Jam - Classic 20 Portable Bluetooth Speaker Review

Our Verdict

Improves upon the performance of your smartphone speaker, but if y'all can spend more than, then do

For

• Affordable
• Smart-looking cease
• On-board controls for music and phone calls

Confronting

• Treble can be hard
• Doesn't deliver on 'massive sound' promise
• Max battery life shorter than other (more expensive) models

What Hello-Fi? Verdict

Improves upon the functioning of your smartphone speaker, but if y'all can spend more than, then do

Pros

• +

  Affordable

• +

  Smart-looking finish

• +

  On-lath controls for music and phone calls

Cons

• -

  Treble tin can be hard

• -

  Doesn't deliver on 'massive sound' promise

• -

  Max bombardment life shorter than other (more expensive) models

The Jam Classic two.0, and then says its maker, is an updated version of the number one-selling Bluetooth speaker in the US.

That said, in that location is a railroad train of idea that coming beginning in the U.s.a. ain't quite what information technology used to be.

But allow's switch thought trains; we've got a little, inoffensive speaker to talk about here.

Build

And teeny it is. About the size of i of the bigger jars of Marmite, it fits comfortably in the palm of your paw and, when information technology comes to packing for trips, it'll popular into fifty-fifty the teeniest of overnight bags.

Its spherical grade, though, is non hugely pocket-friendly – you'd take a chance it bouncing out of an unsecured jacket pocket, and a jean pocket is no place for something of this shape and size.

Nosotros have no issues with build quality. A fun-looking swain, it's well put-together, available in three colours, and feels as though it could cope with the odd accidental drop on to something not as well difficult.

Your xx pounds – yes, just 20 pounds – doesn't buy whatsoever water-resistance ratings just, should the worst happen and it rolls down a grassy banking concern into a fast-flowing river, y'all're only down the price of a pizza, a beer, and a bus home.

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Sound

Then it rolls – if you lot button it hard enough – but does it rock, too? No, not really. If yous're aim is, solely, to improve upon the audio performance of your smartphone or tablet, then the JAM Archetype 2.0 does enough. Simply. It does deliver a bigger sound, it does delve deeper, and it does uncover more particular.

Let Daft Punk and Pharrel Williams encourage you lot to Lose Yourself To Dance and delivery is jaunty.

The Classic 2.0 skips along, outperforming your telephone's speaker, just neither of these little devices practice a keen chore with the track's underlying bass shell – not fifty-fifty the JAM reaches downwards that far.

And prepare yourself for slightly brash-sounding handclaps – specially when you boost the volume – along with a splashy border to cymbal crashes. Nonetheless, for its coin and for its size this speaker makes a decent fist of sonics.

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But does it deliver its maker's promised 'massive sound'? This time, the answer is a firmer no.

We're happy to debate the phrase 'room-filling sound' (when was the last fourth dimension yous really couldn't hear even the smallest speaker when continuing at the far stop of your living room?) simply what we have here is more like room occupying sound.

Y'all can have some fun, though, trying to squeeze more than volume from the Archetype two.0. Experiment with the surfaces you place it on and compare results with it, say, sitting on a table versus nestling into an alcove.

Ultimately, though, if yous desire a 'massive audio' purchase something else.

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Features

The feature list, as you may approximate given its teeny dimensions, is pretty curt. An aux-in compliments the Bluetooth power and – according to the web – offers up to 12 hours replay, compared with five hours max from a wireless connection.

The maker bundles a USB lead for charging – a mains charger is extra – and reckons it takes ii hours to fully juice the JAM.

The svelte chassis does include LED lights to permit you know where you stand – flashing blue for pairing, flashing reddish for depression battery and, according to the manual, grey for 'set to political party'.

The speaker also functions equally a speakerphone – the base includes buttons to choice up and cease calls. Or you could simply, well, selection up your phone?

You lot can also adjust volume and skip tracks using these on-board controls. A neat touch, though, is the battery-preserving mode, which automatically shuts off the JAM Classic 2.0 if it's been unused for 15 minutes or more.

Verdict

For it'south cost the JAM two.0 Classic is a dinky fashion to meliorate upon the operation of the speaker systems in phones and tablets.

As such, it'south more likely to find favour in a smaller bedroom or kitchen than a living room; view it as an addition to your speaker options. Merely information technology is not the ultimate solution.

And we're even so searching our listening room for that claimed 'massive audio'.

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the earth's leading contained guide to buying and owning hi-fi and abode entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you lot purchase the very all-time for your coin, with our advice sections giving you footstep-by-step data on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated squad of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the globe as the ultimate seal of approval, then you can buy with absolute confidence.

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Source: https://www.whathifi.com/jam/classic-20/review

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