I have occasional travel with my work and so I am a big fan of portable music speakers. They are easy to pack and usually offer far better sound than the standard hotel options or the anaemic sound you get from a phone speaker. I've had a chance to test out a lot of different Bluetooth speakers of late and I'm genuinely impressed with the quality these small portable speakers can deliver. This is another that fits the bill, very well indeed.
Inside the box is the Speaker, a micro USB cable for charging, a 3.5mm audio cable & instruction manual.
This is a highly portable offering measuring in at 65 x 65 x 71mm and weighing 268g. It feels sturdy and well built with the zinc alloy shell giving it a very solid feel. This features an active speaker driver as well as a relatively large cavity to allow for extra low end presence. Also housed in this design is the Li-ion battery which is rated as good for an 8 to 12 hour playtime - this will presumably be dependent on volume. On the front of the unit is an LED indicator for charge and pairing status as well as a microphone and Bluetooth/Call button. On the rear, you will find a micro USB charging port and the 3.5mm line in. The main control buttons are actually on the bottom of the speaker which sounds like a bad design in theory but in practice it is a non issue. As well as the power button, there is the Play/Pause button along with volume up and down buttons which double up for track skipping. I say these buttons being located here are a non issue because you would typically set the volume once and then let your music play but you also have the option of controlling playback and volume from the music source such as your phone or similar.
The design does point out something obvious though - this is a mono speaker. Some people may think of this as a short coming but I actually see it as a positive. The issue with such small speakers is that they don't offer any real stereo separation as such. Too many portable speakers on the market try to fit two small drivers into the unit with very little benefit. By sticking with a single, larger speaker driver, this unit offers a much fuller sound for such a small size of speaker.
Connecting is done over Bluetooth 4.0 or using the supplied 3.5mm line in cable. While both options work well, the Bluetooth option offers up more convenience and by going with the newer version 4.0 revision, allows for good battery life. To keep things topped up, the supplied micro USB cable can be used with any powered USB port.
Thanks to the design iClever have followed, audio performance is surprisingly strong. Output power is rated at 5 watts which is perfectly adequate for a small portable speaker; it gets loud enough for most environments while remaining composed at all times. That single, larger driver offers up a much richer sound than you expect from this size of speaker and you get none of the tininess that often accompanies such small performers. While it won't have you shaking the floor boards, the bass comes along with a surprising punch and sounds meatier than any of the other portable speakers around this size I have tried that use smaller, stereo drivers. The airflow that the large cavity allows, contributes to this bigger sound. Naturally though, this is still a single, small speaker unit and compromises in the audio quality are there but given this will for the most part be paired with compressed digital music over a Bluetooth connection, it is a very capable performer indeed. If you are looking for some kind of true HiFi experience, no speaker unit this size is going to deliver it but there are many similar units out there that can only aspire to the this speaker's abilities.
This is a great sounding speaker considering the small size and price. I like this single driver design as it allows a bigger sound than a comparatively sized stereo unit. There are many portable speakers out there but this is definitely one of the best all-round packages for price, size and importantly, audio quality I have tried. Throw in the ability to work as a hands free speaker system for mobile phones and this adds up to one compelling package.
I got this from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Recommended...id=1434312712&sr=8-1&keywords=iclever+speaker
Video review:
Inside the box is the Speaker, a micro USB cable for charging, a 3.5mm audio cable & instruction manual.
This is a highly portable offering measuring in at 65 x 65 x 71mm and weighing 268g. It feels sturdy and well built with the zinc alloy shell giving it a very solid feel. This features an active speaker driver as well as a relatively large cavity to allow for extra low end presence. Also housed in this design is the Li-ion battery which is rated as good for an 8 to 12 hour playtime - this will presumably be dependent on volume. On the front of the unit is an LED indicator for charge and pairing status as well as a microphone and Bluetooth/Call button. On the rear, you will find a micro USB charging port and the 3.5mm line in. The main control buttons are actually on the bottom of the speaker which sounds like a bad design in theory but in practice it is a non issue. As well as the power button, there is the Play/Pause button along with volume up and down buttons which double up for track skipping. I say these buttons being located here are a non issue because you would typically set the volume once and then let your music play but you also have the option of controlling playback and volume from the music source such as your phone or similar.
The design does point out something obvious though - this is a mono speaker. Some people may think of this as a short coming but I actually see it as a positive. The issue with such small speakers is that they don't offer any real stereo separation as such. Too many portable speakers on the market try to fit two small drivers into the unit with very little benefit. By sticking with a single, larger speaker driver, this unit offers a much fuller sound for such a small size of speaker.
Connecting is done over Bluetooth 4.0 or using the supplied 3.5mm line in cable. While both options work well, the Bluetooth option offers up more convenience and by going with the newer version 4.0 revision, allows for good battery life. To keep things topped up, the supplied micro USB cable can be used with any powered USB port.
Thanks to the design iClever have followed, audio performance is surprisingly strong. Output power is rated at 5 watts which is perfectly adequate for a small portable speaker; it gets loud enough for most environments while remaining composed at all times. That single, larger driver offers up a much richer sound than you expect from this size of speaker and you get none of the tininess that often accompanies such small performers. While it won't have you shaking the floor boards, the bass comes along with a surprising punch and sounds meatier than any of the other portable speakers around this size I have tried that use smaller, stereo drivers. The airflow that the large cavity allows, contributes to this bigger sound. Naturally though, this is still a single, small speaker unit and compromises in the audio quality are there but given this will for the most part be paired with compressed digital music over a Bluetooth connection, it is a very capable performer indeed. If you are looking for some kind of true HiFi experience, no speaker unit this size is going to deliver it but there are many similar units out there that can only aspire to the this speaker's abilities.
This is a great sounding speaker considering the small size and price. I like this single driver design as it allows a bigger sound than a comparatively sized stereo unit. There are many portable speakers out there but this is definitely one of the best all-round packages for price, size and importantly, audio quality I have tried. Throw in the ability to work as a hands free speaker system for mobile phones and this adds up to one compelling package.
I got this from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Recommended...id=1434312712&sr=8-1&keywords=iclever+speaker
Video review:
