ARCTIC S113-BT Bluetooth Speaker
The ARCTIC S13BT is a really nice sounding Bluetooth speaker assembly. First off, ARCTIC does a nice job of providing a padded nylon carrying case along with a charger and a line-out to line-in cable. I always like it when manufacturers include all of the cables with their products. The outside of the speaker is made of a very soft and durable rubber, so you could drop this speaker and be ok. The front and back are black metal grilles for protecting the speakers. This speaker filled a small room nicely - I did notice a little crackling on the speaker though when turned up to full volume on a few songs - when I say little, I mean little. You have to listen for it, it is not obvious. If you turn it down a notch or so this distortion goes away, it is only because it is cranked up to full tilt. I wish there were more buttons on it. You get a multi-function button but I would like to see the play/pause, track next, track previous and volume up and volume down. The Bluetooth speaker does support AAC and aptX, A2DP, AVRCP which is really nice and NFC is supported for phones with NFC. This speaker also comes in lots of fun colors, so ARCTIC did a good job of making this a fun product for folks to own. The speaker also comes with a 1200 mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery that will play for up to 8 hours. It also has a microphone and you can make and take phone calls from it which is another really nice integration with the Bluetooth. On/Off button, AUX in, micro USB charger slot is on one side. This is a very nice Bluetooth speaker and you can really hear the bass. I have tested quite a number of Bluetooth speakers and this one sounds really good because of the design of the speaker. True, it does cost more than some of the $20 - $30 dollar mono Bluetooth speakers that I have tested but you get what you pay for. The last thing that I would like to comment on for this speaker is the sound direction. There is no way to direct the sound...mono Bluetooth speakers always shoot the sound up which does a nice job or filling the little space that you are in. This speaker sat flat on my countertop but when I slid my iPhone underneath it and tilted it upwards it really sounded a lot better. If you turn it on its back and shoot the sound up it sounds ok but not as good as putting it on its side and shooting the sound out at an angle. So I wish there was some kind of way you could adjust the angle on this speaker. The other problem with this is, because it does have boomy bass, it would vibrate after a few bass notes and would fall down, so I had to really shove stuff in front of and behind it to get this speaker to stay fixed. I have a Bose Soundlink mobile, which also sits on the countertop, but the Bose is angled ever so slightly upwards and that really makes a big difference in projecting the sound. I was provided a sample in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The ARCTIC S13BT is a really nice sounding Bluetooth speaker assembly. First off, ARCTIC does a nice job of providing a padded nylon carrying case along with a charger and a line-out to line-in cable. I always like it when manufacturers include all of the cables with their products. The outside of the speaker is made of a very soft and durable rubber, so you could drop this speaker and be ok. The front and back are black metal grilles for protecting the speakers. This speaker filled a small room nicely - I did notice a little crackling on the speaker though when turned up to full volume on a few songs - when I say little, I mean little. You have to listen for it, it is not obvious. If you turn it down a notch or so this distortion goes away, it is only because it is cranked up to full tilt. I wish there were more buttons on it. You get a multi-function button but I would like to see the play/pause, track next, track previous and volume up and volume down. The Bluetooth speaker does support AAC and aptX, A2DP, AVRCP which is really nice and NFC is supported for phones with NFC. This speaker also comes in lots of fun colors, so ARCTIC did a good job of making this a fun product for folks to own. The speaker also comes with a 1200 mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery that will play for up to 8 hours. It also has a microphone and you can make and take phone calls from it which is another really nice integration with the Bluetooth. On/Off button, AUX in, micro USB charger slot is on one side. This is a very nice Bluetooth speaker and you can really hear the bass. I have tested quite a number of Bluetooth speakers and this one sounds really good because of the design of the speaker. True, it does cost more than some of the $20 - $30 dollar mono Bluetooth speakers that I have tested but you get what you pay for. The last thing that I would like to comment on for this speaker is the sound direction. There is no way to direct the sound...mono Bluetooth speakers always shoot the sound up which does a nice job or filling the little space that you are in. This speaker sat flat on my countertop but when I slid my iPhone underneath it and tilted it upwards it really sounded a lot better. If you turn it on its back and shoot the sound up it sounds ok but not as good as putting it on its side and shooting the sound out at an angle. So I wish there was some kind of way you could adjust the angle on this speaker. The other problem with this is, because it does have boomy bass, it would vibrate after a few bass notes and would fall down, so I had to really shove stuff in front of and behind it to get this speaker to stay fixed. I have a Bose Soundlink mobile, which also sits on the countertop, but the Bose is angled ever so slightly upwards and that really makes a big difference in projecting the sound. I was provided a sample in exchange for a fair and honest review.