There are lots of cheap Bluetooth speakers out there that get the job done. Style does matter, however, and there are times when you also want something that also looks good. If that’s your thing, the Archeer Portable Bluetooth Speaker is worth your consideration. Not only does it look good, but it performs really well and has some nice bonus features. It’s also pretty cost effective. Let’s go find out more!

Design and Construction

At 11” by 2-1/2” by 5-1/2” and weighing three pounds, The Archeer Portable Bluetooth Speaker is meant to be on display. And you’ll want it on display with it’s a classy, streamlined profile. It’s not real wood, but the light oak wood grain finish makes it hard to tell without close inspection. You’ve got two matte black speakers on the front face and a thin black leather carrying strap attached on the sides. Its sophisticated styling makes for an accessory that looks good in your office, your living room, or your rec room.

All the controls and ports are contained in a plate on the top of the device. There’s a standard power switch, a multifunction button to change modes, a play/pause button, and two buttons that serve both to switch music tracks and control the volume. You’ll also find three different ports: an aux in, a micro-USB port to charge the unit, and a standard USB port for connecting to your smartphone. There’s also a little LED screen to indicate status and functions. Everything is nicely spaced, clearly labeled, and the buttons all provide good tactile feedback.

While the Archeer Portable Bluetooth Speaker is designed to be portable, it isn’t made for outdoor adventures. It is neither weatherproof nor impact resistant, and it’s not compact enough to throw in your bag for a picnic or a beach trip. I think this speaker is made more for moving around the house, depending on where and how you want to rock your music.

The Archeer Portable Bluetooth Speaker has a curious collection of additional features. In addition to Bluetooth connectivity, the aux-in port enables you to use it as a speaker with any device that connects via the aux cable supplied in the package. It has a radio receiver with the ability to scan for local channels. The micro-USB port is designed for charging via the USB to micro-USB cable included, but you’ll need to bring your own power. There’s also a full-sized USB port that doesn’t offer any additional device connectivity but enables you to recharge your devices. With a built-in 4000mAh Li-ion Rechargeable Battery, there are an estimated 20 hours of playing time between charges (unless you are recharging your devices).

In Use

The Archeer Portable Bluetooth Speaker works great as Bluetooth-enabled speaker device. It pairs quickly and easily with our devices, has good sound quality. The additional features are a mixed bag, however. Let’s take a walk through the whole setup and operation.

The dedicated on/off switch powers up the device, and it plays a brief musical jingle to indicate that it is active, followed by a tone that lets you know it is paired with your Bluetooth device. While this is good audio feedback, it’s loud and there’s no volume control for this that I could find. It’s a minor annoyance, but may be an issue if you’re firing up the speaker when everyone else in the house or apartment is sleeping.

Pairing and disconnecting Bluetooth devices is particularly easy. Once you turn the speaker on, it automatically goes into “pairing” mode; a blinking blue LED light indicates that it is seeking a device to pair with. Hook up through the Bluetooth settings on your device of choice and a speaker tone and LED indicator notify you that you’re ready to go. You can disconnect and pair other devices on the fly. A speaker tone will indicate when you have disconnected your device, and the speaker goes back into “pairing” mode waiting for a new connection. I’ve found this feature to be very useful as I move about the house. I usually pair with my iMac in my office, and switch to my iPhone or iPad if I’m downstairs so I have direct access to my music or podcast controls.  Switching is quick, easy, and 100% reliable so far.

Sound quality is very good. My listening tastes are very diverse, and I’ve put these speakers through their paces with everything I’ve got: podcasts, rock, punk, old-school hip-hop, reggae, modern pop, classic R&B… you get the idea. Out of the box, the high and low ranges on these speakers are really well balanced regardless of style and will support adjustments from your device’s equalizer tools if available. There is no subwoofer for deep room-shaking bass, but I haven’t found this to be an issue. Audio is crisp and clear at any volume.

If there is one criticism I have about audio, it’s in the volume controls themselves. You press the “previous track/volume down” or “next track/volume up” button once to change your song, or press and hold the button to adjust the volume… as you would expect, this means that I have accidentally switched songs more than once when I wanted to adjust the volume. Volume adjustment is also independent of the volume control on your device, which can be frustrating if you don’t realize have the volume turned down on your device and up on the speaker (or vice versa). Honestly, I prefer to just keep the speaker at max volume and do all of my adjustments (including playback controls) from my apps. 

Archeer provides a generous 40” auxiliary cable as an alternative to Bluetooth connectivity. When you plug it into the control panel, the device automatically switches modes and indicates the change on the LED screen. Volume controls work just as they do in Bluetooth mode, with the ability to adjust the volume on either the speaker or your device. This gives you lots of options for connecting different devices. Just as an example, I plugged in my electric ukulele to try it out (yes… electric ukes are a thing). While it doesn’t sound as nice as a traditional amp, it’s quite convenient for plugging in and jamming. When you pull the plug, the speaker also reverts back to Bluetooth mode with no additional adjustments required.

The full-size USB port is only good for charging. The port on my unit is a little loose, so it requires some wiggling to engage on my iPhone. The LED panel has a little red light that indicates when it is charge mode. I would prefer to see this port to be fully functional as an alternative for playing music. It honestly feels like a throw-in feature, but serves the purpose if you need to charge your phone in an emergency. With a massive rechargeable battery on the speaker, I don’t expect that this will kill the charge too badly when in use.

Speaking of charging, I appreciate that Archeer also supplies a 40 inch USB to micro-USB cable for charging the device. Most of these devices provide a cable that is too short for practical use, so it’s nice to be able to reach your power source without moving the speaker around. With a 20-hour battery life, this adds to the portability of the device. I can go for days between charges, moving the speaker around the house as needed without being tethered to a power source. This also contributes to the overall design aesthetic of the speaker: no awkward ports or hanging cables to deal with in regular use.

Finally, the Archeer Portable Bluetooth Speaker comes with an FM radio receiver. You choose this my pressing the multifunction button until the radio settings appear, and use the next/last buttons to track local stations. The problem with this mode is that there is no external antenna, so reception (at least in my area) is spotty at best. Like the USB charging option, this feels like a throw-in feature that probably isn’t necessary.

Conclusions and Pricing

There’s a lot to like about the Archeer Portable Bluetooth Speaker. It looks great as an addition to any room, can be moved easily around the house, has excellent sound quality, and exhibits excellent behavior with Bluetooth-enabled devices. The extended battery life is outstanding, and the auxiliary port gives it additional extensibility for use with other devices in your house. While some of the added features aren’t as useful, they’re not deal breakers for me. You get a lot of good stuff here in a sophisticated package that’s easy to live with.

The other feature here is the price. At $39.99, it performs a cut above most cheaper speakers I’ve tested while adding some class to your bookshelf. And that’s not a bad thing at all. Check out the Archeer Portable Bluetooth Speakers on Amazon.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Archeer. For more info visit their site and Amazon to order.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bluetooth speaker

Archeer Portable Bluetooth Speaker review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 31, 2017 at 10:00 am.

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When it comes to speakers, the saying goes: the louder the better. But sometimes loud isn’t good enough. Sometimes you want that bass to hit, or better yet, feel the rumbling lows that we don’t typically get from ordinary speakers. Of course, our typical everyday speakers can achieve the high tones in the music but most Bluetooth speakers can’t produce those punchy mids or thumping low bass. With the Cambond X-Bass Adjustable Bass Bluetooth speaker, getting that hard hitting and rumbling bass might be easier than you think.

The Cambond X-Bass Adjustable Bass speaker is a portable Bluetooth 4.0 stereo speaker that boasts a 15-watt subwoofer combined with dual 5-watt drivers which equal to 25 watts of powerful driving sound for your ears. This speaker has 4 bass levels that you can adjust accordingly. The Bass button is located on the left top side of the speaker. On the same top portion of this speaker unit are the buttons for the Previous/Next Track, Play/Pause, Talk button, Volume Up/Down, and Power.

Phone calls on these speakers are what you would expect. It sounds like a hands-free conversation. If you had the bass up prior to the phone call, the person’s voice will sound deep and bassy. If that bothers you then you will just have to turn down the bass level to bring their voice to a more normal tone. On the other end of the line, calls sounded like you were talking from a speaker. There was a slight delay but nothing bad and definitely not a deal breaker. 9 times out of 10, when talking on a speaker, you will sound like you are on a speaker anyways and this is no different. But this speaker really isn’t for phone calls, it’s for listening to music.

