The Libratone Loop is an interesting take on the humble speaker. I first came across these at Gadget Show Live 2014, the colourful stand stood out in a sea of black rectangular speakers. The loop is a nice sized speaker which can either be wall mounted or stood up on the included stand.
It’s available in a number of colours, you pick your initial colour, which comes pre-fitted, and are able to swap this at a later date if you fancy a change.
Visible controls are kept to a minimum, when looking at the front of the speaker all you’ll see is the on/off button, a status light (built into the on/off button) and volume up/down. This gives the speaker a minimal, rather striking look, which is a good thing given this has been designed to be displayed.
After unpacking the Libratone Loop you’ve a choice, you can either wall mount or place on a bookcase/shelf using the included stand. At Gadget Show Live the Loops had been displayed on the wall, and they looked very impressive. This was a purpose built stand that hid the power cable, given the Loop a free floating look. Be aware if you can’t somehow do the same you’ll have a power cable trailing down your wall, and so the stand option is likely the best looking way to go.
Getting started is very easy, although it was during the setup process I began to notice the manufacturers bias towards iProducts. To complete the setup just download the free Libratone app and follow the onscreen setup guide, in summary:
- Disconnect phone from home WiFi
- Connect phone to Libratone WiFi
- Using the app tell the Loop which WiFi network is yours and enter any password details
- Loop will connect to home network
- Phone connects back up to home network
- Ready to rock
That’s it! You’re good to go…providing you’re an iProduct user. The speaker comes with AirPlay built in and this makes it very simple to use, all you need to do is select the speaker as the output in your app, e.g. Spotify, and the music will be routed to the speaker.
This was fine for the iPad, but what if you want to play music from an Android mobile? This is where things got a little tricky as Android (and other platforms) don’t currently have an AirPlay equivalent, which isn’t Libratone’s fault, but does mean you need to download a 3rd party app in order to wirelessly play music on the speaker, unless your phone has it built in as my Sony Xperia Z1 Compact does. Such apps work fine for playing music stored on the phone but don’t allow streaming from apps such as Spotify in the same way you can with an the iPad.
This does mean there some frustration involved when not using an iProduct, something that could’ve been easily avoided if Libratone had included Bluetooth as a connection option. The inclusion of a 3.5mm input does mean you could plug your mobile in, or alternatively use a Bluetooth adapter such as the recently reviewed Justop Bluetooth Receiver.
On a bookcase the Libratone Loop looks fantastic, you can easily hide the power wire to give it more of a wireless look. However, it’s not only designed to look good, it’s also been designed to fill a room with quality music, and fill the room it does! When correctly positioned the Loop easily fills the room and has a nice punchy bass, a far better one than expected given it has such a shallow form factor. Cranking up the volume and it easily filled several rooms without the noticeable distortion present on lower cost speakers. Within the Libratone app you can specify where in the room you’re placing the speaker (e.g. against a wall, on a bookcase) and it changes the output to make best use of the surroundings. This is important as poor placement can lead to reduced quality as I found out on the first track played. The Loop had been positioned next to a window and while it filled the room it didn’t have as much bass as you’d expect at this price range. Checking the manual it does state windows should be avoided and after moving it to a bookcase (and setting the appropriate profile) I’d have to agree, the difference was very noticeable.
The Libratone Loop is a fantastic sounding speaker which is easy to use…if you’re an iProduct user. At this price you’re paying for a stylish, great sounding speaker, but the lack of bluetooth will likely cause frustration for any users of streaming services on non Apple devices. While this can be solved by either plugging your device in or making use of a bluetooth receiver such solutions take away from the striking style with unwanted wires.
If you only use Apple products consider this a 5 star review, the inclusion of AirPlay makes the Loop really easy to use. I’ve knocked a star off purely for the lack of bluetooth for use by those of us who aren’t exclusive to Apple.
Overall a brilliant looking and fantastic sounding speaker that doesn’t take up much space but delivers a big sound.
Available on Amazon now: https://goo.gl/KE3u6H
