The rant about people who'd comment it's too expensive and would not buy it, with your perfect argument that you are not going to buy a helicopter this week, no need to talk about it, is just so on point. That was the highlight of the video for me. This products sounds like a nice treat to yourself.
Without a doubt my favourite thing about Bluetooth speakers is that they allow people who usually listen to music in the street on their phone's tinny speaker to share with a much wider audience 🙃 [Edit] I want expecting that many likes on a comment (indicating shared annoyance at this behaviour?), it seems I'm fortunate enough to have not been stuck on a bus or train with this and to have only had people doing this walking past the house on occasion. Not a comment on Mat, unless he takes this speaker out to listen to Cuba Baion ;)
kids and teenagers in groups, bluetooth speakers and public transport are a magical combination that guarantees fun and hapiness for everybody on board. they make me see the world in new perspectives. for eg. they made me see that not all mass murderers are wrong 🌝
I once thought about finding a hamster costume and then wandering around the crowded place playing the hamster song but I couldn't find a hamster costume and any boomboxes I found big enough were too expensive. This has been the only time I've ever thought about playing music in public. I mean even when I'm just walking down the street and there's nobody next to me I still put on headphones. Specifically compared to my phone speaker it sounds better and I like the way how it's directly in my ears.
@@Mr.Marbles 100% agreed. Btw.: I find the way you created a comment that starts sounding like an advertisement then ends deeply cynical quite impressive. Kudos!
When I still worked as a train driver on the local light rail network, I usually gave passengers the choice to turn them off or walk. I usually worked late and night shift, so you can imagine what most of them chose.
i've had the first gen A1 for many years now and i still like it a lot, i think it was my first usb-c device and because of this its still very easy to live with today. sound quality is top notch, on one level with my beloved bose soundlink mini and denon envaya. one of the top features is the build in EQ in the App and the fact that it really sounds good when played at low volumes, this makes this my prefered speaker for music to go to sleep with. i also wanted to mention that you can replace the battery on these, even if they don't look like you can (at least on the Gen1)
He mentioned on screen that he found that out after and there are youtube videos telling you how to change battery, were you just listening and not watching? ;)
IMO the biggest reason why modern BT speakers have such good bass is due to amplifaction tech getting better. Class D amplification has really made a big impact. Those huge boomboxes of old had like 1-3 watts but a new BT speaker may easily have 10 or 15 watts. If you are familiar with "Hoffmans Iron Law" you know it takes a lot of power to get good bass out of a small speaker. And that is now possible.
@@0525ohhwell Indeed - it's the DSP that makes the real difference, since it becomes possible to tune for optimal response from the drive unit(s) and the cabinet, also avoiding unwanted resonances. Where two drivers are used, the DSP also gets used to create the crossover function. More sophisticated digital amplifier chips include DSP functionality these days.
It’s definitely the DSP, and all the psychoacoustic wizardry behind it. If you compare these small wonders to a reasonably sized speaker that has the same capability (in terms of output and bass response), the DSP version will never be quite as good. It’s artificial and subject to the laws of physics. But it’s quite impressive how convincing it can be.
There's also a lot of computational modeling with programs like COMSOL for both fluid mechanics and structural mechanics. For a lot of things like cell phones and laptops, the enclosure/screen ends being a critical part of radiating the sound and would be very difficult to design without complex simulations.
I've had the first gen A1 for many many years since launch; it's been absolutely solid, I've traveled with it to a dozen countries and it's performed brilliantly in every scenario I've put it through; from home ambiance to beach gathering passing by blasting music on motorbike rides or simply sitting on the lap while watching movies. Of course it's gotten quite a few scratches and bumbs throughout all that but still works just as day one. 100% agree on the missing button bumps; I still find myself searching for the power button in the dark haha. I fixed it by dropping a dab of glue a while ago Batteries don't seem to have lost any noticeable life, but they seem indeed replaceable fairly easily; the unit opens by twisting the aluminum cover The rubber has gone sticky after long times sitting in hot humid conditions, but it seems to get better after drying up in use Pro tip: place it against a room corner for best presence
@@fractalengineering Just dust it on the surface. YMMV but worked for me several times. Kind of seals the surface a little bit. But for things you constantly handle like handles (lol) or computer mice its probably not going to work for as long. I really hate that companies still use these materials that are guaranteed to go bad after a few years, super wasteful.
The only thing more boring THAN THAT is someone writing a comment on the internet in response to a UA-cam video about a BT speaker that's been on the market for two years that costs $200.. but in all seriousness. I enjoyed the review.
I’ve had a B&O stereo since 1995 and it still works as well as the day I purchased it. I also have a gen 1 speaker, 5 years old and still going strong.
B&O has pretty much always voiced their speakers well. I remember their classic 1970s-80s equipment. All their vintage speakers sounded excellent, including the powered Penta columns. Also, their phono cartridges were some of the best sounding. Moving somewhat closer to the modern era, a few years ago I picked up a pair of Beoplay S3 Bluetooth or wired powered speakers. They have quite amazing sound as well as playing pretty loud. They can be configured to be used as an individual speaker or in stereo pairs vis wired line level connections on 3 conductor mini plugs or via Bluetooth. Of course it’s not current Bluetooth, but still works fine. Still impressed.
@@handlesarefeckinstupid the beolabs (especially the TOTL 90) are freaking marvels, no expense spared. scanspeak makes some of the best drivers out there, which these use - and the amount of processing going on to mate the speaker with the room its in is pretty amazing too.
I know nothing about electronics nor do I have an interest in collecting electronic devices, but I thoroughly enjoy watching your videos. There's just something soothing and relaxing about you. I appreciate all your hard work and your content. Thank you!
I'm a HUGE B&O fan, and I have all kinds of their (vintage) equipment. I would LOVE to see you make more reviews of B&O products! They made a huge amount of products throughout their history, so lots and lots of material!!!
This is right on time. I was researching BT speakers this morning. My Bose wave radio is crackling and popping terribly in all 3 modes. I’d settled on another Bose speaker but this is a great option. I’ve always valued your experience and knowledge
Not sure if this would fix your issue, but I recently fixed a Bose wave radio that had a constant oscillating popping sound, as well as some crackling, by replacing the -7 volt power supply capacitor. The positive 7 volt and main supply capacitors were still fine
This is so funny we came to the point where we are all watching a video of Techmoan covering a product he really don't care about. Especially when you realize that you don't really care about the product either... but just wanna watch a new Techmoan video. Thank you as always Matt.
I have the 1. Gen, and even though it not yet for a fully 10 years, it nearly is. I use it at least an hour every day, and it shows no signs of wear really. Not even the battery, which really is not that hard to change. Also, the strap is great for hanging it in e.g. the bathroom, or when your camping with your friends, and you don't have a table between you, but a campfire 😋👍
I had quite an addiction to buying Bluetooth speakers. It's settled down now as 20+ is probably too many. :) For filling a large space with quality sounds I have the DeWalt TSTAK. It's the same size and shape as their cases, runs on their batteries and can charge them too. It's pretty much bombproof (it survived my niece's 18th birthday party and ran all night at silly volumes using the 4.0 Ah battery). :) For carrying around the house while doing DIY I have settled on the Minirig 3. I had the smaller Minirig Mini in the back of my lorry when making long deliveries and it was superb. Nobody believed the sound was coming from something the same size as half a tin of beans. :) The Minirig 3 is a bit bigger but a lot more powerful and can run for 40 hours. They can run as a stereo pair too and with a bespoke subwoofer to create a very big sound from a very small package. A big bonus is that they are designed and built in Bristol. :)
Minirigs are great sound quality and power, the sub is an awesome addition, however my one gripe is that the unit is a complete faff to take apart for when you want to inevitably clean all the grime that builds up on the driver after falling through the open grill mesh!
