Braven’s new Bluetooth speakers are like feature packed JamBoxes, only with a slightly more confusing product lineup. They are all marked by a great 12-20-hour battery life, can also be used to charge your USB-powered gadgets and — here’s the neat part — can be daisy-chained together using their 3.5mm audio-in and audio-out jacks.
There are three speakers in the range. The baby 600 ($150) is made from aluminum and runs for up to 14 hours. The next up is the 625 ($180) which is has a “rugged, shock-absorbing exterior,” a 16-hour battery life and comes with a USB flashlight and a waterproof bag. This is the one you will take camping with you.
Top of the range is the $200 650, which is aluminum, has a 20-hour battery life and supports aptX lossless streaming, should your sound device also support it. And all three speakers can double as hands-free speakerphones thanks to their built-in mics.
In the end, it’ll all come down to how good these sound. The features are certainly right, letting you take one box to use as backup battery, speaker and even flashlight. But if they don’t sound at least as good as the $200 JamBox, then why bother buying one? Hopefully we’ll get a review unit to test out alongside the current market champ.
The speakers will begin shipping June 1st.
[Thanks, Adrienne!]
