Review: Beats Pill XL - the ultimate portable speaker?

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9YedLg5idof4oKmsGmlA8r_xFS0u70Ogh2JOYRCbBFAQTpcNpw8FcMBACABmikx3LIyQd22iHgDvHhRt-YJi2apECHXqbYJEmLUjhX4HRbI5xN9hnOFoItTNbxEG15xL4EFaPdud9O3A/s1600/pill-ports.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgVyU65hCjeAtvb-DxaC8LcO6xggEKCjGYejQxZjLRpDJtTvD7K0ryqXzy-rw3ZKnABJhFNZiNSmE8vzjQDAWUTjsCW5acpUFoDFFw6e0CNSky3shqzWZRbpkrZni1mKK8WgH9fIYe2jD/s1600/pill1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgVyU65hCjeAtvb-DxaC8LcO6xggEKCjGYejQxZjLRpDJtTvD7K0ryqXzy-rw3ZKnABJhFNZiNSmE8vzjQDAWUTjsCW5acpUFoDFFw6e0CNSky3shqzWZRbpkrZni1mKK8WgH9fIYe2jD/s1600/pill1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />When people were asking me for the overall best portable speaker I was already raving about the Beats Pill XL without even having heard it in detail. The only chance I had for a short listen was outdoors together with a friend when we <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/05/first-impressions-beats-pill-xl.html">compared</a> his new Pill XL to his iLoud and my Bose Soundlink Wireless Music System. Of course I was pretty impressed by the Pill XL, as it was the sheer power easily blowing the iLoud out of the water, nearly matching the Soundlink Wirless Music System in overall loudness. But it is a completely different experience you get when you listen to a speaker indoors in a more controlled enviroment, where you don't feel the need to crank it to the maximum. Meanwhile I own the Beats Pill XL, and while it is indeed an impressively powerful speaker, it definitely has some quirks regarding sound.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fKJVoww2dvy0Z8UIMpZZjpYWx8AJEm8lDn-ace4XNlbtHZXNzlCezfXB-Ebc7extAK_PFdmPOQl-7sFam5wkSSRbv1rUqYqW1Z5Y6qtxM1HrwgKVItsRQNBNUXRqCB-LY8qH9Lunz0p-/s1600/pill2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fKJVoww2dvy0Z8UIMpZZjpYWx8AJEm8lDn-ace4XNlbtHZXNzlCezfXB-Ebc7extAK_PFdmPOQl-7sFam5wkSSRbv1rUqYqW1Z5Y6qtxM1HrwgKVItsRQNBNUXRqCB-LY8qH9Lunz0p-/s1600/pill2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Ahead of the Pill XL Beats already had the small Pill on the market, which was one of the most unimpressive portable speakers I have ever heard. The small Pill was extremely overpriced producing a tinny distorted sound that was not better than any of those 20$ minispeakers which you could get in every junk-store.<br />Beats had to come up with something considerably better to cover the embarrassment the original Pill had created, although there still seem to be many owners who actually love this piece of garbage. Meahwile there is even a new Pill 2.0 version out, which has some new features, but soundwise nothing changed at all. But now let's have a look at the bigger Pill and if it really can live up to the expectations with some facts about the speaker and its features first:<br /><br />The Pill XL is not a huge speaker, it is still pretty portable, weighting about 1.5kg which makes it slightly heavier than the contenders like Soundlink III, TDK A33 etc, but still lighter and more compact than the UE Boombox, or the Soundlink Wireless Music System or a Sounddock Portable. It has about the size of a 1.5l PET-bottle, therefore it should find space in any bag or backpack for transport. Beats also offers some additional shoulder strap, so that you can hang it just there, like an old school boombox, in case you manage to find the strap somewhere for order. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqZ0YGowNr0OJJUiw5JgjaeIeZJht9xevK65X2P4k6_uVIX0Gg2X7OHB4wOYeC0Carg4b9u6YvqavudYcyq8uKTW3DFZJt_kAvmAtP69QRMQvIgtiADlI2gHha5_Zp5DVNyJZ93UYszga/s1600/pill-bottle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqZ0YGowNr0OJJUiw5JgjaeIeZJht9xevK65X2P4k6_uVIX0Gg2X7OHB4wOYeC0Carg4b9u6YvqavudYcyq8uKTW3DFZJt_kAvmAtP69QRMQvIgtiADlI2gHha5_Zp5DVNyJZ93UYszga/s1600/pill-bottle.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />As the Pill XL has a handy grip, you can just grab it with your right hand, and have the main volume controls perfectly reachable with your thumb. Walking like that through the street with the Pill XL cranked to the max, you should definitely be able to annoy all other nearby pedestrians.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2L9DyPfv-gt8UPDzNEHfxM9Q7-QAbzI252LxLixtqzA8km5YKdYzvOru5IRuOFNezJseFtXxPmozlmrgqoiKEZH76c9qTnYndjtUjRmDsTyeYctcNOH0YRI3xkRCzQP_UIE96YpPi6FA/s1600/pill-grip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2L9DyPfv-gt8UPDzNEHfxM9Q7-QAbzI252LxLixtqzA8km5YKdYzvOru5IRuOFNezJseFtXxPmozlmrgqoiKEZH76c9qTnYndjtUjRmDsTyeYctcNOH0YRI3xkRCzQP_UIE96YpPi6FA/s1600/pill-grip.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />But the Pill XL is also a pretty well equipped speaker full of useful features. It can charge external devices through the built in USB-port. It can be paired with another Pill XL or the smaller Pill 2.0 for wireless stereo or double-mode. It even has an auxiliary output, so that it will act as a Bluetooth receiver. Plug in another speaker and you can boost the sound even more. Of course NFC and Apt-X is supported as well. All ports are hidden behind a rubber-flap with exception of the power-jack, which of course needs a proprietary 12V charger. There is also an update-port, which gives some hope for future support and maybe some software updates.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIhd_1B7HdCK3ksAZgRUNgvVn8Fw8w5_fdfFZTLd9g7WUDqnnzZ_voRE-Uxyz3cam_NpS74Ao2WbmS0JUFLREYNxwFj8LZFlFxoglFL2QblxvzXz_thXXD3T_qqZU0xExoGCCBbBRTxeu/s1600/pill-ports.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIhd_1B7HdCK3ksAZgRUNgvVn8Fw8w5_fdfFZTLd9g7WUDqnnzZ_voRE-Uxyz3cam_NpS74Ao2WbmS0JUFLREYNxwFj8LZFlFxoglFL2QblxvzXz_thXXD3T_qqZU0xExoGCCBbBRTxeu/s1600/pill-ports.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The lit Beats logo at the front acts as a control button, where you can stop or start music directly from the speaker, skip tracks forward or backwards and take calls. And last but not least you get a 5-step battery indicator with dedicated LEDs at the back and through an own symbol on your mobile phone.<br />Talking about the battery, it is indeed very impressive. Beats claims 15 hours although they don't say at which volume. I have tested it at top volume or slightly below and I got 7-8 hours out of one charge, which is really class leading, especially when the loudness is considered that the Pill XL is able to reach. Some other speakers I have tried didn't even manage to reach 6 hours at their half volume, which probably would be something like 35% on the Pill XL.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVaa9zFHBllxifuZkTxpyrYTVrp0x6OvfbETsjmRi5voIxx3I04n0v7sqh8jvGPUlzVi5I0bfb1xwhHcvdVXnIEbLWrCV5qgaN1WOpbtGh1NXIeyeIlS_nnTPPF_5HqHWFgn9t_eDhtDxP/s1600/pill-press-button.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVaa9zFHBllxifuZkTxpyrYTVrp0x6OvfbETsjmRi5voIxx3I04n0v7sqh8jvGPUlzVi5I0bfb1xwhHcvdVXnIEbLWrCV5qgaN1WOpbtGh1NXIeyeIlS_nnTPPF_5HqHWFgn9t_eDhtDxP/s1600/pill-press-button.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The Pill XL seems to have it all, it is just the missing volume-sync beteween the speaker and the bluetooth device where it falls short. You have 2 different volume controls to deal with, but I found that setting the speaker to the maximum volume and then controlling the volume from the player afterwards, didn't result in any unwanted processing artefacts. The sound of the Pill XL (control of bass-output, soft limiter etc) seems to be adjusted dynamically by analyzing the input and not so much dependent on the absolute level the speaker is set to, unlike Bose speakers where you can definitely hear a difference in sound if the speaker is set to highest level, while the player only plays at low volume.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOowToySqGUZs7hb02iPFnwSUlVEvd8sXYR7izegOXyLXydU2gvCN__joS6LZytS0SBttAAioDTZPyK7YtSEJyvYDA7guesl84Aik5DyFq6ExZU8qRT8MRdUcT_3jQ1LI_pEoHyHJm-hr/s1600/pill-battery-indicator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOowToySqGUZs7hb02iPFnwSUlVEvd8sXYR7izegOXyLXydU2gvCN__joS6LZytS0SBttAAioDTZPyK7YtSEJyvYDA7guesl84Aik5DyFq6ExZU8qRT8MRdUcT_3jQ1LI_pEoHyHJm-hr/s1600/pill-battery-indicator.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The Pill XL has 35 dedicated volume-steps. Already the lowest step is kind of loud. If you want to make it even softer, you have to additionally turn the volume down on your Bluetooth device. The first volume step of the Pill XL has about the same loudness as 25% on the Bose Soundlink Mini, which might be already a bit too loud for some enviroments like an office etc.<br />At highest levels on the other hand you will hear a bit of hiss, and I also noticed some crackling sounds in the background independent of the volume the speaker is set to, which probably might be some Bluetooth relicts. The hiss goes only away, if you turn the speaker volume down completely.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdyUgCmJ8i1UPag6QNLHPwdoFAKj1jnWibOnfQ0Mefm_UzVpzt-H7qVqGnPget_tBvGMMqhkEOGfsScwN5HroTjMzOhi1_Eo_uqUIc9aCVsyVqXVgtEaqPI7I0_XmCExI99X883hV4hOR/s1600/pill-back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdyUgCmJ8i1UPag6QNLHPwdoFAKj1jnWibOnfQ0Mefm_UzVpzt-H7qVqGnPget_tBvGMMqhkEOGfsScwN5HroTjMzOhi1_Eo_uqUIc9aCVsyVqXVgtEaqPI7I0_XmCExI99X883hV4hOR/s1600/pill-back.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Quite annoying are the welcome-sounds, which are rather loud. When powering the Pill XL up, you will hear some sweep tone, if you successfully pair a Bluetooth device, you will hear another intrusive tone, which is much too loud for my taste. When Bluetooth connection is lost or cancelled, you will hear a similar tone equally loud. The power down tone is another sweep, sounding as if the speaker was running out of juice. Although all these tones might appear funky to some, I think a speaker doesn't need that kind of attention getters.<br />After 15 minutes without any input, the Pill XL will power down on its down, which it fortunately does completely silent, without any tone or other effects.<br /><br />I think the build quality and design of the Pill XL are both top notch. The speaker feels as it could take some treatment. Only the shiny part at the back could be a little scratch-resistant. But the buttons at the back are all hidden behind a rubber-coating, so that you can even press them with wet hands. The choice of putting them at the back might appear strange, because they are hard to reach, when the speaker is set up and ready to play, but holding it in your hands, the buttons seem to be placed just perfectly. <br />The metal mesh that surrounds half of the speaker makes a rugged impression, but I am not sure how scratch resistant the coating might be. Have a look at the funny detail how the round openings of the mesh grille become squashed at the side endings. Here you can also find some retractable holes at the side, where you can probably just plug in the shoulder-strap.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4vLvF0MI8y1XV_RHALP95b5L9UJl628PEQYCK7jzJD5SjSHspjAN3kyLvZp7xdVqxRF0cJtJhbXZ3yGiZ267MLRIcUub5Q1xXFX0S6zyy8Lmzxed1zF7BPdjKQW_dT3c7ue-3ab95lMM/s1600/pill-sidedetail.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4vLvF0MI8y1XV_RHALP95b5L9UJl628PEQYCK7jzJD5SjSHspjAN3kyLvZp7xdVqxRF0cJtJhbXZ3yGiZ267MLRIcUub5Q1xXFX0S6zyy8Lmzxed1zF7BPdjKQW_dT3c7ue-3ab95lMM/s1600/pill-sidedetail.