This review is addressed to those music lovers who do not part with it either at home, or on the street, or in the woods, or on the
- high power;
- sufficient autonomy;
- environmental protection
- nor are they too large in size or weight.
I deliberately did not include quality on this list.sounding - it’s enough to make the speaker sound better than the built-in speaker of the phone, but it’s not a god knows what an engineering task. We will return to the issue of sound quality, but for now we’ll take a closer look at the new product.
Design and ergonomics
The designers have done a good job on the exterior of this portable speaker system.not a cylinder, but a triangular prism, at the base of which liesThese three faces are not flat, but slightly convex, so they lieHowever, in most advertising images it does not lie, but stands(if marketers haven't read Freud, they've definitely heard something somewhere), but the correct arrangement of stereo speakers is still horizontal – left and right.
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The entire body, except for the ends and the control panel, is covered with fabric mesh.I'm not sure it's practical, especially when used outdoors – in a mesh structure it will beBut it looks beautiful, solid, the speaker feels nice in the hand and does not slip out.An eyelet with a string threaded through it is used for attaching to clothes or, for example, a backpack.
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The ends of the case are interestingly decorated - beautiful silver plugs that vibrate are installed on a rubber suspensionBut these are not speakers, but so-called passive radiators: they have a cone, but they don'tBeing essentially a more advanced alternative to a bass reflex port, such an emitter improvesFrequency response (frequency response) of the acoustics, but at the same time allows you to do without unnecessary holes in the case.
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The speakers themselves are located on one faceprisms, and it is not immediately clear which of the two. It is difficult to show in the photo, the speaker holes are visible only in reflected light due to the absence of glare under the fabric. If you put the speakers in your speakers, the control panel will be on the back. This is an insert of a rather thick rubber with stamped buttons in it.
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Part of the panel is a plug that hides a microUSB connector (for external power) and an audio input (AUX) for wired connection of an audio source.A charging cable is included, but a charger and audio cable are not.
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Behind a small hole in the control panelThere are a microphone and an LED indicator. The LED is heavily recessed into the body (to give the sound a pass to the microphone), so it is practically not visible from the side.
Functionality
The PS407 can connect to a phone using HSP/HFP profiles for voice calls, A2DP/AVRCP profiles for listening to music, and PBAP for caller number transmission, but this audio system does notThe "telephone" communication channel also transmits information about the battery charge level, which is displayed graphically in the switch panel and more precisely, as a percentage, in the list of paired Bluetooth devices:
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The purpose of the buttons on the panel is clear frompictograms, only the purpose of the one second from the right in the photo had to be clarified in a brief graphic instruction placed on one of the sides of the packaging box – This turned out to be switching the speaker to TWS mode. To do this, you need another similar acoustic system, and then they can be spaced some distance away and get a full-fledged spatial picture of the sound. One speaker with its two speakers also produces stereo sound, but to hear at least some kind of stereo panorama, you need to get close to the speakers.
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Three buttons have dual purposes:“+” and “-“, in addition to increasing/decrease the volume, allow you to go to the next/previous track, and “Play” also used to accept and end a call.
Impressions of use
High precision, clarity and detail soundI certainly didn't expect anything from side-by-side speakers with a diameter of 44.5mm. First impression – “wow, what bass!” But then you notice that deep bass is reproduced weakly, or even lost altogether, bass a little higher, on the contrary, is overly amplified, often they are, and if there are so many of them in the recording – it might be too much.
[Zanuda mode ON]
Deciding to get a little boring, I listened tophone, test fragments of musical compositions in loseless .ape format from your favorite PrimeTest CD #1, first reading the descriptions for them to know what to pay attention to. Many column tests are successful… failed, especially “pleased” one moment. In the description of the fragment Jacques Loussier – Gavotte in D Major written “… at the 35th second the double bass takes D…” And on this acoustic system, at the 35th second you can’t hear the double bass at all! In other tests, the vocals “sagged” in a rich accompaniment, then the cymbals in the rock composition “strewed peas”, but… wait a minute! Such tests are intended for tuning high-end speaker systems and amplifiers, which in dollars can cost more than a PS407 in hryvnia! On the other hand, in one fragment this little one very legibly reproduced the voices of a group of vocalists, without merging them into an indistinct chorus, and in another, as indicated in the description, the “voices” two violins and a cello, and vocals with or without quiet accompaniment were conveyed with all the nuances. If you go through the types of instruments and genres – I liked the sound of the strings in the middle and upper parts of the range, the winds are a little annoying with their harshness, and the bass, both electronic and acoustic, often hums and drones. Vocals and electronic music – ok, conversational genre (podcasts, video blogs) – excellent, big orchestra and rich rock compositions – detail problems, rock ballads – Great. In general, if you’re not too picky (and how can you be picky about a beach speaker?), then we can say that at a volume of up to 3/4 of the maximum, this portable speaker sounds quite decent (and this is via Bluetooth). The passive radiators I mentioned above add lightness, openness and spaciousness to the sound (as much as possible given the size and design of the system). If you close them with your hands, the sound of the speakers becomes flat, squeezed inside the housing. By the way, in the Russian translation on the manufacturer’s website they are called “passive radiators”, which is incorrect, since the word “radiator” associated rather with cooling or heating systems.
