Gadgetory

hey I'm David Connelly executive editor for cnet.com and I'm here with the sound freak sound kick a wireless Bluetooth speaker that retails for affordable hundred dollars it has some nice features and good sound quality for its price point as you can see it's got an attractive clean design and I liked how the back portion retracts into the unit when not in use making the overall footprint smaller to turn the unit on you do have to extend the back compartment which is rubberized feet and not only forms a stand but is also supposed to enhance bass performance it's a cool design element and while the speaker stands up fine it ends up being a little unstable and if you bump into it at all it'll rock a little and may fall over aside from that small growth there is a lot to like here it's easy enough to pair a Bluetooth enabled smartphone or tablet and you get an auxilary input on the back for connecting audio vices that don't offer Bluetooth support on top of that there's also a USB port that allows you to charge your phone or iPod but it only works when the included AC adapter is plugged in or the volume as it's set at 70 percent or lower that AC adapter is used to recharge the units built-in battery which is rated at an ample seven hours of playing time in terms of other design touches it's worth noting that the buttons on top of the unit are touch sensitive some people like these types of buttons and some don't I thought they were fine and liked how there was a separate pair button that puts the speaker into pairing mode while sound freak doesn't include a remote with the unit it does offer a free remote app for iOS and Android devices it doesn't really do anything but put a skin on your music player but it's free so there's nothing to complain about as for sound I thought the sound kick was quite decent for a compact speaker that's priced at $100 it can play louder than smaller speakers like the Jawbone Jambox and can handle more volume without distorting so long as you engage the uq3 sound specializing mode which essentially optimizes the performance of the speaker you want to keep it on all the time which makes you wonder why sound freak didn't just bake it into the speaker and do away with the button overall the speaker sounds pretty detailed and while it offers some bass it does sound a bit thin and doesn't deliver anywhere near the base of Bose Soundlink wireless bluetooth speaker which starts at $300 it produces much better sound however that's not really a fair comparison when you're dealing with a compact hundred dollar Bluetooth speaker you just can't expect the world in other words as long as you keep your expectations in check you should be fairly impressed after you add everything up the speaker does offer good value for the money it has an attractive design some nice extras like the USB charging feature and performs well for its size I'm David Connelly and that's the sound freak sound kick portable bluetooth speaker