Lush’s bathroom robot is a vegan, recyclable floating speaker that speaks volumes

The robot, announced more than a year ago, has taken longer than expected to reach the market, with some customers complaining about unfulfilled pre-orders or wondering if the product was an evaporation device. Goswell said the reason for the delay was due to Lush Electronics' inexperience. The product is ready, but they haven't realized how long it will take to get the relevant certifications needed to sell such a device. Bathroom robots are now available in the UK, EU and will soon be in the US (California, with additional regulations).

Some compromises still had to be made during development. “There are components of it that we don't consider 100 percent ethical, but we try our best,” Goswell said. The team had wanted to use recycled materials due to environmental concerns, but had to choose Virgin Plastics to keep the device waterproof. final result yes While recyclable, Lush said buyers will be able to bring it in for repairs if required.

Making electronics inevitably comes with a carbon cost, but Goswell thinks bathroom robots are justified. “If this was a single device or a cheap, throwaway device that could break within six months, that would be a different problem, but we've got that going on,” he said.

Indeed, cheap equipment is not. Even among Ardent Lush fans on forums such as the 115K-member R/Lushcosmetics Subreddit, the £150 price tag was raised. As one “Lushie” said, “Why would I buy a $200 speaker from the bathroom?” You can get a waterproof Bluetooth speaker with better sound quality for less from an established brand: The Ultimate Ear's Floating Wonderboom The 4 retails for about $100 (and often sells for less), while JBL's cheapest waterproof speaker sells for less than $40. – You can find some cheap stuff on Amazon.

Goswell said reasons for the high price included that it was Lush's first technology product and the company wasn't raising the cost for many people. Try to choose a more ethical component as well as British manufacturing. Ultimately, Lush doesn't want to pair the bathroom robot with other Bluetooth speakers, but rather sees it as a lifestyle accessory, similar to Philips Hue lights, he said. While it's designed for use in bathtubs, he also likes to bring it to hotel rooms for ambient lighting.

I decided to test the bathroom robot in a predetermined environment, running the tub and building the Lush app ready to connect. To pump the water, I lowered the bath machine into the water and floated appropriately in the water, riding on colored lights that tinted the bath water around me. Available in black or white, the Bath Bot has just four buttons – ON/OFF, PLAY/PAUSE and two volume controls. When I turned it on, it had a particularly pleasant entrepreneurial sound with birdsong and some soft guitar notes.