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Review: Creative D200 Bluetooth speaker

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:46:01 +0000

The good

Sturdy and sleek design
3.5mm line-in
Good wireless range
Very good audio quality

The bad

Odd power switch location
Glossy surface attracts fingerprints
High notes lack sparkle
Apt-X transmitters not included

Design and features

The speaker may be made from plastic with a glossy finish, but it felt solid and very well put together. The front is covered by a cloth to hide the drivers. Perched on the top of the unit are two buttons to control the volume and a Bluetooth mode switch. On the rear we find the bass port, 3.5mm port, power socket and an oddly located power switch that's hard to reach.

At 406x101x93mm, it is small enough to fit anywhere around the house. The D200's main feature is its Bluetooth A2DP connectivity with support for the apt-X codec. This codec was originally developed for professional wireless audio broadcast. To enable it, you'll need a device with apt-X support, which most modern mobile phones and laptops lack. For notebooks, a Creative BT-D1 USB adapter is required to enable apt-X support, while iPhone, iPod and iPad users will have to get the BT-D5 dock transmitter. Both are sold separately at AU$59 each.

Pairing is simply a case of pressing and holding down the Bluetooth button on the speaker until a beep is heard and the LED starts flashing. The LED stays green if it's running on an analog connection, but turns blue to show the speaker is actively connected to a device.

While Bluetooth pairing process is the same as other non-speaker devices, using the adapters makes pairing faster - plug it into a USB port or the Apple dock connector and press the Bluetooth pairing button on the speaker to get it connected.

Performance and conclusion

This box can get pretty loud - enough to fill a typical living room with music at a comfortable volume. It had a very strong bass response, which started to distort only at extremely high volumes.

The mids sounded a tad bright but did help to bring out the vocals with our selection of music test tracks. The highs, however, came across as rather dull and lacked sparkle. The D200 doesn't come with dedicated tweeters, unlike the five-times-more-expensive Pioneer XWNAS5 speaker dock.

The range of the Bluetooth connection was about 10m in a straight line without distortion. While we tested it using the built-in Bluetooth on our laptop, there wasn't a big difference while listening to the same tracks and using the Creative BT-D1 transmitter.

At the price of AU$169, the D200 is rather pricey for a speaker compared with similarly priced speakers that offer FM radio, CD player or an iPod/iPhone dock. However, this Creative's sonic performance blows most docks out of the water, plus the freedom to move around the house without interrupting the music is well worth the price.

Via CNET Asia

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Review: Sony Walkman NWZ-B153

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:21:01 +0000

The good

Interesting LED lighting
Drag-and-drop file transfer
Quick charge feature
Good audio quality

The bad

Some features are redundant
USB cap has a loose fit
Bundled earphones sound thin.

(Credit: CNET Asia)

MP3 players have come in various shapes and sizes, but the “USB stick” form factor is arguably one of the oldest and most common with tons of offerings such as Apple’s first-generation iPod shuffle. Sony’s latest player still features an ample 2GB or 4GB of internal memory, but what else has the company thrown in to keep a dated design interesting?

Design and features

At a glance, it resembles the tons of stick players in the market today. The device is quite small - measuring 90.9×23.3×15.2mm. However, instead of the usual four-directional navigation controls, Sony has replaced it with a jog dial with a big play/pause button in the middle of it. On the right of the dial, you’ll find a standard USB plug under a removable cap that’s colour-coded to the body. In Australia, it’s available in blue, pink, red or black. A three-line monochrome LCD display surrounded by a glossy black surface completes the player’s aesthetics.

The screen may be small, but it was readable in most conditions. This Walkman’s interface is rather traditional and straightforward, with the home menu displaying four icons for Voice, Music Library, FM radio and Settings. Sadly, there’s nothing new to the interface, although it still offers browsing by folder level.

(Credit: CNET Asia)

As for buttons, there are two to control the volume buttons, one for record control and one for bass/playback mode selection. On the front of the player are two buttons, one for activating the Zappin feature and the other to navigate back/home in the menus. Rotating the jog dial clockwise forwards the tracks, while an anti-clockwise motion selects tracks backward. The dial also controls the menu navigation where the play/pause button doubles as an Enter button.

