First off, if the ability to make your smart speaker PORTABLE isn’t enough of a reason to love this, it’s ALSO great because it serves as a battery backup if the power goes out or when I’m changing some wiring and need to unplug the unit. It saves a lot of time and headaches because I don’t need to wait for my devices to reconnect and reboot
But what makes this truly awesome is that I can now take my smart speaker with me and use it’s otherwise backward facing Spatial Audio to its full potential by temporarily putting it somewhere more centrally located for me. AND I can get up and close to use the touch screen and widgets without worrying about pulling the plug out of the wall! (Yeah…I’ve done that too many times).
For me, I like to have it by my bedside, but that that means it’s facing a corner which isn’t ideal for microphone pickup and speaker placement. Now I can just dock it for the night in the corner, but pull it out and run in battery for when I’m needing it for other purposes. It’s really a must-have.
A few noteworthy mentions: this is a 5200 mAh battery stand (with - bit of tilt functionality) that connects via an included jumper cable and magnets. It really all just snaps into place. The capacity is perhaps lower than some might desire (it’s not for an all-day and night heavy jam session), but the manufacturer still claims it can get 4 hours of streaming video.
I think this is probably a good compromise to keep this thing at a reasonable weight and cost, while also representing most real use-cases: with the Show 8 primarily being plugged in to a wall outlet and only sometimes used unplugged for streaming video or music. and note that you can leave this plugged in all the time so the battery is charged by the Show’s original charging cable while also powering the Show 8 (passing through via the jumper cable).
There’s no blips or power drops—even when unplugging the wall power. Just make sure that the battery base is actually on and charged! Haha…yeah I’ve forgotten once or twice…
All in all—it’s well made and it works, adding a whole new world of possibilities for the Show 8. I love it!
I hope this helps!