When the Divoom Ditoo arrived in the mail in early 2021, my first thought was "what the heck is this?" A few minutes later I realised it's something every desktop setup needs: a retro pixel-art Bluetooth speaker that does far more than play music.
One of the best unboxings I've done
Before even switching it on, the packaging impressed me. Stickers, a carry case and a tiny fridge-style container made it one of the best unboxing experiences of my life. You can really see that Divoom put a lot of effort into making the product feel premium.
Retro looks, modern touch
The Ditoo is a retro object with a touch of modern design. It has a pixel-art display, a small joystick and keys that feel very Commodore 64. The click sounds amazing, especially if you're 40 like me and remember what real keyboards sounded like. The keys are fully backlit, so you can use it in the dark too. It looks good on a desk, in the kitchen or in the kids' room, and it comes in five pastel colours. Back then it was around €70.
So what can you do with it? Play games, organise your daily activities, get notifications from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, listen to music, check a little weather station, record voice notes, and play with an audio mixer, one of my favourite features. It uses Bluetooth 5.0, so it's very responsive when you change screens or send a song.
The app and the sound
From the app you can customise screen colours, listen to online radio and download hundreds of music visualisers that react to what's playing. Artists even run competitions creating them. You can also make your own pixel art, though I found the joystick and key controls a bit hard to get used to.
The speaker promises 10 watts and 360-degree sound. Honestly, the sound is really good. When you pump up the volume the bass peaks a little, but overall it sounds great. Notifications were less convincing for me: when a call comes in you just see a green incoming-call sign.
How I use it
I use it as a clock on my desk, I listen to music on it a lot, and I like that it tells me how much noise there is in the room. It also makes a beautiful backdrop when I shoot videos. I think every YouTube studio should have one.