I own a JBL Charge and I’ve found it has the best dynamic range of any Bluetooth speaker I’ve heard. Fills a room and can be used as a power bank to recharge your phone as well. Should be less expensive than the B&O as well.
Your demo of the weird bug concerning the microphone and noise cancellation getting in each other's way is fantastic. Good to know this is an issue while I look for a good bluetooth conference speaker.
I have had a Gen1 for ca two years now and am very satisfied. It also acts as my PC speakerphone, so for Zoom and Teams meetings. But where it really shines is indeed the music part. Really good sound.
Anker can play silly buggers with Audible - it's Audible's fault, but they're not going admit anything wrong - that means they clip the beginning of words if there's any pause longer than a comma on some combinations of Android, app, and phone (My Nokia 6.2 on Android 10 and 11, does it, as did my Moto G on Android 8 and 9). I assume it's some weird signal processing that trips the BT to shut down the speaker. There again, I've maintained that the Audible player is over engineered crap since 2010.
The Soundcore Boost is bass boosted speaker, the sound quality is mediocre at best, while bass is on steroids... I wonder about sub-bass tho, not that it matters. I mean, it's for bass-heads maybe, but "great sound quality" is quite an oversell.
@@rog2224 A lot of BT speakers are the same and will cut out if there's no audio, eg. during the Greenwich time signal pips on Radio 4. I have an app on my phone to play low level brown noise to stop the speaker from shutting itself down on every short silence.
@@rog2224 Have you checked the settings for the Anker speaker? There might be a function to, hm, level loud sounds down paired with a controller for release time. Can't remember what exactly the function is called, but I know it caused problems with cut-off audio until I turned it off. Worth trying to turn it off or lower the relrase time, if you haven't already.
The bose soundlink mini when it came out . I was blown away with the sounds and the bass the little thing had. Every bluetooth speaker ive heard i think the soundlink mini is my fav sounding one
I've had one of those Anker speakers Matt doesn't like for four years and I think it is great. I tend to listen to podcasts and sports broadcasts rather than music, but the battery in mine lasts a really long time and it is loud enough for me to use in the garage when I'm working there. It always connects automatically to my iphone, and it is light and rugged.
I have that exact speaker. Hooked up to a cheap MP3 player its been great for site work. I find the battery lasts long enough. The Bluetooth can be glitchy, so I use a 30cm cable. It's been a good buy for around £25.
After trying a few cheaper BT speakers, I tried The Ooontz Angle. I liked the price, and after a year, bought two more to multiple pair them in "true stereo" with amazing distance between them. They also offer different models at different price points. So I vote for this brand. Always watch your videos. Thanks.
I have the Oontz Angle 3 Ultra. I use it in the shower and I like the buttons that you can identify and press even with soap in your eyes. Maybe it's not true Hi-Fi, but with the noise of the water falling over my head, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway 🙂 And you can put it vertically over the soap dish. For USD 34.99, I'm quite happy with it.
If you're going down the B&O rabbit hole on a budget, you should check out the BeoSound 3 It was a Radio and SD card system from about 15 years ago but I use it outside for street parties all the time, mostly because it doesn't rely on me having my phone nearby. Very loud for its size, good battery and a fantastic (phoneless!) speaker if you're willing to print off a few SD card albums. I have a small box full of them with names like '80s rock' 'Christmas' or '60s summer'
I'm sorry but is everyine barking mad? 180 quid for one (one) speaker that is based around a 3 quid chipset. 360 quid for 2 speakers that only make a 'decent' sound? You are all mad.
@@handlesarefeckinstupid B&O is also about the materials and design, it looks and feels very nice and tactile. I'd far rather pay $100 more to have something made of nice materials rather than cheap plastic. They sell $10k televisions that (in addition to having premium sound+picture) look stunning. You buy them to hang on your wall same as you would a painting.
I bought a Doss Soundbox XL (was ~75€) about 4 years ago, and I do not regret it one bit. It sounds really good and even goes down to about 40-45hz, of course the louder you turn it the less bass you will get. The main drawback is that it charges with its own 12v power adapter with a plug thats smaller than 2.1mm. It also has a kinda small battery, but it can be easily opened if you want to modify it. It also survived a car accident where it was thrown out of the car, and hasnt been especially cared for since, but it doesnt seem to care.
The best Bluetooth speaker I’ve owned was a Sony one I got like 5 years ago. It had really clear sound and just the right amount of bass without drowning out everything else. It also had support for Wi-Fi services like Spotify connect and airplay. Sadly the micro usb port wore out and Sony discontinued it.
I'm glad to hear someone pointing out the eventual death of non-removable battery. It's an important point when purchasing products. Audio Pro has a product where you can actually purchase a new battery.
I'm trying to picture what a 'boring' video from Matt would be like. This guy did a video on replacing a screw in an old gramophone and I was fascinated. This guy could scrub mildew in his bathroom and make it somewhat interesting. I wish he would put out a boring video just so we all know what the bar is.
Ive been running the Minirig 3 for a couple of years, solid little speaker built in the UK. I have the Sub that goes with it too and the pair make an awesome duo. Planning to buy a second one soon.
We have 3 Minirigs, they're rather amazing. One was my only speaker during 6 months in Norway, another was my only speaker during a different 6 months in Norway. Also: cheaper than the B&O, and made in Bristol.
I was wondering if anyone would mention the Minirig speakers since they are so similar in sound quality and form factor. I have a pair of the Minirig Minis as well as a set of Minirig 3 speakers with the sub and absolutely love them. I don't think the Minirigs are submersible or IP67 rated but I don't have a swimming pool to accidentally drop them in so it's not a feature I need (and if I did I'd keep them well away from the water anyway). Minirigs also lack any sort of microphone but if I need to use any smart assistant features or take a phone call the mic in my smartphone serves that purpose and works just fine when the Minirigs are connected.
As a DJ they are a great addition. If im at a venue without a monitor they come out to play. I also have a Denon Prime Go which has a built in battery so great for Garden Parties etc :)
I’ve had one for years, ( get version 1 it has a 3.5 mm jack) i got it because it was the first speaker back in in like 2017 that had usb c, had it ever since, quality bit of kit that has lasted, its been dunked in paint tins, thrown around a ship and still strong, audio is great and Bluetooth is hassle less. Really quality bit of kit,
@@anonomas3530 how is the battery life now? I really wish you could power most of this Bluetooth speaker over USB while having the battery disconnected.
@@shoraz id say about 18 hours ish. I don’t charge it for about just under a week and i do 4 on 8 off watches and its on most of the time. Heavy volumes have a noticble impact on battery life, get about 6/7 hours out of it. It gets warm when its on full volume, girlfriend has the v, i think v1 is the best and with 3.5 mom jack
This was great! I’m pretty much the perfect target market for good quality Bluetooth speakers though. I’m a field deployable aviation maintenance engineer, and I’ll deploy overseas for 3-4 months at a time. I can’t really bring a fancy sound system with me and I spend around 10 hours a day, 7 days a week in the hangar working on aircraft. Can’t wear headphones, cause of situational awareness, but it’s not a noisy environment like a factory, and people in my line of work tend to make way more money than they know what to do with and good quality Bluetooth speakers are always highly desirable. So thank you, from someone who found this all legitimately interesting.
Great review! Thanks! I have a JBL 1st addition blu tooth speaker from 10 years ago and it’s still in great condition and sounds great. Looking for something with more bass and this B&O is appealing. Can only imagine I would get 10+ years from this as well, just by knowing the quality and history of B&O over the years. And I know their stuff sounds amazing.
20 years ago I was with a friend traveling on the underground in London and a guy older than us told us that he was working with speakers trying to emulate natural sound because the sound comes from one source, we heard stereo but comes from one source, at that time was interesting and now there's a lot of speakers with this caractéristiques, awesome really.
Newer Anker speakers are much improved - I have a soundcore boost after trying several much more expensive larger speakers and it's excellent. Sounds better than speakers costing more than twice the price and great battery life
I have the Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 and I am really happy with it. The sound quality is excellent. It also has a great functionality built in the app, where you can pair multiple speakers to the same phone in "party mode". As my friend has the same speaker as me we had a lot of fun this summer listening to music in stereo on the beach.
I also have the Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 (the blue one) and have been happy with it. In fact, I just had it out when I took my lunch down by the river yesterday afternoon since the weather was so beautiful here. Was checking out Graveshadow's latest album that I just snagged off of Bandcamp just before heading out. The UE speaker really does sound good, especially with the power and progressive heavy metal that I normally listen to (I cannot stand rap/hip-hop, so I just don't listen to that kind of music. The music he played in this video just was not doing it for me). I also have a Soundcast VG-7. That thing is a friggan beast and just sound absolutely incredible. In fact, while writing this, I decided to bust Soundcast VG-7 out and give it a listen as I have not used it since the 4th of July when I had it at a party - checking out Avelion's excellent "Illusion of Transperncy" album - definitely worth checking out for fans of modern progressive heavy metal! Forgot how awesome that thing sounds! But then again, that was also a $700 speaker and is also pretty big, so not easy to lug around. Still, that little B&O speaker featured in this video does seem to be pretty nice and have an excellent sound. Of course, it is B&O, so it is not going to be cheap. I got the UE MEGABOOM 3 as I wanted something smaller than the Soundcast, but still had excellent sound. The UE MEGABOOM 3 was getting excellent reviews and I was able to just grab one from the local Best Buy without having to hassle with on-line ordering and shipping. Oh BTW, the Soundcast VG-7 has a replaceable battery, so no worries there, although the UE MEGABOOM 3 does not appear to have a replaceable battery, though. EDIT - a quick Google search yielded that it is possible to replace the battery in the MEGABOOM 3, and even found a couple of UA-cam videos to show how to do it, so that is nice to know, considering I paid as much for that thing as Mat paid for his B&O speaker.
I bought a JBL Flip 5 BT speaker three months ago. I liked it so much that I bought a second speaker this week. Really enjoying the stereo pairing feature. JBL sounds great and has excellent bass.
I've had mine for almost two years and I think I've only had charge it twice (I only use it 2 or 3 times a month). It has basically no standby power draw and holds a charge for a really long time
One of these sounds great, 2 of them in a stereo pair sound ridiculously good - more than the sum of its parts. I have 2 of the 1st gen and they make brilliant take-anywhere speakers, set them up in a room and people are wondering where the hell all the great sound is coming from!
@Pixie Pete Probably true stereo. This was one thing I looked for before I bought two of the much less fancy Sony XB-12 for around 55 euros each. Only things I don't like is that setting them up for stereo is a bit fiddly when you don't do it often. (Nah, now after seeing this I would also like an equalizer setting for speech and that fabulous microphone... but not enough to pay 3x more.)
I bought one from the pound shop for £8 and it sounds alright, so much so i bought another as a spare. The battery last for hours and doesn’t run down when it not in use. It can even be used as a phone call speaker
You're demonstrated the real need for some kind of standardized, easily user serviceable rechargeable batteries for modern tech devices. Let's also not forget that modern batteries are still subject to expansion and dangerous consequences.
OMG amazing that you discovered that MIC bug... wonder how many folks have used this device for making a call and not understood why the person on the other end complained
I have the Anker Soundcore Flare 2 for a few months now and have been pleasantly surprised by them. Solid 360 sound, lightweight, and not that expensive (usually under $100). Also have a sony SRS XB33 that I don't use as often but still sounds great and can easily fill a large room with music.
I have the Sony srs-xb43 here and the sound it puts out is absolutely astounding for the size but they are very dense and heavy units. I also have two of them in STEREO PAIR mode and it's just amazing the sound quality and volume they can push. I think I maxed out at 50% volume and then it gets too loud for me.
I still use my Juice sound square that I got when I was 13 in high school, I'm 21 now and finished uni. it has worked for every shower and beach trip that I have been on. still only needs to be charged every couple of weeks surprisingly. its even survived being dropped down serveral flights of stairs
Great review, not boring at all, not owning a BT speaker, I do like the portability and even over YT the sound quality came across well, certainly something to add to my wish list :)
A coworker got himself a JBL Clip 4 when they came out. It knocked my socks off, but at US$100, I thought that was expensive. Recently scored one for $50 and couldn't be happier. Doesn't have a lot of the fancy things: no app control, no equalization control, no conferencing mic, not even a battery status readout (except a red low battery light). It _does_ have the IP67 submersion rating, solid build quality, a shockingly-long Bluetooth range, and a surprisingly useful integrated carabiner. Rated at 5 watts RMS, it gets loud enough to listen to my speech-based podcasts in the car comfortably, while driving. Glad to see B&0 in the game and doing well, but for that sort of money, I could have 4 of these Clip 4 units. I'll probably not be joining you in the ranks of B&O customers anytime soon (at least, for _this_ product).
I've had the gen 2 for a couple of years. Works great! The base is usually good, but I find that it sometimes sounds a bit odd. E.g. a bass guitar deep notes can sound a bit weird sometimes or deep drum sounds. I think they could tune the audio a bit better. I think the app is pretty good as well, if I listen to podcasts I usually switch to my pod audio preset, takes the bass down a bit and boost the tweeter.
@@reagandow850 stereo is great if you sit in the same position with a proper setup. A mono speaker is perfect for carrying around with you when you just want to consume audio. That said, you can pair two of these and get stereo.
I have a B&O S3, a bluetooth speaker from 2016 that I bought when it went on clearance. It was heavily discounted. It sounds phenomenal. Still sounds fantastic after all these years. Its a plug-in speaker, so no battery to go bad.
if you have multiple speakers in dif rooms (i just have the google ones) they really will fill the house and even after years of using various units it still was a unique experience to walk room to room and have the music never change in level
These little speakers are God tier at their price point. I have the tangerine generation one and of all the B&O stuff I own it gets a lot of questions. The generation 2 sounds exactly the same but it adds in the water proofing and upgraded Bluetooth. The "pick up and turn around and stare kind of" look. It sounds three to four times the size would imply. One thing most B&O stuff has is an internal DSP that refuses to let the speaker "over push" itself (ie, it automatically adjusts bass and treble output to account for every volume notch) so you can turn it up to full volume without the sound falling apart. It's definitely worth the money. Doesn't vibrate on the table, very solid build with high quality materials through and through. He's dead on about the buttons! My middle-aged eyes have to pull a Mr. Magoo to read the buttons sometimes. And the buttons are all very useable functions, just tiny and indistinct. You CAN open these up and replace the battery. Not too hard at all. I also have the A2 and the Beolit 17 and the same thing applies with the batteries. They hold up very well over time.
I tend to stuck with Sony bt speakers, never disappointed me. This one seems a bit expensive and it doesn't look very special to me. The grille will also be a nightmare to keep clean.
Boring? - nonsense! It's a really good review - thank you 👍. The price of some of B&O gear has come down in real terms over the last 20 years. "Form over function?" I used to be a Frontline B&O service technician and I remember their rep telling us that the designers always led the way and the techies used to have to just cope with making it work. B&O's first subwoofer was a big hunk of multi-faceted aluminium the size of an old-fashioned diver's helmet. Apparently, the enclosure came first courtesy of the design department, and it was given to the technical gurus with a shrug 🤭
I have a Sony SRS-XB20 that I got in 2018. I really didn't know what to expect from a Bluetooth speaker but I was very pleasantly surprised with the sound quality and volume. It doesn't support all the new codecs and BT versions and such but it's still working perfectly fine. The battery is holding up too. Replacing the battery seems kind of a hassle but when it eventually dies one day I might as well give it a try instead of just throwing it in the trash.
A couple of years years ago I got a bunch of free Bluetooth speakers included with my Sobieski vodka. Can't beat that price and when you're drunk on vodka, audio quality isn't a concern.
My assumption is that B&O made the buttons flush because they assumed / designed it with voice controls in mind. I bought some Beoplay HX's recently and the user ergonomics are really well thought out -- so its too bad they didn't fully consider them for the A1 as well. The HX's are incredibly well built, though, and it's nice even in their lowest cost BT speaker its just as solid as anything else they make.
Last year I got an Ikea Eneby and I'm pretty happy with it. It's pretty cheap and the quality is surprisingly good. I like that the battery is replaceable by the user and that the charger is built-in. Granted it's not as "luxurious" as anything made by B&O, but it looks pretty darn good with it's simple design and it's super easy to operate.
I got the Eneby for the reusable battery as well. And if Ikea ever stops selling the battery, I'm sure I can cut my old one one open and just replace the cells. Judging by the dimensions of the battery, there are two standard size 18650 cells inside.
Oddly I have that exact Anker speaker shown right at the beginning Matt. I've always found the battery to be superb, whenever I go to switch it on it is charged and just works. The only prob with it is that the power button failed and I had to bodge a new one together. Wonder what the battery issue is?
Sometimes people get a dud battery that degrades quicker or grows a little non-hazardous dendrite that causes it to lose charge slowly, that's just the nature of things.
Actualy the multi point connection of 5.1 or 5.2 is pretty annoying. If you are connected to 2 things and you get out of the reach with one thing the BT device starts complaining, beeping or even distort the actual sound. To avoid that you have to switch of BT on the second device, otherwise it will try to connect to both whenever possible and once connected then complain if one gets out of reach - really annoying
This is exactly what happens with my Jabra wireless headphones when I want to connect to my Garmin 245 music watch. I have to disable Bluetooth on my phone, otherwise the sound breaks up as soon as I'm out of its range. It really is quite annoying but I'm remembering to do it now before I set off for my run.
@@SteveLBMK Yeah, it is terrible. I had various jabra headphones and it did that, wonder why they could not do their software so that it automatically disconnects. Then again when you come within the reach it connects again but with the automatical disconnection I could live with that. For now I prefer headphones BT 4 for this reason. Range is the same and sound quality I suppose as well, I do not hear difference on most of my headphones - have been using BT headphones for 14 years.
I’m staying in a house with a Beosound Ouverture CD - cassette hifi. Have you ever considered doing a video on one? It seems to achieve continuous play of both sides the cassette play head spins around rather than having a forward and reverse set of heads - wild. Keep up the good work
For what it's worth I've had the exact Anker speaker you've had problems with for years and it's just as good as the day I got it including excellent battery life.
I'd have to hear it to even consider this price for a portable BT speaker. I use my Oontz Angle Ultra speakers in exactly one use case. When we travel, we tend to stay in condos and rental houses. As one never know if they will have a sound system, I pack a pair of speakers for background music during meals and evening cocktails. I don't need audiophile quality for this, but enjoy having stereo. For that use, the $80 per pair Oontz work great for me.
My first expensive BT speaker was Harman-Kardon Onyx. First model. It's bigger but also more capable speaker wise (EQ, power, distortion). Hope you can test it someday.
I have the old version that I bought in Facebook market for 40 quid as non working after being charged. Managed to do a hard reset and had been good as gold. If the sound quality of the new one is as good or better no one can complain as it sounds incredible for such a small speaker 🔊🔊
Just to add a note. Anker, the brand you were complaining about in the beginning makes their new Soundcore brand and they are some of the best bluetooth speakers on the market. Discovered them two years ago when a youtuber did a video about a $100.00 speaker called the Motion Boom that sounded better than his $300.00 JBL bluetooth speaker. I bought one of those and IT IS AMAZING. Since then they have come out with an updated version the Motion Boom +. Costs a bit more but the specs and sound are AMAZING based on reviews I've seen. Check out Soundcore!
The rant about people who'd comment it's too expensive and would not buy it, with your perfect argument that you are not going to buy a helicopter this week, no need to talk about it, is just so on point. That was the highlight of the video for me.
This products sounds like a nice treat to yourself.
I'm not gonna buy it cause I can't afford it. But I feel the need to let you all know ;o)
Right up there with "I'm a vegetarian!"
@@bagheerab278 or "I'm a Vegan".
Without a doubt my favourite thing about Bluetooth speakers is that they allow people who usually listen to music in the street on their phone's tinny speaker to share with a much wider audience 🙃
[Edit] I want expecting that many likes on a comment (indicating shared annoyance at this behaviour?), it seems I'm fortunate enough to have not been stuck on a bus or train with this and to have only had people doing this walking past the house on occasion.
Not a comment on Mat, unless he takes this speaker out to listen to Cuba Baion ;)
I especially love to hear what 12 year olds are listening to when I'm trying to speak to a friend
kids and teenagers in groups, bluetooth speakers and public transport are a magical combination that guarantees fun and hapiness for everybody on board. they make me see the world in new perspectives. for eg. they made me see that not all mass murderers are wrong 🌝
I once thought about finding a hamster costume and then wandering around the crowded place playing the hamster song but I couldn't find a hamster costume and any boomboxes I found big enough were too expensive.
This has been the only time I've ever thought about playing music in public. I mean even when I'm just walking down the street and there's nobody next to me I still put on headphones. Specifically compared to my phone speaker it sounds better and I like the way how it's directly in my ears.
@@Mr.Marbles 100% agreed.
Btw.: I find the way you created a comment that starts sounding like an advertisement then ends deeply cynical quite impressive.
Kudos!
When I still worked as a train driver on the local light rail network, I usually gave passengers the choice to turn them off or walk. I usually worked late and night shift, so you can imagine what most of them chose.
i've had the first gen A1 for many years now and i still like it a lot, i think it was my first usb-c device and because of this its still very easy to live with today. sound quality is top notch, on one level with my beloved bose soundlink mini and denon envaya. one of the top features is the build in EQ in the App and the fact that it really sounds good when played at low volumes, this makes this my prefered speaker for music to go to sleep with. i also wanted to mention that you can replace the battery on these, even if they don't look like you can (at least on the Gen1)
He mentioned on screen that he found that out after and there are youtube videos telling you how to change battery, were you just listening and not watching? ;)
IMO the biggest reason why modern BT speakers have such good bass is due to amplifaction tech getting better. Class D amplification has really made a big impact.
Those huge boomboxes of old had like 1-3 watts but a new BT speaker may easily have 10 or 15 watts.
If you are familiar with "Hoffmans Iron Law" you know it takes a lot of power to get good bass out of a small speaker. And that is now possible.
That and cheap DSP
and lithium batteries; bass drains more power
@@0525ohhwell Indeed - it's the DSP that makes the real difference, since it becomes possible to tune for optimal response from the drive unit(s) and the cabinet, also avoiding unwanted resonances. Where two drivers are used, the DSP also gets used to create the crossover function. More sophisticated digital amplifier chips include DSP functionality these days.
It’s definitely the DSP, and all the psychoacoustic wizardry behind it.
If you compare these small wonders to a reasonably sized speaker that has the same capability (in terms of output and bass response), the DSP version will never be quite as good. It’s artificial and subject to the laws of physics. But it’s quite impressive how convincing it can be.
There's also a lot of computational modeling with programs like COMSOL for both fluid mechanics and structural mechanics. For a lot of things like cell phones and laptops, the enclosure/screen ends being a critical part of radiating the sound and would be very difficult to design without complex simulations.
I've had the first gen A1 for many many years since launch; it's been absolutely solid, I've traveled with it to a dozen countries and it's performed brilliantly in every scenario I've put it through; from home ambiance to beach gathering passing by blasting music on motorbike rides or simply sitting on the lap while watching movies.
Of course it's gotten quite a few scratches and bumbs throughout all that but still works just as day one.
100% agree on the missing button bumps; I still find myself searching for the power button in the dark haha. I fixed it by dropping a dab of glue a while ago
Batteries don't seem to have lost any noticeable life, but they seem indeed replaceable fairly easily; the unit opens by twisting the aluminum cover
The rubber has gone sticky after long times sitting in hot humid conditions, but it seems to get better after drying up in use
Pro tip: place it against a room corner for best presence
Can you use this as a PC speaker?
Cornstarch can help that sticky rubber :)
@@fossil98 are you kidding I happen to have some at hand for retrobriting lol, do you mix it up with water and paint it on?
@@fractalengineering Just dust it on the surface. YMMV but worked for me several times. Kind of seals the surface a little bit.
But for things you constantly handle like handles (lol) or computer mice its probably not going to work for as long.
I really hate that companies still use these materials that are guaranteed to go bad after a few years, super wasteful.
@@fossil98 how about baby powder? does it work too?
Your record-pause-record test was great! Amazing.
The only thing more boring THAN THAT is someone writing a comment on the internet in response to a UA-cam video about a BT speaker that's been on the market for two years that costs $200.. but in all seriousness. I enjoyed the review.
I’ve had a B&O stereo since 1995 and it still works as well as the day I purchased it. I also have a gen 1 speaker, 5 years old and still going strong.
@hd01 cdx best sounding cd player I have ever owned till the hinges broke .
B&O has pretty much always voiced their speakers well.
I remember their classic 1970s-80s equipment.
All their vintage speakers sounded excellent, including the powered Penta columns.
Also, their phono cartridges were some of the best sounding.
Moving somewhat closer to the modern era, a few years ago I picked up a pair of Beoplay S3 Bluetooth or wired powered speakers. They have quite amazing sound as well as playing pretty loud. They can be configured to be used as an individual speaker or in stereo pairs vis wired line level connections on 3 conductor mini plugs or via Bluetooth. Of course it’s not current Bluetooth, but still works fine.
Still impressed.
They are living on their past success and glory. They are just another 'Beats'.
@@handlesarefeckinstupid the beolabs (especially the TOTL 90) are freaking marvels, no expense spared. scanspeak makes some of the best drivers out there, which these use - and the amount of processing going on to mate the speaker with the room its in is pretty amazing too.
I know nothing about electronics nor do I have an interest in collecting electronic devices, but I thoroughly enjoy watching your videos. There's just something soothing and relaxing about you. I appreciate all your hard work and your content. Thank you!
I'm a HUGE B&O fan, and I have all kinds of their (vintage) equipment. I would LOVE to see you make more reviews of B&O products! They made a huge amount of products throughout their history, so lots and lots of material!!!
This is right on time. I was researching BT speakers this morning. My Bose wave radio is crackling and popping terribly in all 3 modes.
I’d settled on another Bose speaker but this is a great option.
I’ve always valued your experience and knowledge
Check out the Sony SRS-XB33.
Not sure if this would fix your issue, but I recently fixed a Bose wave radio that had a constant oscillating popping sound, as well as some crackling, by replacing the -7 volt power supply capacitor. The positive 7 volt and main supply capacitors were still fine
@@robowarner that’s really interesting and I’m definitely going to investigate that. I do love the Bose wave
"hurry they're almost gone" the urban outfitters ecommerce team are in for a big shock
As far as I can tell, only the Stratford (London) store has them in stock.
Nothing left.
"We're sorry. This product is no longer available."
Video realised today. How the hell you commented 4days ago?????
@@KAMIKADZE441 Patreon
This is so funny we came to the point where we are all watching a video of Techmoan covering a product he really don't care about. Especially when you realize that you don't really care about the product either... but just wanna watch a new Techmoan video. Thank you as always Matt.
I just love his voice. Like ASMR, before sleep with techmoan
He makes everything not boring!
I have the 1. Gen, and even though it not yet for a fully 10 years, it nearly is. I use it at least an hour every day, and it shows no signs of wear really. Not even the battery, which really is not that hard to change. Also, the strap is great for hanging it in e.g. the bathroom, or when your camping with your friends, and you don't have a table between you, but a campfire 😋👍
I had quite an addiction to buying Bluetooth speakers. It's settled down now as 20+ is probably too many. :) For filling a large space with quality sounds I have the DeWalt TSTAK. It's the same size and shape as their cases, runs on their batteries and can charge them too. It's pretty much bombproof (it survived my niece's 18th birthday party and ran all night at silly volumes using the 4.0 Ah battery). :) For carrying around the house while doing DIY I have settled on the Minirig 3. I had the smaller Minirig Mini in the back of my lorry when making long deliveries and it was superb. Nobody believed the sound was coming from something the same size as half a tin of beans. :) The Minirig 3 is a bit bigger but a lot more powerful and can run for 40 hours. They can run as a stereo pair too and with a bespoke subwoofer to create a very big sound from a very small package. A big bonus is that they are designed and built in Bristol. :)
Minirigs are great sound quality and power, the sub is an awesome addition, however my one gripe is that the unit is a complete faff to take apart for when you want to inevitably clean all the grime that builds up on the driver after falling through the open grill mesh!
I own a JBL Charge and I’ve found it has the best dynamic range of any Bluetooth speaker I’ve heard. Fills a room and can be used as a power bank to recharge your phone as well. Should be less expensive than the B&O as well.
Your demo of the weird bug concerning the microphone and noise cancellation getting in each other's way is fantastic. Good to know this is an issue while I look for a good bluetooth conference speaker.
I have had a Gen1 for ca two years now and am very satisfied. It also acts as my PC speakerphone, so for Zoom and Teams meetings. But where it really shines is indeed the music part. Really good sound.
I was just about to comment that the fancy microphone would be something to justify the cost.
I tried using it as an USB speaker but it has a delay and missed 1 second of sound when play from idle.
You made it as interesting as possible and I love the short tangent in the end!
I’d still go for the anker soundcore boost at about £55. Great sound quality and if you’re leaving it static then the battery is of no consequence
Anker can play silly buggers with Audible - it's Audible's fault, but they're not going admit anything wrong - that means they clip the beginning of words if there's any pause longer than a comma on some combinations of Android, app, and phone (My Nokia 6.2 on Android 10 and 11, does it, as did my Moto G on Android 8 and 9). I assume it's some weird signal processing that trips the BT to shut down the speaker. There again, I've maintained that the Audible player is over engineered crap since 2010.
The Soundcore Boost is bass boosted speaker, the sound quality is mediocre at best, while bass is on steroids... I wonder about sub-bass tho, not that it matters.
I mean, it's for bass-heads maybe, but "great sound quality" is quite an oversell.
@@rog2224 A lot of BT speakers are the same and will cut out if there's no audio, eg. during the Greenwich time signal pips on Radio 4. I have an app on my phone to play low level brown noise to stop the speaker from shutting itself down on every short silence.
@@rog2224 Have you checked the settings for the Anker speaker? There might be a function to, hm, level loud sounds down paired with a controller for release time. Can't remember what exactly the function is called, but I know it caused problems with cut-off audio until I turned it off. Worth trying to turn it off or lower the relrase time, if you haven't already.
The bose soundlink mini when it came out . I was blown away with the sounds and the bass the little thing had. Every bluetooth speaker ive heard i think the soundlink mini is my fav sounding one
Same. Friend brought one with him once and I couldnt believe how much flippin bass this tiny thing hammers out.
I've got one of those and I still really enjoy it. I'll not replace it until it breaks.
I've got this model I think, it's also got a 1/8 inch stereo analog input which I find to be quite convenient.
I've had one of those Anker speakers Matt doesn't like for four years and I think it is great. I tend to listen to podcasts and sports broadcasts rather than music, but the battery in mine lasts a really long time and it is loud enough for me to use in the garage when I'm working there. It always connects automatically to my iphone, and it is light and rugged.
