The Acer Halo Swing’s design is a confusing yet enchanting combination of design details that don’t immediately go together, but somehow create an overall experience that feels pleasant. The speaker’s monolithic like any smart speaker, but comes with a handle and a portable design, like Bose’s Soundlink Revolve+ II. It has a set of colorful lights at the bottom (which feel at odds with the black appearance on the top) and if those weren’t enough, the speaker’s front sports a concealed LED dot display that shines through the fabric to display icons like an alarm clock, the time, and the weather. Debuted just today at CES, the Acer Halo Swing has support for Hey Google, comes with its own built-in subwoofer and DTS Sound™ that fills your room with clear 360° audio, and a battery life that reportedly gives up to 10 hours of non-stop play. The Halo Swing’s built to be water-resistant too, and comes with its own charging platform that juices the speaker’s battery as soon as it’s placed on top.
Designer: Acer
Right off the bat, the Halo Swing feels like it’s trying to tick as many boxes as possible. While most smart speakers are designed as stationary units that don’t leave your room, let alone your home, the Acer Halo Swing comes with a portable design that encourages you to travel with it and use it outdoors… even in questionable weather, thanks to an IPx5 rating. The monolithic black design has a thick leather strap on top that feels reminiscent of the Vifa Helsinki, although the entire design is black from top to almost bottom. I say almost bottom because the smart speaker also comes with an RGB LED array at the base that lights up to create a visual ‘flutter’ that adds to your music-listening experience.
The other notable visual ‘flutter’ on the speaker is its LED dot matrix on the front that shines through the grill to outline the Halo Swing’s multiple features. It lights up when you set an alarm, or displays the weather when you ask it to, and also gives you the freedom to customize it with emojis, drawings, and messages of your own using the Acer Halo App.
Details on the actual audio elements of the Halo Swing are scarce, although Acer mentioned there’s a subwoofer somewhere in there for expansive, foot-tapping audio, and an omnidirectional far-field microphone for voice commands. The Halo Swing also comes with Bluetooth® 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6, along with support for Google Fast Pair, and can either be controlled via the app, or the panel on top of the speaker, which houses a microphone mute button, hinting at the fact that it can be used for video and audio calling too. The Halo Swing also has the ability to pair with multiple other units to create a symphony of sound, with that 10-hour battery being extremely handy for long parties… although the biggest one of the year just got over the day before!
