PSB's iQ2 wireless stereo speakers are priced at $1,399 and earned an 8-out-of-10 score from Engadget's review, published August 7, 2026. The speakers pair wirelessly to form a stereo setup and pack amplification, a high-resolution DAC (digital-to-analog converter), and BluOS streaming into an all-in-one enclosure. They are built around audio quality rather than voice-assistant features.

The iQ2 uses a 19mm aluminum dome tweeter paired with a 100mm mid/bass driver, according to TechRadar's review published July 10, 2026. Each speaker measures roughly 9 x 6 inches and is designed to sit on a TV stand or desk. The two units form a wireless stereo pair with no cable between them, though each needs its own wall outlet for power. PSB says the wireless link between left and right speakers is low-latency, meaning it is designed to avoid audio delays or dropouts, and notes that this allows more flexible placement than a wired setup. One speaker serves as the primary unit, holding all input ports and touch-sensitive media and volume controls on top.

Connectivity covers both wired and wireless options. Physical inputs include HDMI with eARC (a format that lets a TV send audio back to the speaker over an HDMI cable), phono/line, optical, and two USB ports — one Type-A and one Type-C. Wireless audio comes via Bluetooth with aptX Adaptive, a codec that adjusts to deliver better sound quality over Bluetooth. The HDMI eARC input and built-in phono stage are notable for a product in this category; most wireless bookshelf speakers treat TV integration and turntable connectivity as afterthoughts rather than first-class inputs.

Pricing varies by region. In the UK, the iQ2 costs £1,199; in Australia, approximately A$2,299. The iQ2 sits $300 above PSB's iQ1 model, a premium GearPatrol attributed in its June 23 coverage to the wireless stereo link and the broader range of color options — seven in total. PSB has applied a new paint finish to the iQ2 that the company says is more resistant to fingerprints and more durable than finishes on previous-generation speakers.

Engadget's review cited confident, spacious stereo sound, HDMI eARC and phono connectivity, wireless stereo setup, and a polished app experience as strengths. Weaknesses centered on the premium price and underwhelming phono performance — an interesting tension, given that PSB is a 50-year-old loudspeaker company that describes its sound signature as "True to Nature" and lists musicality, value, and aesthetic appeal as product priorities.

The phono stage result deserves a closer look. A speaker system that advertises a phono/line input is implicitly courting vinyl listeners, and those listeners tend to be sensitive to what a built-in phono preamp actually delivers. A phono preamp boosts the very weak signal from a turntable to a level that speakers can work with. If the phono input underperforms relative to the system's other sources, the practical question for buyers is whether they treat it as a convenience feature or a serious input. For someone running a turntable through an external phono preamp into the line input, the distinction may be moot. For someone expecting the iQ2's phono stage to replace a dedicated preamp, the review's finding is a flag worth heeding.

The more strategically interesting signal is PSB's decision to position the absence of voice assistants as a feature rather than a gap. The smart-speaker category has been dominated by Amazon Echo and Google Nest products that prioritize voice interaction and ecosystem integration, with audio quality as a secondary concern. The iQ2 inverts that hierarchy. BluOS handles the streaming layer, aptX Adaptive handles Bluetooth, and HDMI eARC handles TV audio, but there is no microphone, no wake word, and no cloud-dependent assistant. For buyers who already have a voice assistant elsewhere in the home — a common scenario in 2026 — a speaker that does not add another listening node to the network may read as a feature, not an omission.

The broader context here is a quiet fragmentation of the "smart speaker" category. The original premise — a single device that handles voice, music, and smart-home control — is giving way to products optimized for specific use cases: TV audio, music listening, multi-room streaming, or voice control, rather than all of the above. The iQ2 sits firmly in the music-and-TV camp, with BluOS multi-room as the connective tissue and voice control deliberately excluded.

For a technologist evaluating the iQ2, the value calculation comes down to three things: whether the wireless stereo pair delivers latency-free performance that holds up under real-world placement conditions, whether the HDMI eARC input produces a genuinely usable TV audio upgrade, and whether the $1,399 entry price is justified given the underwhelming phono stage. Engadget's 8-out-of-10 score suggests the first two answers are broadly positive and the third is a judgment call that depends on how much weight a buyer places on the phono input specifically. Seven color options and a durable new finish round out a package clearly aimed at the design-conscious listener who wants active speakers without the visual compromise of separates.