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Test of the Invoxia Triby speaker: a portable all-purpose speaker, connected to HomeKit and IFTTT (currently on sale)

Arrival
of Apple in the smart speaker segment,with the HomePod finally
available in France, is a symbol of a growing interest from giant players
tech for the field. There are indeed several giants to offer
everyone has their own solution. And between the HomePod, the Amazon Echo or even the Google
Home, without mentioning third-party solutions, needless to say that the choice can
be Cornelian. Moreover, if you are not yet equipped with accessories
connected and want to get started without necessarily finding yourself locked out
in an ecosystem, it may be interesting to turn to a solution
multiprotocol indeed. This is the case of the speakerTriby
Invoxia, compatible with bothHomeKit, but alsoIFTTTand even
Alexa. But be careful, if we talk about home automation, that's not all, it's also
an audio speaker!

We had it for testing for a few days, the opportunity to try its
different features and see if it can really do
the case in the context of a home automation installation, among others.

So here are ourimpressions of this Invoxia Triby
accompanied by photos and technical details:

Unpacking and first contact

In the box we find the Triby speaker, a USB power cable and
some explanatory booklets on the installation and first use of the
speaker.

But before getting our hands dirty, let's stick to aesthetics
of the case. Here are the dimensions of the latter:155* 155 * 30
mm, for 610 g.

The upper part serves as a handle and provides free access to 3 large buttons in
rubber, "+", "-" and "pause/play". On the front, we find the screen
black and white E-ink technology as well as 6 control buttons.

On the left, a yellow shutter is hidden, it allows, when leaving the box, to
notify the presence of a doodle (local message) to read. On the right side, we
finds the USB socket and a voice control button for Alexa.

Finally, at the back, two large magnetic metal strips allow you to
the speaker to hang on a wall mount, on the fridge door or
any other magnetic support, therefore without screws.

At the aesthetic level therefore, the Triby offers adesign
classic, but practical, especially for transporting it, with this
handle shape. Otherwise, the buttons are a little hard to press, but nothing
very embarrassing at that level.

Big regret however, the plastic which serves as protection does not saw
its metal body really well, it undulates regularly around the edge of the
case and can even be removed quite easily. In addition, it gives it an appearance
A littlelow end, which is a shame, given the
price of the speaker. Fortunately, this rubber protects the speaker from falls
and shocks, and even if everything seems rather resistant, this can avoid
the appearance of scratches and other crumbling.

To connect the Triby to an iPhone, this can be done via HomeKit and a
simple pairing procedure, or via the iOS appTriby, Who
allows access to additional functions, including doodle messages
and the radio app, see below on this subject.

In use

Pregnant, the first instinct is to test the sound on the Triby.
And despite a great maximum sound power allowed by its speaker, the
Triby only offers one soundpoor, quite balanced, but
without good definition. However, this will be enough for many users,
especially for listening to the radio. It should also be noted that the Triby is not
presented as a high-fidelity speaker unlike an Apple HomePod by
example.

Where the Triby shines is in its connected features.
Easy to integrate into a HomeKit configuration, it then allows, thanks to 5
physical buttons on its front and 3 possible actions via buttons (press
short, double press, long press), to create up to15 orders for
manage your installation.

These commands are managed directly in the HomeKit app, with
a lot of ease.

And if you want to go even further in the capabilities of the Triby,
you must take advantage of the actions available on IFTTT. So, the buttons
become configurable to launch any type of action, send an e-mail,
turn on a connected socket like TP-Linktested
ici, launch a workflow, etc. The possibilities are really
huge!

And as if that wasn't enough, the Triby app on iOS includes
features no less interesting and even rather fun to
to use :

  • Radio (via internet): to listen to the radio without requiring an app
    additional, with stations also configurable on one of the buttons
    on the front
  • Spotify Connect: to independently stream music from
    Spotify on Triby
  • Calls: to call an iPhone or other smartphone connected to the speaker
    from the Triby
  • Intercom: if you have two Tribys, this function allows you to
    communicate with each other like a Walkie-Talkie
  • Doodle: to send a written message on the Triby. The presence of a
    message to read brings out the yellow shutter on the left edge of the speaker.
    A very fun feature, to leave a message to your other half.
    morning for example

Finally, we were not able to get to the end of the battery
the speaker, but the manufacturer announces12 hours of battery life
listening to music. Namely that the Alexa functionalities could not
not be tried either, but that the Triby is indeed certified compatible with the
Amazon protocol.

Conclusion

The Triby has enormous potential, with its 15 programmable actions, its
HomeKit, IFTTT and Alexa connectivity. So she can shine in the frame
of a multi-protocol connected home. It also goes well beyond serving as
real portable remote controls to perform different tasks
recurring.

These advantages on the home automation side allow it to catch up on quality
of its average, tainted in addition to a high latency, which can hinder in
the case of viewing a musical clip listened to on the Triby, or even
more for films and series. Let's still note the good sound power
maximum, appreciable for adding sound to a living room for example.

Otherwise, we were hampered by an aesthetic quirk regarding
the E-ink screen, which kept changing color during testing, going from
dark to light or vice versa, for no reason. This anomaly remains
hopefully related to note test pattern.

In short, here is a fairly interesting alternative to the solutions
manufacturers of Amazon, Google or Apple, which we recommend above all to
those who like to get their hands dirty and create lots of
automations, via IFTTT in particular. In the case of an object installation
connected mainly HomeKit, we have a speaker here that responds,
cheaper than the HomePod, with worse sound of course.

What we liked:

  • magnets on the back, powerful and clever
  • lots of control possibilities, with IFTTT in particular
  • simple and practical design
  • bonus weather and humidity information
  • radio, doodle and other features in the Triby iOS app

What we liked least:

  • play in the protective plastic
  • unstable E-ink screen
  • audio latency on video
  • average sound quality

To read aboutHomeKit:

And not to be missed:notre
summary of accessory tests in images.

Etnos tests
recent iPhone accessories, dont :

The graphite wireless Qi charger
Aukeyis noted3,5stars out of 5
par iPhon.fr

i-nfo.fr - Official iPhon.fr app

By : Keleops AG

Editor-in-chief for iPhon.fr. Pierre is like Indiana Jones, looking for the lost iOS trick. Also a long-time Mac user, Apple devices hold no secrets for him. Contact: pierre[a]iphon.fr.

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