This SoundWave SW50 Bluetooth speaker was sent to me for reviewing by GearZap.com. It is compatible with MP3 players, smartphones, tablets and laptops and uses bluetooth to wirelessly pair with your device; you can even make phone calls from it. It is a 2W Speaker with output levels of 80db at 0.5m.
I've wanted a Bluetooth speaker for a while, not to walk around the town with my tunes playing chav-style or anything but I've wanted it so that I can listen to music in the bedroom since my iPod dock is of no use to me now that I have got a Samsung phone. I also suspect that my husband will pinch it off me for taking to work with him; he is an electrician and works in a lot of empty houses and likes to have music playing as he plays with wires or whatever it is that electricians do.
As well as the SoundWave SW50, in the box you also get an anti slip mat, a USB charger (it is powered by a rechargeable battery so you don't need to plug it in to use it) and a carry case. It is currently on the GearZap Website for £19.99 and there is also a white version available.
I love the sleek very simple design of the SoundWave SW50 and also the fact that it is so small so easy to carry around. Here is a photo of it next to my husband's Nexus 4 so that you get an idea of the size.
It is really easy to set up and pair with your device's bluetooth. Once paired, you are good to go and just play your music through device as normal. There is no volume control on the SoundWave SW50, you use the controls on your device.
Making a phone call is also really simple, although I personally would not really use this feature but I could see that it would be useful if you had the speaker on your desk at work or something like that.
I listen to a lot of Trance and House music so a lot of the tunes can be quite bassy and I was concerned about how this little speaker would handle that. I tried it out on a few different tracks and most of the time it actually coped very well although with the volume on my phone at the max and on some very bassy tracks it did start to distort the sound slightly in places.
I think another great use for the SoundWave SW50 is if you are watching a film on a tablet device and don't want to wear headphones. I find that the speakers on my iPad and Nexus 7 are not the best so the SoundWave SW50 would come in really handy.
Verdict I am really impressed with the SoundWave SW50. As I said earlier, it did distort the sound at max volume on some bassier tunes but it is not designed to fill a room with music, this is more of a desktop speaker and for £19.99 you can't really go wrong. I think if you are looking to treat your tablet or phone to a new accessory then the SoundWave SW50 is definitely worth a look! There is also a really good demo of the speaker on the GearZap Website.
