Stealth audio is the HiddenRadio wireless speaker’s specialty

By Peter Suciu December 13, 2012

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Check out our full review of the Hidden Radio bluetooth speaker.

Last year we got our first glimpse of the HiddenRadio wireless speaker, now it looks as if we’ll finally be able to hear it. Once a Kickstarter project, the HiddenRadio is now produced and ready to covertly cover your home with your favorite tunes.

This little speaker sports some pretty slick design twists. Twist top of the HiddenRadio, and the device turns on. Keep twisting the cap and it gets louder, making this one of the more intuitive wireless speakers on the market today.

The HiddenRadio features a tacky rubber underside that is meant to help it stay in place. Then again, depending on the type of surface it is set on, it could just end up getting tipped over and go rolling out of view, possibly as a way to hide – that’s probably not what the designers had in mind, though.

What is actually “hidden” on the HiddenRadio speaker is its control layout, which includes a single three-way switch that lets you decide to stream music from Bluetooth, select the aux input or tune into FM radio. Two additional buttons provide the tuning.

As noted, there is no volume control. If you want more sound, you just open it up further. To quiet things down, close it up. As intuitive and nifty as this may seem, there is a purpose for real volume controls and we wonder if this approach might not be so conducive to good sound quality.

However, the designers promise that the HiddenRadio portable speaker can provide 360 degrees of sound from its unique driver and conical design. Moreover, this compact USB-chargeable device is small enough to be carried around and can provide that “anywhere sound” for up to 15 hours – down from the estimated 30 hours the designers had hoped for back in the Kickstarter days.

You can get the HiddenRadio speaker in metallic silver, graphite black or pure white for around $150.

Editors' Recommendations

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Peter has spent much time plugging and unplugging various A/V equipment over the years as a reviewer, and he is always on the…

Audio / Video

B&O’s latest speaker is a love letter to aluminum

Bang & Olufsen Beosound A5 in Spaced Aluminium.

Bang & Olufsen (B&O) has released a new version of its picnic basket-shaped Beosound A5 Bluetooth speaker that's wrapped entirely in aluminum. The company calls the new look Spaced Aluminium and says that you can swap the speaker's cover with two other available finishes -- Nordic Weave and Dark Oak. The Spaced Aluminium version is available for $1,399 starting October 26 from bang-olufsen.com and select retailers.

What's intriguing about the Spaced Aluminium's design is the way it uses an array of 3,500 individual aluminum discs to form the speaker grille.

Audio / Video

Sonus Faber’s Duetto are the first wireless speakers to use UWB

The Sonus Faber Duetto wireless speakers in natural wood.

Sonus Faber has just debuted its first set of multi-component wireless speakers, the $3,999 Duetto. These active loudspeakers offer tons of connectivity, both wired and wireless, and can be controlled by the Sonus Faber app, but what really sets these speakers apart is the tech that literally sets them apart. The left and right speakers use ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless technology as their only link, the first time UWB has been used in this way. The Duetto are available starting in October from licensed retailers.

Compared to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which are now household names, ultra-wideband (UWB) is an almost totally unknown technology. It's understandable, as UWB is comparatively brand new. And yet, with its technical superiority over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for some applications, the Duetto might the first to employ it, but won't be the last.

Audio / Video

New Klipsch tabletop wireless speakers are a more affordable, capable take on mid-century modern

Klipsch The Three Plus tabletop wireless speaker.

Klipsch's The Three Plus Klipsch

Klipsch's Heritage series of speakers have traditionally evoked a mid-century modern style, with wood veneers and fabric grilles that look as if they were pulled straight from the sets of Mad Men. The company's latest additions to the Heritage lineup -- The One Plus ($249) and The Three Plus ($399) tabletop Bluetooth speakers -- keep that same mid-century modern vibe, but reinterpret it with rounder edges, a simplified set of controls, better compatibility with digital audio sources, and lower prices. Both speakers are available in black or walnut finishes starting September 25 at and select retailers.