The Logitech Squeezebox Touch, Logitech’s latest addition to its multi-room music streaming line, is still way off from hitting shop shelves, but we’ve had a first play already, and snapped some pics for you. Got your eyes on the new Sonos all-in-one? See what this can do first.
The newest sprog in Logitech’s music streaming line-up, the Logitech Squeezebox Touch, is a speakerless affair designed to be lashed up to an amp with one special USP: it’s got a glossy, great big 4.3-inch touchscreen to let you control all your tunes.
From our brief play with the Logitech Squeezebox Touch, we were impressed with the screen’s responsiveness. Menus are well laid out and easy to dart through, and the integration with internet radio and services like Napster are still present, but the big display also means it can display sites like Facebook and Flickr too, and even use those online albums as screensavers.
As you’d expect, the Logitech Squeezebox Touch runs fine over Wi-Fi, if like us, you don’t have as many ethernet ports as plugs, and we’re also loving the SD card slot, so you don’t need to leave your PC on 24/7 to play music.
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There is a downside in all of this though: as you can see from the build and cables, the Logitech Squeezebox Touch isn’t meant to be carried around the house. Having to get up and walk across the room to scroll through to pick and choose makes the touchscreen slightly redundant, as we found when we reviewed Sony’s Sonos battler a few months ago. Sure, there’s a remote, but it’s tiny, and not being able to see everything as you can on the Sonos CR200 is a bit of a step backwards. Logitech was also cagey about a release date, telling us it was due either very close to Christmas, or early next year.
Still, on the plus side, a home audio system with Facebook makes a lot more sense than a digital photo frame that costs little less, so look and see if the social networking skills of the Logitech Squeezebox Touch will sway you in our gallery.
Out TBC | £c.250 | Logitech
Ben, seriously now how is it a downside that you can’t move the thing around the house? it’s designed to be plugged into an amp anyway and anyone with audiophile aspirations will be using an external dac too. I think you may have missed the point.
Oh I don’t think so. Logitech have clearly aimed this at somebody who’s seen something like the Sonos CR200 and thought “I want that but without having to pay silly money for it”. There’s nothing quite as relaxing as sitting down on the sofa and being able to scroll through your entire music library there and then. Plus would you really do Facebook standing up? No. I think Logitech has missed a trick here by not making it a tablet that slots into a base station. Best of both worlds, no?
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