Not the first speaker I’ve tried out, but the Poweradd MusicFly is a cut above. A smart looking build, coming in multiple colors, at a good price. If you need something with a little bass and a lot of durability then this is one to seriously consider.
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About PowerAdd
Poweradd have been in the electronics business for the last seven years, and they are making waves with their branded gear. Everything from charger packs to headphones, some of which are solar powered. The company is based in China, which means that the products are high quality, and the prices are low, but we pay with a lesser warranty. Not a huge deal breaker, and being affiliated with Amazon goes a way towards mitigated that issue. The vast majority of their reviews are positive, and I did my usual digging and found them to be trustworthy as well. Let’s get into the review proper.
Poweradd MusicFly Outdoor Portable Bluetooth Speaker Design and Build Quality
First things first. The look of the build. To my mind the least important part of the decision, but I may be alone in that. The MusicFly is a rugged piece of tech, a brick, with a fair bit of heft. It is not overly heavy, just sturdy, feels well built. It comes in blue and yellow. I like the blue, a neon Tron-esque look that just screams tech, but the yellow is fine too, more a CAT look, like it’ll take a hammer blow fine. The MusicFly is IPX7 rated. IP, or Ingress Protection rating, has to do with how it deals with the elements. The X here denotes that it will not stand up to grit, grime and dirt, which is a bit of a shame. Not exactly what you want with a device that you might bring to the beach. The second number refers to the water protections, and 7 is pretty much the cream fo the crop. This speaker will work under 1m of water for longer than 30 minutes, a major selling point. I only have a sink, so I can confirm that it’ll work fine after a sink bath.
Audio quality is paramount when we are talking about speakers, and you will be glad to know that the PowerAdd MusicFly comes with 4 distinct speakers, two of which are dedicated sub woofers. They are a touch on the small side but combined they are more than the sum of their parts. The core pair of 5w speakers takes care of your highs, with a peak frequency range of 20,000hz, pretty standard on small form factor speakers like this, but the real selling point in the joint 13w sub woofer speakers, hitting an impressive 20hz at the bass frequencies. It is rare to find any build with this kind of range. They add up to a crisp clean sound, with a 1% distortion percentage, and the Signal tp Noise ratio is a passable 80db. Would like to have seen it hit a full 100, but 80 is fine for most purposes. The onboard battery is rechargeable, and sits at 4000mAh, leading to a 12 hour run time on a full charge, but up to 24 hours if you keep the volume down low.
In the box, you get the MusicFly itself, a charging cable, a welcome card, the manual, the warranty information, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. That headphone jack is a nice touch, another seldom seen add-on for Bluetooth speakers. In the event that you do not want to connect it via Bluetooth, you can simply plug the thing in.
Overall what is here is excellent. There are clear issues with the finished build, namely the average signal to noise ratio, but the rest of the package is very attractive. A fine looking device, which is completely waterproof, a quad speaker set up that manages to maintain quality for the most part and a hefty battery, one that should last all day. There are better speakers on the market, no doubt, but few offer this range of features in this particular price point. You will be very happy with the strength in this one.
Poweradd MusicFly Outdoor Portable Bluetooth Speaker Pricing and Warranty
And to the price. There are hundreds of options on the market right now, at all kinds of price points, but this speaker falls into the low end in terms of price, while still being in the upper mid range in terms of overall quality. You can find it on Amazon.com for as little as $59.99 right now, and it is well worth it at that price.
The warranty is actually more comprehensive than I thought possible from a firm like this. You get a full 30 days after purchase to return the build and get a full refund, though if you wait longer than 15 days the provided return labels will expire and you will have to pay for shipping. Thereafter you have a 24-month limited warranty. I am not a fan of limited warranties in general, I mean, how do you prove that something broke due to normal use? But the length of this one impresses me. The vast majority of firms will cut a warranty short by one year, and some even offer only 6 months, so this extra level of peace of mind is a nice add-on. Poweradd also offers a 24/7 customer support line, which I took the liberty of checking out. The wait times are less than ideal, but they did pick up and were very polite on the line. The final thing to remember is, if you buy from Amazon, you have access to their consumer protection policies, and for the most part they are excellent. I find that when buying online these days it is up to you, as a customer, to do everything in your power to protect yourself.
Overall, a fine price, well worth it there, and a warranty that is far more comprehensive than it has any right to be. I stress this, it is exceedingly rare to find an item from a Chinese seller that has this level of coverage, and that much aftersale support. Poweradd seems to be doing everything in their power, aha, to push into the western market in the right way, and their success over the last seven years proves that they are doing it right.
Poweradd MusicFly Outdoor Portable Bluetooth Speaker Conclusion
So, where do we stand? If you are in the market for a portable speaker and you want the best quality bang for your buck then the PowerAdd MusicFly is one that you need to seriously consider. The core features are impressive, the Bluetooth range is great, the battery will stand up to time as the casing stands up to the elements, and the quad speaker set up can handle even the bassiest of tracks.
The price is a major selling point to me, falling into impulse purchase territory, backed up well with the after sale support and warranty. Did not go into this review feeling all too enthused, but I came out the other end with a high opinion on PowerAdds products, now I need to pick me up a solar-powered battery pack.
Available at Amazon.com
You can currently purchase the Poweradd Bluetooth speaker in a variety of countries via Amazon. The current countries that have product available include:
United States of America:http://amzn.to/2BUoTsK
United Kingdom:http://amzn.to/2l13pD5
Spain:http://amzn.to/2ERcH9g
France:http://amzn.to/2Ds7ass
Japan:http://amzn.to/2DhiUL4
