It doesn’t matter if you have a big speaker system or just the Google HomePod. We tend to enjoy the sound and tolerate the look of our speakers. Cotodama’s second-generation lyric speaker, the Canvas, is something that worth all the rev the brand received. It is a unique speaker that not only sound great but also looks good.
The first thing we noticed is the Canvas doesn’t look like a speaker. It consists of a screen for displaying lyrics and graphics and a Hi-Fi speaker in the back. Unlike most speakers, it seems like the designers went into the project as if they are making a display piece for your home. The overall design of the Canvas is sleek and balanced. The metal sheet and the all black display give the speaker a modern look while the vinyl sleeve inspired design connecting the idea of music and retro feel perfectly.
After you plug the speaker in, you will have to download the Google home app to activate it. In the app, you can sync the lyric speaker with most of the popular music app in the market including Spotify and Pandora.
Once you hit play, you will see the lyric of your song on the screen along with the music. The animated lyric feels like something you would get at a music festival. Different style of music has a different style of animation. (Watch our video review here to see the animation in live action) The display is black and white and it has a high refresh rate, so the animation looks crisp and clean. It would work better if the lighting is dimmed in the room. If you place the screen directly against the light, it could be a little hard to see. Overall, we played more than 50 songs on it, and the speakers run smoothly without a glitch.
The sound quality is clean and crisp. It could handle a violin quartet as well as the Metallica.
Cotodama has its own lyric library for the lyric, and it continues to update. When it comes to more obscure songs, it would switch to simple visuals for the music.
If there is something we would like to see the brand to change is to add Bluetooth connectivity. You would need a wifi network to play the lyric speaker, or uses a third party app to activate the music. Currently, you need to be a premium member of Spotify to do that.
Overall, the Canvas lyric speaker is an amazing piece of design and technology. Cotodama is working with Abby Road Red to develop their product. We are excited to see what is yet to come.
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