The X-Bass feels solid in its construction all around. It has a metal grill on the front and back, plastic top, rubber base, and the top buttons felt tight and responsive. These rectangular speakers have a dimension of 3.94″ x 9.06″ x 3.1″ inches.  The X-Bass weighs in at 2.32 lbs. so this speaker has some weight to it as compared to other similar sized Bluetooth speakers. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not super heavy but once you pick it up you will notice its weight. However, the X-Bass is still light enough and portable to throw in your backpack, messenger bag, beach bag, purse, or any other bag you want to stuff the speaker in. I like that it has small rubber feet on the bottom of the speaker to help protect the speaker from sliding around and scratching any surface you put it on.

The Cambond X-Bass speaker is powered by 6700mAh Lithium-ion batteries and according to Cambond’s website, the batteries can last 8 hours at 50% volume. I have to confess, I never really kept the volume halfway. I had the volume high.  I listened to these speakers with the volume cranked up. When you use these speakers, you will be inclined to use them the way they were intended to be; and that’s to be loud. At least that’s the way I used these speakers.

There is a 9V DC port on the bottom left side of the speaker to charge the battery or and can provide constant power to the speaker while in use. Above the DC port is a MicroUSB port which you can use as well to charge the speaker’s batteries so you have a couple of options on charging the batteries which is nice. Just in case you don’t have the 9V plug adapter with you at the time, you would be able to charge the battery via the MicroUSB port. A great thing about having the MicroUSB port is that you can plug in a portable charger just in case you are somewhere that doesn’t have a wall outlet such as at a beach, at a picnic, or sitting poolside.

When the Cambond X-Bass runs out of battery, the X-Bass will constantly beep twice every 5 minutes to remind you that the batteries need recharging. And once the battery is full, the red charging light will turn off to let you know that charging is done. It takes up to 3 hours for the battery to reach full capacity.

Although this is a Bluetooth speaker, there is an AUX IN port available. This is useful for when your music device is non-Bluetooth or isn’t Bluetooth enabled. Just connect the included 3.5 audio cable into the device’s headphone jack and the other end of the audio cable into the AUX In port on the Cambond speaker. NFC, or Near Field Communication, is also available as another form of connection to the Cambond X-Bass. Along with the 3.5 audio cable, the X-Bass comes with a MicroUSB cable, a 1A/9V adapter plug, a warranty card, and a manual.

I found the sound of X-Bass Bluetooth speakers to be loud and produced great overall sound. I really enjoyed the bass that it pumped through its speakers. Trust me, I cranked these speakers up and they really hit for the size that they are. Keep in mind that to get the best sound out of these speakers, or any other speaker, the music you are playing is the best quality recording so that the frequencies are right in order to get the full effect of hearing and feeling the bass from the speakers.

I played several type and styles of music and had different recordings from many of the songs, and they each sounded full thanks to the punchy mids and rumbling low bass. What a difference it makes listening to the full range of music coming out of portable speakers. It makes you really enjoy a song a whole lot more when the music is boosted up. And since these are portable speakers, you can enjoy the X-Bass speakers from Cambond anywhere you can bring them.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Cambond. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bluetooth speaker

Cambond X-Bass Adjustable Bass Bluetooth speaker review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 15, 2017 at 8:03 am.

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After reviewing a handful of portable Bluetooth speakers, I’ve found that some really appeal to me like the UE Megaboom because of its great sound quality (it has some bass!) and long battery life among other things, but others like the Logitech x300 do not. The Logitech x300 tends to dampen mid and upper frequencies when bass frequencies are playing. When the Gadgeteer was offered the Douni A5 Bluetooth speaker, I volunteered to review it to see how it compares to other portable speakers I’ve tried. After testing it, I’d say it competes rather well in the audio quality department, but not so much in the Bluetooth range department.

Contents

• Bluetooth speaker
• Power adapter
• 3.5 mm Aux audio cable
• Owners Manual

Technical Specifications

• Battery Voltage: 11.1V
• Charging Voltage: 15V
• Output Power: 2*12.5W
• Speaker Spec: 58mm, 12.5W (and has two passive radiators)
• Frequency Response: 50HZ~18KHZ
• Lithium Battery Capacity: 6600mAh
• THD<0.5%
• SNR:>90dB
• Dimensions: 8.6″ long x 2.9″ wide x 3.5″ high (218 mm long x 74 mm wide x 88 mm high)

Design & Build Quality

The Douni A5 Bluetooth speaker feels like a durable speaker. It is a rectangular speaker that is black on the top and bottom and has a gray metal grill. It is the size of many other portable speakers (not the super small ones…). Its dimensions are 8.6″ long x 2.9″ wide x 3.5″ high and it weighs 2 lbs. 9 oz.All of the controls are located at the top of the speaker. The entire top of the speaker is covered in a rubbery material except for the plastic silver ring around the buttons.
The back of the speaker contains the ports. The ports are (from left to right): Aux Audio In (to physically connect a mobile device to the speaker), Aux Audio Out, 15V DC In (to charge the speaker), 5V Out (to charge your devices), and a Reset button (resets the speaker to its factory default settings).The bottom of the speaker is also covered in rubbery material to prevent the speaker from moving around while on furniture.