Connect the player to the PC and it’s immediately recognised as a standard USB memory drive. Music files can be put onto the player via standard drag-and-drop in Windows Explorer or though Windows Media Player. The B153 supports only MP3 and playback. Although there’s a menu selection for playlists, there is no way of creating them on the go. They have to be created in Windows Media Player and then transferred to the player.

(Credit: CNET Asia)

Performance and conclusion

Charging the player took slightly over an hour via USB. Fortunately, it comes with the Quick Charge feature - plug it in for three minutes for enough charge to get approximately 90 minutes of playback. Another feature unique to Sony is Zappin, which lets you browse through your music library by playing a short sample of each song - a nifty feature for the screenless W-series Walkman. We barely found ourselves using it as the B153 has, you guessed it, a screen.

Playback quality for the Walkman was good, if not with a little lack of bass at the default settings. The listening experience with the bundled headphones was unimpressive as they lacked any punch, but hitting the bass button boosted the bass levels up quite nicely. Be warned though. If you’re a user of in-ear headphones, the bass boost can be overwhelming for your buds and ears. Activating the bass feature also activated a small ring of red LED lights around the jog dial and these three tiny LEDs would light up according to the beat of the music.

We couldn’t help but think that Sony’s taken a little jab at Microsoft with the design. But while we were intrigued by the blinking LEDs, we experienced a significant drop in battery life. Under normal listening habits, we managed about 17 hours of aural enjoyment, but turning on the visual candy nearly halved the playback time to slightly under nine hours, which is close to being unacceptable for any MP3 player.

At the end of the day, we were satisfied with the performance of this little player. The jog dial took some getting used to compared with the traditional D-pad. That said, it is a worthy consideration if you’re looking for a simple player. What we couldn’t really put our finger on were the added features such as Zappin and LED illumination - they felt like excess baggage on an otherwise plain player.

Via CNET Asia

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Review: LG Watch Phone GD910

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:30:02 +0000

The good

Looks like a watch
Has Bluetooth, VGA camera, capacitive touchscreen; MP3 playback and basic organiser features
Includes Bluetooth headset.

The bad

Small display makes it hard to type anything with onscreen keypad
Doesn't stay firmly on wrist
Expensive
Bluetooth supports only HSP profile
Bad onboard mic placement.

Design

Forget everything you expect from the GD910 at first sight. The LG watch phone will pass off as a watch at first glance. But a peek at the right side of the watch gives its identity away: Here reside the Send, End and Back buttons.

The front of the watch is covered with glass and a stainless steel border. The rear is fully decked out in "solid stainless steel", according to LG. This is also where you find the round SIM cover, which will require the included special tool to remove. The charging pins as well as the mic are located on the back as well, though we find that to be the oddest side of the phone for a mic to live.

The leather strap is slightly stiff but easy enough to adjust to fit our wrist, although it took some trial and error with the clasp mechanism to get the fit right. The build quality overall is very solid.

The rest of the phone's body is decked out in matte-black plastic which, as we found out, was good for shrugging off the daily scruffs and bumps without scratching. The amount of stainless steel present weighs down the LG to 92g, which is a tad heavy for a watch but still lighter than most smartphones in the market today. With the main body of the watch measuring 49 x 39 x 13.8mm, it is not exactly svelte, but nor is it too big.

Features

The biggest feature of the G910 would be its 1.43-inch capacitive touchscreen. From the main screen itself, you can switch between eight clock displays by flicking your finger up or down. Flicking left or right will call up four different screens - the status display, main menu, calendar and quick dial.

If you're used to smartphones with built-in internet browsers and more-than-1-megapixel cameras, don't hold your breath. The GD910 doesn't have any of those features. Still, it packs a built-in 80MB memory, Bluetooth connectivity, MP3 playback, voice commands and a VGA camera.

