Gizmo Guy: No Wire, No Worry
Looking for a small wireless speaker to play nicely with the music streaming from your smartphone, tablet, or laptop? Compact, battery-operated Bluetooth (BT) speakers are blooming as brightly as the flowers this season, skinned in summery tones of yellow, aqua, rose red, and sky blue, as well as the ever popular black.
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Looking for a small wireless speaker to play nicely with the music streaming from your smartphone, tablet, or laptop?
Compact, battery-operated Bluetooth (BT) speakers are blooming as brightly as the flowers this season, skinned in summery tones of yellow, aqua, rose red, and sky blue, as well as the ever popular black.
And, like your favorite earthly buds, the bunch we've gathered for testing is all at least splash resistant, or sometimes even dunk- worthy. Those carrying an industry-sanctioned IPX4 rating can shrug off summer showers. Three others are IPX7 rated, capable of surviving a half an hour under water if submerged no deeper than 3 feet.
While pitched for poolside, picnic, and beach use, these all-weather entertainers can please year-round, inside and outdoors.
The baby Bluetooths pack easily for trips, running for at least eight hours before recharging with the same 5-amp power "wart" you're carrying for the mobile phone.
When you're watching a movie on a tablet, the soundtrack receives far more prominence and character on a paired BT speaker.
The best we surveyed - the Libratone One Click and Logitech Boom 2 - could enhance your big-screen TV enjoyment, boasting crystal-clear high tones, dramatic mid-range voicings, and surprisingly well-defined bass response.
Most have speaker phone capability, as well, automatically pausing the music to answer calls relayed wirelessly from your paired phone.
Be forewarned, though, the vintage Chicago pop suite "An Hour in the Shower" might become your zoned-out saga, too, when one of these speakers is humming sweetly on the tub's edge.
Hiker's best pal. With its permanently affixed and oversized carabiner, the JBL Clip 2 ($59.95) is the best traveling companion for campers and mountain climbers. Resembling a squashed muffin, this 6.5-ounce morsel could nourish everyone at the campfire, so long as there are no boom-or-bust bass fanatics in the crowd. Rated IPX7, the Clip has both the rugged, nano-coated cloth speaker cover and no-slip rubbery back, flaps, and button bumps typical of the species. It's the only example in our test group with an onboard cable plugging into non-Bluetooth-enabled music sources. All other BT speakers make do with just a 3.5-mm input jack.
Pool pals. While the sound tootin' from a tug-boat-shaped Monster Superstar is tepid, its talent for floating in a pool or tub makes it spa and water- aerobics friendly. And when floating on its back, taking on splashes, the Monster's upward firing woofers spew back the best "dancing waters" spectacle this side of the Las Vegas Strip. Jet.com is practically giving this IPX4 speaker away at $56.69. Walmart wants $89.95.
Ultimate Ears' worthy UE Roll 2 is prepped for both an extended dunk and lounging on the water's surface, the latter if you inflate and attach the included "Floatie" outer-tube. A mere 5.5 inches across and 3 inches deep at its bulging center, and weighing a mere 12 ounces, this round thing isn't just a pleasure to pack. It's a small sonic miracle with a shockingly robust sound and extended Bluetooth signal reach of about 100 feet. It also has two tight bungee cord loops on back for hanging onto things. Comes in lovely colors and patterns. Runs nine hours. Lacks speakerphone features; hardly a deal breaker. $86-$100.
Circles of life. Typical of the laid-back, organic House of Marley electronics brand, the cylindrically shaped, one-pound Chant Sport BT speaker is made of natural wood fiber and recycled PP (polypropylene). "No woman, no cry" cause she's water and dust resistant (IP67), plays nicely with the Bob Marley catalog (and other stuff), runs nine hours, and seems reasonably priced at $99 (worldwidestereo.com). Yeah, everything's "irie," so long as you don't directly compare it to the next one:
Mighty UE Boom and its new sibling Boom 2. While also cylindrically shaped and cupholder friendly, the Booms have a 15-hour run time and IPX7 rating, and deliver a dramatically bolder sound contoured by a brainy, volume-sensitive DSP (digital signal processing) circuit. The Boom 2 ($180) plays a bit louder, tweaks the Bluetooth range, and adds a track skipping control. But don't discount the original Boom, even though the maker now has (down to $150).
Liberating Libratone. For the foreseeable future, I'm going with the Scandinavian designed Libratone One Click, the newest and BEST little splash-proof Bluetooth speaker under the sun. Paperback book-sized - roughly 8 inches tall, 5 wide, and 13/8 inches thick - and the heaviest (33 ounces) of our contestants, this IPX4-rated, $199 sweetie beats rivals to a pulp with its wide-open, deliciously detailed and natural, front and rear-firing sound. Pick your passion: funk, rock, jazz, hip hop, classical. All's right in this liberated world. Icing the cake: a glowing touch-activated volume/pause control, flexible carry handle options, and a dedicated app delivering thousands of global radio stations through VTuner.
215-854-5960 @JTakiff