Use

Powering On/Off: When turning on the speaker, you must press the Power button for two full seconds. To turn it off, you must press it for one full second. If you have a device plugged in via the Aux audio cable, the speaker will not turn off.

Auto shut-off: After about 40 minutes of inactivity, the speaker is supposed to automatically shut off according to the Douni A5 product description on the Amazon. However, I was not able to replicate that – the speaker remained on until I turned it off.

Bluetooth Pairing: After powering the speaker on for the first time, it immediately went into pairing mode in which the Bluetooth symbol on the speaker flashed alternately blue and red. At this time, I needed to go into my device’s Bluetooth settings (first I made sure Bluetooth was turned on) and look for the newly discovered device listed as A5. After tapping on the A5, my speaker was connected and a voice prompt on the speaker said, “Connected”. It is possible to pair up to eight devices to the speaker (which means that the speaker will remember that it has been paired to eight of your devices). When the speaker is powered up the next time, it will connect to the device it was connected to last. To change to one of the other seven paired devices, you can press the Bluetooth button on the speaker for one full second to disconnect the speaker from the current device (a voice prompt will say, “Disconnected”) which will then put the speaker into pairing mode (the voice prompt then says, “Pairing”), after which you can go into your other mobile device’s Bluetooth settings to tap on the A5 in the list of paired devices to connect it to the speaker. Even though the speaker remembers up to eight devices that it has been paired with, this speaker apparently cannot be connected to more than one device at a time, unlike the UE Megaboom which can be connected to two devices at the same time and thus can play music from both devices without having to stop and disconnect from one device to connect to another.

This speaker is also NFC capable which means that you can pair it with an NFC equipped device. When NFC is turned on on your mobile device, you’ll only need to pass it over the NFC area on the speaker which is located just above the Volume Down/Up controls as shown in the photo above (Note: you may have to search for the NFC area on your phone). Pairing the speaker to my Nexus 6 phone was very easy using NFC. When passing the lower right quadrant of my phone (where the NFC hardware location is) over the NFC area of the speaker, my phone displayed this message, “Are you sure you want to pair the Bluetooth device A5? Yes or No”. After tapping on “Yes”, I was paired. When paired and connected, the speaker and device volume controls are in sync.

In the photo above, you’ll also notice the microphone next to the NFC area on the speaker that picks up your voice when using the calling features of the speaker.

The above photo also illustrates how the rubber top really attracts dust and lint. This is difficult to keep clean and this was as clean as I could get it!

When powered on, the speaker has LEDs to indicate its status. In addition, when the speaker is moved or it thermally senses your hand near the control panel, the control panel buttons light up for a few seconds so that you can find the correct controls when the speaker is in a low light setting.

LEDs (from left to right): There is an LED battery symbol, three LED dots, an “AUX” LED (not lit up in the above photo), a Bluetooth LED, and control panel backlights.

The three red LED dots indicate the level of battery charge: one dot = 30%, two dots = 60%, and three dots = 100%. When the battery is low on charge the Battery LED symbol will flash red (you will also hear a series of tones indicating low battery charge); otherwise, it will shine green.

When you physically connect your device to the speaker using an audio cable, the “AUX” LED shines green.

When your speaker is paired and connected to a device via Bluetooth, the Bluetooth LED symbol slowly flashes blue (and a voice prompt says, ”Connected”). When the speaker is in pairing mode, the Bluetooth symbol alternately flashes blue and red (and a voice prompt says, ”Pairing”).

As stated earlier, the control panel uses backlighting to illuminate the buttons for a few seconds when the speaker is moved or if it thermally senses your hand near the control panel. Thermal sensors – that’s pretty cool. You don’t have to turn the lights on to control the speaker.