Yep, same! It seems his must've been defective
Yep, I have the Anker soundcore motion plus is less than 1/2 the B&O price with a great app and sound. Connecting to 2 devices would have been good.
I've never had to recharge mine since I bought it his must have been bin bound since birth
Had one as well. In agreement with the battery not being great, mine I wasn't able to hear certain podcasts in the shower even at full volume.
I have that exact speaker. Hooked up to a cheap MP3 player its been great for site work. I find the battery lasts long enough. The Bluetooth can be glitchy, so I use a 30cm cable. It's been a good buy for around £25.
As always “bravo” Matthew! You’re a good man! Send you greetings from Italy
Fun fact: When you're in the B&O app and adjustisting the equalizer settings you can further modify the sound by pinching the circle to drag around.
After trying a few cheaper BT speakers, I tried The Ooontz Angle. I liked the price, and after a year, bought two more to multiple pair them in "true stereo" with amazing distance between them.
They also offer different models at different price points.
So I vote for this brand.
Always watch your videos. Thanks.
I have the Oontz Angle 3 Ultra. I use it in the shower and I like the buttons that you can identify and press even with soap in your eyes. Maybe it's not true Hi-Fi, but with the noise of the water falling over my head, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway 🙂
And you can put it vertically over the soap dish.
For USD 34.99, I'm quite happy with it.
Me three.
If you're going down the B&O rabbit hole on a budget, you should check out the BeoSound 3
It was a Radio and SD card system from about 15 years ago but I use it outside for street parties all the time, mostly because it doesn't rely on me having my phone nearby. Very loud for its size, good battery and a fantastic (phoneless!) speaker if you're willing to print off a few SD card albums. I have a small box full of them with names like '80s rock' 'Christmas' or '60s summer'
I'm sorry but is everyine barking mad? 180 quid for one (one) speaker that is based around a 3 quid chipset. 360 quid for 2 speakers that only make a 'decent' sound? You are all mad.
@@handlesarefeckinstupid B&O is also about the materials and design, it looks and feels very nice and tactile. I'd far rather pay $100 more to have something made of nice materials rather than cheap plastic. They sell $10k televisions that (in addition to having premium sound+picture) look stunning. You buy them to hang on your wall same as you would a painting.
I bought a Doss Soundbox XL (was ~75€) about 4 years ago, and I do not regret it one bit.
It sounds really good and even goes down to about 40-45hz, of course the louder you turn it the less bass you will get.
The main drawback is that it charges with its own 12v power adapter with a plug thats smaller than 2.1mm.
It also has a kinda small battery, but it can be easily opened if you want to modify it.
It also survived a car accident where it was thrown out of the car, and hasnt been especially cared for since, but it doesnt seem to care.
Yep.. likewise.. stunning sound and cheap as chips.
The best Bluetooth speaker I’ve owned was a Sony one I got like 5 years ago. It had really clear sound and just the right amount of bass without drowning out everything else. It also had support for Wi-Fi services like Spotify connect and airplay. Sadly the micro usb port wore out and Sony discontinued it.
I'm glad to hear someone pointing out the eventual death of non-removable battery. It's an important point when purchasing products. Audio Pro has a product where you can actually purchase a new battery.
This review wasn't boring at all. Please review more B&O gear, especially the vintage stuff.
For some reason I just like listening to you talk about stuff. I find it relaxing. I enjoy a good rant too 😆
As Danish born and raised (home of B&O), I approve of this video.
I'm trying to picture what a 'boring' video from Matt would be like. This guy did a video on replacing a screw in an old gramophone and I was fascinated. This guy could scrub mildew in his bathroom and make it somewhat interesting. I wish he would put out a boring video just so we all know what the bar is.
Yup. He even makes trudging through auction lot's of minidisk players enjoyable enough to watch two rounds of that.
Ive been running the Minirig 3 for a couple of years, solid little speaker built in the UK. I have the Sub that goes with it too and the pair make an awesome duo. Planning to buy a second one soon.
We have 3 Minirigs, they're rather amazing. One was my only speaker during 6 months in Norway, another was my only speaker during a different 6 months in Norway. Also: cheaper than the B&O, and made in Bristol.
I was wondering if anyone would mention the Minirig speakers since they are so similar in sound quality and form factor. I have a pair of the Minirig Minis as well as a set of Minirig 3 speakers with the sub and absolutely love them. I don't think the Minirigs are submersible or IP67 rated but I don't have a swimming pool to accidentally drop them in so it's not a feature I need (and if I did I'd keep them well away from the water anyway). Minirigs also lack any sort of microphone but if I need to use any smart assistant features or take a phone call the mic in my smartphone serves that purpose and works just fine when the Minirigs are connected.
As a DJ they are a great addition. If im at a venue without a monitor they come out to play. I also have a Denon Prime Go which has a built in battery so great for Garden Parties etc :)
I’ve had one for years, ( get version 1 it has a 3.5 mm jack) i got it because it was the first speaker back in in like 2017 that had usb c, had it ever since, quality bit of kit that has lasted, its been dunked in paint tins, thrown around a ship and still strong, audio is great and Bluetooth is hassle less. Really quality bit of kit,
After the paint tin, i washed it, then put it in the washing machine came up lovely, still worked,. The aluminium dome can be unscrewed as well
@@anonomas3530 how is the battery life now? I really wish you could power most of this Bluetooth speaker over USB while having the battery disconnected.
@@shoraz id say about 18 hours ish. I don’t charge it for about just under a week and i do 4 on 8 off watches and its on most of the time. Heavy volumes have a noticble impact on battery life, get about 6/7 hours out of it. It gets warm when its on full volume, girlfriend has the v, i think v1 is the best and with 3.5 mom jack
Just viewed this video today, they're now £259 at Urban Outfitters! Well done for getting it when you did.👍🏻😊
With B&O you pay more upfront but less on the long run: better build quality, premium materials and best in class sound. Gratz on your purchase!
This was great! I’m pretty much the perfect target market for good quality Bluetooth speakers though. I’m a field deployable aviation maintenance engineer, and I’ll deploy overseas for 3-4 months at a time. I can’t really bring a fancy sound system with me and I spend around 10 hours a day, 7 days a week in the hangar working on aircraft. Can’t wear headphones, cause of situational awareness, but it’s not a noisy environment like a factory, and people in my line of work tend to make way more money than they know what to do with and good quality Bluetooth speakers are always highly desirable.
So thank you, from someone who found this all legitimately interesting.
Great review! Thanks!
I have a JBL 1st addition blu tooth speaker from 10 years ago and it’s still in great condition and sounds great. Looking for something with more bass and this B&O is appealing. Can only imagine I would get 10+ years from this as well, just by knowing the quality and history of B&O over the years. And I know their stuff sounds amazing.
how about the battery?
This thing sounds so unbelievably better than a HomePod mini and it’s portable and also a weapon you can knock someone out with. Great stuff
20 years ago I was with a friend traveling on the underground in London and a guy older than us told us that he was working with speakers trying to emulate natural sound because the sound comes from one source, we heard stereo but comes from one source, at that time was interesting and now there's a lot of speakers with this caractéristiques, awesome really.
Newer Anker speakers are much improved - I have a soundcore boost after trying several much more expensive larger speakers and it's excellent. Sounds better than speakers costing more than twice the price and great battery life
I have the Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 and I am really happy with it. The sound quality is excellent. It also has a great functionality built in the app, where you can pair multiple speakers to the same phone in "party mode". As my friend has the same speaker as me we had a lot of fun this summer listening to music in stereo on the beach.
