Best Portable Audio Speakers
The bazooka-sized boomboxes of yesteryear are no more, and haven't been for a while now. They have made way for portable, wireless speakers that are more capable, and sometimes, are as small as a soda can. But the path to glory for the Bluetooth speaker hasn't always been strong. In fact, it's been downright shaky at times, as innovation in design flew past the actual execution of reliably streaming music wirelessly in its early years.
Most of the bugs have been shook loose, and the Bluetooth speakers arriving on store shelves today are better and more affordable than ever. What with long-lasting battery life, stunning audio reproduction and other useful features, these speakers can turn any trip away from home into a tune-filled party. We've done the digging to present to you our top reviewed picks for best Bluetooth speakers.
Most of the bugs have been shook loose, and the Bluetooth speakers arriving on store shelves today are better and more affordable than ever. What with long-lasting battery life, stunning audio reproduction and other useful features, these speakers can turn any trip away from home into a tune-filled party. We've done the digging to present to you our top reviewed picks for best Bluetooth speakers.
JBL Charge 2
Coming in at $150 (£129, about AU$170) is the JBL Charge 2. It's about the size of a large can of energy drink, but we promise that it has more functionality than one. With great sound quality that booms through the cylindrical chamber, the deal is only made sweeter with its fantastic battery life, which can charge your power-hungry devices if you're away from an electrical source. Sure, it's not as flashy looking as the LED-decorated JBL Pulse, but its capabilities blow it out of the water for your money.
Dell AD211
A good Bluetooth speaker is something we all deserve but unfortunately, we can't all afford the luxury. Thankfully, Dell stuck this stellar option in the budget Bluetooth speaker category. The Dell AD211 won't win awards for design, though some may dig its simple style. Whatever bad we had to say about (not much), can be mostly ignored once you hear that it retails for a staggeringly cheap $59 (£68.39, AU$79). Taking value into consideration, you'll have a hard time finding an affordable speaker with good battery life, NFC compatibility and a built-in microphone. But the AD211 has it all, and for a bargain. Get this if you're ballin' on a budget and you need the most feature-packed speaker for your money.
Harman/Kardon Esquire Mini
While this chic Bluetooth speaker is marketed to the on the go business professional, always catching flights to go catch more flights, the Harmon Kardon Esquire Mini is an easy recommendation. It's hard not to be partial to such a good-looking speaker, but thankfully, its performance ranks just as high in our book. Albeit a tad expensive for its size ($150, £129.99), it makes up for the financial burden with great battery life and fantastic style. If size is of utmost importance, you'll be pleased with the Esquire Mini, as it's about the thickness of two smartphones. Of course, you wouldn't guess that the voluminous sound would be coming out of such a small device. Get this if want a pocket-friendly Bluetooth speaker that's fashion-savvy.
Creative Sound Blaster Roar SR20
Just like people do, some Bluetooth speakers try to do everything. And just like people, some Bluetooth speakers can do this gracefully and some cannot. The Creative Sound Blaster Roar SR20 succeeds at being a multi-functional speaker that rings it at the pleasing tune of $129 (about £104, AU$155). Compared to other speakers on this list so far, its design stands out, for starters. It's about the size of a hard-cover book and can compliment a bookshelf, if you please, or just a table top. This speaker houses a bunch of cool features, even some you may not use. The 'aux in' port allows it to amplify beyond what your computer is capable of. Its internal microphone can even record audio to a microSD card. Get this if a cool, novel-sized Bluetooth speaker packed with premium sound and fun features (recording audio, "Roar' volume boost) appeals to you.
With head-to-head listening tests, we've had a look at how much you really need to spend to get a good wireless speaker, whether you're out for something to augment your phone's speaker or to power outdoors parties. There's a vast array of choices out there too, from those of big brands like Sony and Bose to cheaper options from brands you may never have heard of. We've picked 10 of the top models you'll find online and in the high street today.
As well as listening to their audio chops and measuring how loud they can really go with a sound meter, we had a look at whether they can stream video without introducing significant audio delay. There's nothing more annoying than watching a movie where the soundtrack is just slightly out of sync. In the review pages, you'll see this under the Netflix test banner: it passes if we could stomach watching a movie with the delay.
As well as listening to their audio chops and measuring how loud they can really go with a sound meter, we had a look at whether they can stream video without introducing significant audio delay. There's nothing more annoying than watching a movie where the soundtrack is just slightly out of sync. In the review pages, you'll see this under the Netflix test banner: it passes if we could stomach watching a movie with the delay.