Scrolling on the menus is fluid, although we noticed occasional jerkiness. Don't expect multitouch capabilities or an onscreen keyboard. That said the watch phone relies heavily on the T9 predictive text input on the onscreen keypad. Punching the correct buttons on the panel would be a challenge for those with large digits, and typing out a SMS can prove to be quite frustrating. Smart dialing is available, too, so you can get to your most-dialed contacts quickly to make a call. There's also a history log which shows the calls you've received or sent.

The MP3 player is very basic and the camera is just limited to VGA resolutions and can take only stills. The phonebook is equally barren, offering simple contact grouping over the standard set of features. The organiser, although a good feature to have on a phone, is quite a hassle to update given the tiny size of the device and onscreen keyboard. A nice accessory included to take advantage of the Bluetooth capabilities of this watch phone is the LG HBM-900 headset. The Bluetooth headset comes with two ear loops and four differently-sized eargels. However, this phone is compatible only with the HSP profile and not A2DP stereo.

An idea of how limited the VGA camera is.(Credit: CNET Asia)

The phone's 105mAh battery is built-in, and to charge it, you will have to clamp the phone in the included cradle which then plugs into the included AC charger. The user has the option of using the included dual charging cable which will charge the phone and the headset simultaneously. You can also hook the phone up with the included USB cable to enable PC connectivity, where the LG PC Suite software will enable syncing of contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists and memo data. With the USB cable, however, dual charging the phone and headset is not possible. Charging time was kept to under 2 hours on average, with the USB method taking 15-20 minutes more than on AC power.

Performance

The real-life performance of this quad-band, 3G phone is good. Switching between the various menus is snappy via the touchscreen interface, although punching in buttons is quite a challenge since the phone is worn on the wrist and moves a bit when pressed. Increasing the snugness of the wristband only means the metal clasp would jut further into the wrist area, which is highly uncomfortable. Even the use of the included watch cushion didn't help much to keep the watch in place while in use.

Call audio quality is acceptable throughout, but with the mic placed at the back of the phone and pressed onto the wrist, having a conversation without using the Bluetooth headset is as close as it gets to looking silly. You'll be constantly bringing the phone close to the mouth and back to the ear to hear the replies. 3G video calls are also smooth and we didn't experience any noticeable lag.

The onboard speaker is moderately loud, but again, don't expect a 3.5mm audio jack. The only way to use this phone while retaining most of your dignity and coolness would be to pair it with the supplied HBM-900 headset.

The rest of the phone's features are comparable with a "dumb phone". With the limited 80MB memory onboard, you probably won't be stuffing this phone full with your favourite tunes. The lithium-polymer battery is rated for up to 4 hours of talktime and approximately 150 hours on standby. We managed to squeeze about two days of normal usage before clamping the phone back into the cradle--which is pretty respectable for something that fits on your wrist.

For those concerned about water resistance, this will handle the splashes from washing your hands. However, LG cautions against using the phone with wet hands. Of course, we didn't have the guts to bring such an expensive electronic device near water.

Conclusion

Though we marvel at the amazing technology that went into miniaturising a phone to fit into a watch form factor, reality is a cruel mistress. At the heart-stopping price of S$1,688 (US$1,198.52) without an operator plan (which is why we took it off before washing our hands), it costs much more than a phone with similar functions--or as much as a high-end smartphone with a lot more features.

As a phone, its functions are basic at most. As a watch, it does what any watch does. As a watch phone though, it's an excellent technological showcase to show us how far miniaturisation has gone. That said, we feel the GD910 is a wonderful gadget for the tech-driven. But for the general public, the traditional phone will probably suit best. It's like comparing an exotic supercar with a family car - while one is a superb showcase of technology and goes really fast, the other will happily ferry five people, with boot space to spare. In that respect, the LG GD910 is a great phone if you're in the market for a watch phone.

If you want to see more photos of the GD910 make sure you check out our hands-on photo gallery.

