I love this super-slim, sleep-friendly Bluetooth speaker –but the name's a nightmare
Let's pretend this fun bedtime friend is not called what it's called.
- The SluTune Q1 is an 11mm-thick Bluetooth speakers
- Up to 28 hours from a 1-hour charge, skin-friendly fabric covering
- $29 early bird offer; usually $59
Names are important, especially for products: some, such as Mazda's Bongo Friendee, are inspired; others, such as Dry Sack Sherry and the Nintendo DS Touch Dic, are not so great. The SluTune Q1 is definitely in the latter category, as noted by The Verge . And that's a shame, because it's an interesting little speaker.
The SluTune Q1 is "like a small UFO", with a disc design that's just 11mm high. Inside there's a speaker with an acoustic chamber optimized for the unusual shape, and it has Bluetooth 5.4 with a 28-hour battery and "Hi-Fi Audio".
I very much doubt it'll have Bowers & Wilkins or Klipsch quaking in their boots, but if you're looking for a small, lightweight speaker to slip onto your pillow it could be worth checking out, and is very different to anything else in our list of the best Bluetooth speakers.
Who is this super-slim speaker for?
The Kickstarter highlights three rivals: built-in pillow speakers, which can be cumbersome; under-pillow speakers, which can be muffled by the pillow; and in-ear headphones, which can press on your ears if you're not lying on your back. So this speaker has been designed for you to rest your head on it, and it's wrapped in a linen-like fabric that the makers say is skin-friendly.
I'm not sure I'd like to rest my face on what looks awfully like a Qi charger, or that it's going to be any good for the quoted problem of sleeping next to a snorer, perhaps unless you smother them with it.
But it's small enough to sit next to you on your pillow, playing soothing sounds or your favorite podcast until the two-hour timer kicks in.
It's very portable too, weighing just 0.1 lbs and coming in at 3.78 x 0.43 inches. Charging takes around an hour.
As ever with Kickstarters, there are early bird deals: right now the Q1 is $32, down from the official price of $59. It's already smashed through its funding goal with two more weeks to go. And even if you don't fancy buying one, the Kickstarter is worth a look for the promo video's sudden musical shift at the ten-second mark.
