
Retailers selling the speaker should have this app running in-store to show the extended feature set of the speaker; it allows users to choose between various sound inputs (including NFC, Bluetooth or the iDock at the top of the device) as well as balance sound with the dedicated equaliser and adjust sound levels to compensate for room size.
Free to download for both iOS and Android devices, the app is a great addition that makes the already unique speaker a solid offering in the audio space.
The Zikmu Solo is available this month from department stores, specialist hi-fi retailers and design stores. It is available in both black and white for RRP $1,199.
Editorial responsibility for Product of the Week is taken by Current.com.au editor Patrick Avenell.