Divoom Bluetooth speakers – review of Bluetune-Solo

It has often been said that good things come in small packages and the Divoom Bluetune-Solo certainly lives up to that mantle. This compact Bluetooth speaker certainly punches above its weight and proves that appearances can be deceptive.

The speaker comes packaged in a 2-part box, the bottom half housing the user manual and a charging/auxiliary input cable, whilst the clear upper portion contains the Bluetune-Solo itself. The most striking and noticeable feature is the diminutive size of the speaker, standing at a meagre 73mm high and being only 60mm wide, it is smaller than half the size of a regular soda can. The speaker doesn’t really set the world on fire with its design, basically a short squat cylinder but it is available in a choice of 5 colors, with all featuring silver trimming. I have been reviewing the slate (black) design, but other colorways include red, white, blue and orange.

Pairing of the speaker to any Bluetooth device is extremely simple and effortless. I paired the Bluetune to my iPhone and it was as easy as switching the unit on at the discreet switch found underneath the base. With the Bluetooth already activated on my Smartphone the two found each other quickly and connected without the need for pass codes. The Bluetune-Solo indicates connection with a low beep and the Bluetooth switch on the top illuminates and shows power on with a subtle blue glow around the base of the speaker.

Included with the speaker is a USB charging lead that also doubles as an auxiliary input lead, meaning your Bluetune-Solo can be connected to any non Bluetooth enabled device. For me the best feature of the Bluetune is the ability to use the speaker as a “bridge” between your Bluetooth device and a wired set of speakers, simply plug your wired speakers straight into the Aux Out socket on the Bluetune and you are away, now able to play your favorite tunes on your phone wirelessly to your wired speakers. Charging of the unit is via any USB port from your PC or an AC adaptor, full charge takes a minimum of 2.5 hours and a complete charge will see you through 8 hours of listening enjoyment.

How about the sound quality? To be honest I wasn’t really expecting the Solo to offer up much sound due to the fact it’s so small, but I have been very impressed with the overall experience. I chose contrasting music to put the Solo through its paces and honestly must say that Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash and Cypress Hill all sounded great. Sure, its not 5.1 surround sound, but it was never going to be, however for a unit that is so small the sound cannot be faulted.

The speaker is balanced nicely between bass and mid-tone sounds and can actually push the chosen music out over a fair distance. The Bluetooth connection is said to be up to 10 metres (33ft) and I had no problems at all with the link, I left the unit positioned in one room whilst moving to another with my phone in my pocket and never once lost the connection. The sound produced carried nicely around the house.

The volume at the speaker is controlled via the main device, as there are no separate controls on the unit and to achieve optimum quality I found the phone volume had to be set at about 60 percent, any more and the sound quality became muffled and distorted.

There is also the option to use the Solo as a speakerphone, with just a simple push of the top button when an incoming call is received, the unit switches quickly and smoothly between music and calls. This feature is easy to use but I wonder how many people would actually use it, as most phones are more than capable of allowing a clear conversation on speakerphone already. One occasion that this feature may be beneficial would be in a vehicle that doesn’t have a Bluetooth hands free capability, but there would be an issue with the unit not being able to be secured anywhere safely in the vehicle, and possibly Divoom have missed a trick by not including a vehicle mount. I did trial the speaker out while driving and found it worked perfectly, even if this is not what it was originally intended for.

The Bluetune-Solo is available for around $50 and for the money you are getting a nice compact speaker with a good bass tone that’s ideal for taking with you in a backpack or handbag. This would be a great speaker to take travelling although charging may be an issue if there’s no access to a USB connection. All in all, a great sounding, solid and robust Bluetooth speaker, which offers superb value for money.