The
Ultimate Portable Bluetooth Speaker Shoot-out
A good set
of travel speakers are a must-h ave for th ose wh o enjoy great sound on the go
Bluetooth
4.0 gives you better range,uses much lesser power and offers much better sound
f idelity too!
By definition, the
headline of this column is wrong. Cringingly, clickbaitingly wrong. It’s
impossible for anyone to do an ‘ultimate’ comparison between Bluetooth
speakers. For starters there are too many of them (I would say about a thousand
plus brands not including unbranded imports). Then there’s the whole category
problem as Bluetooth-enabled speakers come in all shapes and sizes – teeny tiny
portable pocket ones to giant floor standing beasts. To compound it further is
the price diversity. They start from as little as ~ 200 and go onto a few
lakhs. But the point was to get you into this column. Let me tell you why this
category is so hot and why investing in a good Bluetooth speaker is essential.
A
comeback
The jargon
In a previous column, I
had written about how music went from being a shared experience to one that got
closeted as a singular personal one deep within our phones. Shared music has
finally made a comeback and people do want to experience it together.
Showcasing your own playlist is now a ‘thing’. And the easiest way to do that
is on a BTS. For the sake of clarity, I’m going to restrict this column to
those speakers that are BT enabled as there are multiple other ways to listen
to music from our phone (WiFi, MultiRoom, Aux In, Optical In). Most people tend
to spend days trying to buy the speaker with the right specs and technology.
Bluetooth 4.0 gives you better range (distance), uses much lesser power to do
it and offers much better sound fidelity (it is still massively compressed
though). So, don’t buy any speaker that isn’t BT 4.0 as a minimum. Bluetooth
still can’t give you sound quality anywhere close to WiFi or a Wired Aux In
connection. Then there’s this new high-fangled technology called aptX that
promises audiophile level sound over Bluetooth. Both your phone and the speaker
need to have aptX for it to work on its own. I found no discernible audio
difference, so best to ignore aptX. NFC (Near Field Communication) on the
speaker means that you don’t need to pair it, just tap your NFCenabled phone on
the speaker and start playing your song.
The
category
In a subsequent column,
I’m going to review some bedroom speakers and then some of the bigger whole
house kinds. For now, I’m going to stick to portable travel speakers as a
category.
Creative Muvo 2c
Best value for money and
a sound that goes way beyond its palm-sized body. Almost impossible bass
levels, is waterresistant, can play off a microSD card and can be custom tuned
with the Sound Blaster Control Panel app.
Harman Onyx Mini
Another little marvel.
The smaller sibling of the award winning Onyx, this reassuringly weighty
circular-shaped speaker can belt out some great sound, gives excellent battery
life and you can even set up two of them in stereo left-right mode.
Bose SoundLink Mini
Silky aluminium clad,
super small, gives about eight hours of battery play, nice thumpy bass, superb
highs, falters slightly on the mids, but a bit pricey.
Creative iRoar
May well be the best
looking of the lot. Has 12 hours battery life, sound that defies it’s size, the
roar button really kicks in some amazing bass, great mids and highs, can be
docked onto a subwoofer (iRoar Rock) that takes it to a whole new level.
Bowers & Wilkins T7
Wireless
Larger than others, it
sets up an awesome soundstage, never fatigues the ear and the bass response is
phenomenal. I hate the blingy design (what were you thinking B&W) but the
sound makes up for it.
Soundmatters FoxLV2
Built by a former NASA
engineer, this small 6 x 2 inch speaker can go where no small speaker has gone
before. The bass production is almost surreal and the rest is tight and
natural. You can also buy an add-on subwoofer, but you don’t really need it.
There are hundreds of
others. Many others from JBL, Monster, Riva, Libra, X Mini, UE Boom, Fugoo,
Marshall (The Kilburn is amazing but a little big) and a dozen others. I’ve
given you the ones that will actually give you sound and portability without
any compromise. It’s time to unleash the music from your phone. You’ll be
surprised at what you hear and what you’ve been missing.
Rajiv Makhni is managing
editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet
3
HTBR
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