Beats Pill 2.0
Given Beats is known for its bass, it’s a surprise (if you don’t know what’s inside) that the Beats Pill v2 is actually one of the worst performers here for bass. Low-end extension is very poor, meaning that bass drum hits sound quite weak and thin. It uses four very small drivers, with no radiator to make up the difference in pure driver size. At certain point down the frequency scale the bass more-or-less just drops out. It does have bass ports, though, letting it create bigger bass than a 1-inch driver could make itself.
With this compromise, you’d hope the Pill offers spectacular portability, but it doesn’t. Thanks to its rounded shape, you can’t fit in comfortably in a jacket pocket as you can do with a i-box slid of Jambox Mini. All these niggles add up to a speaker that offers the poorest value in its class. Volume and projection are fine, but we want a better, fuller-sounding tone when we’re paying £170 for the pleasure. Even the treble starts become quite scrappy at higher volumes, lacking the fidelity and detail we’d hope for in a speaker with treble-focused tiny drivers.
It will do the job for casual near field listening, though. Sound quality is superior to the Monster Superstar and i-box Slix, but then that’s the least we’d expect when it costs so much more. This was also the speaker to perform the worst on the Netflix, where we see whether its Bluetooth module is capable of streaming video without experience-spoiling lag.
With this compromise, you’d hope the Pill offers spectacular portability, but it doesn’t. Thanks to its rounded shape, you can’t fit in comfortably in a jacket pocket as you can do with a i-box slid of Jambox Mini. All these niggles add up to a speaker that offers the poorest value in its class. Volume and projection are fine, but we want a better, fuller-sounding tone when we’re paying £170 for the pleasure. Even the treble starts become quite scrappy at higher volumes, lacking the fidelity and detail we’d hope for in a speaker with treble-focused tiny drivers.
It will do the job for casual near field listening, though. Sound quality is superior to the Monster Superstar and i-box Slix, but then that’s the least we’d expect when it costs so much more. This was also the speaker to perform the worst on the Netflix, where we see whether its Bluetooth module is capable of streaming video without experience-spoiling lag.
Jawbone Mini Jambox
The Jawbone Jambox Mini has a problem. It’s the best-sounding tiny speaker in this test, with a more refined tone than the i-box Slix and much better composure than the Monster Superstar. However, its top volume is rubbish. Reaching just 67dB at four feet, it’s much quieter than any other speaker we listened to. We can guess why Jawbone did this: it wanted to make sure the speaker doesn’t sound bad when you crank the volume to the max. It doesn’t, maintaining a nice and balanced tone at all volumes. However, poor maximum volume severely reduces the situations in which the Jambox Mini will be useful.
For outdoors — summer BBQs and the like — the Jambox Mini just won’t have the output to compete. It’ll get lost. As such, it’s only really of use as a ‘personal’ portable speaker. You need to care a lot about portability, as it costs more than our favourite here, the Sony SRS-X5, at £150. In return you get funky metallic looks and the sort of build that means it could be used as a murder weapon. Such things don’t rank as highly on our list of priorities as sound quality. Still, if style is a priority, the Jambox Mini is the most style-infused speaker on test.
For outdoors — summer BBQs and the like — the Jambox Mini just won’t have the output to compete. It’ll get lost. As such, it’s only really of use as a ‘personal’ portable speaker. You need to care a lot about portability, as it costs more than our favourite here, the Sony SRS-X5, at £150. In return you get funky metallic looks and the sort of build that means it could be used as a murder weapon. Such things don’t rank as highly on our list of priorities as sound quality. Still, if style is a priority, the Jambox Mini is the most style-infused speaker on test.
Skullcandy Air Raid
The Skullcandy Air Raid is about one thing: loudness. It promises to “bring the loud” and sure enough it was by quite some margin the loudest speaker in our sound meter test, pumping out 85dB at around 4ft. However, it shows that loudness and having a big, expansive sound are two totally different things. The Air Raid uses two 2-inch drivers, but no radiator to provide the sort of bass response you get in the smaller Bose SoundLink Mini. So while the speaker does very loud indeed, it doesn’t offer the sort of impact you might expect from the Skullcandy brand.
