For some reason, Royole wrapped its flexible screen tech around this smart speaker

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Royole, the company that beat Samsung to the foldable phone market, is at CES 2020 with a smart speaker with a dumb, wraparound screen on it. The Mirage Smart Speaker has a flexible screen around the middle, like a corset with moving pictures.

It’ll be a whopping $899 when it comes to market just before the summer, so start saving if you actually want one.

This $899 smart speaker has a dumb wraparound screen on it

Royole is primarily known for its flexible OLED screens, so it’s no surprise that the first smart speaker from the company features one prominently.

Still, it’s a hefty price tag for what seems to be just a weird flex for the owner. I mean, flat touchscreens on vertical devices are hard enough to use (anyone been to McDonald’s lately?), so I’m not sure what the utility for having a wraparound touch panel is. Maybe it’s just one of those “we built it because we could” type of deals.

Anyway, the rest of the speaker sounds good on paper at least:

• 7.8 inch flexible AMOLED screen at 1,920 x 1,440 resolution that wraps around the middle of the speaker
• It’s a touchscreen, which will probably replace physical buttons
• There are three 48mm full-range drivers with 30W RMS and a passive radiator for bass
• It’s got two far-field microphones for voice commands, with Amazon’s Alexa on board and other AI tech
• There’s a 5 MP camera sensor, presumably for home security but maybe also for voice calls
• The Snapdragon 524 SoC powers it, matched with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage. We’re presuming it runs Android on that, but Royole hasn’t said what the OS is yet

The real question I have is: If it’s got Alexa onboard, why do I need a physical control method? Surely voice commands are the way to go.

What do you think? Interested in this smart speaker from Royole? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Samsung’s “The Wall” is literally a 292 inch TV for your wall
• Samsung’s new Chromebook is super light and has a 4K AMOLED screen
• This wireless over-door camera is perfect for apartments and Airbnb stays
• Dell and Alienware have a new lineup of gaming products at CES 2020

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.