Someone reimagined the as a hi-fi handheld audio player, and I can’t stop looking at it. The product goes from a boring piece of car-bound hardware to something portable, untethered, and so much more interesting. It suddenly stops being a better version of your car radio and becomes a better version of an iPod or a Sony Walkman.
Spotify teased their first ever hardware product back in 2021, but the product really didn’t have much of a future as Spotify axed the entire project in 2024, following what seemed like a very bleak response from users. Earlier this year, Spotify even went ahead as to brick the device, turning the device into just a very expensive paperweight. While the Spotify Car Thing’s wings got clipped before it could even take off, designer Bukvity Lorisz decided to just reimagine the ill-fated device as something a little more versatile and contemporary. The Daydream (I love the rebrand) is a Car Thing-inspired handheld player with new controls, and a new liquid-glass-esque interface, packed into a familiar design.
Designer:
The Daydream gets a new lease of life thanks to an updated design – not a redesign, an update. It still boasts that large knob on the side that becomes a visual icon of sorts (like the iPod’s jogwheel), but also packs a few extra controls on the front as well as the sides. The original Car Thing had a touchscreen, but to be honest, this one doesn’t need it. Controls let you do everything from toggle volume to switch tracks, build playlists, and even do a shared playlist with friends. The Daydream is everything the Car Thing dreamt of becoming.
Inspired by the design styles of Teenage Engineering, Work Louder, and Electronic Materials Office, Bukvity’s design leans heavily into a fusion between nostalgia and the future. The interface looks cutting-edge, paying tribute to Apple’s newly unveiled Liquid Glass visual design, but it still isn’t shy of leaning into ‘button culture’, giving people the joy of tactile control.
There’s your conventional player, but Bukvity doesn’t stop there – the Daydream boasts its own ‘Discovery Assistant’ that lets you intuitively browse the streaming platform or have conversations with an AI to fine-tune playlists, find music, and perhaps even work as a Shazam-like song identifier. A USB-C port on the left side of the device lets you power your Daydream or even alternatively store files on it for local playback. Meanwhile, an aux port gives you wired external playback, although I’m pretty sure a device advanced enough to have an AI assistant also packs Bluetooth.
The Car Thing, as limited as it was, did have potential to revolutionize music. Spotify could have really branched out into the hardware space by creating dedicated hi-fi players like this one too. Daydream sounds like a great name, but the term ‘Pocket Thing’ would have been on brand. Imagine a dedicated Spotify player that you can carry with you. An Aux port, a built-in AI, and the ability to listen to high-fidelity music without an app. Sure, having the Spotify app on your phone sounds more convenient in hindsight, but why game on an Analogue Pocket when you can game on your phone? This handheld player could have become a bit of a niche cult product… instead, existing buyers of the Car Thing are currently sitting on a very expensive heap of plastic.
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