BenQ TreVolo Bluetooth speaker review

You have probably heard of BenQ before, the company has built a pretty solid reputation in the monitor market - but now, it is looking to take on audio as well. Today we are taking a look at the BenQ TreVolo portable Bluetooth speaker, a relatively high-end speaker that makes use of the same 'electrostatic' technology found inside high-end living room speaker set ups. The BenQ TreVolo Bluetooth speaker uses a quad amplified design with active electrostatic panels. Essentially, BenQ has tried to make the best sounding speaker it possibly could in such a small package. Features and Specifications: Bluetooth. Active electrostatic panels. Quad amplified design. Fold-in speakers. Portable. Battery Powered. As you can see from the box, the BenQ TreVolo is a pretty small speaker and should easily fit in to a backpack for carrying around. It is even battery-powered, adding an extra layer of portability as you can take it out with you. Upon taking the speaker out of the box, it is immediately clear that it is built out of solid materials. There is quite a bit of weight to it and stylish use of aluminium. There are five buttons on the front of the speaker in total, a power button, play/pause, mode select along with volume up and down. BenQ has chosen to add a gold ring around each of the buttons for added bling. On the back we can see the Bluetooth activation along with the devices main connection ports. There are quite a few options for connecting up other devices, including micro-USB, line in and line out. There is also a power connection for charging the speaker. Here you can see that the actual speakers on the TreVolo fold outwards for regular listening use. Overall, first impressions are positive, BenQ has clearly spared no expense as far as build quality goes, delivering what looks and feels like a solid product. Now lets find out how it sounds... I've had the BenQ TreVolo speaker with me for around two weeks, in that time I have put it through its paces by evaluating sound quality in podcasts and different genres of music along with Bluetooth wireless performance. It has already been established that the TreVolo sports some very impressive specifications and the build quality is solid. However, those two things don't necessarily guarantee a decent listening experience. Fortunately, I am happy to say that the BenQ TreVolo takes Bluetooth speakers to a whole new level. BenQ has chosen to abandon the traditional speaker cone that we are used to seeing in favour of electrostatic speakers - which deliver great sound reproduction in a thin design. While these speakers are great for acoustic songs, they do lack the beefier bass response you could find in a traditional pair of speakers. This does mean that while things like podcasts and acoustic tracks sound incredibly clear, above and beyond other Bluetooth speakers I have tested at KitGuru, the TreVolo does lack the bass response required for heavier rock tracks. That said, the mid range comes through beautifully, which is great for guitar driven songs. Obviously listening to low bit-rate tracks though a speaker like this is going to do it an injustice, the higher the bit-rate the better. Those who want the very best experience could pair the speaker up with a computer and make use of an uncompressed file format. That said, if you are buying a Bluetooth speaker system, you are likely planning to hook up your smartphone or tablet and run Spotify through it. BenQ does have a smartphone app available called BenQ Music, which will allow you to select between three equalizer settings and see how much battery life the TreVolo has left. Unfortunately, the smartphone app does not have any play/pause or volume control functionality, which wouldn't be so bad if the speaker came with its own remote but it does not - this is a bit of a shame. However, I did not find this to be that big of a deal while playing music via Bluetooth as you can use the music player app on your phone to control everything anyway. The TreVolo does have its own battery inside, adding an extra layer of portability to the device. During my testing, I found that the speaker could deliver around 14 hours of music playback before needing to recharge, though charging can take a couple of hours. To sum up, I really like the BenQ TreVolo Bluetooth speaker, the electrostatic speakers bring a new level of audio clarity that I have not yet found in other Bluetooth speaker offerings. That said, it does have some drawbacks. Realistically, you are likely to buy a Bluetooth speaker to use with a smart device to stream tracks from software such as iTunes or Spotify ... which tend to make use of a standard 256kb bit-rate. However, these speakers really shine while listening to higher bit-rate or uncompressed tracks. The Electrostatic speakers allow for a really thin and attractive design but it does come at the cost of a beefier bass response. Now the TreVolo isn't cheap, coming in at around £230 so if you are just looking for a speaker to stream your iTunes or Spotify library to, then you may be better served with something cheaper such as the Divoom Voombox. That said, if you have an ear for detail, then the BenQ TreVolo would make a fine investment. The BenQ Music smartphone app isn't particularly useful, it does not make up for the lack of remote for the TreVolo and it only has three EQ presets with no additional customization to suit your own personal tastes. However, I don't view any of this as a deal breaker, it just would have been a nice inclusion. You can buy the BenQ TreVolo speaker directly from the BenQ store for €329.00, which works out at £235 here in the UK. It is pricey, being among the most expensive Bluetooth speakers we have tested here at KitGuru. However, it is a solid enough product that I feel the price is justified. Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE. Pros: Excellent audio reproduction. Wide sound stage. Solid build quality. Decent battery life. Cons: Bass response falls a bit flat. Expensive. KitGuru Says: The BenQ TreVolo is a great Bluetooth speaker for those with an ear for detail.

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BenQ TreVolo Bluetooth speaker review

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