Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I am surprised that so much was able to be place in such a small device. This speaker is really cool. It came packaged in a foam lined box. Even the box is neat. The speaker is enclosed in a nylon travel bag. There is a small side sleeve which I assume is for the included USB and line-to-line retractable cords. There is also a plug-in USB transformer. I'm getting quite a collection of these. Another reviewer mentioned something about streaks across the solar panel. My device did not have these. The panel was covered by a protective film which you peel off. There are uniform white lines running from front to back that are part of the panel design but no white streaks.
The front of the speaker is smooth. You can see it in the Amazon image. The Devotec icon changes colors and flashes to give you clues as to what the speaker is doing. Below it are three control buttons. They do not press in but are touch sensitive. The middle button is for on/off and pause/play. The left button lowers the volume or goes to the beginning of the tune you are playing. The right button increases the volume or goes to the next song. You select the function depending on how long you press them. I can also change the volume to the speaker by using the volume buttons on the iPhone. One thing you need to be careful of is if you pick up the speaker while it's on, you may touch a button and turn the speaker off or such. The speakers are on each end and have a small pencil size hole which I assume helps in bass tone. The are 4 small rubber feet on the bottom of the box that help keep it from sliding when you press a button. On the back you will find a main power button. It depresses inward for on and comes back out flush when you turn the power off. There is a line-in and also a line-out jack. They supply a retractable line-in cord that you can use to directly connect an mp3 player to the speaker. There is also a mini USB connection that I used to charge up the battery with the supplied retractable USB cord.
I don't like cords running all over. I bought this speaker to have on my desk at work so I could listen to my iPhone through something better than the little iPhone speakers. When you power the speaker on, it goes into discover mode. The iPhone found it right away and asked for the log-in code. Enter "0000" and you're connected. I walked away about 20 feet or so before I started losing the connection. While playing a tune, my son called me and I was able to talk to him through the speaker. There is a little microphone built into it. He was in the room and I recognized there was a delay in the transmission. It is something I'd like to explore more but I bought this speaker to get better sound, not make calls. The call feature is a bonus to me.
When you run the volume up, you will be surprised at how much sound this little wonder puts out. The instructions say that the louder you play, the more power you will consume. That makes sense.
At work I connected my MacBook Air to the speaker. If the speaker and iPhone are connected, the MacBook will not find them. Break the connection and the MacBook found them right away. I did not need to enter the "0000" code using the MacBook. I went to iTunes and played a movie. The video and audio was in sync. Perfect. That is all I tried to do between the MacBook and the Solar Sound at this time.
I do not know how long the speaker will last on a single charge. I will try to remember to get back on and add that to my review. I do not expect the inside lighting where I work to recharge the device. The instructions mention bright sunlight and I assume that is what is needed. I intend the speaker to become stationary on my desk and portable only now and then. I will likely find a place to connect the USB cord to keep the battery powered. But I bought this for the Bluetooth so I could grab my phone or laptop and go without disconnecting a bunch of cords. The Bluetooth works great in that regard.
My phone is enclosed in an Otter Box. That makes sticking the iPhone on some sort of external speaker that allows playing the phone and charging it at the same time difficult. I would think the speaker makers would realize this but they make their devices as if nobody puts their iPhone in a protective sleeve. With the Solar Sound, I now have an external speaker for my iPhone as well as my MacBook and probably anything else that uses Bluetooth.
I am very happy with the Solar Sound. It looks nice on my desk and because it's portable, I can take it with me when I might travel. This speaker was designed to travel as indicated by the nylon sleeve and retractable cords it comes with.
I'm very happy with this product and I congratulate Devotec for such a nice device.
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