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Also a pity that the Pill XL is only available in black so far. The small Pill version comes in many different colors, maybe Beats will offer some other colors for the XL version too, which is to hope for, because black is the most unthankful color outdoors when the sun is shining. <br />I would also welcome an additional carrying bag for the Pill XL especially when much outdoor use is intended. Perfect would be a bag with acoustically transparent materials, so that the speaker can be left inside for listening. Maybe Beats will come up with some suitable cover on their own, or some other second parties might even offer something depending on the popularity of the Pill XL.<br /><br />First thing you notice when you try the Beats Pill XL, how much volume this thing is able to produce. Although the sound becomes quite harsh at the highest level, it remains still nearly distortionfree with only some hints of dirtyness. When I tried the Beats Pill XL in a store side by side with some other speakers like the Bose Soundlink III, you could easily hear how much more powerful the Beats Pill XL was able to play without even having to crank it up that much. While the Bose Soundlink III was already struggling with most bass heavy songs at slightly higher levels due to dynamic compression artefacts and heavy bass-reduction, the Pill XL was just starting to warm up.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WdpKgO9jcRZ9w1lOPjPMFKC5JCnwH5qTU5o-n3N9vyhXUHW9IbKvITpjThXl08kr7x1rz-vSthjASKq4SeaieMjQB8t7pnEK7-5u8r1NLQCZxAW206LX2144r4JNzxyQYQSSvRfZte_q/s1600/pill-home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WdpKgO9jcRZ9w1lOPjPMFKC5JCnwH5qTU5o-n3N9vyhXUHW9IbKvITpjThXl08kr7x1rz-vSthjASKq4SeaieMjQB8t7pnEK7-5u8r1NLQCZxAW206LX2144r4JNzxyQYQSSvRfZte_q/s1600/pill-home.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />But once you take it home and try playing some known tunes at comfortable listening levels, you notice some deviations of what you usually are used to hear. The Beats Pill XL has some strangely sculpted frequency response, with some frequencies sounding as if they were processed through a comb-filter. The treble ist thin and can sometimes sound quite sharp, and bass is powerful but boomy, without much depth, and everything in-between is somewhat subdued or missing. <br />When comparing the Beats Pill XL directly to the Sonos Play:1 a similar sized or even smaller speaker that is known for its rather unbiased frequency response, you will notice that the Sonos Play:1 just sounds "right", while the Beats Pill XL sounds "off". Just when you turn the volume higher, the Play:1 will start to struggle, while the Beats Pill XL will remain brave nearly up to maximum, which is quite a bit louder than the Play:1 is manage to output. Also worth mentioning that the Pill XL is not very directional. Of course it sounds worse, when listened from an angle, but you can even listen to it from behind and still get an acceptable sound field, probably because of the exposed tweeters that are mounted at the sides aiming upwards.<br /><br />But for listening at comfortable levels, the Beats Pill XL is not a speaker that really sounds convincing. The biggest problem is bass, which is pretty punchy with lots of attack, but lacks any deep impact. Even a Bose Soundlink Mini manages to produce a more profound bass.<br />In fact only the passive radiator at the back seems to be responsible for all the low-frequency output, you won't hear much lows, when listening closely to the main drivers. And although it is only one single passive radiator, the speaker does not vibrate too much when compared to some other speakers I have tried which have the radiators mounted on one side only. You can definitely feel the vibration when holding the speaker in your hand but it doesn't dance around or rattle against the base.<br />Outdoors it helps positioning the Pill XL directly on the ground, as the bass will disperse better like that. If you have some wall, you can also try putting the back of the speaker close to it, so that all most frequency energy emited to the back will not be lost somewhere but reflected to the front again.<br /><br />When I compared both Pill XL and Soundlink Mini at lower levels, I was surprised the Beats Pill XL to really sound worse. It is not that the bass is missing, it is more the tuning of the bass which sounds as if someone was playing with an equalizer without knowing what he was doing. The Pill XL has already quite a strong roll-off in bass frequencies below 80Hz, while the Soundlink Mini will play down to about 60Hz.  In fact I think that the Beats Pill XL is really just suitable for particular genres, where you usually won't care about an uneven frequency response. House and Dancetracks sounded really cool with the Pill XL. You felt the need to turn it louder and louder, just because the sound became more enjoyable the louder it got! Most similar sized speakers just cannot keep up with the power of the Pill XL. They start sounding worse, the louder you turn them, the Soundlink Mini being the best example. It sounds perfectly balanced at levels between 40-60%, but starts to lose most of its impact at levels above 75%. When the Soundlink Mini is played at maximum you will get lots of dynamic compression and an overall sound where not much of the original bass has been left. The Pill XL can easily play twice as loud but still without any signs of obvious limiting or compression. Bass starts to get dialed back during the last 5 notches, but up till there everything remains fine.<br />I only ask myself, when do I need this power and volume? It is nice to know to really have this potential, but most of the time, I won't listen to music that loud. Outdoors is one scenario, where you really need higher volume. If you intend to use the speaker outdoors very often you need all the loudness the Pill XL can provide.<br /><br />I prepared one video that shows a comparison between the Beats Pill XL and the Bose Soundlink Mini at different volume levels. You will notice in the very first part the Soundlink Mini to sound fatter and rounder. The Pill XL has less mids and a more boomy sound. The Mini starts to lose its advantage from 60% and above, and playing at its top volume, the Pill XL still sounds the same as at lower levels, while the Soundlink Mini has lost all of its bass and strong dynamic compression kicked in. Up from there the Pill XL can still play twice as loud although you will hear that now treble become sharper, while bass is slightly reduced. But distortion is pretty well under control and no obvious peak limiting is noticeable.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xPnnX_I6iW0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Of course I also wanted to know how the Pill XL will compete against the bigger Bose Soundlink Wireless Music System. In the first part you'll see the indoor comparison with the already known sample song. It is interesting to see how the Soundlink sounds considerably more natural than the Pill XL, which has a more restrained sound, while the Soundlink has considerably deeper reaching bass, and better definition in the mids.<br />The second part shows an outdoor comparison of both speakers. The Soundlink Wireless Music System is still one of the loudest speaker I have tried that compact. The Pill XL can reach about 70% of the Soundlink's volume. Both still sound rather clean at this level. The Bose can play quite a bit louder, but only at cost of stronger distortion and a much more compressed sound which is not that punchy as that from the Pill XL anymore. <br />Soundwise the Bose wins. It has a more mature and more serious sound, while being hardly bigger. It weights nearly 2kg, which makes it 1/4 heavier than the Pill XL, but thanks to the bass-reflex port at the back which acts as a handle it is nearly equally portable as the Pill XL. If you have a bag where the Pill XL fits in comfortably, the Soundlink Wireless Music System should also find place, as it is higher but overall rather slim.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RMuIGrj9qI8?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>The Pill XL surely is an impressive speaker if the power and loudness are considered. But regarding overall sound quality, it rather disappoints to tell the truth. The sound has a boomy and unbalanced character. The biggest problems is bass, which doesn't reach overly deep. It packs some serious punch, but misses the depth and deepness of the much smaller Soundlink Mini, if listened at comfortable levels. Regarding loudness, nothing comes really close, except larger speakers like the Soundlink Wireless Music System, which remains one of the loudest I have tried, ableit with strong distortion and lots of dynamic compression at higher levels, while the Pill XL remains pretty clean even at top volume. But none of the speakers comparable in size costing the same or even more do seem to have any chance against the Pill XL. If you need the loudness and volume, you can only go with the Pill XL. Also feature wise it doesn't disappoint. I especially like the possibility to be able to pair 2 of them for a true wireless stereo solution. Not many speakers provide that option yet, especially not such serious ones. I like the Pill XL, but would have expected more fineness to the sound. Especially when not cranked much, the Pill XL sounds hardly any better than a TDK A33 for example. It is only when you start turning louder and louder until the TDK A33 reaches its limits, while the Pill XL should still have enough headroom for being able to play nearly twice as loud. If Beats tuned the Pill XL for a more natural sound, it would be definitely a no brainer. But there are better and smaller sounding portable speakers out there, even cheaper ones, albeit not that powerful or loud. I would willingly recommend the Pill XL as the ultimate portable boombox, but unfortunately the sound per se is not that impressive, it is just the power and loudness while still remaining distortionfree and full-bodied at highest levels that really makes the Pill XL stand out compared to the competition. <br /><div class="postContent"></div><div class="postFooterLeft"></div><br /><b>+ nice design, great build quality</b><br /><b>+ not too big, not too heavy</b><br /><b>+ convenient carrying handle </b><br /><b>+ lots of useful features (NFC, AptX, charging of external devices, auxiliary output)</b><br /><b>+ pairing of 2 speakers for true wireless stereo or double mode</b><br /><b>+ abilitiy to control track changes or hands-free directly from the speaker</b><br /><b>+ very loud (by far loudest in its class) </b><br /><b>+ verly long battery life, even at top volume up to 8 hours</b><br /><b>+ very dynamic sound, no obvious limiting or dynamic compression noticable, even at top volume</b><br /><b>+ nearly distortionfree at top volume</b><br /><b>+ healthy amount of bass (up to 85% no obvious bass reduction)</b><br /><b>+ treble not very directional</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>- shiny surface on the back might be prone to scratches</b><br /><b>- no cover or carrying bag available</b><br /><b>- quite sculpted and unnatural sound</b><br /><b>- bass boomy but not overly deep (roll-off below 80Hz already)</b><br /><b>- treble a bit harsh, especially on top volume</b><br /><b>- sound below average at low levels</b><br /><b>- a bit of hiss and crackling sounds hearable </b><br /><b>- loud status and welcome tones</b><br /><b>- only available in black </b></p>

