Stop making smart speakers that look like trash cans
Someone needs to end this madness. This insanity. This horrifying trend of smart speakers that look like trash cans.
Ahead of CES, LG announced its upcoming ThinQ smart speaker with built-in Google Assistant. I haven't seen it in person, and I have no idea how large (or small) it is, or even how it sounds, but I already can't stand it because its designers couldn't come up with a more imaginative look.
It's time for this trash can aesthetic to end.
It took a few years, but smart speakers with voice assistants that play you music, tell you the weather, control your smart home devices, and order you pizza, are officially a thing now. There's a good chance you have one in your home.
And we're only going to see more smart speakers -- regardless of whether they support Alexa, Google Assistant, or Cortana -- over the next the year. Hell, we expect to see a lot of these me-too devices in a few weeks at CES. Ugh.
It's not that I don't like smart speakers -- I really like them and own three now (I just recently added a Google Home to my Echo and Echo Dot, thank you very much) -- but the better ones with louder, clearer sound all look so B-O-R-I-N-G.
Amazon's Echo was never a looker, and it basically resembled a black Pringles tube more than a trash can, but just look at the LG ThinQ. It's a black tube with a flat top and micro-perforated sides. Sorry, maybe you think I'm stretching a bit too far, but it looks like a garbage can to me.
And when you've seen as many smart speakers as I have, it's hard not to think "Is this it? Is this the best designers can come up with?"
Here's a short list of smart speakers that look like trash cans that I can recall off the top of my head:
The list goes on and on, and you're welcome to find every single one on your own time. Surely, there are ways to design a good-sounding smart speaker with its own unique design, right?
Thinking back on the last few years, I can't help but notice tech companies all taking inspiration from trash cans. It's unsettling and I'd probably lose my mind if I owned a Mac Pro, a Google OnHub router, an Echo (or any of the smart speakers above), and an actual garbage can.
This tweet from when I reviewed the OnHub router back in 2015 was a scary foreshadowing of this awful trend to come:
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
The only major smart speaker that seems to buck this awful industrial design is the Google Home Max. It's a big block with rounded corners and it looks like a badass speaker. One look at it and you know it'll bring the bass (it really does). It's a speaker, and it's not really trying to be anything else.
I'm praying to the tech gods Samsung's rumored Bixby-powered smart speaker doesn't look anything like a rubbish bin. I know the company can come up with something better-looking.
Tech companies, take notice! There's nothing wrong with following trends, but ones that are inspired by trash cans are, well, trash.
Topics Alexa CES Google Assistant
Raymond Wong is Mashable's Senior Tech Correspondent. He reviews gadgets and tech toys and analyzes the tech industry. Raymond's also a bit of a camera geek, gamer, and fine chocolate lover. Before arriving at Mashable, he was the Deputy Editor of NBC Universal's tech publication DVICE. His writing has appeared on G4TV, BGR, Yahoo and Ubergizmo, to name a few. You can follow Raymond on Twitter @raywongy or Instagram @sourlemons.
