Best Product of the Year 2019: the Gigaset smart speaker L800HX

18. June 2019 Published by Raphael Doerr

Plus X Award for the first voice-controlled hands-free DECT phone
Scarcely on the market, and the Gigaset smart speaker L800HX has already won the coveted Plus X Award. The device not only captured the seals of approval in the categories High Quality, Design, Ease of Use and Functionality, but was also chosen as the best product of 2019. The jury’s verdict pays tribute to the leading quality and innovation of Gigaset’s new smart speaker. For the first time, a vendor has combined traditional DECT fixed-line telephony with Alexa’s innovative voice control and hence with cutting-edge smart home solutions. The result: A voice-controlled handsfree phone that boasts excellent wide-band voice transmission and a VPA function.

The Plus X Award is regularly presented to innovative technologies, as well as sports and lifestyle products. The winners are chosen by an independent jury of experts comprising specialist editors, designers and industry experts. The jury tests the products thoroughly on the basis of the criteria Innovation, High Quality, Design, Ease of Use, Functionality, Ergonomics and Ecology, and awards seals of approval in these areas.
The Gigaset smart speaker won over the jury in every respect: “The smart speaker L800HX from Gigaset impresses not only with its modern design, but also through its intuitive operation and wide range of features,” was the verdict of the experts. As a result, it captured the title of “Best Product of the Year 2019” and the seals of approval for High Quality, Design, Ease of Use and Functionality.

High Quality

“We are delighted and honored to have won the Product of the Year 2019 award overall. But we are especially proud to have picked up the seal of approval in the High Quality category,” says Anne Dickau, SVP Products at Gigaset. “The seal is testimony to our aspiration to deliver top quality for our customers. It is also a tribute to the long service life of our products.” Gigaset has been synonymous with top-class telephony for decades. As the European market leader, the company has been influential in pioneering and establishing the DECT wireless standard for fixed-line phones.
The new L800HX is the pinnacle of this development: The Gigaset smart speaker can be used just like a conventional handset on any DECT base station – such as one for a normal cordless phone or directly on a router with the relevant functionality. The device unites the very best sound quality for phone calls with excellent audio pleasure for streaming music.

Design

In the “Design” category, the jury of the Plus X Award attaches great importance to functional and detailed design, although reducing technological complexity also plays a key role. The Gigaset smart speaker L800HX has a modern and restrained design. With its clear, cylindrical shape in bright white and a modern, structured textile surface, it blends superbly into modern home interiors and also underscores the advances in Gigaset’s product design language. Despite being pared back to the essentials, the L800HX exudes a fresh and contemporary flair.

Functionality

The “Functionality” seal of approval is awarded to products that fulfill their functions efficiently and to acknowledge their additional functions, their range of functions and use benefits. For the first time, telephony with the level of quality users expect from the excellent DECT standard is united with the convenience and versatility of an IoT-based smart speaker in one device.

Ease of Use

Products that are simple and intuitive to operate are awarded the “Ease of Use” seal. The Gigaset smart speaker is controlled by voice only – which means Gigaset enables all the telephony features and Alexa skills to be used without any further aids.

“The L800HX is something completely new,” sums up Anne Dickau. “Of course, there have smart speakers on the market before it, but none offering fixed-line telephony. We focused on our core expertise when developing it, yet also rethought telephony completely. We are delighted that our efforts have now been recognized with the Plus X Award. It shows we’ve taken a further major step in the Gigaset ecosystem and are continuously intermeshing our products with each other.”

More information on the Gigaset smart speaker L800HX can be found on Gigaset’s homepage and on the website of the Plus X Award.