The Acer Halo (not to be confused with Amazon's Halo) is an all-new $109 Google Assistant smart speaker with an LED display under fabric and a glowing RGB base

Acer's choice of name is obvious, but it's hard to pinpoint the inspiration for the Halo speaker's 37-inch-tall design: a combination of Google Nest Audio and last year's Amazon Echo, plus the clever display of the Echo Dot with Clock The design looks like the Echo Dot with Clock The transparent bottom is also reminiscent of Cleer Audio's floating smart display, the Mirage

Acer's Muse notwithstanding, the Halo looks pretty amazing These days, the best smart speaker makers seem to want their devices to sound great and also serve as home decor It's the company's first truly connected home product, but with Google Assistant support

Google has offered voice assistants for third-party brands before, but we have never seen such an animated approach; the Acer Halo's display shows time, temperature, and notifications, and its RGB-based lighting can be customized and can be synchronized with music

As for audio, Acer has not revealed what hardware is included in the Halo speaker At this price point, one would expect something comparable to the new Amazon Echo or HomePod mini, but the company did say that Halo will "deliver rich, high-quality audio" through its 360-degree grille

Meanwhile, two far-field omni-directional microphones are standing by for "Hey Google" and wake words There is also a physical switch to mute the microphones when a little privacy is desired

There are still many questions about the Acer Halo, primarily about sound and performance Non-Google-branded speakers usually lose some of the best Google Home command and communication features, but the LEDs and RGB may be distracting enough to make you forget about it

The Acer Halo costs $109 and will be available in Q1 2021