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Review: Creative Sound Blaster Arena Surround

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:48:01 +0000

The good

Comfortable
In-line volume controls
Removable boom mic

The bad

Non-replaceable ear pads
Feels cheap
Mediocre noise-cancelling performance

Sound Blaster has come a long way from being the first expansion card that brought audio to PCs in 1989. Today, it is still the de facto standard when it comes to PC audio, especially with discerning users. Now, if you're wondering why the Sound Blaster brand exists on this headset, the main reason is that it also includes the necessary audio hardware to hook it up with any computer with a free USB port.

Design and features

The headset itself is bathed in white, with black cushions providing the colour contrast. The plastic frame feels a bit thin and cheap, but the rest of the components seem to be of higher quality. The ear cups' cushions are made of very soft pleather, but unfortunately, they are not made to be replaceable. The headband gets the same pleather material that graces the ear cups. Overall, these cushions provide an extremely comfortable fit. Despite its full-sized construction, this headset only got hot after wearing it for several hours of gaming.

The headset's boom mic is mounted on the left side and can be rotated upwards when not needed. It is also detachable from the headset entirely. The boom structure can be bent and adjusted as well to fit most face shapes, but we found it a tad too flexible, which caused the mic to bounce off our face if we made any sudden head movements. The 250cm cable is generous enough for running from the USB port at the back of a PC; however, laptop users may find the cable length excessive and there's no provided cable management solution.

The in-line control box comes with a volume button and a microphone mute slider switch. It also has a clip on the back so you can attach it to your clothes. The circular LED indicator shows the status of the mic. It will blink if the mic mute switch is set to on, and will remain steadily lit if the mic is active. Unlike most headsets, the volume controls on the Arena are able to control the system volume directly.

Performance

The Arena Surround works with both Windows and Mac platforms without requiring any driver or software installation. However, to enjoy the surround sound processing, it is necessary to install the Creative software provided on the included CD, which is unfortunately not supported on the Mac.

The Entertainment Console is where the user is able to adjust all the different settings of the headset, from the EAX environment effects to adjusting the X-Fi or surround sound levels. Without the software installed, the Arena Surround sounded well-balanced throughout the spectrum, although the bass response was a tad bit more than what we liked. It handled most of the music we threw at it nicely, but we found our jazz tracks losing a fair bit of their smoothness when we heard them through the Arena Surround.

The Creative Entertainment Console control centre interface. (Credit: CNET Asia)

Installing the Creative software though gave a different listening experience. First off was a bass boost button, which calls up a screen where we could adjust the bass boost levels by decibel gain and set the cut-off frequency for the high pass filter. Despite the slightly bassy nature, we found our preferred setting for a 6dB gain with the cut-off frequency at 30Hz. At this configuration, the explosions in games as well as the thundering roar of engines didn't faze the headset much but we did manage to hear distortion when we cranked the volume up.

On the other hand, the surround audio didn't really sound all that convincing with stereo sources, nor with our AC3-encoded test files. The workaround we chanced upon was to trick Windows into believing that it's a 5.1-speaker set-up instead of the default headphone setting. With that speaker setting and the CMSS-3D headphone at 50 per cent, the virtual listening space is increased.

Although we were able to positively pinpoint the different musical instruments in the Orchestra Dolby 5.1 surround sound test track, the rear instruments sounded very close to the listener. Instruments in front had no such issues. In games, however, with the surround sound enabled, the sound field was vastly more engaging in Call of Duty and Race Driver: Grid. While there were times that the CMSS made the rear sounds a bit strange, the faults of the sonic placement were barely audible over the wide listening field. Though the improvement was limited with games or media without any surround sound support. It sounded very wide but lacked the surround sound effect.

The noise-cancelling mic does a decent job of reducing noise with the Silencer feature on, and we were particularly fond of using the VoiceFX voice morphing feature to annoy our friends over Skype conversations. Like the Logitech G330 we reviewed earlier, the noise-cancelling feature was able to reduce the ambient drones of air conditioning units, but it let in some of the wind noise generated by our fan.

Conclusion

At AU$136, it's not too monstrous an amount to pay for an all-in-one audio system, which includes a USB soundcard and a pretty decent headset. However, the build quality leaves room for improvement with the cheap, thin plastic used. That said, it's very comfortable and the audio quality for gaming and movies is very good. Besides, you're paying more for the surround sound features that most other headsets don't have, and it works.

