We’ve certainly done our fair share of hands-on speaker reviews over the years, with some standing out more than others, and if we were to go on looks alone, then the Emie Canvas Portable Bluetooth Speaker would be right up there – although we know that its excellent looks are not the most important, as the sound needs to be decent enough as well.
Our friends at Mobile Fun UK sent this stylish, yet compact speaker for us to review, and you will know by now that we always offer an unbiased opinion. We are not going to lie, when we first saw this Portable Bluetooth Speaker online we were a little skeptical because of its size, and also the design – although the latter become less of an issue the moment we took it out of the box, as it is rather good looking.
What’s in the box? Firstly there is the speaker itself, along with charging cable, and the Quick Guide booklet. The packaging is of a simple design and because it’s made of card it’s easily recyclable, which we do like. The unboxing process was a simple task, and did not require having to rip anything to bits in order to get to the speaker itself.
The Review – When you look at the Emie Canvas Portable Bluetooth Speaker you do get a sense of a premium design, and it is true when you take into consideration the canvas. However, we were a little concerned when holding the device in our hands because the plastic, while solid does make it feel a little cheap. We would have much preferred a metal design wrapping itself around the front and rear, and it’s very much the same for the main button, which doubles as a volume knob as well – as this could have also benefited from being metal to add a more premium feel.
There is just a single speaker inside, and so we know not to expect too much in terms of powerful bass, although this is not too much of an issue because this is something we would have expected for its size anyway. In terms of battery capacity we’re told that you should get around 6 hours of music playback, although we only managed just over 5 hours on a full charge.
Paring the speaker was quick and easy, although we need to point out that you need to keep the button pressed for several seconds in order to start the pairing process – and it did find our iPhone 7 quick and easy. The sound quality was decent enough and can go pretty loud, which was a surprise for a speaker of its size. However, it does lack in the bass department, and so many songs do tend to sound a little boxy, but not as tinny as you might think.
We did play with the EQ settings on our iPhone 7 and we did find that selecting Bass Booster does help improve the depth of the sound, and there was no distortion, and so we did find ourselves using this setting mostly – come to think of it, this could be why we are only getting around 5 hours of playback on a charge rather than 6.
- The main features for this compact, Bluetooth speaker are:
- Canvas texture for a contemporary design.
- Lightweight and compact.
- Powerful and clear output.
- Compatible with all wireless Bluetooth devices.
- 3.5mm line-in port for non-Bluetooth devices.
- 520mAh internal battery offers up to 6hrs of playback time.
The price for the Emie Canvas Portable Bluetooth Speaker is currently £29.99 at Mobile Fun UK, with some colour options available, although the one we had was black.
In closing – The quality of the sound is good considering its size, and does offer a decent mid and high range, with it lacking in the bass department – although we did mention how we was able to just about overcome this issue. Value for money is good, although we do feel the plastic does let it down a little, and would have been better with a metal finish wrapping around the canvas.
