Bluetooth Speaker Roundup

Bluetooth speakers are having a moment--not only are they dropping in price and increasing in quality, they provide more versatility than speaker docks. You can stream music from a Mac, an iOS device, or even a PC or Android handset, and you’re not stuck in one spot, either. As our office fills with piles of Bluetooth speakers, we singled out three in the $150 range: The main boast of SuperTooth’s Disco is 28 watts of kicking audio, while Soundfreaq’s Sound Step Recharge aims for versatility with four input options, and Brookstone packs big sound and sensitive controls into the Big Blue Studio.
 
Based on pure audio might, the 30-watt Big Blue Studio tap-dances all over the competition. Its two 2.5-inch front-facing drivers and 3-inch subwoofer pack enough punch to fill a living room or studio apartment, with adjustable bass and treble. The Disco is anemic by comparison--it loses audio clarity at about two-thirds of the max volume, with no bass levels worth mentioning. The Sound Step Recharge provides adequate sound, but it loses much of the midrange when maxed out.

But the Sound Step Recharge wins the versatility crown. It’s the Swiss Army knife of speakers, supporting four inputs: Bluetooth, the 30-pin Apple dock connector, a standard 3.5mm line-in, and even a built-in FM Radio. It charges your iOS device when plugged in, and the rechargeable battery lasts about four hours when transmitting via Bluetooth. Both the Big Blue Studio and Disco have a line-in jack along with Bluetooth, and the Disco’s rechargeable battery lasts about three hours. The hulking Big Blue Studio needs to be plugged in at all times, limiting its mobility even more than its 6-pound weight (the smaller, rechargeable Big Blue Live sells for $99.99).

Operating the Sound Step Recharge via Bluetooth handled like a dream, and was simple to pair and connect. It includes a remote control, and an optional app turns your iOS device into a remote too. Big Blue Studio was similarly simple to pair, and only lost its connection when the iPhone had left the testing room, gone down the hall, and down half a flight of stairs. The Disco, however, had trouble keeping a connection: audio would drop intermittently, and we had to restart the iPhone completely to restore it.

None of these speakers has a radical design, but the Big Blue Studio’s pearl white casing and aluminum grills look like they belong in any Mac household, although the touch volume buttons at the top of the speaker come across as gimmicky and unnatural to use. The Sound Step Recharge looks like any number of speaker docks that have existed since the dawn of the iPod; that said, its finish and soft speaker cover look sharp. Unfortunately, the Disco yet again pulls up in last with function as the only clear goal.
 
The bottom line. For all of the Disco’s reported power, we were left with the blues. Soundfreaq makes sure that anyone can get the party started the way they want, while Big Blue Studio changed our perception of Brookstone, and wins this battle of the bands.

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