Via CNET Asia

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Review: Creative Sound Blaster Arena Surround

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:48:01 +0000

The good

Comfortable
In-line volume controls
Removable boom mic

The bad

Non-replaceable ear pads
Feels cheap
Mediocre noise-cancelling performance

Design and features

Performance

The Creative Entertainment Console control centre interface. (Credit: CNET Asia)

Conclusion

Via CNET Asia

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Review: Philips GoGear Opus

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:02:01 +0000

The good

Very neutral sounding
Good bundled in-ear headphones
Build quality is solid
Uses standard mini-USB
Decent software bundle

The bad

Awkwardly positioned headphone port
Menu navigation slow
Average screen quality
Limited file support

Note: a 16GB Opus is also available in Australia for RRP AU$269.95.

It's interesting to see what the Dutch electronics giant is up to with its line of players. The GoGear features MPEG-4, MP3, WMV and WMA format support, a large 2.8-inch screen and internet video download software. It's shipped with a pair of premium in-ear headphones.

Design

Decked out in black with silver highlights, the Opus doesn't really break any design boundaries. It's no ugly player by any means, but we're tempted to call it unassuming. The directional pad on the right is nicely positioned between the options and back buttons. The whole player is made from plastic, but the back of the player has been designed to mimic the look and feel of brushed metal. Despite its plastic construction, the Opus feels nice and solid.

At 106x58x9.9mm, the player is sized reasonably well for a player with a 2.8-inch screen. Unlike the snazzy touchscreen offerings that are setting the trend now, the Opus has physical buttons to control all the functions of the player. Apart from the directional pad, options and back buttons, there is a volume control rocker switch at the top of the player and a slider switch to lock and unlock the button functions.

At the bottom of the player, next to the function lock switch, is the headphone port which we thought was an odd placement. While this location keeps the wires away from the hands, it also makes it awkward when we put it in our pocket since the headphone plug would jut out from the bottom. We would have preferred if Philips had placed the headphone port on the side.

Features

The screen offers a 320x240-pixel resolution, but a disappointing 262K colours. Videos and photos don't look sharp at all on the screen and colour banding is quite noticeable. The plus point is that the display is readable even in direct sunlight, although the glossy finish will also induce reflection of nearby objects.

The primarily text-based interface may be dated by today's standards, but it is easy to understand. A good feature within the user interface is that we can get to the playback controls via the options button which calls up a pop-up menu on any screen.

This device allows you to switch between MSC (mass storage class) and MTP (media transfer protocol) mode when you hook it up to a computer. Philips has also included a video converter and internet video downloader, which was a pretty decent performer and made downloading videos from YouTube quick and painless. The unit additionally offers folder navigation, which is nice.

The built-in battery took about 2.5 hours to fully charge via USB. We managed to eke out 25 hours of audio playback time and about four hours with video, which are quite far off from Philips' claims of 30 hours for audio and six hours for video.

Performance

The GoGear Opus starts to shine when it comes to video and audio playback. MPEG-4-encoded AVIs and WMV9 files are supported, and these have to be at a resolution of 320x240 pixels or lower for playback.

A Philips-branded version of the Arcsoft Media Converter is provided, which will convert most file types to the right format. However, this software does not allow you to change any of the output settings. Although we like the video conversion software, we feel Opus could do with wider video format support. Audio playback quality is good, plus the bundled in-ear headphones sound very decent. Vocals and mids are handled nicely, if not a tad overbearing on the bass notes

According to the RightMark Audio Analyzer frequency response chart, the Opus comes close to faithfully reproducing music in its original form, which is impressive. (Credit: CNET Asia)

The Fullsound feature is a nice addition to a shortlist of audio-tweaking options, which also includes a five-band user-customisable equaliser. With Fullsound enabled, music tracks sound clearer with an enhanced bass reproduction. However, with the audio-tweaking features disabled, the Opus sounds absolutely neutral, which is something we really like in a player that claims a superior sound experience.

