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There are many Bluetooth speakers in the sub-$100 realm, so it can be hard for any one to separate itself from the pack. The 808 Audio NRG Glo attempts to do this with an LED that pulses to the beat of your music. Its most appealing features, however, are its $49.99 price and its modest-but-solid audio performance. Throw in speakerphone functionality, and it’s a worthy contender. We’ve certainly heard weaker speakers that cost more, so if the pulsating LED intrigues you, read on. If you don’t need the light show, the Editors’ Choice JBL Clip+ ($79.95 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) offers better audio performance and a more portable design for the same price.
Design
The cylindrical NRG Glo ($40.71 at Walmart)(Opens in a new window) is available in black, blue, or gray, and shaped almost like a lightsaber. It doesn’t shoot out a beam like the Jedi weapon of choice, but it does have a glowing blue LED ring around its top panel. This is where the speaker is housed, behind a hexagonal-patterned grille. When music is playing and you press the Glo button, the LED starts to pulse to the beat. With five different pulsing modes, it’s not the most tantalizing lightshow we’ve ever seen (the JBL Pulse ($129.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) still holds that distinction), but few people will consider the speaker for this reason alone.
Luckily, the 5.5-by-2.2-inch, 11.2-ounce speaker packs some decent punch for its price, despite having only a single driver. It projects sound upward, while the rubberized coating on the bottom panel prevents it from dancing around tabletops.
Located around the base of the speaker are a micro USB port for charging (a cable is included) and a 3.5mm Aux input. The Power/Pairing button, the Glow button, and a microphone for speakerphone calls are also located around the bottom of the speaker. The pairing process with an iPhone 5s was quick and simple, and filled with audio cues that you’ll either find annoying or learn to live with. 808 Audio estimates the NRG Glo’s battery life to be about 12 hours, but your results will depend on how loudly you play your music.
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Performance and Conclusions
On tracks with intense sub-bass, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the NRG Glo can get quite loud without distorting. Some distortion creeps in at maximum volume levels, but this is more or less expected in a sub-$50 speaker.
See How We Test Speakers
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less heavy bass content, gives us a better sense of the NRG Glo’s overall sound signature. A track like this won’t distort even at maximum volume, and the driver provides an excellent level of crispness for Callahan’s baritone vocals and the guitar strumming. This is a sound signature dominated by the high-mids and highs, but it doesn’t sound thin.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop’s attack gets enough treble edge to remain sharp and slice through the dense mix, but the low-mid presence stands out the most. The sustain of the drum loop sounds rich and powerful, at least when you consider the size of the driver. The oblong shape of the speaker allows passive radiators inside to imply a bigger bass response than the driver can deliver on its own. Bass fiends will need to spend more money on a more powerful system, but the NRG Glo is at least able to muster some semblance of low-frequency response.
One annoyance: The NRG Glo tends to lop off the beginning second or two of a track you just navigated to, or at least this was my experience with an iPhone. It’s not uncommon in budget Bluetooth speakers, and we’ve heard more expensive speakers do it as well, but you’ve been warned.
At $50, the NRG Glo is simply a decent-sounding Bluetooth speaker and a solid value, light show or not. If the price sounds right, but you’re looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker that’s a little more rugged or pocketable, the JBL Clip+, the Divoom Voombox Ongo ( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , and the slightly pricier Jabra Solemate Mini ($60.02 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) are all strong options worth checking out. If you’re looking for the least expensive portable Bluetooth speaker you can find that isn’t junk, the LifeNSoul BM101 ($21.95 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) is a tiny waterproof option that could hit the spot.
3.5
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The 808 Audio NRG Glo speaker delivers solid Bluetooth sound—and a reasonably entertaining light show—for a modest price.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/808-audio-nrg-glo