When people were asking me for the overall best portable speaker I was already raving about the Beats Pill XL without even having heard it i...

Review: Klipsch GiG - the first real Bose Soundlink Mini contender?

<p>There are hundrets of similar sized or even larger portable speakers than the Soundlink Mini, but so far none of them really managed to reach the level of Bose. Although many claim the UE Boom to sound much better, or even the JBL Charge, in reality they are both just better kitchen-radios.<br /><br />Apart from JBL not many real speaker companies (I won't call Logitech a speaker company, they usually make mice and keyboards, and UE was making in-ear monitors before) have tried to bring out something really comparable or even better. The bigger part of the Bluetooth speaker market is produced by some no-name companies from Asia without any real audio-background.<br />But Klipsch is a well known brand with a long history in audio with their professional speakers. Their portable KMC-3 boombox is one of the best I have heard, the smaller KMC-1 was pretty average but I was curious to hear their smallest speaker "GiG", which indeed seems like a direct competitor of the Bose Soundlink Mini.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDAFoWupmgwQTjUAXFQy5v_3CNwUYjFNGJteXGB6XESHfTZ0QZEp2_MtktU4hCrB2NaEA5FUV2zCizdkzy47JfwXXyeN-kHfN6Cxzuds-Wd7IYXmwUUHJuANviGZuqU7TW4hx9lAinoGQR/s1600/klipsch-open.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDAFoWupmgwQTjUAXFQy5v_3CNwUYjFNGJteXGB6XESHfTZ0QZEp2_MtktU4hCrB2NaEA5FUV2zCizdkzy47JfwXXyeN-kHfN6Cxzuds-Wd7IYXmwUUHJuANviGZuqU7TW4hx9lAinoGQR/s1600/klipsch-open.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Recently I finally managed to get my hands on a Klipsch GiG and wanted to do a short review. I'll try to concentrate on the facts and avoid any long and unneccessary explanations.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NR39CnBrCC-tLJTRm4LqxBsL7-BGcKJJO6xRtmITZOvh1WOXMud1au6EfpHOJSwiJq3mGSBQhEwKvrGBar5NvqYs4U-1Ttt0fG_Aa4J3zM8BGk3NzHIao6D-nzrEERPRcoAGxtGLOFbi/s1600/klipsch-bose1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NR39CnBrCC-tLJTRm4LqxBsL7-BGcKJJO6xRtmITZOvh1WOXMud1au6EfpHOJSwiJq3mGSBQhEwKvrGBar5NvqYs4U-1Ttt0fG_Aa4J3zM8BGk3NzHIao6D-nzrEERPRcoAGxtGLOFbi/s1600/klipsch-bose1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ClQvm9khPvpLW5RpTP84HrH8I7hXheSGzFoi-LzYUYzqeMJXaYvAAqXxei9gMkVcN2RRUvG3J-VFl9_axf4pnsqZf0kuVV41XLasquZ7BCFhkNzBKJLmRP9rHvmOkHHKiR3oY3MPyAqH/s1600/klipsch-bose2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ClQvm9khPvpLW5RpTP84HrH8I7hXheSGzFoi-LzYUYzqeMJXaYvAAqXxei9gMkVcN2RRUvG3J-VFl9_axf4pnsqZf0kuVV41XLasquZ7BCFhkNzBKJLmRP9rHvmOkHHKiR3oY3MPyAqH/s1600/klipsch-bose2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The Klipsch GiG is pretty well made and leaves an overall good impression. It is a bit larger in capacit than the Soundlink Mini, but it is slightly lighter at the same time. Funnily the grille of the GiG seem to be made of exactly the same perforated plate as the grille from the Soundlink Mini.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRjhFVjbjlUJVmOL0Der9pSZkuaD8h2FEecLJm4hWaspFPZW8Bt5eC0UUQ2CbLcXBs-jjktSGaf99E4cobVl2CvPvmxNmDA2JxbkREPUZAMwyHox_2MZzo6pysf2lYhFE5DsQWRs7434d/s1600/klipsch-bose-grille.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRjhFVjbjlUJVmOL0Der9pSZkuaD8h2FEecLJm4hWaspFPZW8Bt5eC0UUQ2CbLcXBs-jjktSGaf99E4cobVl2CvPvmxNmDA2JxbkREPUZAMwyHox_2MZzo6pysf2lYhFE5DsQWRs7434d/s1600/klipsch-bose-grille.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I liked the main big knob which is used like an old analogue volume-control but it also acts as a multifuncional button when pressed, and it shows you different states of the speaker with different LED-colors, last but not least it can also show you the current battery-state with 3 steps.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeXHynZgEFEGt84uRTfoWVFbfIHOzYNXIIjcv8zmyGO3eJQNBzkQh4bcjSNCE9H89cQAngzBSRSE7tCAt4AiHfjYY4Fqc63HA0X6NpgPhr9SCEg6BxS7et6n7LStR1u0hWryz-VtAkIyP/s1600/klipsch-knob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeXHynZgEFEGt84uRTfoWVFbfIHOzYNXIIjcv8zmyGO3eJQNBzkQh4bcjSNCE9H89cQAngzBSRSE7tCAt4AiHfjYY4Fqc63HA0X6NpgPhr9SCEg6BxS7et6n7LStR1u0hWryz-VtAkIyP/s1600/klipsch-knob.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />If you really want to use the multifunctional button, you probably have to learn all commands by heart, because depending how often you press, you can either stop music, skip a track forward or back, you can even start a call etc. The Klipsch GiG has indeed a hands-free built in, in contrast to the Soundlink Mini. The GiG also has NFC, which is equally missing on the Bose, and in case of the GiG you really seem to need NFC as Bluetooth pairing was a pain in the ass every time I turned it on.<br />I have maybe tried hundrets of different Bluetooth speakers, and all of them automatically paired to the last known device when turned on. Not so with the Klipsch. You turn it on and it does nothing. You have to repair from your phone every time again. Sometimes it won't even accept any connection, I had to reset it, it was really a frustrating experience. Once the connection was established, everything worked fine, Bluetooth reach was long enough, but dare to turn it off again. That's why NFC is probably really useful on the GiG. Maybe Klipsch thought all will tap their phones to the device to establish a connection every time they turn the speaker on... well, I doubt this is really how NFC was meant to be used, maybe Klipsch just misunderstood something.<br /><br />What annoyed me more were the already known guitar-chords, that you can also hear on the KMC-3 and KMC-1, when the speaker is turned on or off or paired with a device. The sounds are much too loud and somewhat cheesy. I wished I could turn them off completely.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZD4ok2XxcOLMsLtF37A2Rwz7UXkYe63K3pjX3GhrnsFngJdZA6EnH8Dbkz5X2UP0lm0jwGhvkqDHh9dNarjJ9W5h-jNP0bT67M4fxNTV2huGf1MevVUM4rTFQhF5PWk48-AlNsu0z_szL/s1600/klipsch-controls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZD4ok2XxcOLMsLtF37A2Rwz7UXkYe63K3pjX3GhrnsFngJdZA6EnH8Dbkz5X2UP0lm0jwGhvkqDHh9dNarjJ9W5h-jNP0bT67M4fxNTV2huGf1MevVUM4rTFQhF5PWk48-AlNsu0z_szL/s1600/klipsch-controls.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I am not sure what to think about the rotatable stand. It doesn't make sense at all, because why should I put the speaker vertically if I would lose any stereo-imaging, at least the one that theoretically should be there. Also the stand is only fixable in one single position, you cannot tilt the speaker freely as you want, because the stand will just collapse on its own, if it won't lock in the single possible position. Also for turning the speaker on, you always have to tilt the stand away, I found this design pretty clumsy to tell the truth.<br /><br />How does it sound?<br />Not bad, but nothing to write home about. The GiG definitely pumps out a more serious sound than the JBL Charge or UE Boom and those alike. But it is still behind the Soundlink Mini. You won't get any "Wow"-effect from the GiG, until you turn it up a little bit. The Klispch GiG needs some volume to really sound convincing until it starts to lose bass again within the last quarter of its volume.<br />Bass is indeed impressively deep on the GiG. While the Bose has hardly any response below 60Hz, the Klipsch even seemed to play down to 50Hz, but the complete low-frequencies were rather restrained, thus bass was never that bloated as on the Bose, which many might even like more. The biggest difference between both was at lower levels. While the Bose sounds really "fat" and voluminous at low levels, making the whole base vibrate, the Klipsch sounds rather like an average clock-radio. It is not as bad as on the larger KMC-1, but Klipsch doesn't seem to apply any dynamic and volume-dependent equalization. It is only at maximum level where both speakers dial back any bass that was present before. Both also reach more or less the same volume and at maximum volume the differences in overall sound become smaller, but the Bose starts to compress dynamics quite heavily depending on the song, while the Klipsch remains pretty dynamic even at top volume. For this reason the Bose hardly has any distortion problems even at top volume, but with the Klipsch I noticed some crackling and unpleasant noises with loud piano sounds, when played at maximum volume. I checked the same songs on the Bose and no such effects occured.<br />What surprised me most was the pretty muffled treble-response of the Klipsch GiG. I mostly complain abot the Soundlink Mini to sound veiled, but the Klipsch sounded even worse. Due to the the deep but conservative bass and the subdued treble at the same time, the GiG left a rather mid-focused sound, which starts to become really harsh at higher levels.<br /><br />I prepared a  video with the Klipsch directly compared to the Bose at different volume levels: <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Oap2rgo7XXU" width="853"></iframe> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>If the Klipsch GiG was considerably smaller than the Soundlink Mini while still retaining the same sound quality, or if it was cheaper, it could be a winner. But as it is now it costs exactly the same as the Soundlink Mini, while being larger but with worse sound in the end. Of course the GiG has additional features like NFC, Apt-X support and hands-free, but for me it is the sound quality that really counts. Although the Bose is not perfect, the Klipsch GiG is it even less.<br /><br /><b>+ gives the impression of a high quality product</b><br /><b>+ a "real" volume knob instead of +/- buttons</b><br /><b>+ more serious sound than most similar sized contenders</b><br /><b>+ rechargable through micro-USB</b><br /><b>+ hands-free built-in</b><br /><b>+ NFC and Apt-X enabled</b><br /><b>+ track controls through multifunction-button </b><br /><b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b>- weak treble response, muffled and directional</b><br /><b>- deep bass but hardly any amplitute</b><br /><b>- sound very unimpressive at low levels</b><br /><b>- sound harsh and mid-focused at high levels</b><br /><b>- no automatic Bluetooth-reconnection after power on</b><br /><b>- annoying and loud welcome-sounds</b><br /><b>- volume not synced with connected device </b><br /><b>- tiltable stand does not really make sense </b><br /><b>- too expensive </b><br /><br /></p>

