Announced over a week ago, Samsung’s latest addition to its wireless audio 360 speaker lineup, the R5, R3 and R1 models, made its appearance at this year’s IFA in Berlin. While the conical shape design seen on its predecessor has been ditched, the underlying omnidirectional audio technology, which is the ring radiator technology, remains. However, that is not to say that there’s no other tweaks apart from aesthetic. There are. The largely cylindrical shape speaker boasts a new built-in tap-and-swipe user interface for music control and the Multiroom app gets an update for smartphones, tablets, as well as smartwatches.
The updated app now works with Samsung Gear S and will also play well with the upcoming Gear S2 smartwatch. What you can do through the smartwatch is pretty much the same as on the smartphone, which will include music control, playlist and queue searching. You can of course, take a glance at what’s playing now on the watch and also access a list of available speakers just by swiping the smartwatch. I don’t know, but using smartwatch for control is a nice idea, but we thought it lean towards being frivolous and besides, most people won’t be wearing a wrist watch, much less a smartwatch, at home. However, for those who do, it’s a boon for you.
The app is available for both Android and iOS devices. In addition, Samsung has teamed up with Qobuz to make high-resolution music streaming available on Samsung’s audio devices. As for availability and pricing, the trio is expected to hit the U.S. and EU markets in Q4 2015, priced between $199 and $399. Regional availability will be announced at a latter time. Keep going for take a few more product look.