Are we saying a Skullcandy product doesn’t have enough bass? We never thought we’d say it, but yes. With fairly poor lower frequency extension, the Air Raid just doesn’t really have the dynamic range we’re after in a speaker of this size. The treble that doesn’t have quite enough insight either: we were a little disappointed in the Air Raid. The loudness claim on the box is legit, but it doesn’t really come with the other sound properties you might expect to feature alongside. It is one of the tougher speakers, though. Most of the outer part is covered with a thick layer of rubber intended to suck up any impacts. The main housing is metal too, and as the rubber acts as a lip to stop surfaces from coming into contact with it, you can treat the Air Raid pretty rough.
Are we saying a Skullcandy product doesn’t have enough bass? We never thought we’d say it, but yes. With fairly poor lower frequency extension, the Air Raid just doesn’t really have the dynamic range we’re after in a speaker of this size. The treble that doesn’t have quite enough insight either: we were a little disappointed in the Air Raid. The loudness claim on the box is legit, but it doesn’t really come with the other sound properties you might expect to feature alongside. It is one of the tougher speakers, though. Most of the outer part is covered with a thick layer of rubber intended to suck up any impacts. The main housing is metal too, and as the rubber acts as a lip to stop surfaces from coming into contact with it, you can treat the Air Raid pretty rough.
i-box Slix
The smallest speaker in our test is also the cheapest. At £59 the i-box Slix doesn’t need to be thought of as something you’ll use all the time to justify the expense. You can also get a pair of Slix speakers for £99, and the two can be joined up wirelessly as a stereo pair. As well as a keen price, i-box has slicked the right hardware into the Slix too. As well as a pair of small active drivers, the Slix uses a passive radiator to increase bass. However, you still need to manage your expectations. This is not a particularly big or full-sounding speaker, and doesn’t have a particularly refined sound. That said, there are some sonic advantages over its similar-size rivals the Monster Superstar and Jawbone Jambox Mini.
It doesn’t sound as scrappy as the Superstar at higher volumes because i-box doesn’t overwork the Slix’s bass radiator and it’s a lot louder than the Jawbone Jambox Mini, reaching a very respectable 77dB in our sound meter test. This is a fair ultraportable budget speaker, but if you can afford to go a bit larger, the Pure Voca offers a much more satisfying sound for just £20 more. The slimness of the unit only gives the radiator so much room to move, limiting it sonically.
It doesn’t sound as scrappy as the Superstar at higher volumes because i-box doesn’t overwork the Slix’s bass radiator and it’s a lot louder than the Jawbone Jambox Mini, reaching a very respectable 77dB in our sound meter test. This is a fair ultraportable budget speaker, but if you can afford to go a bit larger, the Pure Voca offers a much more satisfying sound for just £20 more. The slimness of the unit only gives the radiator so much room to move, limiting it sonically.
Monster Superstar
The Monster Superstar sits in the same class as the Jambox Mini and i-box Slix. It’s a dead small speaker dinky enough to fit into a jacket pocket, giving it pretty much supreme portability. Monster has opted for a pretty practical design too, with a rubbery cover you can pull off and give a rinse should, for example, your child throw it in some dog poo because you won’t stop playing old Miles Davis albums. Its design offers some of the least impressive build, though. Aside from the rubber cover the entire outer of the Superstar is plastic, and the not-that-classy aesthetics don’t entirely sit well with the £100 price.
How’s the sound? Monster uses two tiny drivers and a two-sided bass radiator, which it works a bit harder than the ones found in the rival i-box Slix and Jambox Mini. However, bass is still very much limited by the Superstar’s inch-or-so thickness. Its tone isn’t too hot either, with its treble becoming quite harsh and strained at higher volumes. The sound becomes too bright as it struggles to pump-out more sound. At low volumes sound quality is fair, which a much bigger sound than the Jambox Mini, not to mention much greater top volume. But it lacks refinement, and really doesn’t handle its own technical limitations well. Top volume listening can be quite uncomfortable. For the price we’re looking for a little more.
How’s the sound? Monster uses two tiny drivers and a two-sided bass radiator, which it works a bit harder than the ones found in the rival i-box Slix and Jambox Mini. However, bass is still very much limited by the Superstar’s inch-or-so thickness. Its tone isn’t too hot either, with its treble becoming quite harsh and strained at higher volumes. The sound becomes too bright as it struggles to pump-out more sound. At low volumes sound quality is fair, which a much bigger sound than the Jambox Mini, not to mention much greater top volume. But it lacks refinement, and really doesn’t handle its own technical limitations well. Top volume listening can be quite uncomfortable. For the price we’re looking for a little more.