I also have the Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 (the blue one) and have been happy with it. In fact, I just had it out when I took my lunch down by the river yesterday afternoon since the weather was so beautiful here. Was checking out Graveshadow's latest album that I just snagged off of Bandcamp just before heading out. The UE speaker really does sound good, especially with the power and progressive heavy metal that I normally listen to (I cannot stand rap/hip-hop, so I just don't listen to that kind of music. The music he played in this video just was not doing it for me). I also have a Soundcast VG-7. That thing is a friggan beast and just sound absolutely incredible. In fact, while writing this, I decided to bust Soundcast VG-7 out and give it a listen as I have not used it since the 4th of July when I had it at a party - checking out Avelion's excellent "Illusion of Transperncy" album - definitely worth checking out for fans of modern progressive heavy metal! Forgot how awesome that thing sounds! But then again, that was also a $700 speaker and is also pretty big, so not easy to lug around. Still, that little B&O speaker featured in this video does seem to be pretty nice and have an excellent sound. Of course, it is B&O, so it is not going to be cheap. I got the UE MEGABOOM 3 as I wanted something smaller than the Soundcast, but still had excellent sound. The UE MEGABOOM 3 was getting excellent reviews and I was able to just grab one from the local Best Buy without having to hassle with on-line ordering and shipping. Oh BTW, the Soundcast VG-7 has a replaceable battery, so no worries there, although the UE MEGABOOM 3 does not appear to have a replaceable battery, though. EDIT - a quick Google search yielded that it is possible to replace the battery in the MEGABOOM 3, and even found a couple of UA-cam videos to show how to do it, so that is nice to know, considering I paid as much for that thing as Mat paid for his B&O speaker.
Agreed. The UE boom series are excellent. Great sound, super rugged and sound great as a stereo pair. Indispensable for holidays.
I bought a JBL Flip 5 BT speaker three months ago. I liked it so much that I bought a second speaker this week. Really enjoying the stereo pairing feature. JBL sounds great and has excellent bass.
I've had mine for almost two years and I think I've only had charge it twice (I only use it 2 or 3 times a month). It has basically no standby power draw and holds a charge for a really long time
One of these sounds great, 2 of them in a stereo pair sound ridiculously good - more than the sum of its parts. I have 2 of the 1st gen and they make brilliant take-anywhere speakers, set them up in a room and people are wondering where the hell all the great sound is coming from!
@Pixie Pete I was wondering that also. Techmoan didn't actually say!
@Pixie Pete you don't get anything for a pair.... not in this game.
@Pixie Pete Probably true stereo. This was one thing I looked for before I bought two of the much less fancy Sony XB-12 for around 55 euros each.
Only things I don't like is that setting them up for stereo is a bit fiddly when you don't do it often. (Nah, now after seeing this I would also like an equalizer setting for speech and that fabulous microphone... but not enough to pay 3x more.)
@Pixie Pete True stereo
I bought one from the pound shop for £8 and it sounds alright, so much so i bought another as a spare. The battery last for hours and doesn’t run down when it not in use. It can even be used as a phone call speaker
Following the Ashens review? I did the same and totally agree with you. Best value ever!
You're demonstrated the real need for some kind of standardized, easily user serviceable rechargeable batteries for modern tech devices. Let's also not forget that modern batteries are still subject to expansion and dangerous consequences.
Or you can just replace the battery...
@@sandokan1578 Or you can just have a standardised battery…
Truly hilarious wrap-up, thanks for the genuine laugh
A vote for the Minirig Bluetooth speaker. Made in the UK a solid performer!
OMG amazing that you discovered that MIC bug... wonder how many folks have used this device for making a call and not understood why the person on the other end complained
I have the Anker Soundcore Flare 2 for a few months now and have been pleasantly surprised by them. Solid 360 sound, lightweight, and not that expensive (usually under $100). Also have a sony SRS XB33 that I don't use as often but still sounds great and can easily fill a large room with music.
I have the sony srs-xb3. Plenty loud and nice bass for a small bt speaker. And it's built like a tank. Think I paid $60-70 or thereabouts for it.
I have the Sony srs-xb43 here and the sound it puts out is absolutely astounding for the size but they are very dense and heavy units. I also have two of them in STEREO PAIR mode and it's just amazing the sound quality and volume they can push. I think I maxed out at 50% volume and then it gets too loud for me.
I still use my Juice sound square that I got when I was 13 in high school, I'm 21 now and finished uni. it has worked for every shower and beach trip that I have been on. still only needs to be charged every couple of weeks surprisingly. its even survived being dropped down serveral flights of stairs
The anker "soundcore boost upgraded" is £50 on Amazon and with the right settings and equaliser it's excellent.
I've had mine for almost 2 and a half yrs, great speaker, got it free with my phone contract, can't fault the sound at all
Great review, not boring at all, not owning a BT speaker, I do like the portability and even over YT the sound quality came across well, certainly something to add to my wish list :)
A coworker got himself a JBL Clip 4 when they came out. It knocked my socks off, but at US$100, I thought that was expensive. Recently scored one for $50 and couldn't be happier. Doesn't have a lot of the fancy things: no app control, no equalization control, no conferencing mic, not even a battery status readout (except a red low battery light). It _does_ have the IP67 submersion rating, solid build quality, a shockingly-long Bluetooth range, and a surprisingly useful integrated carabiner. Rated at 5 watts RMS, it gets loud enough to listen to my speech-based podcasts in the car comfortably, while driving. Glad to see B&0 in the game and doing well, but for that sort of money, I could have 4 of these Clip 4 units. I'll probably not be joining you in the ranks of B&O customers anytime soon (at least, for _this_ product).
I've had the gen 2 for a couple of years. Works great! The base is usually good, but I find that it sometimes sounds a bit odd. E.g. a bass guitar deep notes can sound a bit weird sometimes or deep drum sounds. I think they could tune the audio a bit better.
I think the app is pretty good as well, if I listen to podcasts I usually switch to my pod audio preset, takes the bass down a bit and boost the tweeter.
Aren’t these mono? If so, why on earth would anyone want a mono speaker???
@@reagandow850 perfect for a working kitchen, shop, retail etc. type environment
@@reagandow850 So you can hear something. Stereo is irrelevant under most circumstances
@@reagandow850 stereo is great if you sit in the same position with a proper setup.
A mono speaker is perfect for carrying around with you when you just want to consume audio.
That said, you can pair two of these and get stereo.
I love the way you justify yourself in your videos, makes me laugh every time. Always an enjoyable, informative watch.
You should review/try a Minirig. The v3 is insanely good for the size.
I have a B&O S3, a bluetooth speaker from 2016 that I bought when it went on clearance. It was heavily discounted. It sounds phenomenal. Still sounds fantastic after all these years.
Its a plug-in speaker, so no battery to go bad.
if you have multiple speakers in dif rooms (i just have the google ones) they really will fill the house and even after years of using various units it still was a unique experience to walk room to room and have the music never change in level
I first experienced this years ago with someone’s Sonos system. Now I have google homes all over the house. Really great for when guests are over.
These little speakers are God tier at their price point. I have the tangerine generation one and of all the B&O stuff I own it gets a lot of questions. The generation 2 sounds exactly the same but it adds in the water proofing and upgraded Bluetooth. The "pick up and turn around and stare kind of" look. It sounds three to four times the size would imply. One thing most B&O stuff has is an internal DSP that refuses to let the speaker "over push" itself (ie, it automatically adjusts bass and treble output to account for every volume notch) so you can turn it up to full volume without the sound falling apart. It's definitely worth the money. Doesn't vibrate on the table, very solid build with high quality materials through and through.
He's dead on about the buttons! My middle-aged eyes have to pull a Mr. Magoo to read the buttons sometimes. And the buttons are all very useable functions, just tiny and indistinct. You CAN open these up and replace the battery. Not too hard at all. I also have the A2 and the Beolit 17 and the same thing applies with the batteries. They hold up very well over time.
I tend to stuck with Sony bt speakers, never disappointed me. This one seems a bit expensive and it doesn't look very special to me. The grille will also be a nightmare to keep clean.
