lofree Poison review: Throwback design with colossal sound

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TA-ratings-98Bluetooth speakers seem to be a dime a dozen lately. They’re everywhere and made by dozens of different companies. Many of them sound equally good, some of them great and a lot of them just bad. One basic shared trait between Bluetooth speakers is their design. The lofree Poison is seeking to break free from your basic Bluetooth speaker design and I’d say they succeeded. We’re no strangers to lofree as we’ve reviewed their retro styled lofree mechanical keyboard. The lofree Poison follows in the keyboard’s footsteps with the stunning retro design but how does it hold up in the sound department? Find out in our full lofree Poison review.

Specifications

The lofree Poison Bluetooth speaker has the following features and specifications:

  • Driver size: 2 x 52mm
  • Max power: 2 x 10W
  • Bluetooth: Version 4.2
  • Frequency Response: 60Hz – 20kHz
  • Impedance: 4Ω each
  • S/N ratio: 80dB
  • Bluetooth distance: 10 meters / 32 feet (line of sight)
  • Dimensions: 180 x 105 x 70mm / 7.08 x 4.13 x 2.75in
  • Weight: 550g / 1.21lbs
  • Battery life: About 6 hours
  • Charging time: 4-6 hours

What’s In The Box

  • lofree Poison
  • MicroUSB to USB charging cable
  • AUX cable
  • Leather carrying strap
Lofree Poison
The back of the speaker is filled with subwoofer.

Design

If you’re a lover of 1950’s era retro design then you’re going to love this little speaker. lofree designed it to resemble a 50’s era radio but of course much smaller. The speaker is very lightweight yet feels very solid and substantially built. The one area I thought felt a little cheap was the front grill. I just felt the materials used here were a bit flimsy, but that’s not a deal breaker. The rest of the build is spot on and feels very premium.

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One nice design choice was the springy rubber feet this thing stands on. At first glance, they’re just rubber feet but it seems they act as sort of shock absorbers to prevent the speaker from rattling on your desk. The sides of the lofree Poison have two metal hoops so you can secure the included (small) leather carrying strap. The leather strap really completes the look and it is real leather as well. Around the back of the speaker, you’ll find the subwoofer element, AUX port, and MicroUSB charging port.

On top of the speaker, you have your controls consisting of four buttons and a knob. You have the On/Off /Mode button, Play/Pause, Volume Up/Down, FM channel knob, and status/battery light. The FM tuner face is on the front. It’s a simple design, but its solid and most importantly it looks really cool.

Lofree Poison
Retro design is nice the FM radio adds to that look.

Ease of Use

Using the lofree Poison is as simple as powering up and pairing with your source device via Bluetooth. You can also connect via AUX cable should you wish to do that. Pushing the Mode button toggles through Bluetooth, AUX, and FM. The FM antenna is a bit weak and probably works better in a larger city. There is no calling feature on this speaker and to be honest, that’s one of my favorite things about this speaker. Overall very easy to use.

Sound

I’ve used plenty of Bluetooth speakers over the past few years and the lofree Poison is one of the best. The mids and highs are very well balanced and sound amazing coming out of the front. Add that subwoofer to the mix and you can really feel the low end. Bass lovers should enjoy this speaker. That’s not to say this is going to rattle your walls but the bass is most certainly there and you can feel it.

I found the sound to be rich and while you’re not going to rattle the walls, the speaker does get loud. I did find a slight bit of distortion at the highest level but nothing too concerning, besides, I don’t think many would crank it all the way to the top with this speaker. Overall the sound is rich, bass heavy with balanced mids and highs. I love it.

Lofree Poison
The controls for music playback and modes.

Battery Life

Advertised battery life is “around 6 hours” and I found I could get just over 5 1/2 hours at 60% volume. Battery life will vary with sound levels as well as your distance from the source. I do wish the battery was stronger here but given the size of the lofree Poison as well as that big subwoofer, I can understand.

Price/Value

The lofree Poison is expected to retail for $119 USD but it is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter starting at $65 USD. I think this little speaker is worth the $119 USD retail price and it’s a super buy right now on Kickstarter for $65 USD.

Lofree Poison
The FM tuning knob and indicator light.

Wrap Up

Really big sound for its size, really nice design, you can’t go wrong at the Kickstarter price and I love that there is NO calling feature! The FM feature is nice to have for some but I suspect it wouldn’t get used much. It does add a nice touch to the design. The lofree Poison is a great little speaker and worth taking a look at.

*We were sent a sample of the lofree Poison for the purposes of this review.
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