Gadgetory

I'm David Carnot a executive editor cnet.com and I'm here with the Bowers and Wilkins Z to airplay speaker that's right this is the successor to the Zeppelin mini I don't know if you remember that unit but it wasn't a wireless speaker it had a dock for your iPhone or iPod this one has one too but it is a lightning dock when you look directly it's a speaker you can't see that duck Bowers and Wilkins has kind of hidden it but when you look at the top you can't see it I do like the way the company is implemented the dock this definitely has a better design than the Zeppelin mini which had kind of a mirrored face this says a kind of textured finish on its front which is nice it will also come in white as well as the black unit you see here it has a couple of ports around back it has an Ethernet jack as well as an audio input it does not have bluetooth however and it doesn't have a USB connection so you can charge other devices from it this is really designed to be kind of a nightstand unit maybe a kitchen unit in white it does have some heft to it it's a fairly heavy unit isn't portable it doesn't have a battery option and it does deliver big sound for a small size a good amount of bass good clarity does have its limitations all these small speakers can only do so much but definitely very good sound for its size it does cost $400 so it's designed to compete with stuff like the Bose Soundlink Wireless that also comes in an airplane now and like the other units this does come with the signature egg-shaped glossy remote definitely is cool looking and unique aside from the fact that Bowers & Wilkins has decided to do a smaller airplay unit the other side of the story is that the dock is still included that lightning dock will come in handy for charging a lot of people think the dock is on the way out but not according to Bowers & Wilkins I'm David Carr Noi and that's the Bowers & Wilkins II - airplay speaker thanks for watching