Cavalier Maverick Speaker System hands-on: smart and beautiful rolled into one

You could pay through the roof to own any of the serious smart speakers on the market that make audio performance their priority, like the Apple HomePod or Google Home Max, but then you have to settle for something that’ll be staying stationary most of the time. And then there’s the Cavalier Maverick Speaker System, which is priced less than them and is portable as well!

When it comes to speaker designs, Cavalier’s approach is to offer something that’s authentic. By that, we mean the choice of materials that make up this portable speaker. There’s a sense of craftsmanship looking and holding the speaker, seeing that it’s comprised out of premium materials such as genuine leather, an aluminum machined chassis, and an acoustic fabric that wraps around most of the speaker. Seriously, there’s some love invested into its creation – and it surely shows!

Another aspect that we appreciate is its compact and travel friendly size. Compared to Apple’s HomePod, the Cavalier Maverick is nearly half the overall size – allowing it to quickly convert from a stationary at home speaker, to something you can pack along with you on your travels. The included charging base continually keeps the speaker powered and connected, which is great for using Alexa voice controls. But when you need to go away, you can simply just grab it and rely on its built-in rechargeable battery, which is rated for 9 hours of playtime. However, we just want to point out that we did run into trouble setting it up, so we couldn’t check out the Alexa controls. Initially we stumbled across a problem setting Alexa up using the Cavalier app for Android, but we managed to get it to work using the iOS app instead.

Don’t let its compact size fool you, just because it packs quite a punch with its audio performance. From what we’re able to hear so far, the 20W stereo speaker produces some rich audio that rivals the Apple HomePod. The accompanying bass definitely is prominent with its performance, so if you’re planning to use it for parties, it’ll no doubt get the job done! What’s better is the fact that it features both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, adding even more versatility to this already smart speaker.

Factoring all of that, it’s pretty impressive that it’s priced competitively against its rivals at $300. Yes, it’s indeed still a premium cost, but there’s a bit more versatility here with its package – without compromising on the audio quality.