Bayan Soundbook Go
The Bayan Audio Soundbook Go has one of the cutest designs on test, with a flap that flips over to protect the speaker. It’s where the ‘book’ part of the name comes from. However, it also has a function. Magnets in the cover turn the speaker off when the flap is closed, giving it portability bonus points. Size-wise, it sits in a middle ground between the Beats Pills of this world and the larger speakers on test. It’s where the bass sits too. While there’s nothing like the power on offer in the Bose SoundLink Mini, it is able to recreate lower-end frequencies than the Beats PIll.
If you can afford to go a little larger, though, the Pure Voca offers a much better bass response. While both use passive radiators to create bass without much space, the increase depth of the Voca lets it produce a much more convincing low-end thump. This speaker isn’t as thin-sounding as some, but it doesn’t quite manage to avoid sounding ‘small’ in the way some others here do. The design is a real asset here, although at £79 the SoundBook Go is also one of the cheaper options too. It remains a decent choice for quieter, nearfield listening thanks to its detailed treble. As it takes a harsh edge at higher volumes, it’s not to be thought of as a room-filler, though.
If you can afford to go a little larger, though, the Pure Voca offers a much better bass response. While both use passive radiators to create bass without much space, the increase depth of the Voca lets it produce a much more convincing low-end thump. This speaker isn’t as thin-sounding as some, but it doesn’t quite manage to avoid sounding ‘small’ in the way some others here do. The design is a real asset here, although at £79 the SoundBook Go is also one of the cheaper options too. It remains a decent choice for quieter, nearfield listening thanks to its detailed treble. As it takes a harsh edge at higher volumes, it’s not to be thought of as a room-filler, though.
Pure Voca
In recent years, Pure has opted for a cute, (optional) colourful design with its Jongo wireless speakers, but the Voca is an altogether classier prospect. It features a brushed metal outer shell and classic black grilles on the front and back. It’s a design cribbed from the Bose SoundLink Mini, and while the Bose is a little smaller, the Pure Voca is rather the better-looking of the two.
Thanks to its use of Bose-like dual bass radiators, it's the cheapest speaker on test to provide a satisfying bass response, making bass drum hits sound right, rather than like someone flicking a bin lid. We think Pure has hit a perfect storm of price, size and sound with the Voca, offering a fairly good-value option in a space still largely inhabited by overpriced speakers. That it looks nice too is just a bonus. As well as being fairly impressed by the weight of the sound, the Pure Voca also offers some of the clearest treble of all the units we tested. It doesn’t quite go as loud as the Bose Soundlink Mini or Sony SRS-X5, but for most uses it’ll be fine: registering 77dB at four feet with our sound meter.
There are some little tweaks Pure could apply in an update, though. At top volume there is a hint of bass distortion at times, although nothing like as bad as we heard in the first-generation Cambridge Audio Go. The passive radiator system has been implemented very well, just not perfectly. We’d also ideally like to see the speaker use a microUSB charging port rather than the 12V one seen here. It no doubt allows faster charging, but having the option to use the same charger as your phone would be welcome. We don't miss the lack of aptX here, but it could have a minor impact on sound quality in a speaker of this size.
While the Bose Soundlink Mini and Sony SRS-X5 beat the Pure Voca in some sonic respects, most notably their ability to fill rooms thanks to their wider dispersal and grander sound stages, this is a top budget pick if you’re after a small speaker.
Thanks to its use of Bose-like dual bass radiators, it's the cheapest speaker on test to provide a satisfying bass response, making bass drum hits sound right, rather than like someone flicking a bin lid. We think Pure has hit a perfect storm of price, size and sound with the Voca, offering a fairly good-value option in a space still largely inhabited by overpriced speakers. That it looks nice too is just a bonus. As well as being fairly impressed by the weight of the sound, the Pure Voca also offers some of the clearest treble of all the units we tested. It doesn’t quite go as loud as the Bose Soundlink Mini or Sony SRS-X5, but for most uses it’ll be fine: registering 77dB at four feet with our sound meter.
