There are dozens of portable Bluetooth speakers on the market. Why should you choose any particular one over any other? Perhaps one brand supports high quality audio from Apple devices (the AAC codec), or from Android devices (the aptX codec for some). Perhaps the sound quality is a little better on one than the other. But how about style? Enter House of Marley.
Named for Bob Marley, the Reggae innovator who died in 1981 at just 36 years of age, style is clearly an important part of House of Marley’s line-up. Just look at its new portable Bluetooth speaker, the “Little Get Together”. That distinctive front is finished in bamboo. The rest of the enclosure is made ninety per cent from recycled materials and covered in “REWIND” fabric.
Not to say that sound quality is unimportant. The company says that the speaker packs two 1.5 inch full range drivers, a 2.5 inch woofer and two passive radiators to “keep the bass even with better low frequency performance”. I’m not sure I can entirely reconcile that driver line-up with the pictures we’ve been supplied. Perhaps the woofer is behind the bamboo panel at the back. I’m hoping to get my hands on one soon to test, so I’ll let you know.
UPDATE, 25 October 2016: My scepticism was warranted. The front speakers are two 25mm tweeters and two 63mm woofers, while the bamboo panel at the back is actually the front of a large passive radiator. See the full review here.
Anyway, the small drivers on the front are each provided with three watts of power, while the woofer, wherever it is, gets nine watts.
The company says that speaker’s battery life is ten hours, and there’s also a USB port, it says for charging devices, although I’d think of it more as a way that the phone or whatever can keep running for longer while feeding music to the speaker.
Bluetooth 4.1 is used, allowing a range of up to thirty metres between audio device and speaker. House of Marley adds that it “features an integrated mic to use as a speaker and a voice prompt for a commanding listening experience”. Clearly something else to be explored when I get my hands on one.
Recommended retail price: $199.95.
Does anyone know how to turn off, or down, the female voice on the Marley Get Together Mini?