There are hundrets of similar sized or even larger portable speakers than the Soundlink Mini, but so far none of them really managed to reac...

Saturn �sterreich: Beats Pill XL um 229,- Soundlink III um 249,-

<p>F�r unsere �sterreichischen Leser diesmal, falls es �berhaupt solche geben sollte (bitte aufzeigen, wenn jemand aus �sterreich mitliest ;-)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi97w798NKf3Zqfg3HY-PdHwub8iEj2tc9LTY2jPbH5XlFiiXDzK48wX3mbr-udKtI0_3mw7PCUe35qB_0i84fUMepFnjYqjVFMC3MxiDLn7qxV_TOpjNTzG-J9-K9JPiGjZLYeKOMo1Gen/s1600/saturn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi97w798NKf3Zqfg3HY-PdHwub8iEj2tc9LTY2jPbH5XlFiiXDzK48wX3mbr-udKtI0_3mw7PCUe35qB_0i84fUMepFnjYqjVFMC3MxiDLn7qxV_TOpjNTzG-J9-K9JPiGjZLYeKOMo1Gen/s1600/saturn.jpg" /></a></div><br />Ich verfolge selten diverse Flyer, die einem ins Haus schneien, wir haben das ganze Werbematerial sogar abbestellt, da es unseren Briefkasten immer �berf�llt hat. Diesmal h�tte ich einen wirklich interessanten Flyer sogar fast �bersehen, und mir wohl in den A... gebissen!<br /><br />Der Saturn in �sterreich bietet jetzt n�mlich ein<a href="http://flyer.saturn.at/flyer42/flash.html" target="_blank"> "zweites Urlaubsgeld"</a> (nur noch bis 28.06) und im Zuge dieser Aktion gibt es einige interessante Angebote. Die bieten tats�chlich die Beats Pill XL um 229,- an, statt den regul�ren 299,-. Auch den Soundlink III kann man dort derzeit um 249,- kaufen. Kein schlechter Preis wie ich finde.<br />Ebenso der Sony SRS-X5, zu dem ich demn�chst noch einen kleinen Review verfassen werde, ist dort g�nstiger zu haben, Amazon bietet ihn gerade aber auch nur unwesentlich teurer um <a href="http://www.amazon.de/Sony-SRS-X5-Bluetooth-Speaker-schwarz/dp/B00I0D20X4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403701799&sr=8-1&keywords=sony+srs-x5" target="_blank">179,-</a> an.<br /><br />Ich habe beide Beats und Bose im Laden mal nebeneinander etwas spielen lassen, und der Soundlink III hatte nicht die geringste Chance gegen den Pill XL. Je lauter es wurde, desto besser und kraftvoller wurde der Pill XL, desto schlechter und hohler der Klang von Bose. Die 20 Euro Aufpreis f�r den Bose kann man sich schenken, wenn man eine echte portable Boombox mit langer Akkulaufzeit (etwa 8 Stunden unter Volllast!), einem fetten Klang und hohe Lautst�rken ben�tigt <br /><br />PS. ich habe mir sogar noch etwas g�nstiger den letzten Austeller ergattert und werde euch demn�chst hoffentlich ein paar Vergleiche von Pill XL mit einigen anderen Spielsachen bieten k�nnen...</p>

F�r unsere �sterreichischen Leser diesmal, falls es �berhaupt solche geben sollte (bitte aufzeigen, wenn jemand aus �sterreich mitliest ;-) ...

