Saturday, August 11, 2012

The days of the boombox has returned with the Supertooth Disco

I know the boombox never really died but when reviewing the Supertooth Disco, my first though was, I could take this thing anywhere, and offend or get some toes tapping depending on the mixtape. If you haven’t guessed by the company’s name, the product is a Bluetooth version 2.0 wireless speaker. However, this speaker, unlike many is rechargeable by a NI MH Power pack battery, that when fully charged allows for up to 4 hours of playback at high volume, 10 hours on medium volume, and up to 1500 hours on stand-by, all with just a 3 hour charge. The biggest surprise for me was the fabric case it comes with for those that plan to take it on the go, it is a thick case the has a hole for the speaker port and Velcro flaps for the charger and to cover the speaker face and dial when not in use.

I have to say the my first thoughts unboxing were great as the speaker has a solid feel without being too big and bulky, the Disco is rechargeable, has a thick case to survive most weather conditions, and is wireless.  Syncing is easy to do and once synced, it is easy to start music playback and with 1500 hours standby time, all you have to do is press play and you are good to go.  Now for the important part, volume, it can get loud. I would turn the volume all the way up on my iPhone and just less than half on the Disco and it was enough to hear throughout the house, office, and backyard. I love the fact that it is rechargeable rather than including an AC adapter for home use then if you want to take on the go you would have to load up with batteries. Though wirelessly is the preferred way to use, if you use the included 3.5 mm, the sound quality is much better than connecting via Bluetooth.

Where could you go wrong, right? Unfortunately, sounds quality had some issues, as there tends to be distortion when the volume is at more than half playing wirelessly. A couple other things that would have been a great fit for the product but were not included would be a remote if just for volume and track controls and a usb input to charge your phone while playing music in case you are somewhere without power like camping. Lastly, I kept having issues when trying to get to connect to my Bluetooth enabled MacBook Pro. I was able to connect, but couldn’t play longer than one song before it would cut out and give a connectivity error.

All in all, I liked the Supertooth Disco unit a lot, despite my issues with the sound quality. For the price point and the build quality, it is a very solid product and as long as you are connecting with the 3.5mm cable, the sound quality is surprisingly decent. If you are connecting via Bluetooth, it is not bad, just don’t expect to be able to crank it up more than halfway. Whether you are looking to provide sound throughout the house or backyard or even the on the golf course, the Disco will do the trick and you will not be disappointed.

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