XSReviews

Bluetooth speakers have been consistently improving, even becoming a necessity in some households. If you want one or want to gift one for Christmas (here are few ideas for 14 year old boy gifts that is suitable for all occasions), you may be wondering whether the high prices of some brands, such as Bose or Logitech, are justified. To put it simply: yes, they probably are. But this doesn’t leave lower-end models out of the question.

“iQualTech Bluetooth speaker” (CC BY 2.0) by Rose27514

The iQualTech Bluetooth speaker was gifted to me a few years ago and has had extensive use. I may have used it so much because a Bluetooth speaker in itself is very useful possession, but this particular model does have many good points, albeit a few downs.

As far as Bluetooth speakers go, it is at the cheaper end of the spectrum, retailing at a reasonable £29.50 on Amazon. It still shares all the functions of a speaker at a higher price point – Bluetooth and AUX functionalities, very easy to use, not too small and tinny (it is larger than a Beats Pill, even though it is often compared to one in its style). It comes with a charging cable and has sound effects to signal that it has successfully connected to a device via Bluetooth.

It is lightweight, has an attractive design in a bold colour and is easy to use. It’s been great to use in the park, playing tennis, having friends over, any time an enhanced volume is needed on the go or in different rooms of the house.

At times when there’s a lot of background noise or if you want a more atmospheric viewing experience, this is a great way to enhance your computer or laptop volume. If your family or housemates are being noisy but you want to hear something in your room upstairs, you can simply attach this speaker using the AUX function to experience a louder sound.

“iQualTech Bluetooth speaker” (CC BY 2.0) by Rose27514

I’ve used this to ramp up the music or sounds on all sorts of online content. To give a concrete example, the other day I was playing casino games on Redbet, where there’s all kinds of weird and wacky games like Vikings and Fat Santa. To get the full experience, I needed a set of speakers that would allow me to hear the game sound effects and the iQualTech Bluetooth Speakers did the trick. Equally, they have helped me catch mumbled words in podcasts that the weak and tinny built-in computer speakers couldn’t quite do.

I put my focus on sound effects – not music – for a reason as, though louder, the quality and balance of bass and treble can be poor. Especially in complex or familiar songs, the speaker is noticeably weak in delivering the quality of sound that a well produced song has to offer. Essentially, this speaker may not be best for musical listening.

“iQualTech Bluetooth speaker” (CC BY 2.0) by Rose27514

Having said this, Bluetooth speakers by nature compress complexly produced music into one tiny space and this by definition will always have limitations, which is why they’re often marketed and used for fun.

The main warning I’d say with this product is the Bluetooth functionality can be a little hit and miss. It can play up and I have often had to force it to forget my device and pair it again.

So all-in-all, it’s a modest price to pay for a useful gadget which is decent quality for money: as far as lower quality speakers go, with the iQualTech Bluetooth speaker you get what you pay for and maybe a little more. It’s great for simply improving volume, so if you aren’t nitpicky about perfect sound quality, the speakers are idea. And if you’re not ready to spend the big bucks, this is a fab option at a very reasonable price.