There are some little tweaks Pure could apply in an update, though. At top volume there is a hint of bass distortion at times, although nothing like as bad as we heard in the first-generation Cambridge Audio Go. The passive radiator system has been implemented very well, just not perfectly. We’d also ideally like to see the speaker use a microUSB charging port rather than the 12V one seen here. It no doubt allows faster charging, but having the option to use the same charger as your phone would be welcome. We don't miss the lack of aptX here, but it could have a minor impact on sound quality in a speaker of this size.
While the Bose Soundlink Mini and Sony SRS-X5 beat the Pure Voca in some sonic respects, most notably their ability to fill rooms thanks to their wider dispersal and grander sound stages, this is a top budget pick if you’re after a small speaker.
Cambridge Audio Go v2
We reviewed the first version of the Cambridge Audio Go last year. It was great, but problematic. This time around several core issues have been fixed, most importantly that the bass radiator not longer distorts at high volumes. This is one of the larger speakers in this class, letting it fit in two large main drivers, two tweeters plus a large bass radiator. Consequently, it’s one of the best-sounding speakers in the test. The smaller speakers can’t compete, bar the Pure Voca and Bose Soundlink Mini.
After being stung by complaints about distortion the first time around, the GO has a fairy conservative bass response. We were told that the bass is less pronounced but deeper, but small drivers will always struggle to reproduce truly deep bass and both the Bose and Sony models offer a bit more thwack. Still, the Cambridge Audio offers a nice and balanced sound signature that we imagine many people will get on with. It does seem a shame, though, that the changes in this second model have pushed the price up a little to £120. As well as a redesigned drier system, you get aptX.The Go is worth the money certainly, but isn’t quite a value standard-setter in the manner of the first model. The sound dispersal is somewhat narrow too, which may be down to the sort of tweeters used.
After being stung by complaints about distortion the first time around, the GO has a fairy conservative bass response. We were told that the bass is less pronounced but deeper, but small drivers will always struggle to reproduce truly deep bass and both the Bose and Sony models offer a bit more thwack. Still, the Cambridge Audio offers a nice and balanced sound signature that we imagine many people will get on with. It does seem a shame, though, that the changes in this second model have pushed the price up a little to £120. As well as a redesigned drier system, you get aptX.The Go is worth the money certainly, but isn’t quite a value standard-setter in the manner of the first model. The sound dispersal is somewhat narrow too, which may be down to the sort of tweeters used.
Bose SoundLink Mini
The Bose Soundlink Mini is a technical marvel. Of all the speakers here, the Bose Soundlink Mini is the one whose sound bears the least relation to its creator's size. Through intensely clever use of multiple bass radiators and that signature Bose tuning, the Bose Soundlink Mini sounds as big as the largest speakers here a lot of the time, while being one of the smaller units. Granted, you’re not going to fit it in a jacket pocket like the Jambox Mini, but it’s pretty teeny. Check out the pic above for an idea about size.
As well as sounding big, the Soundlink Mini is very warm and powerful, with easily the most mid-bass out of the speakers we listened to. This mid-heavy warm character is classic Bose, and while it’s not our tone of choice in high-end speakers, to hear it reproduced in something this small is impressive. Thin and weak it is not. In terms of being technically impressive, the Soundlink Mini is one of the best wireless speakers ever produced. Even that it barely vibrates under pressure is award-worthy. The dispersal of its sound and the scale of the soundstage are also better than the Cambridge Audio Go and Pure Voca, presumably thanks to Bose’s infamous psychoacoustic fannying-about with sound. Listening to the Soundlink Mini once again after our original review, we still think this speaker is a real achievement.
As well as sounding big, the Soundlink Mini is very warm and powerful, with easily the most mid-bass out of the speakers we listened to. This mid-heavy warm character is classic Bose, and while it’s not our tone of choice in high-end speakers, to hear it reproduced in something this small is impressive. Thin and weak it is not. In terms of being technically impressive, the Soundlink Mini is one of the best wireless speakers ever produced. Even that it barely vibrates under pressure is award-worthy. The dispersal of its sound and the scale of the soundstage are also better than the Cambridge Audio Go and Pure Voca, presumably thanks to Bose’s infamous psychoacoustic fannying-about with sound. Listening to the Soundlink Mini once again after our original review, we still think this speaker is a real achievement.
