INTRODUCTION

   During the past 2 years I’ve seen many companies release wireless speakers for use with smartphones and tablets by using the typical Bluetooth connection (and rarely via Wi-Fi). However in most occasions these "speakers" are not to be taken seriously due to the fact they most of them have but a single speaker (monophonic) and their audio levels are not much better than those of your smartphone/tablet. Sure there are quite a few exceptions out there in the market including the very good Audyssey Dock Air (Wi-Fi) and several other high quality ones by JBL and Klipsch but the price range of those is way far from what most people can afford for a portable wireless speaker. Well according to Jabra their latest SOLEMATE wireless portable speaker hits the sweet spot between performance and price and so we've been using it for a period of almost 20 days to see whether or not their claims have any base at all.

   GN Netcom, led by the Jabra brand, continues to build on its standing as one of the world’s leading and fastest growing suppliers of hands-free communications solutions. With approximately 875 employees and sales offices around the world, GN Netcom develops manufactures and markets a broad range of wireless headsets for mobile users and both wireless and corded headsets for contact center and office-based users. GN Netcom’s business activities also include its original equipment manufacturing (OEM) business to a wide range of global customers including mobile phone, PC and PDA manufacturers.

   The thing that really makes the SOLEMATE stand out from all the other low/mid-cost wireless portable speakers is that it actually features not 1 but 3 separate drivers, namely a center subwoofer and two smaller tweeters in its main body. Certainly the distance between the two tweeters is not enough to produce a solid stereo separation but still compared to most of the single-drive monophonic wireless speakers out there this is a huge improvement. On top of that the SOLEMATE also offers a nice looking rugged housing (white/black versions) which is sweat, splash and dust resistant something that once again we don't see much if at all with similar devices. As always however we can't judge a product solely based on its specifications sheet (impressive or not) and so the time has come to put the latest Jabra SOLEMATE wireless speaker to the test.