GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL GUIDE - 4 BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS TO SUIT YOUR LIFESTYLE

GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL GUIDE - 4 BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS TO SUIT YOUR LIFESTYLE





Though music has moved to the mobile platform, most smart phones lack the ability to play music at a decent volume or even the ability to maintain their quality at higher volumes through their in-built speakers. Sure you can connect it to real speakers using an aux cable, but that isn't an elegant solution and neither is it port able, defeating the basic purpose of having all your music on a phone.

Portable Bluetooth speakers remain the best solution to this problem, but with a market filled with options it can be difficult to choose the right one. Use our handy guide to find the right speaker for you based on your lifestyle.

Deal Hunter

JBL Go The JBL Go is truly pocket-friendly both in size and price. While the MRP may seem high, actual street prices are up to Rs 1,000 cheaper.

For the size (6.8x8.2x3cms) the speaker packs quite a punch, it is loud enough for a tiny impromptu party at the beach or park. It is also rugged enough with its rubberised body to handle most environments.

The sound is crisp at lower and medium volumes but distorts a bit as the volume gets higher. This happens mostly if there is a lot of bass involved, it might be in part because the speaker seems to boost the lower frequencies.

The battery supports around 5 hours of playtime, there is a built-in aux port and you can use the JBL Go to receive calls. At this price there is no device that competes with the JBL Go in the price ver sus per form ance ver sus size ratio. If you are looking for a deal this one hits all the right buttons.

Geek

Creative Sound Blaster Roar The Creative Roar is a geek's wet dream, provided the wet dream is limited to portable Bluetooth speakers.

The sound on the device is crisp and the bass is not very overpowering. While this may work for classical music (Western and Indian), stringed instruments and jazz it does not do well with genres like Dubstep, Hip Hop and Bollywood.

Though the bass boost button kicks the bass a notch up, it still falls short when compared to the similarly priced Bose SoundLink Mini.

However, the Creative Roar truly shines in the feature department. This is the reason it will be a true cult classic amongst geeks. The Roar can be connected to your PC via a micro USB cable; doing so will turn your Bluetooth speaker into an external soundcard.

Connect an additional Roar with the proprietary MegaStereo cable to get separate right and left channels with double the output. The cable can also be used to increase the output by connecting any analogue speaker set. It can even play HD audio as it natively supports aptX and AAC codecs over Bluetooth.

GUIDE - 4 BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS TO SUIT YOUR LIFESTYLE

Jaison Lewis TWEETS @jaisonlewis





Though music has moved to the mobile platform, most smart phones lack the ability to play music at a decent volume or even the ability to maintain their quality at higher volumes through their in-built speakers. Sure you can connect it to real speakers using an aux cable, but that isn't an ele gant solution and neither is it port able, defeating the basic purpose of having all your music on a phone.

Portable Bluetooth speakers remain the best solution to this problem, but with a market filled with options it can be difficult to choose the right one. Use our handy guide to find the right speaker for you based on your lifestyle.

Deal Hunter

JBL Go The JBL Go is truly pocket-friendly both in size and price. While the MRP may seem high, actual street prices are up to Rs 1,000 cheaper.

For the size (6.8x8.2x3cms) the speaker packs quite a punch, it is loud enough for a tiny impromptu party at the beach or park. It is also rugged enough with its rubberised body to handle most environments.

The sound is crisp at lower and medium volumes but distorts a bit as the volume gets higher. This happens mostly if there is a lot of bass involved, it might be in part because the speaker seems to boost the lower frequencies.

The battery supports around 5 hours of playtime, there is a built-in aux port and you can use the JBL Go to receive calls. At this price there is no device that competes with the JBL Go in the price ver sus per form ance ver sus size ratio. If you are looking for a deal this one hits all the right buttons.

Geek

Creative Sound Blaster Roar The Creative Roar is a geek's wet dream, provided the wet dream is limited to portable Bluetooth speakers.

The sound on the device is crisp and the bass is not very overpowering. While this may work for classical music (Western and Indian), stringed instruments and jazz it does not do well with genres like Dubstep, Hip Hop and Bollywood.

Though the bass boost button kicks the bass a notch up, it still falls short when compared to the similarly priced Bose SoundLink Mini.

However, the Creative Roar truly shines in the feature department. This is the reason it will be a true cult classic amongst geeks. The Roar can be connected to your PC via a micro USB cable; doing so will turn your Bluetooth speaker into an external soundcard.

Connect an additional Roar with the proprietary MegaStereo cable to get separate right and left channels with double the output. The cable can also be used to increase the output by connecting any analogue speaker set. It can even play HD audio as it natively supports aptX and AAC codecs over Bluetooth.

The back panel of the device is full of goodies too; this includes a record button, a bedtime mode that turns off the device by slowly reducing the volume after a certain amount of time and basic audio control buttons with a microSD slot for additional music. The Bass boost button mentioned earlier is also located at the back of the device. A full-sized USB port can charge other devices, making it a portable battery as well.

Connecting phones to the speaker is easy thanks to NFC and secure because you can choose security options. With so many features it is hard to say no to the Creative Roar.

Fashionista

Harmon Kardon Esquire Mini T he Esquire Mini is a beautiful speaker, it is designed to look good and be compact. The sound quality may not be the best, but it is loud and it oozes luxury with its leather trimmings and uni-body metal design. The size lets it sit comfort ably in a trouser pocket or a tiny hand bag.

It contains all the features required for a good Bluetooth speaker including a microphone that can cancel out ambient noises and echo, standard micro USB charging and a respectable 8-hour battery life. Other than these features there's also an aux port and the speaker can be used as a battery pack to charge your phone.

The sound is loud for a speaker of this size. While it excels in high notes, music with a significant number of low notes distorts a bit at higher volumes, while this is to be expected at this size, the sound is still better than most similarly sized speak ers. If your Bluetooth speaker is also a fash ion accessory look no further.

Audiophile

Bowers and Wilkins T7 T he T7 is as magnificent looking as it is expensive, but the asking price buys you a speaker that has pedi gree behind it. The device may not have as many features as the Roar but it does one thing well which happens to be the only thing that matters, sound.

The sound is crisp and holds out at high volumes even with the heaviest of bass lines. We tested it with everything from Western and Indian classical music to Dubstep and Bollywood, the T7 played each with the vigour of a much larger speaker set.It was loud enough to fill a decent sized room without losing out on clarity. The battery also provides a solid 18-hour playback and the device fea tures an aux input for external sound. Like the Roar the T7 also supports aptX and ACC codecs over Bluetooth, which means it, supports HD audio out put. While it may not be the cheapest and it may not have too many features, the Bowers and Wilkins T7 is by far one of the best sounding devices out there.

Jaison Lewis

MM30APR15