One area that hasn’t received quite as much attention from Samsung’s smorgasbord of new product launches is its new Music Studio smart speakers.
The Music Studio 5 and Music Studio 7 (who knows what happened to Music Studio 6) are Samsung’s latest attempt to take on the best Sonos speakers. The specs impress, the design intrigues with Erwan Bouroullec (who also designed The Serif) returning to cement his obsession with circles.
They look simple, elegant, and from what I’ve heard so far, they sound good too. What I don’t know is the price for these speakers, though.
We know Samsung can make good-sounding speakers, but this is the one area that Samsung has to get right, otherwise they’ll suffer the same fate as before.
Whatever happened to the Music Frame?
Remember the Music Frame? I do, but that’s only because I reviewed it. But after making an initial splash, the Music Frame seems to have, ironically, disappeared into the background.
In case you’re unaware, the Music Frame is a speaker in the form of a picture frame. Plenty of audio brands are experimenting with form, and Samsung’s Music Frame was rather ingenious in combining a picture frame (and you can genuinely place pictures inside it), along with a speaker that you can stream music to. For those who like to ‘hide’ their gadgets in their house, this is likely manna from heaven.
However, the scuttlebutt is that it didn’t sell particularly well, and it’s not hard to see why. The price was rather exorbitant at £499. While I thought it sounded good enough, I also felt that you could get better sound from the likes of the Bluesound Pulse M and Sonos Era 300, which at the time were less expensive than the Music Frame.
You’d think Samsung would be wise not to repeat that again, but this not the first time that Samsung launched a wireless speaker with a high price tag. The VL Series was another that looked stylish but failed to make an impact.
The price needs to be right
Samsung has a history of premium pricing with its wireless speakers. But that hasn’t worked out well in the past.
Look at JBL, a company that Samsung owns through its acquisition of Harman Audio. It makes wireless speakers at various price points but still offers a high quality sound whether it’s a budget speaker or a premium one. JBL seeks to offer the best sound it can at whatever price – it’s not unduly concerned with the notion of “best sound, premium price”.
That’s an attitude I think Samsung needs to wash itself off with the Music Studio series. If it actually wants its speakers to succeed, it’s not the quality of the finished article that’s the issue. Look at customer reviews of the Music Frame, and it’s well-regarded. But the price is a barrier to entry, or at least a barrier to Music Frame gaining momentum.
They really need to get the price right with the Music Studio speakers else it’ll be Groundhog Day, doomed to repeating the same mistake over and over and over.
