I had the opportunity to review an Aether Cone “thinking music player” a few months ago. It’s still one of the cooler looking wireless speakers around, with decent sound and a “thinking” part that was a better stab at voice recognition/music curation than I was expecting. My primary gripe about the Aether Cone was its lack of Bluetooth support. Aether just fixed that. An automatic firmware update currently rolling out offers two welcome new functions: Bluetooth support and multiple Cone capability. The Aether Cone just got a whole lot better!
The update began rolling out several days ago, and the good news is it applies to all Cones sold, not just recent purchases.
Your Aether Cone must be connected to your Wi-Fi network, and idle. The update should just happen in the background. I checked mine obsessively the first day the update was announced, but the firmware update finally arrived overnight on Tuesday.
I’ve been playing music over the Aether Cone using Bluetooth since. It works while plugged in and on battery power (finally realizing the Cone’s potential as one of the most unique-looking and decent sounding portable wireless party speakers going).
The limited inputs on the Cone mean there is no dedicated Bluetooth button. Pairing is accomplished by holding down the “Volume +” button while pressing the center button three times. You’ll see a blue light ring appear around the center button, then it should show up in your Bluetooth devices list. After that, it’s the usual pick it out of the devices list whenever you feel like connecting.
AirPlay capability remains.
Besides Bluetooth, the update also lets you expand your system in a Sonos-like manner by having Cones playing synchronized music in different rooms (or a pair of Cones set up together for richer sound). As a single Aether Cone household, I couldn’t verify that functionality, but I’m willing to take their word on it.
With this update a very interesting wireless speaker system addressed its primary shortcoming and became a much more attractive choice. If you’ve passed over the Aether Cone because of limited connectivity options, you should check it out now.
Brad
Do you have any idea how to reset and Aether Cone? We have 2 and they one is just “swirling” and does not show up on wifi. I have tried the tiny re-set hole at the back and allowed the product the totally discharge it’s battery. It has been a bit of a disaster but I would be happy to just bluetooth connect it!!
James