Arctic S113BT Portable Bluetooth Speaker Review

Portable speakers have had limited success in the computer peripheral market and most that have found success have been tailored towards iPods as portable docking stations. These devices have always been restricted by their connection options and battery life. Arctic has decided to face the challenge of creating a portable Bluetooth speaker that can connect to a wide-range of devices. Their creation is the Arctic S113 BT Portable Bluetooth Speaker and on paper it has a strong set of features and specifications. One of these key features is NFC (near-field communication), which will allow you to pair your mobile phone to the device just by placing your phone within a few centimeters of the speaker. Specifications Bluetooth Version V4.0 + EDR (Class 2) Speakers 2 x 1.5” Full range Drivers + 2x 1.5” Bass Radiators Microphone Sensitivity -44 ±3dB Battery Rechargeable 1,200mAh Lithium Polymer Battery Product Dimensions (L x W x H) 58mm x 46mm x 157mm Playback Time 8h Frequency Response 30Hz - 20kHz Impedance 4Ω Output Power (RMS) 2 x 3W Packaging Content 4S113 BT Speaker x 1 / 3.5 mm Cable x 1 / Micro USB Cable x 1 / Travel Pouch x 1 / Manual x 1 Itemnumber SKASO-S113B-BKA01.1 Gross Weight 0.29 kg The Arctic S113BT comes packaged in a small box with a simple design. On the front, we can see several of the key features are shown, including; Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and AAC. From the top of the box, we see can a few more key features. This includes; NFC (but this time showing us how it works), a battery standby life of up to 700 hours, a long lasting rechargeable battery and the accessories. The back of the box lists a lot of the features, telling us that it has a 6W amplifier and that you can enjoy 8 hours of non-stop music thanks to a rechargeable battery. We like the labelled product pictures showing exactly what everything does on the product. The final side of the box lists the 5 features in 12 languages. Opening up the box, we found two cables, one a Micro USB Charging Cable, and a 3.5mm audio cable (very short at 30 cm). There is also a double sided A5 User Manual. The Arctic S113 BT comes inside a supplied Carrying Case which will keep it protected from getting scratched and damaged. Turning to the product itself, which for us is in a lovely Lime colour, we can see a very stylishly designed speaker system. The two 3W speakers are placed on either side of the device, with the Omni-directional microphone in the middle. There are also 3 buttons; volume down, multifunctional and volume up. On the right-hand side of the device we find the On/Off switch, the micro-USB port and the 3.5 mm socket. From the top of the device we can see the Arctic logo, and on the back of the device the similar black grill. On the bottom of the device we find the CE marking and some of the power specifications of this device.Looking at the performance of a device like can be tricky, so we will focus on a few key points; connectivity, speaker quality, microphone quality and battery life. In terms of connectivity we are firstly impressed to see a device, other than a mobile phone, which is NFC compatible. This is a new technology and Arctic is clearly trying to make sure their device is good for now and future proof for the next couple of years. As we are lucky enough to have an NFC-enabled phone (Samsung Galaxy S3), we were able to test this feature out. We turned NFC on and then turned the Arctic S113BT on, and placed the phone on top. Nothing initially happened, but after about 2 seconds, our phone beeped. It then told us it was turning Bluetooth on, and pairing. Unfortunately, it initially did fail to pair automatically. We tried again and had the same result. We then turned Bluetooth on manually and tried the NFC one-touch pairing again. This time it all worked very quickly and we were able to test the connection with some music playing through the speakers. While this automatic connection didn't work as smoothly as planned we suspect this is a glitch with the phone turning Bluetooth on and not a fault against the device. We then wanted to test the Bluetooth pairing. As such, we tried to connect to the speaker from our laptop. Once it had found the device, pairing only took a few seconds. We then checked the sound options and found that we had a new 'speaker' and 'microphone' to choose from. Of course, if you want to use the speaker on its own - from say an iPod or similar device, you can connect the 3.5 mm cable into the side of the Arctic S113BT Speaker. The cable is a little short if you wanted to connect it to a computer, for example. Additionally, when using the 3.5 mm audio cable the buttons magically switch round. It took us a while to work out that the Volume Down button now works as the Volume Up button, and the multifunction button had become the Volume Down button - leaving the Volume Up button rendered pointless. While it wasn't mentioned as a method of connection in the User Manual, you can also connect this device to a computer via the Micro USB charging cable. This allows you to use both the speaker and microphone ... handy for gaming or Skype conversations. The Arctic S113BT features 2 x 1.5 inch drivers each operating at 3W RMS. These figures are quite small when compared to larger desktop speakers. As you would expect the sound quality from a portable device won't astound, but at a normal operating volume (say, similar to having the radio on in the background), the sound reproduction is commendable. If you need to fill a larger environment with audio then we would recommend you look elsewhere at a more expensive product. We found that the quality over Bluetooth from our phone was very impressive, but as soon as we were outside of the same room we started getting the occasional glitch. The microphone is impressive. When we used the S113BT to answer a phone call we found we could sit a good 0.5 metres from the speaker and still be clearly audible, although the level of background noise increased significantly at greater distances. This device would make a useful office speaker phone as it is very easy to accept and reject calls. Finally, a look at the battery life. We aren't able to confirm or deny the standby time which is quoted at 700 hours ... because it just seems to last forever. We tested playback for a good 9 hours on battery and it was still working fine. Your smartphone or tablet will get a flat battery before the Arctic S113BT runs out of juice. Overall, we really enjoyed using this product. It might seem like a novelty item available in such flamboyant colour schemes, but it is surprisingly capable. While it is not going to replace any dedicated speaker systems it is a great portable speaker, with the added bonus of being able to use it as a speaker phone. On standby the battery lasts a long time, so even if you forget to turn it off for several days it will still hold a decent charge. NFC is a useful pairing method that beats the standard Bluetooth pairing procedure hands down and as such it is a great addition to the device. The cost of the Arctic S113BT is reasonable at only £49.99 from Amazon.co.uk. Pros Attractively designed speakers. Long battery-life. NFC pairing. Easy to use. Good sound-quality. Works great as a speakerphone. Cons Sound distorts at loud volume. Button use changes. Kitguru says: A good portable Bluetooth speaker with great battery life and NFC pairing from Arctic.

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Arctic S113BT Portable Bluetooth Speaker Review

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