Wavemaster MOBI and MOBI-2, the most popular ultraportable speakers

<p>Meanwhile there are tons of pocket-sized portable speakers around. I haven't heard all of them, but the <a href="http://www.amazon.de/Wavemaster-PSMOBIBK-MOBI-Mini-Lautsprecher-System-schwarz/dp/B002MW3G78/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1403600682&sr=8-2&keywords=wavemaster+mobi" target="_blank">Wavemaster MOBI</a> was one of the most popular ultraportable speakers and top-seller in Germany for a long time. You could also find it under different brands like "Cabstone Sounddisc", or "Divoom Pop" and many others.<br />Fact was that compared to many similar speakers like X-Mini, Raikko Nano etc, the MOBI managed the best balanced sound somehow. The sound was still far away from anything really serious, but it was better than all the rest. I still own my old MOBI, which was one of my very first really portable speakers that small.<br /><br />There has been a revised Bluetooth version out for some time now called MOBI-2, which took the crown and is now best selling speaker system according to <a href="http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=wavemaster%20mobi&sprefix=wavemaster+m%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Awavemaster%20mobi" target="_blank">Amazon.de</a>. I wanted to check how much different both sounded and if the new version was any better costing 1/3 more. I prepared a video which hopefully can show you some differences in sound as well as which one will play louder etc.<br />Although the new version has Bluetooth I recorded both with a wired connection to get exactly the same conditions and not to disadvantage one of them. <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PPVCs79vAJQ?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <br />I am also expecting a sample of the <a href="http://www.teufelaudio.at/kopfhoerer/bt-bamster-p13584.html" target="_blank">Teufel BT Bamster</a> to arrive soon and will try comparing it to my Soundlink Mini using the same track as above, so you will hear the difference in sound ;-)<br /><br />Update: Have a look <a href="http://youtu.be/uTS6hnmgupE" target="_blank">here</a>, how this sounds on the BT Bamster and Soundlink Mini. </p>

Meanwhile there are tons of pocket-sized portable speakers around. I haven't heard all of them, but the Wavemaster MOBI was one of the ...

Bose Soundlink Mini um �139!

<p>F�r all unsere deutschen Leser: Morgen 12.06.2014 wird in K�ln der <a href="http://flyer.redblue.de/D/SA/S/1106DINA1/index.html" target="_blank">Saturn Hennef </a>neuer�ffnet, da gibt es dann neben einigen anderen Schn�ppchen auch den Bose Soundlink Mini um 139,- zu ergattern.<br />Die Er�ffnung startet um 6:00 Uhr fr�h, also schnell hin, wenn man sich einen sichern will, als Geschenk f�r die Mama, oder als Zweitger�t f�r seinen eigenen, oder wenn man noch keinen hat.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhiP960LMcd0V0DC26-Fkrz9O-CMCNjz3u_6p5KxyEI3RPJLQ5EGAxFBeLliqvVJLNmauS1ktr7cllmnBH_jXmFrNeTWYNn5CRbeSWM6EHknCuFMltfwJeymuNsmQUS-sasGyioL2JJc8/s1600/saturnhennef.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhiP960LMcd0V0DC26-Fkrz9O-CMCNjz3u_6p5KxyEI3RPJLQ5EGAxFBeLliqvVJLNmauS1ktr7cllmnBH_jXmFrNeTWYNn5CRbeSWM6EHknCuFMltfwJeymuNsmQUS-sasGyioL2JJc8/s1600/saturnhennef.jpg" /></a></div><br /></p>

F�r all unsere deutschen Leser: Morgen 12.06.2014 wird in K�ln der Saturn Hennef neuer�ffnet, da gibt es dann neben einigen anderen Schn�ppc...

