Gadgetory

I'm David Connolly executive editor cnet.com and I'm here with the Libra tone zip this is a portable airplay speaker and as you can see it has a very eye-catching modern design it looks like a cylinder a canister whatever you want to call it it has this little carrying strap on the side what makes it easy to carry around what's really cool about it is that you can connect directly from your iPhone iPod Touch or iPad directly to this device via airplay with most other airplay speakers you have to go through a Wi-Fi network but this one connects really like a Bluetooth speaker but because it's airplay it actually sounds better than Bluetooth and this speaker sounds really good for a compact speaker what's interesting about it is that you can place it wherever you want obviously it can go on the floor can go on a table and it sounds very different depending on where you place it there's also a iPhone app that allows you to tweak the sound a little bit depending on where you place the device the other interesting feature is that this has a removable cover to it you can buy this in a couple different versions the base model with this gray model here is $400 that is quite a bit of money but there's also a $450 package which comes with two extra covers normally the covers are $50 should you get a little bit better value by buying those extra covers they're really only a few buttons on the device the main power button is on the top you simply press that to put it in Wireless mode they're also vine controls on the top you can also use this speaker in a wired mode you can connect a cable and connect an audio device to the speaker that does improve battery life the battery life is about eight hours if you are using it in Wired mode but if you put it into Wireless mode and use it as an airplay speaker it only gives you about four hours you can also plug the speaker into the wall it comes with a a C adapter and that's how you charge it a lot of people will use this in their homes as kind of a little showpiece but you can also take it on the road take it outside take it from room to room now there are other premium wireless speakers you have the jawbone big Jambox for instance that has a built-in speakerphone then you have the Bose Soundlink Wireless - that's also a portable bluetooth speaker and it's a little bit more durable than this one but if you're an owner of an iOS device and you're looking to use this more at home than on the road I would say this is the better choice though it is pretty pricey at $400 it does sound better than the competition and it does look a little better I'm David Carr noise and that's the Libra tone zip thanks for watching