Tivoli Bluetooth speaker looks as good as it sounds [Review]

Andiamo means “Let’s go” in Italian, and Tivoli Audio’s Andiamo is a very stylish speaker to take on the go. It has a cylindrical design wrapped in a leather carrying strap, and provides satisfactory sound.

Lend us an ear for a review of this Bluetooth speaker designed for listening wherever.

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Tivoli Audio Andiamo review

Tivoli Audio puts a great deal of effort into how its products look, and it shows with the Andiamo.

It’s not that this speaker is astonishingly beautiful — it just looks right. The proportions are correct, as if it has exactly what it needs and nothing else. And the leather is a luxurious addition.

The aluminum casing is 5.3 inches in diameter and 2.2 in. high (135 mm and 55 mm, respectively). The Andiamo is 1.6 pounds (0.72 Kg). That makes it reasonably portable, so there’s no problem taking it places where you want to use it. However, it’s not so small you’re going to leave it in a backpack just in case you might want it.

The Italian leather hand strap adds to the portability. It’s 4 inches long, which is long enough for a man’s hand to fit in it. The leather wraps around the entire exterior of the Andiamo, adding slightly to the diameter, and the strap is secured to the aluminum casing with a large rivet stamped with Tivoli Audio’s initials.

The controls for this Bluetooth speaker are embossed into the leather. In an unfortunate triumph of appearance over usefulness, the buttons aren’t always easy to see. There are just four buttons: power, Bluetooth pairing, volume up and volume down.

Tivoli Audio included a 3.5mm jack so this speaker can get audio from a non-wireless source. This sits next to a small power port, partially underneath the strap where they aren‘t overly obvious.

There’s a 2600mAh Lithium-ion rechargeable battery inside this speaker, able to provide up to 20 hours of use.

Tivoli Audio Andiamo performance

At the heart of the Andiamo is a 2.5-inch 20W full-range driver and a 3-in. passive driver. It offers 24-bit DSP equalization.

In mobile speakers, there’s an inescapable tradeoff between size and audio quality. Companies can work hard to overcome this, but it’s not easy to get a top-notch speaker into something easily portable.

The Tivoli Audio Andiamo is no exception. It offers very good sound, but there’s not enough bass to be called great.

In a head-to-head comparison, the Urbanears Rålis offered better audio quality. Of course, that rival model is almost 4X as heavy and at least 3X as large.

Or consider the Braven BRV-105. The Andiamo sounds noticeably better, but it’s also quite a bit larger than that ultra-portable speaker.

“Radioactive” from Imagine Dragons is a good test for bass. This drum-heavy song is pointless on the BRV-105, sounds fine on the Andiamo, and is outstanding on the Rålis.

All that said, if your musical taste doesn’t run to thundering bass you might not care. J. S. Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze” sounds every bit as good on Tivoli Audio’s offering as it does on the Urbanears model, for example. The same goes for audio books and podcasts.

Tests at various volume levels had the same result. This isn’t the speaker to take to a crazy frat party, but audio quality is consistent when playing quietly or fairly loudly.

Tivoli Audio Andiamo final thoughts

The Andiamo is a reasonable compromise between portability and audio quality. It’s a bit weak on bass, but otherwise provides hours of pleasant listening.

And it looks great the whole time.

Pricing

Tivoli Audio’s price for the Andiamo is $199, though its currently on sale for $179.

Buy from: Amazon

Comparable products

As mentioned in the review, the Urbanears Rålis has superior audio quality but is much less portable. It’s also priced at $199, but isn’t anywhere near as pretty.

The rugged and very portable Braven BRV-105 offers adequate audio for $49.99.

Tivoli Audio provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out more stuff we recommend.