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5 Responses to “Philips Portable Speaker Dock for iPod/iPhone”

1. T. Parmer Says: July 6th, 2010 at 11:05 pm

   This portable speaker system from Phillips certainly comes in handy. It is extremely easy to use–just plug it in and insert your iPod or iPhone in the very obvious jack, then press “play” and you’re good to go. That it charges as you go is of course helpful. And it is small enough you could easily take it with you in a bag or suitcase, with no extra pieces to worry about losing or breaking. However, the sound quality is not that big of a step up from what comes out of my iPhone itself when I simply play it with the headphones detached. It sounds at best like a decent small radio or car radio. Considering that I recently purchased a 5-disc changer stereo system that ALSO interfaces with my iPhone for only less than $100 more, and which has large speakers and superb sound quality, I have to say this little system is somewhat overpriced. Honestly I could not see spending the money on it unless I traveled very frequently and needed a charger with speakers for that purpose.
   Rating: 3 / 5

2. M. Stewart Says: July 7th, 2010 at 1:32 am

   You get the speaker dock, a very nice carrying case, an 18″ long 3.5 mm cable if you want to hook it up to something other than an iPhone/iPod, and an AC adapter with a nice long cord. It can also use 4 AA batteries. The carrying case has a piggy-back case that you can use to hold the A/C adapter, or leave it off to travel light if you plan on just using the batteries; a nice touch. The battery compartment is a little awkward to use, but not too difficult. A tip-out stand holds it at a good angle.

   I hooked it up to my PC via the 3.5 mm cable, and tried the bass boost feature, which worked nice. The unit has its own volume control so you can fine-tune the listening level easily. These controls and the on/off switch are recessed, giving a clean appearance, but making it a bit hard to operate the sliding switches. I compared the sound to some PC speakers, and what a difference! These were so much better; no tinniness, just nice rich sound. And the bass boost works well. The manufacturer claims 8 hours of playing using batteries. So far, looks like that is a good estimate. There is a small power light behind the speaker grille that glows when it is on, which is nice; it already reminded me once that I forgot to turn it off!
   Rating: 5 / 5

3. Shopperholic Says: July 7th, 2010 at 4:31 am

   I was excited to get this product as I travel, go camping and also frequently spend time on my boat.I like it very much, the sound is much better than the cheap folding speakers I had been using. I was quite surprised by how loud the volume got before there was distortion.

   I used this with an iPhone 3Gs and it worked perfectly. No pop up about having to put the phone in airplane mode or any interference.

   I have an Incipio Silicrylic case on my phone and was able to get it into the dock without too much trouble, which was nice. I hate accessories that require you to remove the case.

   The speaker looks good, and comes with a neoprene case to protect it. The case isn’t very pretty though. There is an odd, somewhat floppy, attached pouch for the a/c adapter that looks like a bit of an afterthought, but at least it’s there.

   The only reason I give this 4 stars is the stand. It is thin plastic and swivels out when you press on it. The attachment does not feel terribly robust, and I worry about its durability. Also, the battery cover is behind it and didn’t close securely the first time I installed the batteries.

   UPDATE: Six months later I am still using this and it’s held up fine. I love it. I still wish the flip-out stand was a bit bigger/more robust, it’s pretty easy to knock over. But I am very happy with it overall.
   Rating: 5 / 5

4. William R. Hemme Says: July 7th, 2010 at 6:52 am

   Though this unit works well, it has a very bad design flaw that any buyer considering it should be aware of. When using it as a portable getting power from its internal AA batteries, even when you shut the unit OFF with its ON/OFF switch, the four batteries will self discharge to dead in about a week because the unit still draws current from the batteries even when shut OFF.

   I considered my unit to be defective because of this problem but when I contacted Philips support to request a exchange unit under warranty, I was informed that this battery drain was normal and that I needed to remove one or more of the batteries when not using the unit to prevent the batteries from going dead. Dumb, dumb, triple dumb design flaw in my opinion!

   Why even have an ON/OFF switch if you must remove a battery to really shut it OFF!
   Rating: 2 / 5

5. Glenn R. Howes Says: July 7th, 2010 at 8:50 am

   First of all, this is a useful device to have when you need portable sound. It takes 4 AA batteries and comes with a convenient wetsuit style slip on case. So if you need a set of speakers for your iPhone or iPod and there is no wall socket, maybe going out to a rustic cabin or tent, then yes this is a good solution. You can camp out and listen to Pandora streaming all night, or till your iPhone runs out of juice.

   For general use, I just don’t care for the sound. The speakers lack a crisp sound and are a bit boomy for my taste. I just compared the same piece of guitar music on these speakers and then on the speakers attached to my Dell monitor (itself not exactly a high end piece of audio equipment) and the Dell speakers were noticeably clearer. And 2×5 Watts is fairly weak for a desktop stereo. So, the sound quality, in my opinion, of these speakers is substandard, and why would you spend your money on substandard audio? Only if portability dominates.

   As for it’s function as an iPhone dock. When plugged into the wall it will charge your iPod or iPhone. It will not charge from the AA batteries. iPhones will not give that annoying warning about the device not being designed for iPhones. And I’m glad that the dock will not automatically start playing audio when an iPhone or iPod is docked; that is what bothers me the most about my other Phillips docks. Insertion is easy with no odd blockages found in other docks. So thumbs up on the dock functionality.

   In summary, great portability, good dock, substandard sound. When it comes to speakers that ends up at 3 stars.
   Rating: 3 / 5

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