What is a portable speaker

Compact portable devices capable of playing music are not an invention of today. As soon as something appeared that could play sound, a person immediately wanted to be able to take this device with him in order to be able to enjoy music anywhere.

The ancestors of modern portable audio systems can easily include a barrel organ, various music boxes, and gramophones.

But then technological progress began to develop so rapidly that we stopped noticing how vinyl records were replaced by radios, those were replaced by radios, then CD players appeared, and they were no longer visible on store shelves.

The era of portable music playback devices has arrived. These devices are completely different from their predecessors. Yes, they can play music from some media, but that's not the point. They must voice what is being played on a smartphone or mp3 player.

It's clear. Now even schoolchildren have smartphones. And their memory, even among the cheapest representatives, can accommodate more than one CD. So there is a need for systems that can connect to a smartphone and loudly voice its playlist with good quality.

Characteristics

What is a portable speaker? Essentially, this is a speaker that is housed in a separate housing.The main function of such a speaker is to receive and voice an audio signal coming from a smartphone or player. The signal is transmitted via Bluetooth or a wired connection. Usually, this functionality is quite enough.

Budget speakers are equipped with only one speaker, and therefore operate in mono mode. More advanced and expensive ones already have several speakers, which allows them to operate in stereo mode. You can find devices that consist of a pair of speakers; they can be placed in different directions, which enhances the stereo effect.

When choosing a column for yourself, you need to focus on the following indicators:

Output power. The sound volume of your system depends on this parameter. However, the dependence is not direct; no less important is the number of speakers, their size, and frequency. This is why two speakers that have the same power can sound at different volumes.

To make it easier to understand, look at the characteristics:

1.5-2 W – these speakers are not far from a smartphone in volume, but they are light and compact.

15-20 W - in this model the sound is like a regular TV or a simple computer speaker system.

A power greater than 40 W is the volume of a car speaker system.

But focusing on power, know that it affects the cost of the device, its dimensions and, accordingly, weight. And the battery life of powerful speakers is not long. Although they may not work completely autonomously. Often the “most powerful” ones operate only from the mains.

Nutrition

The most common speakers are those that run on batteries. They make it possible to refuse an outlet, but not all models can do without power for a long time.

When choosing a battery system, pay attention to how long it can go without charging. This duration depends on the operating mode; as a rule, the technical instructions indicate the average speaker volume and disabled additional functions.

Minimum and maximum frequency values speak about how well and completely the system can reproduce sounds audible to the human ear. A person distinguishes sounds with a frequency from 16 to 20,000 hertz. The closer the lower indicator is to the minimum value, and the upper one to the maximum, the better the sound quality of the system. If the lower value is more than 50-60 hertz, then the system will not be able to reproduce bass efficiently. They will simply get lost, since they sound at a frequency of 40 hertz.

Connection methods

As a rule, most speakers have the ability to connect to the main device without resorting to wires, via Bluetooth or NFC. There are models that can connect to the Internet via WiFi and controlled using a special program on a smartphone.

If you purchase a speaker with a Bluetooth connection, be sure to look at what version of the protocol the device supports. The higher the supported version, the faster the connection will be, and the energy consumption will be less. Low versions of the protocol provide ample speed for music in audio CD format to pass freely to the speaker. But here you need to understand that maximum quality will be only in ideal conditions, with a short distance and complete absence of interference. Therefore, it is better to have some reserve.

If you are considering a speaker with an NFC connection, then you need to keep in mind that this connection, although it does not require wires, can only work over short distances. You will always need to keep your smartphone close to the speaker. And this data transfer protocol is not supported by all smartphone models.

Naturally, in addition to wireless connection options, you can also use classic ones. You will need a cable with a 3.5 mm jack connector. And the speaker must have an AUX port for such a connection.

Purpose of columns

Portable speaker systems are designed to work with wearable portable devices, such as players, mobile phones, laptops, tablets. The need for such systems arises in cases where the device’s capabilities are not enough to reproduce music in high quality.

The speaker system can improve the performance of the main device, but at the same time leaves it mobile. The speaker easily fits in a small bag and runs on batteries. And most importantly, it has much more extensive capabilities for playing music or movies.