UPDATE: This review was based on my purchase price of $29. It's value decreased considerably if the price is much higher.
This has about the same footprint as my iPhone. It's about a fraction of it's weight. Build quality is excellent. The speaker contains a rechargeable battery and there is a clear indication of when it needs to be charged and when the charging has been completed. More on the charger and that "clear indication" in a bit.
Pairing with my iPhone was immediate right out of the box. I turned on the speaker, went to the bluetooth discover screen on my phone, it picked up the unpaired device, I entered the super-secret code number (0000), and it was done.
Sound quality is good (for this type of speaker). The sound is clear, there is very little (but at least some) bass, and it doesn't sound tinny. I bought it for playing background music on the deck and it's certainly clear enough and there's definitely enough volume for that.
The description implied and it should be clearly stated that in addition to working as a speaker this also works as a speaker phone and can also pass voice commands to the phone. In fact it works just like the Motorola S9 headset except that forward and reverse don't seem to work with my iPhone4 (and it's much more difficult to wear as a headset).
The AC charger is universal (at one end); it accepts 100-240V at 50/60 Hz.
Now for the minor issues:
There's a very bright and annoying light that insists on flashing when music is playing. According to the (well written) manual it means there's either a call or music on standby. Near as I can tell there isn't. This can be easily "fixed" with electrical or duct tape. :)
If you want to charge the speaker from your laptop or USB charger you need to supply your own mini-USB (laptop/charger end) to micro-USB (speaker end) cable.
Minor annoyances aside, this speaker is a good value. You can share music from your mobile device at good volume and reasonable fidelity while keeping said mobile device on your person. I haven't tried the wired connection and frankly if I was looking for that kind of speaker I'm sure there are plenty available that would cost less while providing the same sound quality.
BTW, I feel that honest, effective reviews can take the place of first-hand experiences that are lacking in online shopping. I've always appreciated the help I've received from other reviewers and work hard to return the favor as best as I can. I hope you found this review helpful and if there was anything you thought was lacking or unclear leave a comment and I'll do what I can to fix it.
After purchasing a more expensive product from Best Buy and having to return it because it did not work, I found this on line at another web site. I was very tempted to buy it, but checked out Amazon's price and the SAME PRODUCT was $60.00 less on Amazon. That sealed the deal. It works great with the Droid (on which we have stored lectures and music). Great sound and since it's used only in the car, it does not matter how far apart the speakers can be from the phone. Wish it had come with a way to attach to the visor, but otherwise it's perfect! (Especially because of the price!)
Buy Motorola MOTOROKR EQ5 Bluetooth Portable Speaker Now
This has to be one of the best impulse buys that I have made.
I was looking for a Bluetooth stereo headset to go jogging with at the time, and saw this and thought that might be neat.
The one thing that surprised me was how small it was, its around the size of a modern touch screen smart phone, although about twice as thick.
The sound quality is around what you would expect from something this size, it will not set the world on fire, but it is far superior to the phone and the PC that I normally have it connected to. Setup was easy and the unit connects to the smartphone within seconds of turning on.
As well as the phone I have it paired with my laptop, so I don't leave the sounds in the living room when I nip upstairs. If your considering buying separate speakers for your laptop, this is something to consider as well as wired speakers.
The only downside is occasionally around the house the connection drops, but it reconnects as soon as the signal is good enough.
A few quick points:
Better speakers than most smart phones, without additional wires.
Adds portability to your music from your laptop, without carting the laptop around, or leave the phone on charge whilst you walk round the house.
Controls on the unit, to pause, skip both forward and backwards, volume controls (these control the volume on the EQ5 not the unit its connected to).
Control to make/receive calls (becomes a speaker phone), if you don't want speaker, flick the switch and the call drops to your handset.
Can use as a speaker phone with Skype.
Maintains the connection, with a few dropouts round a three bedroom home.
I would say that these complement a smart phone & laptop extremely well, and the price is around the same as a reasonable set of PC speakers.
Read Best Reviews of Motorola MOTOROKR EQ5 Bluetooth Portable Speaker Here
I have had the EQ5 for a little over a month.
I use this mostly with my Android Nexus One phone.
Pros: Compact, rechargeable battery, easy to
setup and use, performs well. I have also
paired it with my Dell D420 laptop. (It took some
effort to get A2DP working in Windows-7). Very
reasonable price.
Cons: The only con is the lack of base. (Although it
does a great job considering it's size).
I gave it 5 stars because it does a great job for
my needs, for a speaker system to play NPR and other
streaming audio, from my phone and my laptop, when
I travel. I almost never use it at home.
Want Motorola MOTOROKR EQ5 Bluetooth Portable Speaker Discount?
I bought this little gem to listen to my iPhone/iPod in the car. Traffic noise makes the iPhone/iPod speakers hard to hear. I tried those FM transmitter gadgets that play through the car's FM radio, but they don't work so well in large cities where every clear FM channel is taken. This EQ5 speaker solved the problem. It is small, the same size as my iPhone, so it fits in my pocket or any place in the car dashboard, right front seat, or any other place I want to put it. The sound is clear and as loud as you want to make it. I'm not big on music, but I listened to a few songs and they seemed just as good as any FM radio. I also use it when watching Netflix movies on my iPhone or iPad to boost the sound. This is quite a nice little gadget.
I hooked up five 10W Ramsond panels and a SunRay 1500-3000W inverter the other day out back. My wife and I wanted to do a little experiment to eventually supplement our energy costs and see if having a backup system was feasible for our home use. So far so good. Initially we only hooked up two of the panels and eventually all five into a small array through the inverter/generator. As of right now, the system is running quite well and provides enough power to serve as a test once we invest in a larger system. The construction of the panels is more than adequate. We did have some issues getting it all set up, but that was partly our fault for not checking how to hook everything up beforehand. We'll probably upgrade to a 100W panel or ten later on, but as a test it seems like several 10W panels & one SunRay are an efficient beginner's kit. I'm sure I'll be posting an update once we upgrade to a heftier system.