Sony SRS-X5
The Sony SRS-X5 is one of the larger speakers on test, but is still available for £119 at the time of writing. Bigger it may be, but the sheer wealth of drivers packed in make it an impressive engineering feat. It houses two higher frequency and mid-range drivers plus a ‘sub’ bass unit and two passive radiators. As the only speaker to pack in a dedicated subwoofer driver, it’s no surprise the Sony SRS-X5 pushes out the most convincing bass. The others here rely more heavily on bass radiators, which tend to provide ‘one note’ bass that lacks refinement and sophistication.
With by far the deepest bass response here and detailed, sparky treble, the SRS-X5 offers the best dynamic range of all the speakers on test. We did find that it tends to sound better used as a room-filling unit rather than one for near-field listening, but it’s the category winner for pure sound quality. As well as providing good dynamic range and beefy bass, it offers wide dispersal and an expansive sound. The output belies the size of the SRS-X5 hugely, although be aware that this is also one of the largest speaker we tested, being around the same size as the Cambridge Audio Go v2.
Battery life isn’t as good as the best with 8 hours quoted — which will work out a bit less if you’re listening at higher volumes. Clearly the meaty bass requires a fair bit of juice. Still, if audio is king, this speaker is suitably royal. If you’re looking to fill a room, the Sony SRS-X5 is the best choice for around £100.
With by far the deepest bass response here and detailed, sparky treble, the SRS-X5 offers the best dynamic range of all the speakers on test. We did find that it tends to sound better used as a room-filling unit rather than one for near-field listening, but it’s the category winner for pure sound quality. As well as providing good dynamic range and beefy bass, it offers wide dispersal and an expansive sound. The output belies the size of the SRS-X5 hugely, although be aware that this is also one of the largest speaker we tested, being around the same size as the Cambridge Audio Go v2.
Battery life isn’t as good as the best with 8 hours quoted — which will work out a bit less if you’re listening at higher volumes. Clearly the meaty bass requires a fair bit of juice. Still, if audio is king, this speaker is suitably royal. If you’re looking to fill a room, the Sony SRS-X5 is the best choice for around £100.
Portable Audio System on Wikipedia
A portable audio player is a personal mobile device that allows the user to listen to recorded audio while mobile. Sometimes a distinction is made between a portable player, battery-powered and with one or more small loudspeakers, and a personal player, listened to with earphones. Portable battery-operated reel-to-reel tape recorders were introduced in the 1950s, initially tending to be high-priced units for reporters, produced by Uher and Nagra. Lower-priced units became available later. In the mid-1960s Philips introduced the battery-operated compact cassette recorder, originally used for recording speech. At about the same time the 8-track player was introduced. It was very successful at the time, though bulky and inconvenient to use.
There was an annoying pause at the end of each track as the program changed. The compact cassette, although physically much smaller than the 8-track cartridge, became capable of good[clarification needed] sound quality as the technology developed, and longer cassette tapes became available. Cassette decks (not portable) were introduced for home use, and this encouraged the production of pre-recorded music cassettes The first truly personal cassette player, the Sony Walkman, was introduced in 1979 and sold very well. It was much smaller than an 8-track player or the earlier cassette recorders, and was listened to with stereophonic headphones, unlike previous equipment which used small loudspeakers. Unlike small loudspeakers, headphones were capable of very good sound quality. All previous compact cassette devices could record as well as play back; Walkmans and similar devices often had no recording facility, but took advantage of the pre-recorded cassettes that had become widely available.
CD players
Early personal CD players can play commercial CDs; later models can play recordable CD-R and CDRW media either copied from a pressed CD or containing MP3 and similar files.
Digital players
In 1998, digital audio players (DAPs) based on flash memory or hard disk storage started to be available (The Rio PMP300 from Diamond Multimedia is widely considered to be the first mass market DAP). Files are usually compressed using lossy compression; this reduces file size at the cost of some loss of quality. The trade-off between degree of compression and file size can be varied, although this is not an option for existing compressed files. The advantage of solid-state DAPs over hard disks and CDs is resistance to vibration, small size and weight, and low battery usage. Early solid-state DAPs had capacities of a few tens of kilobytes; as of 2009 capacities of many gigabytes are available.
Portable Audio Recorder Reviews on Youtube
Portable Stereo Speakers News
Omni-directional stereo speakers will keep people guessing \
LAS VEGAS — Stereo speakers that only blare sound in one direction soon could be as old-fashioned as vinyl records. At the International CES show this week, Samsung and Sony showed off 360-degree speakers that project music in all directions. Samsung's WAM 7500 and WAM 6500 speakers deliver a dynamic, surround-sound audio experience. At the company's CES booth, Samsung recreated a living-room setting where the egg-shaped wireless speakers were hung from the ceiling like pieces of art and also placed on tables like centerpieces. One model of the speaker pod is designed to be portable.
