I'm a big fan of putting a podcast on while I'm in the shower, but it's a pain to keep a Bluetooth shower speaker charged. Enter Shower Power, from Ampere -- it's a slick-looking speaker that clamps in place above your showerhead, with the flow of water providing all the power it needs. Fresh off of a run on Kickstarter that netted the company over $200,000 and available for further pre-orders on Indiegogo, the $100 device is making its virtual debut at CES 2021.
Available in black, white or chrome, the Shower Power is made to fit over top of any fixed or detachable showerhead. Just clamp it in place around the pipe and from there, the flow of water will spin an internal impeller which is connected to a mini-generator, keeping the thing charged. Ampere claims that most people can install it in less than a minute.
At 100%, the battery is good for 20 hours of playback, and so long as you shower regularly, you'll never need to remove it or plug it in, Ampere says. You'll find physical buttons for playing, pausing and skipping tracks on its front face, but it also comes with a waterproof remote in case your showerhead is difficult to reach. On top of that, the Shower Power is made from 100% recycled plastic recovered from the ocean.
"While we've been developing this idea for more than two years now, we couldn't think of a better time to launch it" says Ampere CEO Reid Covington. "After a quarantine-fueled year, we're consuming more content on our speakers - like podcasts, audiobooks and music - than ever before. And on top of that, we're spending even more time at home because of the pandemic. We think that it will be a great fit for audiophiles or avid podcast listeners."
It's worth stopping to note that crowdfunding campaigns don't always deliver on their promises, so as always, caveat emptor. Still, Ampere has a track record of producing and delivering other gadgets, including the Unravel charging station, so this one feels like a pretty safe splurge for anyone who might like to jazz up their shower routine.
The Shower Power is expected to ship to backers in May of this year.