Sony has announced a new range of wireless speakers, which are ideal for playing music from smartphones and tablets.
We got our hands on the range briefly at a demo session and were quite taken with the flagship SA-NS510 model. Its unusual looks – somewhere between a lampshade and a desktop heater, are matched with unusual sound. See all speaker reviews.
Four tweeters fire out sound in all directions, and a larger woofer fills in some bass frequencies. It was certainly loud when turned up, and although we wouldn’t want to give a verdict on quality without properly testing it, it sounded pretty good.
A built-in battery means you can deafen people in the park or at the beach for up to five hours, and you can play music from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch device via AirPlay.
Apps are available from the App Store and Google Play for easily controlling music playback.
If you’re out of your router’s Wi-Fi range, you’ll have to connect your device to the aux input, though.
The NS510 costs £299 and should be on sale in Sony’s online store in a few weeks’ time.
If this is a little out of your price range, the SA-NS410 is £100 cheaper and a little more conventional looking. It also has four tweeters and the same 110mm woofer for 360-degree sound. AirPlay is supported, but the NS Setup app is also available for Android devices.
There’s no battery power here, but as all the wireless speakers in the range support PartyStreaming, you can play music to several speakers at once via the app.
At the bottom of the range is the NS310. This diminutive speaker has a 50mm woofer, and has built-in Wi-Fi and AirPlay support. Music can be played from your PC or other DNLA device via Wi-Fi.