[Zanuda mode OFF]
There are no complaints regarding volume.It is regulated separately on the phone and the speaker; from the point of view of sound quality, it is advisable not to push it to the maximum in either case. The rubber buttons have a clear click, but are a bit stiff, so I set the level on the speaker to about 3/4 of the maximum, and controlled the volume from the phone. True, the signal of an incoming call, quite sharp and unpleasant, was played very loudly, so I simply turned off the “telephone” Bluetooth profile, leaving only the “music”.
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The declared 2 x 5 W are worked out honestly.The speaker easily provides sound for the interior of a car while on the move, covering the noise of the air conditioner turned on at medium power; it is also more than enough for sounding a workplace at a computer that does not have its own acoustics, or a laptop whose sound you do not like.
For the sake of experiment, I put the PS407 in my backpack,turned on one of the Alannah Myles albums at full volume (neglecting distortion) and rode a bike through the streets with heavy traffic. When there was no headwind buzzing in my ears and no heavy truck was passing by, the music was clearly audible from a closed backpack.
Bluetooth phone connection wasstable, in a room without barriers, music was played without breaks at a distance of up to 15 meters, in the presence of an interior wall between the telephone and the speaker, the maximum distance was half that.
Autonomy is complete (so that from completecharge to zero) it was not possible to test, but over the last three days of testing the speaker worked for about 12 hours, of which about 2 hours at full volume, and during this time the battery charge decreased from 80% to 30%. That is, the declared 25 hours of operation at medium volume is quite realistic.
Dust and water protection
It is rated IPX7, which means completedust protection and the ability to stay under water at a depth of up to 1 meter for half an hour. On the last day before returning the test device, I finally decided to drown the test device (for the first time, by the way, in my entire history of gadget writing). Well, “drown” – this is a loud statement, I just poured water into a small container and put the column there. It immediately became clear that the protection against immersion to some depth – redundant because the column turned out to be lighter than water. She sank about halfway, turning something heavy in the body (apparently a battery) down, and calmly swam, not ceasing to play. Having immersed it completely in water, I saw air bubbles coming out of the gap between the fabric upholstery and the plastic part at the end of the case, and did not dare to continue.
A couple of hours after the test, the fabric has dried, the column is working, nothing gurgles inside. But still, I note that the manufacturer does not recommend prolonged bathing and prolonged use in water.
Special project
Artificial Intelligence on TVs: How It Works
In the dry residue
ACME PS407 - good portable speakers withoutstanding sound quality for its class, catchy appearance and long battery life. The solution used in its design (passive emitters) is interesting both from a design and from a technical point of view, and dust and water protection allows you not to worry about the system's operability in any conditions. The price in Ukrainian retail from 1000 hryvnia (for example, right now in Foxtrot) is quite justified.
2 reasons to buy portable speakers ACME PS407
- Are you looking for an all-weather audio system for camping or the beach?
- your phone or tablet does not reproduce sound well through its own speaker, and you do not have another device for listening to music.
2 reasons not to buy ACME PS407 portable speakers
- you already have a portable secure bluetooth speaker
- do you want to buy a smart speaker with voice commands
SpecificationsACME PS407
Dimensions
190x80x80 mm
Weight
810 g
frequency range
20–20,000 Hz
Connection
AUX (3.5 mm mini-jack), Bluetooth 4.2 (HSP/HFP, A2DP/AVRCP, PBAP)
Power
2 x 5 W
Nutrition
USB 5V; Li-Ion battery (up to 25 hours of music playback)
Protection against dust and moisture
IPX7
Additionally
The ability to work in pairs with another speaker in TWS mode to increase power and expand the stereo base
Protected Bluetooth speaker ACME PS407
IPX7 Wireless Speaker with Great Sound
Best in its price categoryIPX7-class Bluetooth speaker with water and dust protection, excellent sound and price, allowing you to be a candidate for the first wireless speakers for use outdoors.
good thing!