Review: SPRACHT Blu Note A2DP Bluetooth Speaker

I have got to be honest here, before I tested out the SPRACHT AURA BLU NOTE A2DP Stereo Speaker system, I didn't give much thoughts on the whole bluetooth wireless music transfer idea. Today however, I hooked up the system, it really changed my mind.

Why?
Maybe because SPRACHT did an excellent job with this speaker's design and usability or maybe because streaming your iPhone music wirelessly is totally convenient. Whatever it is, I am loving it. Incase you didn't know, SPRACHT makes some of the best bluetooth speakers (high quality business applications).

Connection
The SPRACHT AURA BLU NOTE speaker system is very easy to operate. You hold on to the power button to turn it on or off. When you are ready to pair, simply hold down the "PTT" button to turn it into discovery mode. Once paired, it will easily sync in future operations. Between opening the box until I finished pairing my iPhone, it took all but 5 minutes.

Build
The BLU NOTE is a well-built little speaker system. The silver finish w/ polished buttons look elegant and promotes a modern minimalist design. Just like my review of the SPRACHT AURA Bluetooth Conference Speaker, this product is built sturdy and well worth the asking price of $129 (Amazon $92). It can be powered by an AC adaptor or 4 AA batteries (both included). If you have another audio source, there is also a 3.5mm aux input on the back side along with a short 3.5mm cable included in the package.

Sound Quality
The sound quality is not bad; about as good as any portable stereo system. There are two buttons to adjust sound output (Stereo Widening or BASS Boost). When I crank up the volume, strong BASS frequencies can make the tiny speakers to distort, no surprise there. When you place a call, the Blu Note works as a great portable wireless conference speaker system.

User Feedback
I was surprisingly pleased with this speaker system. It was such a cool novelty to bring my iPhone 15 feet away from the speaker and control my playlist "remotely". No more getting up from the bar stool and change the songs from my old iPod speaker w/ dock design. Don't get me wrong, this portable speaker is a great travel companion but I wish SPRACHT would also offer a larger unit aiming for premium sound quality. One other thing less than desired is the lack of volume control from (atleast) my iPhone; as soon as you pair the iPhone, the volume bar sets to the middle and you have to adjust audio volume from the speaker itself.

If you've been looking for a portable bluetooth A2DP stereo speaker system that is reliable and good looking, look no further, SPRACHT AURA BLU NOTE is a solid contender.

Aura BluNote Wireless Speakers (A2DP)

Spracht is introducing a new bluetooth wireless speaker system, Aura BluNote, for phones or media players capable of putting out A2DP advanced audio distribution. In short, your iPhone w/ the upcoming firmware 3.0 should support stereo bluetooth output to work with a system like this one. As for Spracht, they are experts in building high quality bluetooth speakers (as I have reviewed one in the past); its only natural for them to expand their feature set to support A2DP making the BluNote a work and play product. This speaker system will run on 4x AA batteries or with the supplied AC adaptor and it can support up to 8 different bluetooth profiles. With a built-in 3.5mm input jack, you can also expect to hookup any portable audio player to this speaker system. MSRP: $129.

PS - I expect A2DP to take off in the near future as more and more wireless/smart devices will rely on this method as the primary means to transmit high quality stereo sound. You can expect automakers to enhance their radio to support this feature.

Aura Mobile BT (Bluetooth Conference Speaker) Review

(Full Aura Mobile BT Image Gallery Here)
I was given the opportunity to test drive a new Bluetooth conference speaker known as the Aura Mobile BT from a company called Spracht. Basically, the speaker allows for wireless connection via Bluetooth to your wireless device of choice allowing any conversation turned into full-on professional grade conference call. What intrigued and impressed me to take on this review is its "full-duplex" functionality giving users un-interrupted two way conversations like the expensive conference call equipments at your office's conference room.

The lowdown: This is a great professional quality solution for road warriors or startup companies looking for an alternative solution against conventional conference call (land line) solution, especially if they want to get more mileage out of all the "unlimited" cell phone plans these days.

Who is this for? The company's slogan says it is "ideal for everyone from the executive user to moms on the go". I envision this being the perfect companion for sales executives/road warriors who need to setup conference calls on the go utilizing their Bluetooth cellphones. Or the owner of a startup working out of a small office home office as this device will cost far less than having to establish a landline and the expensive conference equipments. While most cell phones have loudspeaker options, the call quality (lack of full-duplex) and power (dedicated battery & option to keep the power cord intacted) gives the Aura Mobile BT the advantage.

Unboxing Aura Mobile BT Conference Speaker - I find the packaging design to be quite good. It brings a certain element of excitement much like the way scale/model cars are packaged. The content is packed straight forward: it comes with the Aura Mobile BT speaker, a quick start guide, manual, registration card, wall-charger, car charger, external mic and cables for voip pc connection.

Product Design - The speaker unit itself is pretty good looking for a business device. It has a similar design as many HTC products; somehow I feel like it would blend perfectly sitting next to an AT&T Tilt. There are five (5) buttons that are large and easy to access controlling the power, mute, volume up, volume down and connection. The four buttons to each side could use a better feedback; because I wasn't sure if I am pressing the buttons hard enough, I would often press too hard causing the speaker to tilt to its sides. There are three (3) LED indicators on the face of the unit above the buttons. They do an adequate job of displaying the status of battery/charge, connection status and Bluetooth connection, however, as is with any "headless" hardware design, it can be confusing to get used to in the beginning (especially during setup). On the bottom of the unit, there is a built-in retractable visor screen along with a sticker of the "quick start guide" which will come in handy if you have a longer duration in between use.

Mobile Experience - I had a hard time setting up the device to my phone at first. Largely because I wasn't used to all the chimes and beeping as well as the sequence I needed to input to get to Bluetooth pairing mode. The quick-start guide does the job of explaining basic instructions but if it includes a bit more info as to the seconds I needed to hold and press of a given button, I think it would have been easier. I managed to get more information out of the instruction manual. Once connected, I placed and received a couple of test calls to my sister in Las Vegas using a Nokia N95-3. The sound quality over bluetooth connection is very good; when compared to my bluetooth connection in my car's stereo, this could be that my phone is stationary instead of moving at 50MPH+. I tried connecting an iPhone to this, but was not able to do so largely because I just can't get iPhone to behave the same way all my other handsets would. Finally, I paired a BlackBerry 8700c to the speaker and it worked out pretty good as well when I placed a test call to Robert. Re-pairing a previously paired device is very easy, I successfully paired my N95 back with Aura Mobile BT with easy, simply selected the stored device from your phone and turn the unit on will do the trick. After using the unit for a while, I was able to tell various chimes and beeps to understand what it is telling me (turning on, off, pairing,
etc.).

In conclusion, I find this device to be very useful for the profile of users I described above. And if I fit such profile, I would easily purchase this product. Many thanks to Margie Schaffner at BLASTmedia for sending me the test unit.