The LG WK7 marks a few firsts when it comes down to Korean giant. Ita€™s the organizationa€™s earliest foray into the ever-growing wise audio speaker market. Ita€™s in addition one of the first products to appear as part of the newer partnership between LG and British music expert Meridian.
The many benefits of this relationship to both manufacturer are clear. LG provides Meridian coverage in new service kinds inside the buyers AV market and also for its role, Meridian gives years of experience, in markets such as sound running and audio speaker concept, on dining table.
The WK7 also enjoys a€?with Meridian technologya€™ stamped on the outdoor. But bear in mind, the evidence is in the tests. Can the LG WK7 ThinQ presenter (to give it its complete and unsnappy title) do both manufacturer fairness?
Design and build
Cylindrical is the de facto type for a number of wise speakers, while the WK7 goes on this trend. Ita€™s a chunky and tallish device, bigger than the Amazon Echo 2 although not very because rotund given that Apple HomePod, with a similar impact on Sonos One.
That grey exterior seems some insipid near the smart white end of 
a Sonos One, but indicates mixing in wona€™t be a problem. For A?200, the WK7 in addition feels reassuringly weighty.
Unlike the HomePod, having its elegant subwoofer-on-top arrangement and circular array of tweeters, the LG keps circumstances quick. Through steel grille you are able to completely a forward-firing dome tweeter sitting above a mid/bass motorist. Both are manufactured from aluminium.
Features
The WK7 operates over their wi-fi community, you can also hook-up resources via Bluetooth. Therea€™s no 3.5mm input, but on an invisible wise audio speaker that will bena€™t the the conclusion the world.
Unlike Sonos, LG dona€™t provide you with the option of working two WK7s as a stereo pair. Ita€™s maybe not a deal-breaker, but well worth noting the same.
LG says the WK7 could be the very first smart speaker to use the Android Situations program, which it says will improve the consumer experience and invite designers to make the a lot of the platforma€™s capability.
They drops under LGa€™s ThinQ brand of artificial intelligence services and products, and is also run on Bing associate. The presenter has Chromecast integrated, to supply between and connect with suitable means and shows.
The LG WK7 helps all of the usual document formats, and local 24bit/96kHz and 24bit/192kHz hi-res audio playback. Any lower-quality acoustics is actually automatically upsampled to 24bit/96kHz.
You are able to control the WK7 a variety of tips. Conversing with the speaker is just one alternative – the two microscopic holes on each side of volume regulation will be the mics. In case you dona€™t elegant creating yahoo associate hearing in credentials, it is possible to mute the mics by tapping a button regarding again of the WK7.
Applea€™s HomePod boasts six mics, although Google Assistant for the WK7 nonetheless does a good work of reacting. Despite having songs blasting away at anti-social amounts, therea€™s a good chance your vocals will still register.
Ita€™s perhaps not perfect but, inside our feel, digital assistants seldom were.
Therea€™s furthermore the Bing room application. Youa€™re motivated to install the iOS or Android adaptation, by Bing associate when you fire up the WK7 a€“ ita€™s the quickest method of getting the presenter on your residence community.
Ita€™s an attractive software, and intuitive too. Whether you need to learn more about compatible providers or establish a multi-room program, the application could there be to help.
Eventually, therea€™s LGa€™s very own Wi-Fi Speaker software. It looks and feels out-of-date, is troublesome to utilize while the wording on several of their menus is a little unusual.
Truly the only need youra€™d check out this rather than the Google homes software is if you should access the excess noise settings constructed into the WK7.
Sound
Inside the application, there’s extent to enable and disable exactly what LG calls sharp Vocal and Enhanced Bass.
The previous renders vocals considerably prominent, driving all of them around into the soundfield and including added support. Aforementioned enhances the stage and results of bass frequencies.
Ita€™s often worth experimenting with this type of setup, but at this juncture wea€™d steer clear. Both modes give up cohesiveness and top-notch sounds to these a qualification the drawbacks exceed any positives.
Become these settings off, state the presenter in the spot of a room – on a bookshelf or near to a rear wall structure – whilea€™ll listen to the WK7 performing at its greatest. And its best is quite good by wise speaker expectations.
We begin with a Tidal blast of Musea€™s Madness in addition to LG gets off to a great beginning.
The audio speaker drives the tune combined with purpose, and does a superb tasks of distinguishing between the tight-fitting punchy bass notes therefore the a little smudged low-frequency pulses.
Matt Bellamya€™s vocal shipments is obvious and thoroughly clean. It shares room and equal billing utilizing the least expensive lows and greatest highs.
Therea€™s no indication of the harshness or sibilance which might often blight cordless speakers during that rates. Neither really does the presenter run the safer route and opt for an overly soft or rolled-off audio.
Play Talk Tonight by retreat and Noela€™s singing and acoustic guitar gamble work very well in combination.
The WK7 brings a soundstage with remarkable scale, and decent top and distance. The LG doesna€™t complete an area rather in addition to the Apple HomePod, but serves up a greater sense of room and a more impressive soundstage than the Sonos One.
Nevertheless the LG drops down in relation to balance. Where in fact the finest in lessons maintain an even stability across-the-board, the LG can seem only a little unsteady.
Certain bass notes are overegged and also have a tendancy to protrude inside soundstage. It willna€™t spoil the sounds, however youa€™re familiar with they whenever playing certain types of music.
We might also fancy most drive in the LG’s presentation; a little more rhythmic accuracy would make for a far more vital noise.
Verdict
Following announcement in December 2017, we were intrigued observe how the whole LG/Meridian cooperation would evolve.
A smart audio speaker is actually a smart place to start, and while we can easilyna€™t contact the WK7 class-leading ita€™s a pleasant replacement for current pace-setters from Apple and Sonos, and well worth auditioning.
