Porsche Design has a reputation for creating visually stunning (and stunningly expensive) tech products that take their design cues – and sometimes actual parts – from its iconic family of sports cars.
Over the years, its fans have become accustomed to paying significantly higher prices for speakers, soundbars, smartwatches and smartphones that are identical to much cheaper products from other companies. The German company’s latest creation is a small wireless waterproof speaker called the PDS20. This speaker has a diameter of only 7.6 cm and Porsche costs 229 euros!
Porsche Design says the speaker, which is made of anodized aluminum, comes with two silicone straps that not only provide ease of portability but also shock protection. Unlike PD’s other speakers, which literally use Porsche car parts, the only elements that connect the PDS20 to the cars are the straps themselves, which come in two Porsche vehicle colors – Agate Gray and Shade Green – the colors , as PD tells us, of the Porsche 911 Dakar.
The PDS20 uses a unique 1.75-inch driver and two passive radiators to create sound. Curiously, PD refers to this guide as a woofer. This is apparently because it is tuned to perform well in the mid and high frequencies. There’s no mention of how many watts are driven through the speaker amp, but if you find the output too low – or if you just want stereo sound – you can pair two PDS20s in stereo via Bluetooth.
You can also use the PDS20 as hands free for your conversations, thanks to the built-in microphone. Controls are integrated into the front of the PDS20’s acoustic fabric grille, and we see buttons for volume, playback, power and Bluetooth pairing. The mysterious button with the two dots might be the one that lets you talk to Siri or Google Assistant.
The speaker’s battery is good and offers 10 hours of playback and takes three hours to recharge. The PD includes a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging. The speaker’s IP67 rating makes it effectively dust and water resistant, but PD correctly points out that the waterproofing is “temporary”, meaning the speaker can survive being submerged in water for up to 30 minutes.
If you are also a Porsche fan and want to get this small portable speaker you can pre-order it at porsche-design.com.
