Brett Smalley Kanto Audio UKI speaker

CES 2025: Kanto Audio Introduces the UKI Affordable Desktop Speaker

Last year, Kanto Audio pulled the curtain on its REN active speaker, the first in the company’s like with HDMI Arc. The highly anticipated speaker finally arrived in November, and we had the chance to review it. At CES 2025, Kanto teased a new product coming to market later this year: the UKI compact bookshelf speaker.

Designed as a budget-friendly speaker in a small package, the US$199 per pair UKI employs a distinctive clamshell design. But Kanto Audio’s Brett Smalley tells us it packs a big punch of sound in its small footprint.

Brett Smalley Kanto Audio UKI speaker

The speaker comes with a multitude of connectivity options, including Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, and RCA. This makes it equally great for the home office or even the listening room, connected to a modern turntable. A neat addition is the inclusion of a headphone jack for private listening in a bedroom or shared workspace.

The Kanto Audio UKI will come in black, white, cobalt, and sage at launch. Smalley walked us through some of its defining features and provided a refresher of some of the highlights of the Kanto Audio REN during an exclusive evening media event.