Sound quality usually suffers, as does output level. These speakers need to include a Bluetooth receiver, battery, and amplifier, which leaves little room for drivers and their needed enclosure volume. This demand has resulted in more and more "micro" sized speakers. The demand for portable Bluetooth speakers remains high, especially for smaller ones that can be easily packed for travel. More to come from them here at UTR over the next few months.Bluetooth speakers have been a hot item for the past couple of years. Neither of these are what you'd consider frontline Monster Audio products, but they're both products created with an attention to detail that's evidence of Monster's strong ideas about how things should sound and how they should work. The Powercard comes in five colors and there's a included micro USB charging cable. The retail price is $49.95 but they're consistently available for $40 online. It's a 1650 mAh battery and, while that's smaller than a lot of other batteries on the market, it really does seem to charge a phone more quickly and I've consistently gotten almost two full charges of an iPhone 5S from a fully charged Powercard. That's a statement that the folks at media and politician fact-rating news site Politifact might call "mostly true." It is the size of a credit card, but it's also the thickness of twelve cards and it's not really going to fit in your wallet. The Powercard markets itself as a "credit card-sized" backup battery. Monster promises models with neon pink and orange trim, as well as a white one with gold trim. The Superstar is currently available with in silver, blue or black with neon green trim. If you're willing to spend more that $100 on a truly portable speaker, this is worth a look. Still, I can imagine that it might drive some folks crazy.Īnd yet, the Superstar pumps out a LOT of volume without distortion and it really does offer outstanding sound for its size. You can easily push it back into place and Monster provides a travel back to minimize the amount of slippage it might encounter in your bag. Also clever and surprisingly effective.Ī possible flaw in this system is that rubberized cover tends to slip. The back-facing radiator is designed so that you can set the Superstar on its back on a wooden table for some extra bass kick. There's a rubberized skin that covers the back of the speaker that clever acts to amplify the sound coming out of the device (same principle as those silicone horns that you attach to your smartphone). It also works really well as a speakerphone. It uses the Bluetooth aptX streaming protocol and connects easily to one device at a time. and measures 8.1" wide x 5.5" tall x 1.9" deep. Shaquille O'Neal has endorsed the speaker, which I guess is supposed to suggest the gigantic sound from the small speaker, which weighs just 7 oz. The Superstar (which lists at $149, but you can easily find it at $130) claims to be the world's smallest audiophile speaker. I'll be reviewing the new products once they're released, but, in the meantime, I've spent some time with the Monster Superstar portable wireless speaker and the Monster Powercard portable backup battery. Let's just say that some of the new products sound even better. Monster makes several lines of lifestyle headphones that out-bling almost anything on the market, but they've also put out the DNA line that can compete with any headphones at their price point and the excellent iSport workout earbuds. Since Beats left Monster, it seems like Lee's been on a mission to compete on both fronts.
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