First Impressions
Jabra has veered from its tradition of
making hands-free Bluetooth devices, to actually make a mobile speaker system.
It's compact, and it's got Bluetooth as well. On paper, it looks good as any mobile
speaker that we've encountered in the recent months, but does it have the goods
that will manage to impress audiophiles and/or the casual listener? Let the
soul decide if the music it renders is good enough to make it a permanent mate.
The
Jabra Solemate
Review
We were ecstatic to receive the white unit
for review, as it does look the classier of the two (the other option being a
black unit) and a bit Apple-like. The packing is top-notch, though the method
to actually open the plastic casing took some dexterity on our part.
Nevertheless, the set-up is as easy as it gets - if you have a Bluetooth device
you wish to pair with the Solemate, (with Voice Guidance) all you need to do is
push the power button up to the Bluetooth indicator and let the devices pair
automatically. Once that's done, you can simply stream your own music
wirelessly within the Bluetooth range to the speakers and the performance of
the Solemate was really good. The low's and m id's are well distinguished, but
the highs do struggle to get the best output due to the small form factor.
Lengthwise it's almost the size of an iPad mini and height-wise as big as a
grown man's thumb! The body bears a grille-speaker look overall barring the
side panels, and the sole is where the fun is because it quite literally is a
sole. A shoe sole design replication which has the rubbery material to keep it
in place even if you are going over-board with high volume rock songs on it. It
worked really well in our testing and it also houses the 3.5m m pin connectors
to connect via audio jacks in case you don't have a Bluetooth enabled device
(Like an old desktop, laptop or smartphone). Of course, the disadvantage in
listening whilst being paired with your smartphone is receiving calls/ sms'
means an interruption that you could've otherwise done without. But that's an
issue with every Bluetooth speaker, so you can either switch to Airplane mode,
or make-do with some interruptions every now and then.
Top
Panel - With only the increase and decrease volume buttons separated by the
voice guidance button, the top panel is fairly clean and nice looking.
Verdict
For an asking price of about $0.2k, this is
a classy Bluetooth speaker set with nice touches like voice guidance and status
displays, which is also sweat, splash and dust proof. With 2 acoustic tweeters
and 1 subwoofer, the performance is really top notch and build quality is
superb. If you are looking for a music companion which can work seamlessly over
Bluetooth, then the Solemate is one of the best in the market right now.
If
you are looking for a music companion which can work seamlessly over Bluetooth,
then the Solemate is one of the best in the market right now.
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The Jabra
Solemate specs
§ Price:
$200
§ Single
Mobile Speaker system
§ 3
front speakers
§ Sweat,
Splash and Dust Resistant
§ Bluetooth,
3.5mm Audio cable and
§ USB
connectivity
§ 610
grams weight
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