We’ve had a Bose Soundlink Mini II bluetooth speaker for a good few years now. It’s portable, the charge lasts for quite a long time and the sound quality is excellent. It still looks pretty cool after about ten years, so design-wise, it ticks boxes for us. It’s small enough to pack into an overnight bag, so when we go away, it’s usually brought with us, as we can’t be without our Spotify playlists. It’s used both indoors and outdoors – and this is the only real negative. It’s not waterproof or rain resistant. Not that we’d ever leave it out in the rain, but sometimes you are caught a bit short and it has had to be rescued in the nick of time, from an unexpected shower or two. But, we’ve been more than happy with it.
However, we now have a young pretender. Step forward a rather funky looking bluetooth speaker from IKEA, of all places. We weren’t in the market for a new one, necessarily, but having just had outdoor sockets finally fitted in the garden, we’ve been re-thinking how things can be a whole lot better, sound and lighting wise. We’ve even considered a projector so that we can watch films outside, like the time we watched Cinema Paradiso on a wall in a village in Lesvos. But, I don’t think we were really considering a new speaker, until I read something about the VAPPEBY speaker online. Not only was it a very good price – €49.95 – but the reviews were amazing, especially relating to chargeability, portability and sound quality. One thing which definitely steered us in its direction was the Spotify Tap, the technology that lets you start, or carry on listening, just by tapping a button, rather than opening the app on your phone, selecting a playlist, and going through all that rigamarole. Just press a button on the device to start streaming with Spotify Tap. Don’t like what’s playing? Press the button again and another recommended song will start up. Once pared with your playlist, it’s very intuitive and the tap function is really good added extra. One which our Bose doesn’t have. Being made of tough, easy to clean plastic, and rated IP65, it’s shower proof, so completely suitable for using outdoors, especially as it has 360-degree sound meaning that the music plays clearly and distinctly. Again, another feature missing from our much more expensive Bose speaker.
We bought this on Sunday and did charge it initially – there was already some charge in it, but it is only this morning (Thursday) that it has needed to be recharged. And, when I say we have hammered its use, I really do mean that – it’s been in use every day since Sunday, because we can’t work without music. So, that’s another big plus point. Another plus point, is that it also has a lamp function, with two settings, one being a bit more ambient than the other. The brighter setting, however, is perfect for evenings in the garden when it starts to fall dark. The sturdy carrying handle is also very useful, especially if you are carrying other things in and out of the garden at the same time.
The unit comes in three colours – white, a sage green (the one we purchased) and a dark blue/grey. It’s good to know that a USB cable for charging the portable speaker is included, but if you need a USB power adapter, this is NOT included, and is sold separately.
So, so far so good with our new Bluetooth speaker, which was less than €50. Perhaps a summer of it being used all the time, may reveal signs of wear and tear, and we may return to our faithful Bose, but I think we have high hopes for the VAPPEBY.
This is NOT a sponsored post. We paid full price for the speaker and we have NOT been asked to review it. All photographs of the product are IKEA images, from the website.