Bluetooth speakers can be a highly personal purchase. Not everyone likes the same sound or the same aesthetic design choice. It’s a good thing to have different brands and models to choose from and the iClever BoostSound BTS09 is certainly a speaker some may be thrilled to buy. Read on for my thoughts on the iClever BoostSound BTs09 Bluetooth speaker and tell me if you agree.
Specifications
The iClever BoostSound BTS09 has the following features and specifications:
- Bluetooth version: Bluetooth 4.2
- Transmission distance: 33 Feet
- Working time: about 8 hours
- Charging time: about 2 hours
- Dimension: 220 x 200 x 130 mm
- Weight: 836g
What’s In The Box
- iClever BoostSound BTS09 Bluetooth Speaker
- Micro USB Charging Cable
- 3.5mm Audio Cable
- User Manual
Design
Design is such a subjective thing and since this is my review I am giving my opinion on iClever’s design choice here. You may or may not agree with me which is perfectly fine, just know that I give everything a fair shot before I open it. I’m going to just cut to the chase here, the BTS09 looks like a shower head with feet, there’s no easier way to say it. The build quality isn’t nearly as good as other iClever speakers we’ve used in the past and that caught me off guard. It’s very light but that’s due to the back plastic construction and the metal front is also very thin.
The stand is made of metal and I found it to be the nicest part of the overall design. Now, this doesn’t mean the BTS09 isn’t going to appeal to some users, it absolutely will, but I found it unpleasing to the eye for my own taste. On the top of the unit, you’ll find all your controls including power, mode, and the multi-function buttons that control playback and volume. On the bottom of the unit, you’ll find the MicroUSB charging port, AUX-in, and TF card slot.
Around the back, you have a ring light that is supposed to supply ambient light. I’m assuming this is to give you some nice halo effect and look really cool, the thing is, it’s hardly noticeable. I didn’t find it added anything to the experience and was too weak to really make any impact. Overall I think the design will appeal to some but it was a stretch for me as I couldn’t get past the shower head look.
Ease of Use
The iClever BoostSound BTS09 is very simple to use, plug-and-play. Hold the power button to initiate pairing mode and pair your device. The mode button allows you to switch from the Bluetooth input, AUX-in, and the TF card slot. The fact it has a TF card slot is pretty nice as it gives you the option to have music stored locally on the device. Overall the BTS09 is simple to use and set up, you should know that to power it on you’ll have to press and hold power for a few seconds.
Sound
The BTS09 sound is what you really want to know about and one word comes to mind when describing it: interesting. Everything seems well balanced until you get above 50% volume when the BoostSound kicks in which I felt gave it an unnatural resonance. I know what iClever was going for here, they wanted to boost the low-end and give the mids a little contrasty punch to make it feel more enveloping than it actually is.
It’s not that the sound is bad, it’s not, the sound at 50% and below is very enjoyable. It just becomes sterile and overprocessed once you pump the volume up a little louder and I didn’t care for that so much. The sound experience was a mixed bag, I wish I could have enjoyed it more than I did but I will say there may be some users who will enjoy the processed sound BoostSound offers.
Reception/Call Quality
Reception is standard, 33 feet from source before you start experiencing any drop-off. Of course, walls and corners are obstacles and straight line-of -sight is the best for great reception. Call quality was at least really good. This makes a great little speaker phone for your desk.
Battery Life
iClever advertises 8-hours of battery life and I found I got about that at 50% volume. I do think that there is enough space in this unit to have gotten a larger battery in it and give more battery life and I wish iClever would have done that.
Price/Value
Retailing at $99.99USD I found that price to be a bit on the high side. Amazon currently has it for $69.99USD which is a bit more reasonable for this speaker. The value will come down to two things. Do you like the design? Do you like the sound BoostSound produces?
Wrap Up
I didn’t find this to be an overly impressive speaker. This speaker sounds great at normal levels, head north of 50% volume and the BoostSound feature gives it an unnatural sound. The design looks like a shower head but I guess that’s going to be a personal like or dislike. I can’t recommend buying this speaker but I can’t say you won’t be at least satisfied with it.
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