The Stelle Audio Pillar is an interesting take on the humble Bluetooth speaker. The tubular pillar shape makes this something of a music mortar, firing audio goodness into the surrounding area. The shape and size of the Pillar makes it suitable for almost any location, it can be placed on tables, bookcases, shelves, decking, the garden, even on the floor of the room if you’ve no where else to pop it. And it looks great in every location, being both subtle when you walk in and striking when you actually notice it.
The design on test was a brushed metal design, although other styles are available, some less subtle than others.
Along with the speaker you get a power plug and a number of different country adapters, a great idea for a travel speaker. Rather than having to use a power converter abroad you just take the correct adapter and use the supplied plug. This is especially useful if you want to charge your mobile abroad as the Stelle Audio Pillar features a USB charging point which can charge you mobile/tablet when it’s plugged into a power socket.
On top of the Stelle Audio Pillar are controls: a pairing button, call answer button, volume up and volume down buttons. Interestingly there are no controls to skip forward/backward or play/pause/stop, you’ll need to do that on your paired device. This give the Stelle Audio Pillar a stark design free of clutter, especially with the power button, DC in, USB out and Aux in hidden around the back at the bottom. Some will find the power buttons location frustrating, it’s not easily accessible when you’ve set this up on a bookcase and makes you wonder why the pairing button (which you’ll likely only use once or twice) is in such a prime position on the top when the power button would make more sense, it’s the button you’ll likely use the most.
As well as the additional controls and plugs, the bottom section features a drilled grill for the subwoofer. This looked great on the plain brushed metal unit reviewed and it’s interesting to see them far less noticeable on some of the more elaborate designs.
Setup is really easy, as with any Bluetooth speaker just pop it into pairing mode and connect to it from your device. Once done you’re ready to let the music flow! With such a quick setup process its easy to see this being used in a party environment with different peoples mobiles and music collections.
Given the emphasis on how this looks you might be prepared for an unfulfilling style over substance sound. If so then you’re actually prepared for a rather nice surprise, as the sound is really good considering the small size. Perhaps most surprising is how good the bass is, the Stelle Audio Pillar has a really good kick to it that you can feel when nearby.
The Stelle Audio Pillar can easily fill a room with music, handling a range of musical genres and with no noticeable distortion when cranking up the volume. The shape means there isn’t any stereo separation, and this does detract from the otherwise excellent sound quality.
With the ability to fit into any environment the Stelle Audio Pillar makes for a brilliant second speaker for the bedroom or for use in the garden, and with the 15 hour battery it’s a fantastic portable device. It’s size does mean you can’t just pop it your bag, as you would with smaller bluetooth speakers, but the trade off is a much better quality of music. The Stelle Audio Pillar is expensive, but it provides a home systems worth of music in a portable package and should be considered a ‘sound’ investment.
The Stelle Audio Pillar is currently being stocked by Selfridges: https://fave.co/VrePO8
