The Arctic S113 BT Portable Speaker is a good looking little Bluetooth speaker that allows you to pair via NFC, which essentially means that if you’ve got NFC switched on your mobile you can just touch the two together to quickly pair them.
The portable Bluetooth speaker market is a rather crowded one, with many speakers now costing less than £20. Arctic, perhaps better known for their thermal paste, have decided to have a go at audio equipment with the S113 portable Bluetooth speaker.
Along with the speaker you also get a nice carry case and a USB charging lead. Setup was very easy (I used NFC, but you can also pair this without NFC) and I was impressed with the overall design. The NFC worked first time without any problems, quickly pairing with a HTC One X and immediately playing music stored on the phone.
Controls are kept to a minimum and the brick shape design allows you to stand the S113 speaker on it’s end or on it’s side. The speaker is very easy to operate with the 3 main buttons you need on the front: track back, play/stop, track forward.
The compact design, which feels more sturdy than your average Bluetooth speaker, along with the provided travel case makes this the ideal size for anyone looking for a portable speaker to take away with them on holiday.
So far so good!
Unfortunately the sound quality doesn’t live up to the expectations set by the stylish design. Having tested a number of low cost (under £20) speakers recently I was expecting this to stand out from the crowd with the higher price tag (£34.99 at the time of writing), but the sound quality was a real let down. The sound was flat, lacks bass and sounded more like a £15 speaker.
It’s a real shame that such a good looking speaker is let down by the very thing you’d buy it for. It’s perfectly usable and the small form factor makes it perfect for travel, it’s just there are similar options for half the price that sound better.
Available to buy now on Amazon: https://goo.gl/I7VrHj