Bluetooth Connectivity and Range: After pairing and connecting the speaker to my devices (Nexus 6 phone and iPod Touch 6G), just after turning it on, periodically I found that the connection would drop for a fraction of a second several times (within about a 15 second timeframe) and my device was only about one to two feet away from the speaker. This happened enough times to make this distracting and frustrating. I also noticed that with only one wall separating my device from the speaker, I frequently lost connectivity. When testing the line-of-sight distance from my Nexus 6 phone, I was only able to go 10 feet away from the speaker when the connection started to drop. When doing the same test with my iPod Touch 6G, I was only able to go 20 feet before the connection started to drop. Oy! This is exceedingly disappointing especially when the Bluetooth range is supposed to go up to 66 feet according to the A5 product description on Amazon.

Charging Time: The User Manual states that the recommended charging time is four hours. When charging it with the provided power cord, the LED dots would flash in sequence until a certain level of charge was attained (upon reaching 30% charge, the first LED dot remained on, and when reaching 60% charge the second LED dot also remained on, then when reaching 100% charge, the third dot also remained on). Even though the manual says the speaker should charge for four hours, I noticed that it took only about 1.5 hours to fully charge the speaker. When I charged beyond the 1.5 hours, there were no differences in the status lights.

Using the A5 as a Charger: If you should need to charge your mobile device in a pinch, you can do so using this speaker. However, it only provides 5V/1A so the charging will be slow.

Playback Time: When the speaker is set at a moderate volume level, my test revealed that the speaker would run for about nine hours. The User Manual states that the speaker should run about 12 hours. Of course, the playback time depends on the volume you play it at, but I expected that when the speaker is set at a moderate level, it would last nearly 12 hours.

Controls: I noticed that when using any of the control panel buttons, I needed to press each for one full second (except for the Power button which needed two full seconds when turning the speaker on). A simple split-second tap was insufficient to get the buttons to work properly. Once I learned the proper way to operate the controls, all of them worked well. I could play/pause, skip forward/back a track, or increase/decrease the volume levels. Holding the volume buttons down would increase or decrease the levels more quickly.

Calling Features: When you are connected to the speaker via Bluetooth and you receive a phone call, you must press the Call button for a full second to answer the call and press again for one full second to hang up. Call clarity on both sides was adequate. When I answered the call on the speaker and spoke within about eight inches from the microphone on the speaker, there were no issues. If I was a foot away or more, the caller indicated that my voice started to echo and was less clear.

Aux audio-in: When you connect your device using a 3.5 mm audio cable, this device supersedes Bluetooth devices. I also noticed that the volume on the speaker and device are not in sync when connected this way, thus, you’ll need to find your preferred volume level by adjusting it on both devices.

Frequency Range: Using my Audio Test Tone Generator Android app, I was able to comfortably hear 50-17,000 Hz frequencies (well, my kids heard them) when the speaker was set at moderate volume.

Audio Quality: This speaker can truly fill a room with music – it’s loud – at least it is to me. This speaker’s audio quality was quite impressive. It sounds just about the same as our UE Megaboom and it didn’t dampen the upper/mid frequencies like the Logitech x300 when playing bass-heavy music like Silent Shout by The Knife. Other music genres like classic rock (the Famous Final Scene by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band), Celtic/new age (The Highwayman by Loreena McKennitt), and classical music (Clair de Lune) sounded crisp and clear. The vocals and the guitar on The Highwayman were beautiful to listen to. It is my perception that the speaker tends to slightly favor the mid to upper frequencies but I am not an audiophile so take that with a grain of salt – or several grains of salt.

Final thoughts

The Douni A5 Bluetooth speaker is quite wonderful to listen to until you get more than 10 feet away from it at which t_me th_ ___nection _tarts to _rop (“…time the connection starts to drop”). Yep. My studies have shown conclusively that this speaker suffers from separation anxiety. In addition, the controls need to be pressed one full second to work properly. The call features work well and the speaker does charge quickly (1.5 hours) but a full charge will only give you about nine hours of playback time when the speaker is set at a moderate volume level (as opposed to the 12 hours that the User Manual states). Even though the speaker sounds great, the Bluetooth range problems drive me crazy, thus I would personally pass on this speaker.

Source: The sample used in this review was provided by Douni. Please visit their website for more information or Amazon to purchase one.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bluetooth speaker

Douni A5 Bluetooth speaker review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 13, 2017 at 9:27 am.

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