Review: Altec Lansing dual motion bluetooth speaker

Having established a strong foothold in the PC audio market, Altec Lansing is now focusing on consumer lifestyle products. Its dual motion Bluetooth speaker is yet another entrant in the already-cluttered portable speaker market. Can it compete against Bluetooth speakers offered by Chinese players such as Xiaomi and LeEco?

Altec Lansing is known for its audio, but first let's talk about the build quality and hardware. This rectangular Bluetooth speaker has a simple design with neat lines. It has been awarded a rugged look, but is neither water resistant nor shock resistant. It has a matte finish and weighs almost half a kg (454 gms), which is slightly on the heavier side compared to other portable Bluetooth speakers. Physical controls for adjusting volume, answering calls and play/ pause have been added to the top, while an AUX port along with a charging port and physical on/ off switch have been added to the rear.

Altec Lansing is positioning it as an on-the-go entertainment speaker. It has integrated a loop on the side to hook it onto a bike or strap it to a bag. It paired with the iPhone in a just a few seconds, and was ready to play music and answer calls. Altec Lansing has added two 1.75-inch Neodymium drives for crystal clear sound. The sound output is loud and clear, but isn't out of the world. While the vocals were clear, it lacked thump in the bass. The sound did not get distorted at higher volumes.

This dual motion speaker has a microphone as well, and can be used for hands-free calling. However, the experience is not a pleasant one. The other side often complained of sound echo and I had to switch back to holding the smartphone to my ear. I tested the speaker with two smartphones and had a similar experience both times.

Once charged, the speaker gives close to five and a half hours of music playback; at higher volumes, it lasts for close to five hours.
Bag it or Junk it: A decent Bluetooth speaker for a medium-size room

Price: Rs 1,999
Rating: 3.5/5
Plus: Design, Sound
Minus: Hands-free calling