If you thought that smart speakers wouldn’t surprise you with anything, take a look at VK Capsule Pro.
I’m not talking about design now, but about everything else. A bright, big screen that’s also really useful? Built-in smart home sensors, not just a hub? And I haven’t talked about the sound yet, although there is something to praise for.
VKontakte Representatives Capsule A little over a month ago, the sale opened just recently, on November 28th. This is the flagship model in the line of smart speakers with the Marusya assistant. I tested it for a week, sharing my impressions further.
What’s included
The kit for smart speakers is always spartan, and VK Capsule Pro is no exception. Charging from an outlet, earbuds and the speaker itself. Nothing else is required, so there’s nothing to complain about.
Unfortunately (but quite inexpensively), the speakers are powered not via USB-C, but by a DC cable. Accordingly, the charger cable is also non-removable. If you lose or break your charger, the support service will deliver a new one to any city in Russia within 3 days.
Design and body
Produces a column in 4 colors: “onyx”, “cobalt”, “burgundy” and “fuchsia”. I have the “cobalt” option.
I’ll say this. Column design… unusual. Wide base that tapers upward to accommodate the round display. Conealbeit rounded – a shape that I have never seen in smart speakers before. In this regard, VK Capsule Pro has nothing to compare with. Maybe this was the intention?
The device is heavy. At the bottom rubberized part there is a multi-color LED ring that flickers in accordance with the operating status of the speaker.
Everything else was covered with dense, hard acoustic fabric. There are no physical buttons, except for muting the microphone. The VK logo is hidden on the back side.
What a round display can do and why it is needed
The most noticeable part of VK Capsule Pro. The screen seemed small to me in the photo, but in reality I was only slightly surprised. Resolution – 480 by 480 pixels, IPS matrix, touch control.
The contrast is high, the colors are saturated. Amazingly high quality display taking into account the fact that this is not a smartphone or a TV.
The following interfaces are available:
▪ music player
▪ alarm clock
▪ weather forecast
▪ clock and calendar
▪ timer
Each of these functions is made in the form of mini-applications:
The design and interface are all well thought out for the atypical screen shape, it’s impossible to get confused. You can switch between tabs within applications and the applications themselves by swiping across the screen. There are analogues of the “curtain” in Android and iOS, from where you can control smart devices, brightness and speaker volume.
Most of the screen shows either the album cover, the clock, or the mode. But the fact that it is interactive brings regular use.
Due to fatigue, I noticed that to solve some problems, for example, changing tracks or weather forecast details, it’s easier for me to simply slide across the screen than to ask the same voice. I didn’t expect that controlling a smart speaker via the touch screen would be so convenient.
By the way, the design of the screen clock in VK Capsules varies depending on the color of the case. I liked the arthouse version of the blue version, but eventually changed it to a more practical digital watch.
What VK Capsule Pro can do
Initial connection and setup of the VK Capsule Pro speaker in the Marusya application.
Owners of the VK Capsule Pro speaker have access to all the skills of Marusya’s voice assistant: from controlling music and reading fairy tales to the ability to voice over the feed VKontakte and news.
Obviously, VK Capsule Pro is a column of the VK ecosystem. Since she causes harm, she plays music from the VK Music service and so on through the Marusya application for iOS and Android. For full use of all kitchen speakers, a subscription is recommended VK Music3 months, which is given to all speakers buyers. You can also connect service accounts Wink (video streaming) and Mail.ru (so that the column reads and notifies about incoming letters).
In addition to tracking, weather forecast, timer, clock and the capabilities of Marusya’s assistant, VK Capsule Pro can be a full-fledged smart home hub with support for the Zigbee 3.0 standard. Any device with this protocol from more than 70 manufacturers connects to it.
You can control your smart home and devices connected to it either by voice commands or from a separate menu in the Marusya application – statuses and a menu for creating automations are available there. note that VK Capsule Pro already has built-in temperature, humidity and motion sensors. It’s convenient and really useful.
Even if you don’t have any other smart home, you can already set up your first scenarios out of the box – for example, turn off the music when there is no movement in the room. Surprisingly, other manufacturers of Russian smart speakers did not think of installing sensors that lie on the surface.
Sound quality
It’s interesting how many Russians use small speaker models with Russian-speaking assistants. that there is an established point of view that a smart speaker is for background noise, and not for enjoying the sounds of music. But this has not been the case for a long time, and VK Capsule Pro is a new example.
There are 3 speakers of equal power installed here 65 Watt. This level of very good stationary acoustics is several times better than the average smart speaker.
V.K. The Provedeno capsule is also equipped with a spatial sound source: the speakers are located at an angle, and sound waves, reflected from surfaces, create the effect of an extensive musical stage. And two more capsules of VK Pro can be said to be a stereo pair, which will allow for a noticeable expansion of the music scene and elevate the music listening experience to a new level.
To be convinced of such a difference between VK Capsule Pro and the smart code “spoke”, it is enough to turn on absolutely any track in any genre. It’s not even a matter of very high visibility. The bass alone is worth it – it seems to come from everywhere, and not from the speaker itself. It hits so hard that you feel it in your chest when standing nearby.
But the matter is not limited to low frequencies alone: the mid frequencies are too bright and reveal the sounds of instruments from an unusually multifaceted side for smart speakers. The only thing is that it seems to me that the high frequencies sound a little bland, without consequences. At the moment there is no equalizer support in VK Capsule Pro, but if it appears, this point can be easily adjusted.
It is curious that there is a USB-C port in the VK Capsule Pro. It is currently not in use. I don’t think his place here is accidental, it doesn’t happen that way. I hope that in the future, in some updated firmware, it will be equipped with the ability to receive sound from external sources.
Impressions and conclusions
VK Capsule Pro pleasantly surprised me. It is clear that she Designed with soulThe device turned out to be competitive and modern. It’s great to listen to music, have fun communicating with Marusya, and control your smart home. Apart from taste in terms of design, I have nothing to complain about.
In terms of sound, analogues among Russian smart speakers include Yandex Station Max, as well as the latest generation SberBoom speakers. And in terms of the volume of specific bass, frankly, you can compare it to Apple’s HomePod. Rocks!
More advantages of VK Capsules Pro? For example, the presence of a functional touch color display, which contains useful information along the diagonal of the screen, is much higher than that of any tablet speaker. The built-in temperature, humidity and even motion sensors were also impressive. They usually need to be purchased separately, and everything is there right away, which is convenient for efficient operation and automation of a smart home.
I’m glad that VK continues to develop this direction and move forward, surprising us with the diverse and memorable smart speaker market in Russia. You can buy VK Capsule Pro at a price of 19,990 rubles, this already includes the sales discount. The regular price of the speaker is 24,990 rubles.
📸 All photos in the article:
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
