SoundBot SB1023 Review: Lot of features but is it good enough?

SoundBot recently announced their SB1023 wireless portable speakers. Speakers nowadays have become more of a house accessory than speakers. With the introduction of smart home speakers, the competition for the wireless speakers has increased a lot. Both in the terms of looks and features. If you wander around to the non-smart speaker market, you will still find speakers with almost no features. However, the story is different with the SoundBot SB1023. So is it worth the money?

Specifications

• Built-in 3.5mm audio port for wired or Bluetooth 4.2 wireless connectivity
• Playback time: up to 10 hours wired and 8 hours with Bluetooth wireless connection
• Speaker driver: 45mm
• Charging time: ~3 hours
• Connection range:  33 feet
• Operating frequency: 80 - 2GHz
• Battery: Built-in rechargeable 3.7V 2000mAh lithium-ion battery
• LF diaphragm dimension: 40x90mm
• Unit weight: 12oz
• Dimension : 180 x 49 x 72mm
• Speaker driver: stereo, 45MM, 40hm
• Passive subwoofer inside delivers outstanding bass
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: ≥70dB(A)z

Design

There is nothing so appealing in the design of the SoundBot SB1023. The whole speaker feels to be made out of cheap plastic. The speaker unit on the front has a plastic grill. On the top middle of the front speaker grill, you have got an 8-bit display. Rest of the housing is made out of plastic too. There is some kind of cooling grills at the back which is actually not needed.

The bottom is fitted with rubber standoffs designed in a way to grip like a gripping pad. On the top, there is volume rocker/seek rocker with a power/mode button and a play/pause button. On the back, there is an on/off toggle charging port, AUX port, a full-size USB slot and a micro-sd card slot. The multiple functions of the button really make it hard to use.

Sound and Performance

The sound quality of the speaker is really good. It gets loud enough and the base is a little low. The highs and mids are amazing. Lows are a little too low for my taste. However, I prefer highs in my music, so that can be a personal thing. One more thing, the sound crackles at high volumes. So if you want to listen to music at full volume, you will need to sacrifice on the quality.

However, the speaker doesn't lack features. The speaker charges in 2-3 hours enough to provide at least 5-6 hours of continuous usage. The buttons are firm and have a nice tactile feel to them. The display works well at showing the information like pairing mode and speaker volume. The display also shows the time which needs to be set once. It also has an FM radio built in which is not something common at this price point. Also, there is an alarm clock feature built into the speaker which makes it a perfect utilitarian speaker. Especially, if you combined it with the full-size USB port and the micro-sd card slot.

The volume on the speaker is not independent of the volume on the device. This makes setting the volume a lot easier. We tested on multiple devices including phones and computers and the result was the same. Also, the range of the Bluetooth connectivity is excellent.

Conclusion

The SoundBot SB1023 is available on Flipkart for Rs. 1,849. For this price point, and the sound quality it offers, the SB1023 is one of the best out there in the market, especially in the feature section. However, the company could have put a little more effort into making the speaker look better. Also, its features set is more than you will ever use, so that's a plus point.