Amazon Alexa is inviting you to take a shower with a smart Harman Kardon speaker, as both companies join forces to unveil the Moxie Showerhead – a smart speaker/showerhead.
Smart speakers truly know bounds in our world of the Internet of Things, but the Kohler Moxie Showerhead is definitely something to marvel at.
Available in two variants, the Kohler BT Speaker and the AI Speaker model (with Amazon Alexa), coming sometime in 2020.
The ‘dumb’ version will cost you US$99 on its own, or US$159 when bundled with the Moxie Showerhead (yes they are two separate devices).
For the AI version, you’ll need to spend US$159 for the speaker, or US$229 all up for both.
The system works by inserting the IPX67 waterproof speaker into the Moxie showerhead, which is secured via magnets.
Not a lot of information was given on the actual performance of the showerhead itself other than a 1.75 gpm flow rate.
According to Kohler, the Harman Kardan speaker has been tuned to compensate for operation inside a shower, with post-processing eliminating white noise.
Whether or not this same audio processing helps to eliminate background noise when activating the voice assistant is yet to be seen.
Tactile buttons on the outside of the speaker control speaker levels, mic control and muting options.
In terms of battery life, the BT version can last for up to 7 hours at 70% volume, with the AI version running for just 5.
Paired with the Kohler Konnect mobile app, the AI speaker can be managed to adjust playing modes and other audio settings.
Users can then add the device to the Alexa app to enable the voice assistant in the shower.
Kohler has released a whole range of different smart home products for use in the bathroom and the kitchen.