Boring? - nonsense! It's a really good review - thank you 👍.
The price of some of B&O gear has come down in real terms over the last 20 years.
"Form over function?" I used to be a Frontline B&O service technician and I remember their rep telling us that the designers always led the way and the techies used to have to just cope with making it work. B&O's first subwoofer was a big hunk of multi-faceted aluminium the size of an old-fashioned diver's helmet. Apparently, the enclosure came first courtesy of the design department, and it was given to the technical gurus with a shrug 🤭
I'm happy with my Anker speaker, it still hold the charge after all these years and sounds great for a $20 item
Excellent. Love your sense of humor (humour) and your videos.
I have a Sony SRS-XB20 that I got in 2018. I really didn't know what to expect from a Bluetooth speaker but I was very pleasantly surprised with the sound quality and volume. It doesn't support all the new codecs and BT versions and such but it's still working perfectly fine. The battery is holding up too. Replacing the battery seems kind of a hassle but when it eventually dies one day I might as well give it a try instead of just throwing it in the trash.
Very pleased with mine too; in Nov 2017 I bought a pair for £114 total - they work very well together in stereo.
If you upgrade try the SRS-XB33. I like it a lot, can use LIVE mode and the Sony app lets you EQ it and turn off the power saving mode.
I really like that coffee cup! Very stylish and modern looking.
A couple of years years ago I got a bunch of free Bluetooth speakers included with my Sobieski vodka. Can't beat that price and when you're drunk on vodka, audio quality isn't a concern.
I dunno, I crave bass even more when I'm drunk. But that may because of my misspent youth in nightclubs....
@@silmarian I didn't go to bars and nightclubs until I was 21. My youth was spent on my comodore 64.
My assumption is that B&O made the buttons flush because they assumed / designed it with voice controls in mind. I bought some Beoplay HX's recently and the user ergonomics are really well thought out -- so its too bad they didn't fully consider them for the A1 as well. The HX's are incredibly well built, though, and it's nice even in their lowest cost BT speaker its just as solid as anything else they make.
They forgot about us oldies that would rather press buttons than talk to a machine.
Last year I got an Ikea Eneby and I'm pretty happy with it. It's pretty cheap and the quality is surprisingly good. I like that the battery is replaceable by the user and that the charger is built-in. Granted it's not as "luxurious" as anything made by B&O, but it looks pretty darn good with it's simple design and it's super easy to operate.
I got the Eneby for the reusable battery as well. And if Ikea ever stops selling the battery, I'm sure I can cut my old one one open and just replace the cells. Judging by the dimensions of the battery, there are two standard size 18650 cells inside.
I have that one as well but found it to have a bit too much bass for my taste. Even on the lowest bass setting.
I also have the IKEA Eneby and did not know that the batteries can be replaced. Glad to hear that they can be 👍🏼
Love it.... we have 2 Bose bluetooths in our place and I was, in no way after another one. you summed it all up beautifully at the end... TOP MAN X
Oddly I have that exact Anker speaker shown right at the beginning Matt. I've always found the battery to be superb, whenever I go to switch it on it is charged and just works. The only prob with it is that the power button failed and I had to bodge a new one together. Wonder what the battery issue is?
Sometimes people get a dud battery that degrades quicker or grows a little non-hazardous dendrite that causes it to lose charge slowly, that's just the nature of things.
My only problem with it is the pairing button on the top that I hit accidentally once a month and have to reboot it to get my music playing again.
I absolutely LOVE the way you get in front of trolls and idiots!! Legend!
Actualy the multi point connection of 5.1 or 5.2 is pretty annoying. If you are connected to 2 things and you get out of the reach with one thing the BT device starts complaining, beeping or even distort the actual sound. To avoid that you have to switch of BT on the second device, otherwise it will try to connect to both whenever possible and once connected then complain if one gets out of reach - really annoying
This is exactly what happens with my Jabra wireless headphones when I want to connect to my Garmin 245 music watch. I have to disable Bluetooth on my phone, otherwise the sound breaks up as soon as I'm out of its range. It really is quite annoying but I'm remembering to do it now before I set off for my run.
@@SteveLBMK Yeah, it is terrible. I had various jabra headphones and it did that, wonder why they could not do their software so that it automatically disconnects. Then again when you come within the reach it connects again but with the automatical disconnection I could live with that. For now I prefer headphones BT 4 for this reason. Range is the same and sound quality I suppose as well, I do not hear difference on most of my headphones - have been using BT headphones for 14 years.
I had a dream I watched a video about a £200 Bluetooth speaker and then bought one.. woke up in a cold sweat
I've been really happy with all of the JBL speakers I've had. It would be interesting to hear how they compare sound quality wise to the B&O.
I have Beoplay P2 for couple of years now and it's absolutely fantastic. It's a little smaller alternative for A1.
Unit isn't sealed. The top twists off (it's stiff), and you just need to remove a few torx screws. Battery is then accessible and easily replaceable.
I’m staying in a house with a Beosound Ouverture CD - cassette hifi. Have you ever considered doing a video on one? It seems to achieve continuous play of both sides the cassette play head spins around rather than having a forward and reverse set of heads - wild. Keep up the good work
I have the Tribit micro box got it on Amazon for like £30 and it's brilliant compared to the overpriced mini alternatives
For what it's worth I've had the exact Anker speaker you've had problems with for years and it's just as good as the day I got it including excellent battery life.
Looking forward to the helicopter review once you get around to buying one in a few weeks, apparently.
I've got B&O in my car and love it. I don't love my bt speaker so I think I'll buy this one. Thanks for the review!
Welcome to the modern mono world!
Hi TechMoan. We love you. Think your shows are great. We watch them all and enjoy. Do more puppets they are fab x
I’ve got the green version and it’s beautiful. Yes they are pricey but sometimes you’ve got to treat yourself and sound wise it’s terrific.
Not boring! Loved it. Thanks, Mat! 💜
For £400 For a stereo pair, its off the scale expensive. Loads of great speakers for this price.
I'd have to hear it to even consider this price for a portable BT speaker. I use my Oontz Angle Ultra speakers in exactly one use case. When we travel, we tend to stay in condos and rental houses. As one never know if they will have a sound system, I pack a pair of speakers for background music during meals and evening cocktails. I don't need audiophile quality for this, but enjoy having stereo. For that use, the $80 per pair Oontz work great for me.
I also thought the strap looks like you could hang it in the shower
I would definitively watch Techmoan's video about the helicopter he intends not to buy this week.
Last night I dreamt that he did buy one😳
I love that you addressed the matter of people needing to voice their intention to not buy a product you review
BRAVO! Wonderful video; and not giving a toss regarding nonsense, having confidence; made it all the better! Well done that man!
A double semicolon! ~ my my.... haha! Keep it up and don't change! p.s. I miss the puppets!
My first expensive BT speaker was Harman-Kardon Onyx. First model. It's bigger but also more capable speaker wise (EQ, power, distortion). Hope you can test it someday.
I love my LG xboom pl7, its loud has great bass and has really good battery life.
Definitely the best speaker I've bought
I have the old version that I bought in Facebook market for 40 quid as non working after being charged. Managed to do a hard reset and had been good as gold. If the sound quality of the new one is as good or better no one can complain as it sounds incredible for such a small speaker 🔊🔊
the construction is suberb. i stupidly dropped it twice on wooden stairs, at least a two meter fall and it didn't make a dent.
Just to add a note. Anker, the brand you were complaining about in the beginning makes their new Soundcore brand and they are some of the best bluetooth speakers on the market. Discovered them two years ago when a youtuber did a video about a $100.00 speaker called the Motion Boom that sounded better than his $300.00 JBL bluetooth speaker. I bought one of those and IT IS AMAZING. Since then they have come out with an updated version the Motion Boom +. Costs a bit more but the specs and sound are AMAZING based on reviews I've seen. Check out Soundcore!