Review : Nokia JBL PlayUp Portable Wireless Speaker
Portable speakers are a great alternative if you want to save space, you can also carry it along, if it’s completely wireless. We received a review unit for Nokia JBL PlayUp Wireless Speakers. After using it for a couple of days, I can say that it’s a great speaker and brings in all portability features.
However, it comes at a price and you may find competitive speakers in the same or lesser range. Right now I am not at a stage where I can compare it with out speakers. So below is my experience with the speaker explained with details.
The Physical Aspects:
Even though portable, speaker is almost equal to the height of a drinking glass. You can place the speaker on your hand and it will just fit in. That said, overall build quality of speaker is very good. A thick player of rubberized coating surrounds the speaker. This gives a very strong grip even when holding it with a single hand.
The speaker orientation is towards the top which makes sure that audio is not blocked from things surrounding it. You can use it while you are on a Bicycle or even while having food at your dinner table.
How to play music or video using this speaker:
It’s a wireless speaker which uses Bluetooth to stream music from your phone to the speaker. NFC triggers the streaming from your phone to speaker. The advantage of using NFC is that it automates the process of connecting to your speaker via Bluetooth.
The speaker has a Bluetooth button + indicator. This turns white when there is no connection, blue when connected to a device and red when shutting down.
- First. Launch a song on your phone and then tap on the speaker.
- Even if the speaker is in off mode, it will turn on with a sound and you will be prompted for Bluetooth paring.
- Tap yes and Bluetooth indicator will go blue.
- Next, you should listen audio from the JBL speaker instead of your mobile speaker.
In case, the speaker turns on but the Bluetooth pairing fails, I will suggest you to go to Bluetooth settings and see if JBL speaker is listed. If yes tap on it to connect and it should work from the next time.
Video Demo
How long does it play:
The speaker runs on battery which is similar to any mobile battery. It packs in a power of 1430 mAh. Now, even though it’s being only used for audio, it’s using NFC, Bluetooth, and its streaming continuously. So if you expect it to last for hours, then you will be disappointed.
When put on test for continuous usage, the speaker lasted for 3 hours tops. However if you aren’t using it continuously, it can last for around 8 hours. That is when you use it for short usage ranging from 15 to 20 minutes.
Sound Quality of JBL PLayup
It’s pretty awesome for a portable speaker like this. However to understand quality from every aspect, I had to listen to almost every song genres on it. Right from Rock to Pop to Classic.
So when you try this or any other speaker, the first thing you should do is keep it at a distance before evaluating it. That’s what I did, the speaker was at least 10 ft. away from me.
Second, I tested it with Lumia 820 using Nokia Music Plus to make sure the audio that is streamed to the speaker has good quality.
Below are my scores based on above factors and when the volume was full both on speaker
- Bass : 8 of 10
- Voice Clarity: 8 of 10
Now, if you bring in the speaker in range of 2-3 foot, full volume will turn into noise. So you might like to control it. I did lower down the volume to around 70% and it was just fine.
There is one drawback with Nokia Windows Phone. Even though there is an equalizer available it can only be used with headphones or earphones. Since you cannot choose proper equalizer setting when using the JBL Speaker, the overall experience lower downs a bit.
Range of the Speaker:
The speaker connects with mobile over Bluetooth. So it follows the same principles. The range of the speaker is around 10M but if you have walls in between expect it to disconnect. However it will automatically connect back when you are in range. The music will pause when you get out of range.
Pricing:
These speakers cost 12,000 Indian Currency or 150 USD. In simple words, they aren’t cheap to have but if you are willing to spend and are passionate about music, it’s a great accessory for your mobile. However if that still cannot convince anybody, I will help you out here.
- If you have multiple NFC mobiles, you can even use them with the speakers.
- It’s portable & Wireless which makes it idle for partying or even taking to a family picnic.
- If you want to save battery, you can use wires to connect it with your phone also.
- You can use it for conference calls where everybody can listen.
- Charges up quickly.