Review: Anker MP141 Bluetooth Speaker

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBPwNzpLCVTOE-Y5VU1trdZosKlhYZL57USm8CqTpkx8gw2y8L0VMurC5FsnkjmgpnLdEdI4Bibo0z5-eqFo4Q2sbZZfEs3t0cLlHXhwkMDyp8nZn111MiWHzEQ49yTPIz2M8nVJArC8Z/s1600/anker1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBPwNzpLCVTOE-Y5VU1trdZosKlhYZL57USm8CqTpkx8gw2y8L0VMurC5FsnkjmgpnLdEdI4Bibo0z5-eqFo4Q2sbZZfEs3t0cLlHXhwkMDyp8nZn111MiWHzEQ49yTPIz2M8nVJArC8Z/s1600/anker1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Anker sent me a sample of their new Bluetooth speaker, the so called MP141. Until now I only knew Anker from their Powerpacks, I also own one, but it seems they started to get into audio as well.<br />So far I have not heard much about this speaker. I started reading some reviews which were all positive, and found the design to be really appealing, so I decided to try out the speaker on my own as well.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjpR4yM56k8tVQ1F4agFVCl7AYRma29VdIap0G6ma8PlhSkJLqJ2urjqyU_Ng2A_0RnARDlY333XG3yrxnATHILrHuz9EqvRvy4Ei0MOk6PaLE0d7lH5bQ0rAsGC5rvWRxf8OfuY7jA4E/s1600/anker-box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjpR4yM56k8tVQ1F4agFVCl7AYRma29VdIap0G6ma8PlhSkJLqJ2urjqyU_Ng2A_0RnARDlY333XG3yrxnATHILrHuz9EqvRvy4Ei0MOk6PaLE0d7lH5bQ0rAsGC5rvWRxf8OfuY7jA4E/s1600/anker-box.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The speaker is available in black and white, mine arrived in white in a very simple nearly eco-type of box. Inside there was the speaker and the USB-cable for charging a manual and a carrying pouch. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1xCq7oRrA-oWCZFJKPWT4xBIOeeK1zFUPuEQpWInj_HOEe8YpBFdXwlJcAV0zQmYx5VOnEXma4-JW4EHzlAmzC1ExmqUElgPEvtvgkO7X-9z6l6z-qQwpkXcF_1-Pl7h8bYeU0le3SdM/s1600/anker-sonos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1xCq7oRrA-oWCZFJKPWT4xBIOeeK1zFUPuEQpWInj_HOEe8YpBFdXwlJcAV0zQmYx5VOnEXma4-JW4EHzlAmzC1ExmqUElgPEvtvgkO7X-9z6l6z-qQwpkXcF_1-Pl7h8bYeU0le3SdM/s1600/anker-sonos.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Designwise the Anker speaker is really chic. It reminds me a bit of a mini Sonos, especially in white. Also my wife who normally isn't into speakers, loved its design.<br />There are only 3 buttons at the front, a play/pause button surrounded by the volume buttons. The power switch is located at the side as well as the micro USB-port for charing. As there is no power supply included, you have to charge the speaker with some existing charger you already own, or just just plug it in into your computer. A little red LED beside the USB-port will show the charging procedure.<br />What is directly noticeable is the heft the speaker has. I have some comparable little speakers at hand and the Anker is one of the heaviest. Of course it is not as heavy as the Bose Soundlink Mini as the Soundlink Mini is in a completely other category, not only regarding price but also sound.  <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcRPtnqjrgwgwBs7f8jsTuS5k8Gmxi067E7xKU1Ogjbbsjp4rcfTPdWan7oie4T8sCVfCjgk9xi9wBPfZ1-Nbxu3WJyeeOWIBeuc-pdt19jv68QRPzxQqUmj0WLylnb6zWDQOiKzd31enf/s1600/anker-front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcRPtnqjrgwgwBs7f8jsTuS5k8Gmxi067E7xKU1Ogjbbsjp4rcfTPdWan7oie4T8sCVfCjgk9xi9wBPfZ1-Nbxu3WJyeeOWIBeuc-pdt19jv68QRPzxQqUmj0WLylnb6zWDQOiKzd31enf/s1600/anker-front.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />Just turn it on with the little switch at the side and the speaker jumps directly into pairing mode with some "bleep"-triad sound and a blinking LED at the top. The volume of the pairing-sound is much too loud for my taste. Not sure why a more more conservative sound could not be used or if it needs any sound at all. <br />The speaker will show up as "Anker MP141" in your device list and it will signalize successful pairing with a "klick"-sound.<br />When in Bluetooth mode you can turn the speaker louder or lower, and you can pause or restart music. There is no way to skip between tracks, and the Anker speaker has its own volume control independent from the player's volume, which makes you deal with two separate volume levels.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjzK7EAkpC4p-GZ9neFzDJ7gnn_-EMXlQgazucXzOes16PDfwOQxXAa0_QFVBzDawnZ6lJWHSza84NWPUGjJOrVIPl4F6PidSuGmlF9C4kSF5o0clq57rk5g1IwB2trs9Wjwkfd0cB0hcs/s1600/anker-side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjzK7EAkpC4p-GZ9neFzDJ7gnn_-EMXlQgazucXzOes16PDfwOQxXAa0_QFVBzDawnZ6lJWHSza84NWPUGjJOrVIPl4F6PidSuGmlF9C4kSF5o0clq57rk5g1IwB2trs9Wjwkfd0cB0hcs/s1600/anker-side.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />If you don't want to use it through Bluetooth, just plug in a 3.5mm wire into the aux-in port and Bluetooth is turned off automatically. In aux-mode the volume buttons as well as the play/pause button have no function at all. You have to turn louder or lower directly from your player, as the volume cannot be controlled on the speaker anymore.<br />I haven't found any way to force pairing mode on the speaker, if I wanted to pair it with another device. You have to turn off the speaker and after restarting it will automatically search for already paired devices, if it doesn't found any, you can pair from a new device. This is a bit clumsy, because if you want to pair a new device, but your previous one is still in Bluetooth mode, the Anker speaker will probably automatically repair to the already known one. You must disable Bluetooth on your first device, to be able pairing another.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGEvIxjuoomShZ1JM8TWuTZPCthTYTlvPk5D5swDxYhlNtI1DWqRrHO2noPVgUJUzf90DuWoFu9NdQz53WCglsmgcCeU7UTvGLkImPdtj-oz4yjPBSbT-GloCDoNb9Hyg_UnVr1DpUxLg/s1600/anker-babyproof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGEvIxjuoomShZ1JM8TWuTZPCthTYTlvPk5D5swDxYhlNtI1DWqRrHO2noPVgUJUzf90DuWoFu9NdQz53WCglsmgcCeU7UTvGLkImPdtj-oz4yjPBSbT-GloCDoNb9Hyg_UnVr1DpUxLg/s1600/anker-babyproof.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />While my little son loved his new "toy", we noticed that bluetooth reach was particularly bad. Holding the speaker between his legs and trying to press the funny little knobs to see what's happening while I was holding the phone right beside me could already result in connection dropouts. The JBL Wireless Micro as well as the Wavemaster MOBI-2 that I had for comparison had both a much longer reach. I could even walk to the next room and still listen to music, which was not possible by any means with the Anker. But at least the built quality seems to be excellent and "baby-proof" as the speaker had to withstand some unwanted floor-contact without any sign of damage. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnV4E54g6o0wRPEEwqBG4VjFcKyNXHSrnU8jToYBLbNerECt1LuXtnOJe4SLKUwYpF1JXwwhyphenhypheneUMxoML-3EbsvyMRUUMHX6LjwIo4Jod13BXltRpS_es0wM5qnOG6fkLbH1udhK4MMuXP/s1600/anker-babytoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnV4E54g6o0wRPEEwqBG4VjFcKyNXHSrnU8jToYBLbNerECt1LuXtnOJe4SLKUwYpF1JXwwhyphenhypheneUMxoML-3EbsvyMRUUMHX6LjwIo4Jod13BXltRpS_es0wM5qnOG6fkLbH1udhK4MMuXP/s1600/anker-babytoy.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />If you look closely you will notice a little opening at the front bottom of the speaker, this is where the microphone is hidden. The Anker indeed has hands-free built in. You can take calls by just pressing the play-button, or you can reject them, by keeping the play-button pressed. If you want to start a call you have to keep the play-button pressed until voicecall gets active or Siri, or whatever is setup on your phone.<br />Speakerphone quality was so-so. I wanted to use the Anker during a call of with mum, but she immediately asked why I was sounding that far away (with the speaker standing just in front of me at the table). <br /><br />What interested me most was how good the Anker actually sounded, especially with regard to all the positive reviews so far.