2 weeks Ago By David Richards
It’s that time of the year when party box speaker demands soars, and while JBL dominates in this space, there are some really good values for money alternatives, that seriously stand because of the audio technology especially bass and power management capability. One such product is the new 120 watt, $449 BlueAnt X5i Bluetooth Party Speaker, which has been developed from the ground up in Australia, by audio engineers who have delivered a unique party box sound especially when it came to bass and power output management whether you are playing the device at maximum output or at the midway point. You have to remember that the more bass you crank up with a party box speaker the quicker it sucks up the battery juice.
What’s clear with BlueAnt’s latest speaker offering is that this is no off the shelf Chinese designed and manufactured party box by some manufacturer has simply stuck their logo on. I really fell in love with BlueAnt products, when I hooked up one of their desktops Soundblade speakers to my PC. After almost 12 months of use and countless Team calls, I am still of the opinion that it is still one of the best home office or PC connected speakers I have come across.
While reviewing the Soundblade we suddenly realised that BlueAnt had a seriously capable audio engineering team based in Melbourne. The new X5i Bluetooth Party Speaker looks neat and compact despite it only being the size of a small rubbish bin. It’s when you switch the X5i on and connect a Tidal stream of music from pop dance to classical to jazz that you realise that this speaker has a lot going for it apart from value for money.
Because of the use of a 165mm bass driver and bass reflex tube you can really crank up bass control capability in a sub $500 device with too much distortion or overpowering echo that some cheap speakers tend to do. With a simple press of the Bass boost button, you can suddenly find yourself cranking a Michael Jackson Thriller track up to another level. Pair two together and you have an audio system, that would be ideal for a 100+ person outdoor party, and for those who want to use two of these speakers for an indoor or outdoor wedding function, you get two cordless wireless mics per speaker that can be used as MC microphones before you get to the dance music.
With 120 watts of power output the speaker has been described as “crazy loud” and ass BlueAnt claims the output is so loud “you will probably need to warn your neighbours about it”. If you want to turn a party into a karaoke night the two wireless microphones are ideal for the divas in the room, you see themselves as the next Taylor Swift. The X5i and its epic bass at all volume levels delivers some of the best battery life with BlueAnt claiming 30 hours playtime at 50% volume and 7 hours at full volume.
We stuck one in a garage three levels down for the night at 50% volume, and after 10 hours, it was still playing and then suddenly died. We chose a simple dance music range of music which we kept on repeat. I suspect that if you did include tracks with a lot of bass it would be around 7 hours.
As for the microphones the microphone volume resets to the default of 4, every time the microphones are powered on. For those who want something different you can use the echo + and – to adjust the level of echo applied to the microphones. This echo control effects both microphones.
Conclusion This speaker is hard to fault, and I would put it alongside the JBL Party box for quality and output in the sub $500 market. At sub 5 kilo it’s easy to carry and the battery life is excellent. For me supporting Australian brands is important and this is a product designed from the ground up in Australia with the audio technology up there with the likes of Sony, Klipsch and JBL.
Brands such as LG and Samsung have tried getting into this market and have failed. BlueAnt have demonstrated that they not only have the audio development capability their unique bass system, coupled with the fact that you get two wireless microphones thrown in for free, and you can Duo pair two of their speakers together make them an ideal choice. If you want two speakers don’t forget to ask your retailer for a discount because you are buying two.
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