Generation Next Gadgets

The UNISON B-XT Speakers. It basically is a desktop speaker that can pair with Bluetooth devices and play audio. We have seen products, mainly LCD TVs, that have this as a feature but not a speaker that is built around this single feature. Let’s see how the UNISON B-XT Bluetooth Speaker turns out and find out if it is a viable option for the end consumer.
The UNISON B-XT Bluetooth Speaker looks like a boom box. The first thing you would actually look for is an iPod docking station, as this speaker looks more like one of those docking stations. The B-XT is a standard model and only offers Bluetooth pairing and a stereo input. Cygnett UNISON has several other models that have docking stations for iPod/iPhones.
The B-XT Speaker is a well-sized speaker system. It’s neither too large nor too small for the features it has to offer. The speaker comes in a complete glossy finish, with the UNISON branding across the top of the speaker. The branding blends well with the piano black gloss finish of the speaker.
The front of the speaker has a mesh, behind which hide three drivers. The mesh can be taken off to make the speaker look more aggressive. With the mesh on, it can easily be mistaken for some piece of furniture. The drivers include two three-inch drivers on either side of the four-inch woofer. All the drivers have rubber edges, making the speakers more durable. In most speakers, the drivers are of a different material, mostly fabric. But here, as it’s of rubber, it’s possible to keep the drivers exposed by removing the mesh and flaunting an aggressive look. The two three-inch drivers have a white color coating that adds to the looks and plead for it to be exposed instead of hiding behind the fabric mesh, which makes the speaker look less than ordinary.
There isn’t much to speak about the rear of the B-XT Speaker. It mainly consists of the 3.5mm jack for stereo input to the speakers. Other than that there is only the power ON/OFF switch, power plug point and a switch to select power voltage. There is also a vent provided to exhaust heat as well as to support the woofer.
The Bluetooth adaptor is what lets many devices pair with the speakers. The adaptor has a stereo pin to connect to any output that supports the same. So you can connect it to your mobile phone, MP3 player, or for that matter even to your PCs stereo output. The adaptor needs to be charged and for that there is a custom USB port on the adaptor. There is also a button and an LED on the adaptor. The LED denotes pairing and power status of the Bluetooth adaptor. The adaptor features a detachable clip-like design, so you can clip it just like a pen to your shirt pocket.
The B-XT Bluetooth Speaker is a small system. However, its main use is to amplify the sound produced from a mobile phone or a small audio player. The quality of audio produced by this speaker is average. The speaker has three drivers; two for the mids and highs and a woofer. The woofer does pretty well producing decent bass. There is punch in the bass but it’s not wholesome, poorer than any of the iPod docks that we’ve tested.
The highs of the speaker are also not too good. This is because of the lack of a tweeter, but the two drivers manage to do justice to some extent to the mids. One thing that I particularly found very irritating was the continuous presence of white noise. I thought it was because of the wireless connectivity or because of the adaptor, but even when connected via the stereo cable the white noise remained. Overall a very average speaker; I had expected it to be high on quality, especially considering that it’s a niche product.

Good
Nice features
Decently bright

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Good
Cool design
Reasonable price
Plays lots of sources

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Good

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Good

Great looks

Wide codec support

Networking capability

Bad

Small iffys in certain format playback

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Good
Superb design
Very nice and tight sounding bass
Goes pretty loud

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Good
Very good build quality
Very loud and clean, distortion-free sound
Clear highs and mids

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