The all new $579, 160 Watt BlueAnt X6 speaker, has been announced and I was lucky enough to be able to test it out and see what the hype was all about.
While the sound was good, it was the control and management panel that really caught my attention with a lot of work going in to deliver a lot of capability for what is in essence is a party box speaker that can be used both inside and outside when you want to party.
First I want to talk about design, as this product has been well though through with some neat new features including an SD slot and a LCD display on the front of the speaker.
The display shows what mode the speaker is in, different coloured lights depending on charging or charged modes, and a battery meter that indicates how long until the speaker is fully charged, or how long the user has left before it needs to charge.
There are four mode types that indicate what mode the user is in. ‘Blue’ for Bluetooth, ‘USB’ for USB, ‘Card’ for an SD Card, or ‘Line’ for an AUX connection.
If the user is in modes ‘USB’ or ‘Card,’ the display will also show the track number and the location of the track.
When the speaker is plugged in charging, a red light will appear on the display. And when the speaker is fully charged, the red light will become a green light.
On the back, there are different ports that are to be used in different situations. There is a power port for the charging cable to go into, a power switch with different modes, and two output ports, the audio port allows connection to external devices for recording and other purposes.
The power switch modes indicate how the speaker is in use. ‘OFF’ obviously means the speaker is off and powered down, ‘BAT’ or battery mode which must be used when the cable is unplugged and the speaker is not charging, and an ‘AC IN’ side that must be used when the cable is plugged in and the speaker is charging.
The battery bar will appear on the display screen to indicate how much time is left until the speaker is fully charged. Each bar indicates 33%.
There is a handle at the front of the speaker, for easy carry. The speaker weighing in at almost 9kg.
On the top of the speaker are the indicator buttons for use while the speaker is being used. There is an ‘M’ button which is the mode button. This will changed the speaker between modes, such as Bluetooth, USB, Card and Line. The user will press this to change or change back.
There is a loop button which can only be used in ‘USB’ and ‘Card’ modes, NOT in Bluetooth. When the speaker is looping, a ‘ONE’ will appear on the display, and a -ONE will show if pressed again to stop looping.
The skip forward button can be used to skip to the next track in Bluetooth, USB, and Card modes.
The skip back button can be used to return to the previous track in Bluetooth, USB, and Card modes.
The play button can be used to play the track or pause the track. To reverse the action, just press it again.
The big X in the middle is the volume dial. Turning it to the left turns the volume down, and turning it to the right turns the volume up. The lowest volume is 0 or mute, the maximum volume is 32.
On the other side, the user can see a guitar button and a microphone button. To indicate a mic or guitar in use, the user would press these.
There is also a ‘BASS’ button, and when pressed the speaker will announce “bass boosted.” Users can press this to get a better sound experience with bass.
There is also a button with what looks like a sun on it. This is the LED button which can be used to change the movement of the LED lights that show on the front of the speaker when it is use. There are 15 different modes to choose from.
There is also a duo mode button which can be used to pair a second speaker for double to sound. I only had one speaker so was unable to test this function.
When a mic is plugged in and in use the default volume is 20% of the original, which is the same if a guitar was plugged in and in use.
Echo can also be used, but only with a microphone. It doesn’t work with a guitar.
There is also a phone/tablet holder at the back of the top above the outlets for USB, Card, AUX, Guitar, and Mic.
Now onto the sound. First things first, there is great Bluetooth connectivity, when powered on it automatically connect to Bluetooth, but is has a super quick response time.
The controls also have a quick response time, and the audio is very clear. Whether the volume is at 5 or 31, no matter the song, the audio is quite clear and loud.
I noticed the bass boost worked best with base-loaded or hardstyle songs, and didn’t notice much of a difference with other songs. Certain ‘bass’ songs work better than others. I noticed that a heavy bass song was needed to notice a difference. The bass boost also works better on higher volumes.
The LED lights are just that, pretty lights. I’ve known speakers where the LED lights move with the beat of the song that is playing, however this not the case with this speaker. Whether or not an app is needed is unclear, but at this point there is no app to download for this to become an option.
These LED lights also show through the handle when on.
I tried connecting my phone through the USB port as well to test out some of the capabilities there, and noticed it wouldn’t work. Not sure if this means a USB stick is required for it to work properly, but after trying multiple times, I still couldn’t get it work.
The AUX port is also not a phone aux output, but more like a headphone chord output. It is a very small output.
I noticed that Bluetooth works just the same in ‘BAT’ mode and ‘AC IN’ mode. I had a feeling while the speaker was charging, it wouldn’t showcase the same capability but this is not the case.
Weighing in at almost 9kg (8.84kg), it is a lot lighter than most party speakers, such as the JBL Partybox, however for someone who is smaller in stature like myself, it is still quite heavy to carry around.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, this is a very slimline speaker, with a significant array of capability on the top panel. This is the first time a USB and SD Card can be seen together on a standalone speaker, and has a rare display at the front, which is not seen on other speakers.
In regards to the weight, it is designed to be a fixture therefore can only be so light, which means 8.84kg is quite light, and it can also be used as a side speaker.
It comes with 2 microphones, 2 microphone cables, 1 power cable, and 1 manual. It has a bass invertor tube that improved the bass output and has an expected battery life of approximately 8 hours of play on 50% volume.
This will change however depending on the type of music, volume level, EQ, LED settings, and environment.
Coming in at $579.00, it is the most feature rich speaker in this price category.
PROS:
8 hours play time.
$579
Good sound output especially when playing rock or blues, audio comes over clear and crisp
Quick response times with controls, compact design and well laid out front facing management panel.
CONS:
Bass works better on certain songs, or with bass-loaded, hardcore songs.
LED lights don’t move to music, just pretty lights.
RATING: 8/10