An issue that we found on the Opus is its slightly low audio power output level. This was fine with less sensitive headphones and earphones in our tests, but it struggled to power larger cans. Philips lists this device as being capable of a 4.8mW RMS (rated musical strength) output.

That said, the entire package is unfortunately let down by its slow UI response. The playback will stutter and pause as we are browsing through the music collection with the SuperScroll feature. The Opus takes a considerably long time to start-up, and we especially did not like the wait for the player to update the media library after putting in new songs and videos. We had nearly 15GB of audio and video data put into the player and noticed that the wait could sometimes hit two minutes.

We initially had problems with music tracks that were more than an hour long such as DJ live sets, but the problem has been fixed with the latest firmware, version 1.09. The firmware update was simple as the Philips device manager software automatically searches online for the latest firmware and installs it into the player. The updated firmware, however, did not fix playback stutter that we experienced while menu browsing. Another odd observation is that the screen's backlight would only dim after a preset time of inactivity, before the screen completely switches off. That may explain why the battery life is nowhere close to what Philips claims it to be capable of.

Conclusion

The Opus is a decent player, but it comes with some noticeable flaws. While it delivers great audio quality, provides good software and comes bundled with decent headphones, the sluggish interface ruins the entire enjoyment experience.

We would have recommended this player if it wasn't priced more competitively. The only reasons that we feel the Opus would be worth getting for are its large 2.8-inch screen and good audio quality.

Via CNET Asia

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Review: Logitech G330

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:24:01 +0000

The good

Adjustable headband provides very good comfort
In-line volume control
3.5mm connectors

The bad

Non-replaceable ear pads
Pricey
Mediocre performance when not connected via USB

The computer mouse was the product that made Logitech a well-known brand in tech accessories, but in August 2008, the company announced that it would be acquiring Ultimate Ears, a company known for its professional in-ear headphones. Sadly, we are yet to see Ultimate Ears technology in Logitech's range of 'phones, but nevertheless we still had a go with the G330 to see how good it is.

Design and features

The headset itself is mostly grey with the colour monotony lifted by the red highlights. The ear pads are made of soft foam and can pivot in any direction, but unfortunately they are not designed to be replaceable. On the plus side and unlike other behind-the-head headsets, the G330 features a width-adjustable headband to cater to larger head sizes.

The headset's boom mic is mounted on the left side and can be rotated back when not needed. The boom can be bent and adjusted to fit most face shapes. The cable is a generous 240cm long, more than enough to reach the audio output port on the back of our PC. The in-line Velcro cable tie was a welcome addition when we were hooking the G330 to our laptop, when the additional cable length was not needed.

The in-line control box comes with a handy volume control and a microphone mute toggle switch. It also has a clip on the back so you can attach it to your clothing. The headset offers standard 3.5mm connectors for both mic and audio inputs. Logitech also included a USB sound card that you can connect to the headset.

Performance

Thanks to the adjustable headband, this headset sat on our ears for hours of non-stop gaming and we definitely did not run into the "hot ear" effect.

The G330 sounded mediocre when plugged directly into the PC. There was a lack of bass response from these cans without using the USB sound card. The sound quality wasn't poor - it was just missing the necessary kick that discerning gamers usually like to hear in their games. However, due to its semi-open back and on-ear design, the stereo imaging was impressive.

Using the USB sound card will add some EQ enhancements. With the sound card connected, the headset delivered bass with aplomb, giving the headset a necessary bass boost to make it sound more lively. Overall, we preferred to have the USB sound card connected, especially when gaming or watching movies.

The noise-cancelling mic does a decent job of reducing noise thanks to its dual-sensing mics. During our tests, the noise cancelling was able to reduce the ambient drones of air-conditioning units, but didn't eliminate the wind noise generated by our fan. It wasn't that bad, but we wished it could have been better.

