Panasonic goes wireless for its SoundSLayer neck speaker for gamers. The updated SoundSLayer equipment now goes from wireless from its previous versions and also adds AI voice isolation as well as bigger and beefier speakers.
Panasonic SoundSLayer Neck Speaker
Companies keep trying to make neck speakers the thing. People must really be buying and using them, though, because Panasonic is now releasing a new one which is the GNW10 SoundSlayer. This is a wireless neck speaker with AI voice isolation (which it confusingly refers to as “AI voice control”) for phone calls as well as in-game voice chat. The SoundSlayer in question is $299 and it will reportedly be available in late October of this very year.
This is essentially an updated version of the wired SoundSlayer neck speaker that was released by Panasonic two years ago. The biggest change with this new device is that the new SoundSlayer in question employs a very small transmitter that plugs directly into your console or PC and then sends audio with a proprietary 2.4GHz wireless protocol that Panasonic has stated is good for under 20ms of latency. That in question is less than you would typically see with Bluetooth audio, which can as well be delayed by hundreds of milliseconds, so the sound produced should be more immediate. That can be very crucial and important in, say, a first-person shooter.
Headline Features of the SoundSLayer Neck Speaker
The other headline feature with this device is what Panasonic is calling “AI voice control” (this is a confusing name for its beamforming noise-cancellation abilities since you really cannot actually control the speaker with your voice). The wired SoundSlayer in question also has noise cancellation, but Panasonic has claimed that the new product in question will leverage AI to better cut out background noise as well as echo during calls. Whether all of this is true and that it actually does a better job will still remain to be seen until it makes its way to the public in the near future.
The new SoundSlayer for those that don’t know also has a 60 percent larger housing than its predecessor did, which the company has stated will help improve bass.
And just like its predecessor, this SoundSlayer model has four speakers as well as six sound modes for different scenarios, and this is inclusive of three distinct game modes for RPGs, first-person shooters, and lastly, dialogue-heavy titles.
How the SoundSLayer Neck Speaker Is Designed
Panasonic has stated that it “identified points of fatigue and discomfort” that is commonly shared by neck-worn devices and then designed the SoundSlayer not to “burden” your trapezius muscles. These are the muscles that run from your neck across your shoulders and down to a point located in the middle of your back or one that dig into your clavicle bones.
Other Similar Wireless Neck Speakers
Very much similar wireless neck speakers are inclusive of the already discontinued Bose SoundWear Companion which is referred to by The Verge’s review as fun if often impractical as well as Sony’s Bravia XR-focused neck speaker.
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