Sony (NYSE:SNE) combined its 360-audio products with lights. Its first product in the category is a Bluetooth speaker integrated in an LED light bulb. The Sony LED Bulb Speaker will be for sale this spring. Pricing was not announced.
Sony also demonstrated its Symphonic Light Speaker concept where an omni-directional speaker is integrated into a table-top light. The light and music from the device can instantly change the mood in the room, Sony spokesman Tom Krajewski said. "This innovative product allows your favorite music to flow from a beautiful lamp fixture," Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai said a press conference. "The sound radiates outward in all directions and it differentiates it from a more traditional speaker, which is best obviously when you're in front of it". Read More At ( Investors )
Sony (NYSE:SNE) combined its 360-audio products with lights. Its first product in the category is a Bluetooth speaker integrated in an LED light bulb. The Sony LED Bulb Speaker will be for sale this spring. Pricing was not announced.
Sony also demonstrated its Symphonic Light Speaker concept where an omni-directional speaker is integrated into a table-top light. The light and music from the device can instantly change the mood in the room, Sony spokesman Tom Krajewski said. "This innovative product allows your favorite music to flow from a beautiful lamp fixture," Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai said a press conference. "The sound radiates outward in all directions and it differentiates it from a more traditional speaker, which is best obviously when you're in front of it". Read More At ( Investors )
Zetally Avy is an Android-powered portable speaker (crowdfunding)
Zettaly’s Avy is a stereo speaker with a 7-hour battery, support for WiFi and Bluetooth, and a 7 inch touchscreen display between the speakers. It runs Google Android software, and while you can pair the speaker with your phone and use it like any Bluteooth speaker, you don’t need a separate device to use this speaker, since it supports apps such as Spotify, TuneIn Radio, and Google Play Music.
Zetally is showing off the Avy at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, but if you want to buy one you’ll have to go through Kickstarter, at least initially. The company is raising money to bring the Avy to market through the crowdfunding site. The company expects to deliver the Avy to Kickstarter backers in May. Prices will normally start at $169 for a model with 8GB of storage, but Kicsktarter backers can reserve one for lower prices. A 32GB model will run $229 (or less during crowdfunding). Each model has stereo 5W speakers, a 7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel TFT touchscreen display, a 1GB quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a VGA front-facing camera, 802.11n WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0. Read More At ( Liliputing )
Sound and battery: 20 portable Bluetooth speakers
Product Roundup The arrival of Bluetooth 4, with its reduced hunger for power and support for audio codecs like aptX and A2DP means that there has been an explosion in the availability of Bluetooth speakers which connect to computers, tablets and smartphones, and are often small enough to be chucked in a bag and taken to the park or beach. From long-established audio brands like Sony, Philips, and Pioneer, to newcomers like Braven and Jabra, and even those not associated with audio, like Ted Baker, everyone, it seems wants a piece of the action. Even names more often associated with expensive hi-fi kit like Bose, B&O, and Harman Kardon are getting in on the act.
For your listening pleasure, we tested 20 speakers for audio quality, ease of connectivity and portability. While all the speakers on test supported wireless connection by Bluetooth, each had additional features too. Many have support for NFC, meaning you can pair them with an NFC-compatible smartphone or tablet by placing the phone on or near the speaker, without having to root through the Bluetooth settings in Android.
In our tests, NFC worked on all those which boasted it, with the exception of the Libratone (which saw our Android phone and attempted to pair but failed), and the Ultimate Ears which didn't register the presence of the device at all. Read More At ( TheRegister )
For your listening pleasure, we tested 20 speakers for audio quality, ease of connectivity and portability. While all the speakers on test supported wireless connection by Bluetooth, each had additional features too. Many have support for NFC, meaning you can pair them with an NFC-compatible smartphone or tablet by placing the phone on or near the speaker, without having to root through the Bluetooth settings in Android.
In our tests, NFC worked on all those which boasted it, with the exception of the Libratone (which saw our Android phone and attempted to pair but failed), and the Ultimate Ears which didn't register the presence of the device at all. Read More At ( TheRegister )
No comments:
Post a Comment