<br />The Anker is not that small anymore. You cannot just slide it into your pocket like you can do with the JBL On Tour Wireless or the Wavemaster MOBI-2 for example. So the Anker should have at least some advantages regarding sound quality, volume or battery life etc. I assume the heavy weight comes from the internal battery, which seems quite powerful, as Anker claims up to 20 hours of battery life. Of course I haven't tested it accurately, but I have used the Anker for several hours a day for an entire week and the battery didn't show any signs of weakness.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSZxRnf-8707dXHdO_CxHWHv92CqmpAyhqxaN-DFS6avPL30lq1d9xbhlaP0hIrzDwX61Xs1sRaRSMkQudNfTVXX8EIOlbrbXT-4ec0WmS-_4RY3ypgEgGNK1AMbZA6Y8uZoNo9yxJZKu/s1600/speakers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSZxRnf-8707dXHdO_CxHWHv92CqmpAyhqxaN-DFS6avPL30lq1d9xbhlaP0hIrzDwX61Xs1sRaRSMkQudNfTVXX8EIOlbrbXT-4ec0WmS-_4RY3ypgEgGNK1AMbZA6Y8uZoNo9yxJZKu/s1600/speakers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I had some other comparable speakers at hand, that come within a similar price-range, so that I could really judge the Anker MP141 objectively when comparing them all together.<br />According to current prices on Amazon.de the Anker will cost about 40�, the JBL Micro Wireless is a bit more expensive and costs 46�, but it is considerably smaller and could be even put inside a shirt-pocket. A cheaper alternative and when collapsed still a little bit smaller than the JBL is the Wavemaster MOBI-2 speaker which should cost about 30�. And I also have a slightly larger AmazonBasics speaker (looking like a copy of the popular Jambox) costing about 47�.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4PNRgdnG7x2u3ajoM1ejoL2VavkJ7f6s3vKjaqwfDER7Lg_ud3zRcpkxdZG9shOPNcyD99Gkj8LGOSXxMyzCCRTtCxfVgi0bF4omx7qWz_Fv5WOTX6CwThICHmFfI1u5_K5ANkQOU_73/s1600/anker-jbl2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4PNRgdnG7x2u3ajoM1ejoL2VavkJ7f6s3vKjaqwfDER7Lg_ud3zRcpkxdZG9shOPNcyD99Gkj8LGOSXxMyzCCRTtCxfVgi0bF4omx7qWz_Fv5WOTX6CwThICHmFfI1u5_K5ANkQOU_73/s1600/anker-jbl2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPI7U2r1LNfy4dbe39Zz-ZimHlzwyosoIOqpPE-d0zTPb6OzGoaMNiQbRqA8QPB-qU0BJx25z3gO_lRC9gZvB6qOC-rx9HHtcktDeIkSm5eigDxPa1rGo5FinlEoCHyHPyZkviXaklsPBT/s1600/anker-jbl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPI7U2r1LNfy4dbe39Zz-ZimHlzwyosoIOqpPE-d0zTPb6OzGoaMNiQbRqA8QPB-qU0BJx25z3gO_lRC9gZvB6qOC-rx9HHtcktDeIkSm5eigDxPa1rGo5FinlEoCHyHPyZkviXaklsPBT/s1600/anker-jbl.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />First time I listened to the Anker, I noticed quite a nicely-bodied sound with some welcome low-end, but relatively dull at the same time. The Anker could play surprisingly loud, but there was noticeable distortion on some particular tracks when turned to the maximum, especially on kick-drums. When comparing the Anker to the Wavemaster MOBI-2, the Anker produced a fuller sound, with a more pronounced bass, but with pretty muffled sounding treble. The Wavemaster MOBI-2 had quite harsh mids, but an overall clearer sound. Surprisingly the bass reached lower on the Wavemaster, but it was not very loud, wich made it sound rather thin. Then I switched over to the JBL Micro Wireless and despite being less than half the size of the Anker, the JBL sounded considerably better, with even better low-end and much crisper sound, easily outperforming the Wavemaster speaker and still sounding more convincing than the Anker. While listening to the Amazon "no-name" speaker this one sounded most mature, especially at higher levels, with better low-end than any of these, and clearer treble, which for my taste was a bit too sharp, but overall the Amazon speaker sounded definitely best with the most natural frequency response. It was also by far the loudest reaching about the maximum volume of the Bose Soundlink Mini or even outplaying it on some tracks, albeit with some severe distortion at top-level. You had to turn volume down 1-2 notches to really bring distortion down to acceptable levels, but this was still louder than what the Anker was able to achieve. The Anker doesn't seem to have any limiter or DSP built in, unlike the JBL Wireless Micro, which compresses peaks at top volume and manages to bring bass down a little bit at higher volumes. The Anker might be able to play slightly louder than the JBL, but it does so at the expense of some distortion, while the JBL will reach a slightly lower maximum volume without any annoying distortion problems.<br />Both the Anker and JBL seem to have a bass reflex port. With the Anker you can hear some pretty deep low-notes when putting the ear against the grille near the corner where the port is located, but you won't hear it from some distance anymore. The JBL seems just better tuned to maximize the physically possible low-frequency output while the Anker port seems to be tuned too low, making the port output barely hearable. The Amazon Basics speaker has a large passive radiator at the back. You won't hear much of it at lower levels, making the speaker sound hardly better than the others, it just comes to life when you crank the speaker a little bit. The Wavemaster seems to be a closed design with an extendible acoustic chamber, which can make the sound a bit fuller compared to collapsed, but it is still tinnest compared to all the others, despite having the lowest possible output.<br /><br />I prepared a video to demonstrate the sound of all 3 speakers. In contrast to my other videos where the microphone was always facing the speaker-front directly, in this case all speakers have the driver mounted at their top which makes them emit sound more or less omnidirectionally (I didn't include the AmazonBasics speaker for this comparison as it has a more focused and directional sound dispersion). So this time the microphone was positioned at about 45� above the speakers with a distance of 65cm. The speakers were playing at about 3/4 of their maximum volume where distorion or obvious DSP-effects shouldn't be an issue yet.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/XSVMaTGIGFo?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <br /><br />Putting all together, the Anker MP141 is a nice looking but pretty avarage speaker without any outstanding qualities. You get hands-free and a long lasting battery, but I expected a more impressive sound considering all the raving reviews so far. If it was cheaper I could see it as an alternative to all the other mini speakers in the price range of 20-30�. But as it is now I would definitely choose the JBL as best ultra portable listening solution. It costs only slightly more but has better sound than the Anker and is much smaller and lighter, making it very convenient for transport. The only advantage the Anker might have is hands-free and longer battery life. On the other hand the JBL has the ability to be daisy-chained with other JBL Micro Wireless speakers to maximize output etc. The Wavemaster MOBI-2 might be the loudest of the bunch, but sounded worst to my ears. If size doesn't matter the AmazonBasics speaker would definitely give the best audio-quality at a similar price-range. But at this size there are already dozens other speakers like e.g. the Bose Soundlink Mini which is much more expensive, but able to produce a much more serious sound which is in a completely different class, while being still smaller than the Amazon speaker. Another cheap alternative might be the Grundig GSB120 or the Philips BT2500B which can play really loud.<br /><br /><b>+ elegant and simple design</b><br /><b>+ better low end than many cheaper speakers</b><br /><b>+ high maximum volume</b><br /><b>+ long battery life </b><br /><b>+ hands-free</b><br /><b>+ carrying bag included </b><br /><b></b><br /><b><br /></b><b>- dull treble response</b><br /><b>- distortion at top volume</b><br /><b>- very short bluetooth range</b><br /><b>- not possible to force bluetooth pairing </b><b> </b><br /><b>- annoying and loud status-sounds </b><br /><b>- too big and heavy for given performance </b><br /><br /></p>

