With holidays coming up, that doesn’t just mean gifts, it means entertaining. So I’m thrilled that one of our favorite portable audio brands, Soundfreaq is doing some extremely cool things to get that home audio system up to par without a huge investment. Best part: it doesn’t even matter what kind of device you use with it.
First up are the smashing new color combinations in the new new Soundspot speakers, just launched this week. For less than $70, you get the same compact portable Bluetooth speaker that you could get in black or natural wood, only in a ton of fun colors.
Since these are such smart little purchases, and look more home-ready than a lot of the portable speakers that are more suited to taking on the road, I love that their designers made it even easier to coordinate with your decor in the bathroom, in the bedroom, on your desk, or even in a kid’s room.
(Of course I’m still leaning towards the neutrals, like that white and grey one.)
If you want something with a little more oomph, we’re already big fans of the Soundstep Recharge. And now that all tech is moving towards all lightning connectors all the time, they recently introduced the next generation of their excellent Soundfreaq SoundStep with the Soundfreaq Soundstep Lightning that rings in at just $129.
While of course you can dock your iPhone 5S or iPad Mini right into it, the real benefit is the Bluetooth pairing, leting you stream music right from any device, including Android, Blackberry and beyond. Great for gaming on your PC too, if you want to maximize sound with a small footprint and easy set-up.
Plus, it’s the details that count: The removable rubber pad around the connector means you don’t have to remove your case every time you want to dock (unless it’s something like a Mophie charging case, where you don’t have any access to your charging ports). And it can charge any device at all via USB, which means one less tangle around the Power Strip in our house.
The sound is sweet, and I love being able to connect it with our tablet, so when the kids watch movies they get more of an experience than the little iPad speakers offer.
Another bonus: Using the Soundfreaq App (Android or iOS) to control it, or listen to the built-in FM tuner.
Yeah, FM. Remember that?
Learn more about Soundfreaq products at their website, and purchase at stores including Target. The new Soundspot colors are avaiable at shops like Office Depot.