The Xenta BeatBar Portable Bluetooth Speaker (W-04EBY) is a powerful speaker from the company Xenta who are sending out a lot of sound devices recently. Going for a small design that packs quite a punch, this speaker is designer more for sitting on your desk or for placing somewhere safe to blast out music to the crowd. Going against their other products this is also a Bluetooth enabled device and is meant to travel with you without much hassle.
Design
The shape of the BeatBar is rather plain, going for a hardy rectangle frame and inset buttons for volume, track selection a phone calls. The shape and size allows this speaker to fit into most containers and possibly pockets as well, you never know who could be packing one. The hand length bar sits well on a laptop, or any platform you want it to stand to blast music.
The Bar itself isn’t much to look at, merely resembling a black brick and blending well with other devices. All the inputs and buttons are inset and don’t stick out at all so transporting this is easy and safe. The low amount of buttons can get confusing at times, with only 3 to press and so many functions to access.
Quality
There is no argument to be made with the volume of this device, putting your laptop or phone to max volume offers quite a range of sound to the area, but when you hold down the volume buttons it can get so much louder than it needs to. I find it hard to get the volume to max on the Bar as it turns so loud it hurts, so I have no worries if this was to be used for a party of sorts. Coupled with the volume, you can walk as far as the Bluetooth allows and still hear it, the range being more than enough.
The battery length on this bar is also rather pleasing, with around 7 hours of music playing before needing to be plugged in again, with the USB charger it can play endlessly if you attach it to your laptop. Charging it to full can take a while though and detracts from people who always want a full charge before they disconnect.
The quality of the sound is also very high, with added bass for anything you play through t and clear sounds. This speaker is a lot better than my phone and laptop which were the two main devices I tested this bar with.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
I have a problem with the on/off switch, in that other speakers have auto-sleep modes in them, allowing for their battery to be saved for the next music session. The button is rather small and in turn forgettable, I found myself forgetting to switch it off after use which meant I had to plug it in the next I want to use it. This is more a personal nit-pick and people with better memory might not face this problem, but with the addition of this feature I feel it could have been better.
The Bluetooth signal has some issues when moving around, but can establish a connection rather quick after it loses it. The buttons themselves also feel rather minimal, going for a multi-use design, where the volume button also controls the track selection which can lead to quite a bit of annoyance when trying to turn up or down and find you’ve changed the track instead. There is more than enough room to add 2-4 more buttons to stop this.
Overall I give The Xenta BeatBar Portable Bluetooth Speaker a 4/5, the volume and quality are what really set this speaker apart from others in its price range. The durability and Bluetooth stability are put into quite a debate, as the device isn’t too hardy but when it’s going to be sitting still most of the time it doesn’t need to be. It isn’t much of a good looking speaker, but then again, who is going to stare at it.
Pros
- Loud Max Volume
- Long Battery Life
- Hidden buttons and inputs
- Small and easy to transport
- Slick design
- Stable on most surfaces
- Easy to use (Plug and play)
Cons
- Bluetooth can cut out on movement
- Lack of buttons
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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