MobileTechTalk While I have come across a lot of speakers up to now, I hadn’t had the chance to review a speaker made by Aukey. The first time I saw this speaker I was extremely interested in the quality of the speaker for its £30 price. So, let’s find out if my first experience with a speaker made by Aukey was a pleasant one?!
Disclaimer: Although Aukey did provide me (Jeffrey) with the speaker, they had no influence on the editorial outcome of the review. The speaker has been tested for about 2 weeks with about 3 to 4 hours of listening to music, every day.
- Bluetooth Version: 4.0
- Operation Range: 10M (factory testing)
- Battery Capacity: 2000mAh
- Charging Input: DC 5V
Taking the speaker out of the box, or just carrying the speaker inside its box makes you think: damn, this is one heavy speaker. It truly wonders me how this speaker can be this heavy, especially because the speaker is overall smaller than the other speakers I have.
Just ignoring the weight of the speaker, I can say that overall the speaker feels solid with the metal frame up top and the metal sides that cover the actual speakers and passive bass radiators. The bottom is made of a rubbery material that helps dampening the vibrations of the speaker, and it makes sure that the speaker won’t be moving around on your desk or whatever surface you put it on.
The buttons up top feel nice and tactile, giving you a nice and solid feedback while clicking them in. At last I’d like to mention the lack of waterproofing, which is kind of to be expected at this price, but that doesn’t make it less of a bummer that it’s missing here.
It’s clear to me that Aukey wasn’t looking to be creative with this speaker, because looking over at Amazon this is not the only speaker with this design, but that’s not to say that there’s something wrong with it. It’s a very stealthy looking speaker with perforated metal plates on the sides, divided by a small piece of plastic, and a mix of a darker metal and plastic up top.
Up top is also the place where you’ll find the chrome-looking buttons, which is gives a nice touch to the speaker, it’s also the place where you’ll find the blue power button (which will be red during charging, and pink if it’s on and needs to be charged.) Overall, I’d say that the design isn’t the focus point of this speaker. Nonetheless, the speaker looks fine, especially taking its lower price into mind.
Starting off with the Bluetooth reception, which Aukey has put at 10M/33ft., and I’d say that I’m surprised by distance I could go without the sound starting to crackle. I almost never reach the manufacturers spec, just because of the way they test it. But with about 7 meters in distance between my phone and the speaker before it gets almost unusable, you can use this speaker in nearly every situation. Heck, I can’t even think of a situation when you’d want to be more than 7M away from the speaker with your phone or device that’s connected to the speaker.
And let me add a short thingy, it’s extremely easy and quick to pair this speaker to the device you want to connect it to, just power on the speaker and select the Bluetooth speaker on the preferred device, that’s it. What is unfortunate, is that you can’t see what the left-over battery is, which means that you might even end up with an empty battery without you knowing it.
Next up are the buttons up top, one for taking phone calls, followed by volume rockers, a back and forward button, and a play and pause button. Like you’d expect, all of them work perfectly fine, and I’m happy that Aukey decided that the volume button controls the volume on the device it is connected to, not its own volume.
We’re already coming to the end of this review, with only the battery life and sound quality left over. So, let’s get the battery life out of the way first, and Aukey claims that the battery life is 8+ hours with the volume set at 50%, which is the volume setting I usually test my speakers at. And after testing the battery life for 3 days straight I ended up getting somewhere close to 8 hours of battery life, which is more than enough for daily listening to music, if you are willing to charge it at night that is. Even if you don’t want to charge the 2000mAh battery at night, I was able to completely top it up after about 3 hours of charging.
Let’s get to what you came for, the sound quality of this Aukey Bluetooth speaker, and let me start of by saying that I was impressed from the moment I turned on the speaker. Keep in mind that I’m in no way an audiophile though, so I’m looking through the more ‘usual’ consumer glasses.
The first thing that truly surprised me was the bass this speaker creates, not to say that I’m a big fan of it. Sometimes speakers can create just a tad bit too much bass, and that’s the case with this speaker. And, at moments where you’d expect it to pack some nice bass to enhance your audio experience, it’s lacking. Voices are crisp, but sometimes overrule the instruments in the background.
Looking at the price though, and everything starts to make sense, what’s more is that I’m impressed about the sound quality for its current price of £30. No, you’re not getting top-notch sound quality, but that’s not what this speaker is meant to offer, neither is it made for the audience that need some great sounding speakers. If you’re using this speaker on the go, with your friends or for other casual things you’ll be more than happy with this speaker.
Is it the best speaker I’ve ever had? No, it isn’t, that’s for sure. But, I don’t own any other speakers in this price range so there’s no way for me to make a good comparison. What you get though is a good sounding speaker in most if not all the cases, and at this price there’s certainly no need to complain.
What’s more is that this speaker is built like a tank, and offers a design that’s nothing truly special but for a speaker in this price range there isn’t a lot more that you can expect. Battery life is great, and the operating range is more than you’ll ever need in real-life situations.
If you’re going to pick one of these up, do let me know in the comments below! And, if you already own one, feel free to share your opinion with others.
Aukey SK-S1 Bluetooth Speaker
£31.99
Pros
- Portable
- Looks really stylish
- Used materials feel good
Cons
- Not waterproof
I was amazed at the sound coming from this little speaker! It’s perfect for using outside on my deck or in the backyard. I have a pretty large yard and the sound is great no matter where we are in the yard. I love the band on the back that lets you clip it onto a chair or bench.
Thanks for sharing such a nice review about the bluetooth speaker. Keep posting more updates on your page. I will certainly dig it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this website.
Thanks again.