LG ND8520
Price: Rs 20,990
LG's latest, the ND8520 music dock, seems like it has been designed in Scandinavia and not South Korea. It is undoubtedly one of the most radical designs we have seen on any product in recent times. It looks like a Rubik's Cube, with the all the cubes a bit out of alignment.
At first look it is hard to imagine this as a speaker sock. In fact, this device is much more. Yes, it can dock the iPhone, iPod and iPad on top. But it can also link to Apple devices through AirPlay, as well as Bluetooth. There is also a USB port if you are a pen drive music hoarder. And for the old fashioned there is always the FM tuner and the portable in. We doubt if there is any other dock that gives users so many features.
Setting AirPlay is a pit tough though and possible only with the help of the manual. For everything else there is the cube in the middle of the top row, what LG calls the Smart Square. This is actually a touch based screen that lets you navigate and control the speaker dock. This is very easy once you figure out tiny icons that appear in red. You have to use this screen to select the input source. There is also a remote.
The sound quality is good. Maybe we should highlight that it very loud. You cannot play anything in full volume without the risk of shattering glass in the house. It is that loud. And we mean it in a good sense. Though the device itself is the size of a small fruit carton, the actual 20W speakers are just two small cubes in middle. The subwoofer is below facing the floor. Together they work to create good quality sound, which we thought was slightly partial to bass by default. But there is an equaliser with four presets, which can be accessed only with the remote.
If you are thinking of going wireless with your music this is one dock you should seriously look at just because of the options it offers. You can also hook it up to your DVD player or old music system.
BAG IT OR JUNK IT? Lot of features, affordable