Conclusion

Priced at AU$99.95, we find it hard to recommend the Logitech G330 headset as a good buy. Though it includes a USB sound card, the actual performance of this headset leaves a lot to be desired. Comfort and the performance gained when using the USB sound card are its redeeming features. Nonetheless, it's still worth looking at if you're looking for a headset that won't mess up your spiky hairstyle.

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Review: Altec Lansing inMotion Max

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:24:02 +0000

The good

Decent audio quality
Good design and build quality
FM radio
Remote control

The bad

Lack of higher-end features
Slightly expensive
Alarm clock feature is iPhone/iPod dependent

There are many speaker docks in the market for iPods, but not all of them are suitable for use with an iPhone. Altec Lansing says the inMotion Max is designed for use with the iPhone, which means it has the relevant GSM signal shielding built into it. That said, how does this speaker dock stand up to the competition?

Design

The inMotion Max measures 310x52x193mm, which is small enough to fit nicely into any environment. Its industrial-style design includes the right and left sides of the speaker system, which have been made to resemble metal bars with exposed bolts with most of the front covered in a perforated black plastic speaker grille. This we found to be quite thin and fragile.

At the bottom of the unit is a spring-loaded dock with a universal Apple connector that pops out from the bottom. The top of the unit is occupied by a glossy black strip with a 1.75-inch orange backlit LCD at its centre. It is also where the touch-sensitive controls are for the speaker system: power, input source, volume, back/forward, and a switch for the ESS (Expanded Sound Stage) sound enhancement.

Four 50mm speakers are found behind the grille, the top two units are full-range drivers, while the other two are passive radiators that are supposed to give a better low frequency response. The unit leans on a flip-down stand located on the back, which also reveals the connectors for the FM antenna, auxiliary input and DC power socket.

Features

The speakers sport an alarm clock, FM radio and an infrared remote control that operates the radio and the iPod/iPhone playback. The speakers also include a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery that is rated for 3.5 hours of playback, so you can easily move the speaker dock to any location without having to tap into the mains. The inMotion Max isn't too bulky for carrying between rooms, but its size would be too big for serious travelling.

The rear 3.5mm auxiliary port comes in handy should you want to connect a second audio source, but the cable isn't included.

Performance

Altec Lansing bundles four power socket plugs and six different adapters for different Apple iPods and iPhones.

Installation is straightforward: you plug it into the mains, install the correct dock adapter and then slot your Apple device in. We docked an iPhone 3G into this system for the purpose of this review.

The inMotion delivered bass in big quantities, although it wasn't well-defined or deep enough, given the unit's small size. The mid-range was handled nicely with vocals, strings and horns sounding smooth. However, the lack of high-end detail was noticeable and the audio output turned muddy and undefined with certain heavy metal tracks.

That said, for a small speaker system of this size with only two active drivers, the audio quality was commendable. The set was loud enough for outdoor listening, and the sound started to distort after we had pushed the volume past level 30 (the Maximum volume level for this speaker is 40).

The sound stage for such a small speaker is commendable with the ESS feature on, giving a more natural and less monaural speaker sound. The virtual sound stage feels more like a proper pair of speakers, but when we tested it out with live orchestral ensemble recordings, the ESS induced an unnaturally wide sound stage which ruins the listening enjoyment somewhat.

When a call comes in on the iPhone 3G, the music playback pauses and is replaced by the phone's ringtone, but it will not function as a hands-free speakerphone. When the call ends, the music will resume from where it was paused.

FM radio reception is pretty decent, though the inMotion supports only four memory presets. The speaker also functions as an alarm clock, although it would be entirely dependent on the iPod/iPhone's alarm, as the speaker lacks a clock or alarm of its own. And you will have to keep the unit turned on for the alarm tune to be played through the speakers. That said, it shouldn't be a problem as the dock will charge the iPod/iPhone only when it is running on AC power.

Conclusion

At AU$449, it's a little pricey for an iPod/iPhone speaker dock and has less audio-related features than we expected. However, it has agreeable sound quality as well as being portable. If a decent-sounding iPhone-compatible speaker dock is what you're looking for without the stellar price tag of high-end systems such as those from B&W and Bose, this will suit the bill just fine.

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