Gadgetory

when I reviewed the creative roar about a year ago I later dubbed it the best bang for the buck Bluetooth speaker there were had practically every feature that a Bluetooth speaker would have and it was usually on sale for about a hundred and fifty dollars now with that price point I had amazing audio that would say was close or equivalent to what Bose provided now what a heavier today is the creative roar - with a MSRP of a hundred and $69 no creative claims this to be 20% smaller 10% lighter yet providing the same audio quality so without further ado here I'm Jimmy with Jim's review room comm welcome everyone so going over the physical features first it is indeed smaller measuring 7.4 inches wide 4.3 inches deep and 2 inches high and I do admit it's on the heavier side when compared to the competition nonetheless it's still portable coming in at 2.2 pounds or exactly one kilogram now from handling and testing it's an absolute quality build with zero flexing in the top grille the five drivers housed inside are the same that's found on the original roar hence the same audio quality that creative is claiming now the only difference really the high frequency drivers are now top firing instead of front firing and the passive radiators that helps with offering a deeper bass and a water sound stage here on the side are designed different but as different as they are they offer such a cool and unique look here while music is blasting now more on the quality during my sound test later but moving to the top here and the back buttons as well these have improved considerably offering less play and a more rigid quality feel to them but let's go over the buttons here and the extensive list of features available now on the top are power volume up and down and the bluetooth pairing button which is also used to answer phone calls when connected to your smartphone now testing the smart phone functionality sitting two feet in front of the speaker was fine sitting just at three feet now on the other line one person said my voice was starting to echo and appear to be sitting somewhat further away the other person I tested this with said I sounded very much far away despite speaking even louder at 7:00 to about eight feet away basically on the other side of the studio here I sounded even further testing this with two different people confirm these same findings unfortunately now going back to the right are three battery indicator lights which I wish had more considering it's somewhat difficult to gauge of how much better you have remaining here based on those three lights and lasts to the right is NFC abbreviated for near-field communication at the time NFC is predominantly found on Android devices and if you have it just tap on the right side of the speaker and this will pair your phone or tablet just like that a very convenient feature to have now rotating to the rear a power port for the supplied AC wall adapter is located here a three and half millimeter port to physically connect your devices charge out port that is is also provided which comes in handy for those tight situations if you're running low on power say at the beach or at the park plug a USB cable in and the award's internal battery will charge your phone now to the right a micro USB port is available and this is not just for updating your firmware like most other Bluetooth speakers but this port alone allows you to recharge your roar with your computer or even your phone charger it allows you to connect to your PlayStation 4 and have audio from that or again have this connected to your Mac or PC and you can play music directly from your computer and the last option now is using music that you've placed onto a micro SD card now from my testing its straightforward enough where you put songs onto the car enter this into the back of the roar to hear and use the pause and play buttons on the right side of the speaker to control your audio or you control your music but before skipping ahead here there is also a record button where you can record your own voice for playback for narration purposes or self reminders this option is available for use and it does record pretty clearly too and it lasts to the far right here the roll button enhances audio characteristics providing a louder and more open sound stage with another person that button here activates terror bass which as you might be able to tell increases bass characteristics so with all those features listed there are some that you may find very useful while others not so much but having them as options available I think is a huge plus especially charged out and even microUSB features and before I forget here during my time testing battery life to have a median or middle-of-the-road result here I love the unit playing at 50% volume basically till it died creative claims up to eight hours of use and on my end here I was able to achieve exactly eight hours in 25 minutes now compared to other small Bluetooth speakers it is somewhat on the low end for today's competition but to the moment that you've probably been waiting for here here's the sound test with me toggling back and forth between tera bass and the wolf feature first up is yet again of all cuz I got it like that oh so smooth like I got it on tap yeah and I'm a Sikh it'd be a good night while I'm on my gangland while I'm drinking Bud Light uh can you get it when you miss me like I'm will Sarah Bay's on if you do you do it do it that way do you do that did you take a brain you know that I'm a beast when I kill it on the beach like a sex on the beach like it's Malibu chase you see the California way we do it yeah baby she could California king he's done yeah all the flowers get it Mike I put it down like this 24/7 and they had the get in secret seven eight at around Aleppo I have my name is Jojo hey baby we don't mind all the watching cuz if the sudden close real close they my love and some taro base on you're nothing but a little to do it he does it you're so fine i'ma leave it on robot we got mixed up - let me show you love is swinging in the air tonight let me show you and there you have it folks now audio recorded through my microphone and then play through your speakers or not the best depiction of audio quality but hence my review here regarding audio testing I do admit without the terror base and roar the sound signature is good though when compared to the competitors but once you turn on tera base and the roar features Wow comparing to my recently reviewed Bose Soundlink mini 2 which holds the crown for small Bluetooth speakers in regards the audio quality the Aurore 2 is equivalent bass levels hit harder on the road to than other small bluetooth speakers in its segment the tera base does make a difference in making this a very much enjoyable listening experience especially those listening to EDM rap hip-hop and of course pop music those intending on using this to watch movies on your laptop or other devices here this helps tremendously over those standard built-in speakers now with that much bass from such a small package surprisingly and thankfully there's no drowning or muddled bass experienced now regard the mid-tones they are clear and vivid from voices and movies while vocals of music are pushed slightly forward not too bright but just enough where they're distinct and not overshadowed genres of rock and down to modern classical music was pleasant to the ears as well and regard those highs cymbal crashes those high notes on repetitive EDM beats they all hold on tight with no distortion now leaving this on in my small studio for several hours didn't provide any listening fatigue as well and there just overall very easy to listen to very easy on the ears and considering it's such a small package the volume will no question fill up small to medium sized rooms the interesting part we're starting to see small bluetooth speakers being able to provide room filling music in larger areas for personal listening that is in the roar and a roar - does that the only thing that I can critique about this speaker is indeed the drivers are not front firing anymore so sound is it as direct as the first generation in creatives defense though certain specifications had to be moved to compensate for the smaller size and like most if not all Bluetooth speakers big and small the audio separation of left and right audio channels is not distinct here as well and if you are intending on using the speakerphone option extensively I would also look elsewhere but overall the build quality is excellent and improved over the last model the sound quality is great for a portable Bluetooth speaker the future filled list surpasses the competition and most importantly you're getting sound quality equivalent to the Bose Soundlink speakers for a more wallet-friendly price this just like the original roar is the best bang for the buck Bluetooth speaker at the moment and possibly who will be for a long time so hope this review helped you in some way be sure to visit jim's review room calm daily for news and reviews on important topics that interest you and interest those Millennials out there and if you like my work add me on to your social media either facebook twitter instagram or google plus you get to see behind the scenes items i'm currently testing and reviewing again i'm jimmy with jims review room comm you guys take care and i'll see you in the next one bye