OLLIE

Desk ornaments, Bluetooth speakers and gaming audio usually compete for the same surface. OLLIE folds all three into one object. Its core idea is a removable Hi-Fi speaker core set into the chest of a mech figure, so the device works either as a display piece or as a portable speaker.

A figure first, a speaker on demand

Docked, OLLIE is meant to sit on a desk or shelf as a detailed figure with customizable RGB lighting. According to the maker, each one is hand-painted by craftspeople and built from a mix of PU resin, PVC, zinc alloy and engineering plastic. When you want music elsewhere, the palm-sized core detaches and can be carried to the kitchen, bedside or a small outdoor space. Two OLLIE units can be linked via Bluetooth 5.3 TWS pairing, letting the detached cores run as a stereo pair.

The audio claims

The maker describes a 3D immersive binaural audio system built on 25 years of acoustic know-how from audio specialists, with HRTF (head-related transfer function) algorithms optimized through deep learning. It says this lets listeners place sounds with directional accuracy of 5 degrees or better, which it pitches at gaming: footsteps, distant gunfire and ambient cues separated by direction. Pairing two units, the campaign says, expands the sound field by 300%.

• Frequency range: 20Hz to 20kHz, with deep bass attributed to an intelligent harmonic compensation mechanism
• Signal-to-noise ratio: above 100dB
• Output noise: 50µVrms or lower
• THD: 0.017%
• Battery: 4000mAh
• Playback: up to 12 hours with RGB off at 40% volume; about 6 hours with RGB on at 80% volume

Lighting and finishes

The built-in dynamic RGB lighting offers seven solid colors, a slow breathing effect, a rainbow cycle and a music-sync mode that reacts to playback in real time. The maker also says OLLIE comes in multiple color variations, though the specific options are not listed.