Anker sent me a sample of their new Bluetooth speaker, the so called MP141. Until now I only knew Anker from their Powerpacks, I also own on...

TDK TREK Max A34 - the better A33?

<p><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KuOPoqwzgjLgsZihgYNFu3mvjU8rBZ75O40Cn54EmN3f4lbqlfb5nP6ciIKv5evsuCewfAdULOjVvhP_hsGX6nQSwZKJF-54_AJFocNVUWQpooKg8hRlBBva_2rWoMuyOteSAGJklHB8/s1600/trek-max-a34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KuOPoqwzgjLgsZihgYNFu3mvjU8rBZ75O40Cn54EmN3f4lbqlfb5nP6ciIKv5evsuCewfAdULOjVvhP_hsGX6nQSwZKJF-54_AJFocNVUWQpooKg8hRlBBva_2rWoMuyOteSAGJklHB8/s1600/trek-max-a34.jpg" /></a></div>TDK just announced the TDK TREK Max or simply A34, which seems to be a successor of the very popular A33.<br />The A33 is not a bad speaker, but I was not impressed with it due to some bad experiences I had made.<br />The A33 had a pretty weak and unreliable battery built in. I got a brand new device and it could only play for several minutes on top volume before shutting down on its own.<br />Also sound was not the best you could get in its class, but still better than most of its competition. I didn't like the rather tinny sound at lower volumes, apart from that it sounded really powerful and nicely balanced from medium volume upwards.<br /><br />The new <a href="http://www.tdkperformance.com/en-us/speakers/Boomboxes/trek-max-speaker/#.U42qqih9lXB" target="_blank">A34</a> seems to have gained NFC-connectivity and track-skipping buttons. Also design is a bit different now, still not sure if I liked the old one more. But it is still splash resistant, so if you are going to use it near a pool or at the beach, the A34 should safely do the job.<br /><br />If other than that much changed especially regarding the battery and sound, has to be tested. The A34 seems to be available soon through <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JST4VHW/ref=s9_simh_gw_p422_s3_d6_i4?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=13QKDK8HKFZQ1HQT99E8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200482&pf_rd_i=507846" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a>, but there is no availabilty for Europe yet.</p>

TDK just announced the TDK TREK Max or simply A34, which seems to be a successor of the very popular A33. The A33 is not a bad speaker, but ...