Bluedio TS-3 Bluetooth Speaker Quick Review by mark2410

Bluedio TS-3 Bluetooth Speaker Quick Review by mark2410

Thanks to Bluedio for the sample.

Brief:  Weirdly funky looking but great sounding portable speaker.

Price:  £70 or US$80

Specifications:  Bluetooth version: 4.2, Bluetooth transmission frequency: 2.4GHz-2.48GHz, Bluetooth profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP, Frequency response: 20Hz-20,000Hz, Audio input: ≤1Vrms, Bluetooth operating range: 33 feet (free space), Micro SD card: support maximum 32G, Micro SD card music format: WMA, APE, FLAC, WAV, MP3, Input voltage/current: 5V/2A, Standby time: 1000 hours, Bluetooth talk/music time: 5-6 hours, Charging time: 3-4 hours, Output power: 2*2W+5W (right and left channels + bass), Speaker size: 280*108*68mm, Packaging size: 15*89*196mm, Speaker weight: 831g, Packaging weight: 1723g

Accessories:  3.5mm audio cable, USB charging cable, User manual

Build Quality:  Nice but while it says it has a metal frame, the shiny front isn’t real metal.  It seems nicely put together and I can’t say I found there to be any imperfections.  However I wasn’t falling in love with it, the plastic disc up top, it’s all fine but nothing to drool over.

Aesthetics:  It looks are very, very interesting.  It’s so quirky, funky looking, I really enjoy its visual.  Both versions also look fab, the “gold” one though is just as silver as it looks in photos, why its called gold I’ve no idea.  It’s lush though, they are so different and eye catching.

Battery Life:  On standby it’s got a crazy 1000 hours quoted.  Yes, one thousand hours.  On playback its claims 5 to 6 hours but it gave me much more.  That is odd as usually co’s are over generous but I’m pretty sure I got way more.  Weird.

Sound:  So with a 2.1 set up you’d be forgiven for thinking that means it’s all bass, cheap crappy humpy thumpy fart cannon bass.  (Cough LG, cough.)  This though isn’t, if anything it’s really rather conservative in its bass output.  Yeah, seriously.  It’s actually trying its hardest to be smoothly linear in its descent and it does a really admirable job of it too.  So much so you can EQ that bass right up, filling things out and the bass stays of a better quality than you think of from a cheap little portable speaker.  I mean that little driver will never give proper lows as it’s a 2 inch driver and for certain things, 2 inches doesn’t cut it.  It is actually, good, I’m serious it’s really actually nice to listen too, a proper grown up acoustic balance and everything.  Its looks may say WAAAAHHHH but it’s acoustically competent.  The only hold back is that when you throw fast poppy music its way and crank the volume, the upper ranges, notably the lower treble region becomes more forward and can get a touch sibilant for a speaker.  The lower ranges don’t keep up unless you get going with the EQ.  If you do though it’s quite the rewarding little bundle of functionality with is micro SD card slot and Bluetooth options.

Value:  Very nice, with its Bluetooth, micro SD card playback, aux in and not to mention its own control app that even lets you set up a daily alarm clock its very versatile.  It does need a little EQ to be its best but it’s got some nicely competent drivers in it.  It’s a great value little thing. 

Pro’s:  Myriad functionality.  Acoustically capable.  Funky looks.

Con’s:  Want’s a little EQ to truly shine.