Review: Braven 650

Wireless Bluetooth speakers are available from many different manufacturers and I decided to go with the Braven 650. Here are my thoughts on the device.

Build and Design 

The Braven lineup of wireless speakers carry an industrial look, and the Braven 650 is no exception. The device looks very Apple because of the aluminum finish of the chassis that is made from aircraft grade aluminum. The chassis seamlessly wraps around the internals and capped off with black plastic to the sides.

Typically, wireless Bluetooth speakers with the same form factor favor controls at the top side of the device. That is not the case for Braven products. All we have at the top is the chromed Braven label. It can be debated that it's more difficult to control the Braven since it's less straight forward to reach for the sides to control the device.

The right side is device's main control panel. Here we find the power toggle, an LED indicator, a micro USB charging port, a 3.5mm audio input port, multi-function volume controls, and the multi-function phone button. The multi-function volume controls can be used to adjust the volume and if you're connected via Bluetooth, press and hold the volume buttons to go back and forth a playlist. A nice little behavior of the volume buttons is that the speaker emits a beep once the volume is maxed out...so that we can know when to stop pressing.

The multi-function phone button is used to answer calls while the Braven 650 is paired with a cellphone via Bluetooth. And the Braven 650 has a mic built in so we can use it as a speaker phone. The phone button also triggers the pairing process to a Bluetooth device when pairing for the first time; press and hold the button until beeping sounds are heard which signifies that the Braven 650 is searchable.

The left side has a battery button, an LED indicator for the battery, an 3.5mm audio output jack, and a USB charging port. The battery indicator lights up upon pressing the battery button, and the color emitted by the LED signifies the level of charge left on the Braven 650. The built in 2000mAh rechargeable battery will last 20 hours of audio streaming goodness. And I like the extra long battery life because won't have to charge the Braven 650 frequently.

Any contemporary cellphone or smartphone will probably come with a USB charging cable that can be connected to the Braven 650's USB port to get charged. Yes, the Braven 650 can charge a cellphone...but not tablets.

A great feature that the Braven 650 has is the ability to daisy chain to other speakers, just hookup the another speaker to the audio output port. And if you have plenty of Bravens, you can hook them all up to create a long chain of speakers. Daisy chaining's real benefit is the option to use more speakers to amplify the sound or just surrounding yourself with sound from all the connected speakers.

bottom

front

At the bottom we have rubber stoppers and some specifications printed on. The front and back of the device look identical with the tiny holes that make up the speaker grille. What differentiates the front and the back is the Braven 650 label at the bottom right corner of the front. The size is not small enough for me to pocket, but not so big or heavy to weigh down a bag. The package includes some items for the device like a travel pouch, a 3.5mm cable, a micro USB charging cable, a wall charger, and different socket adapters.

Sound Quality

When I dropped by Digital Hub store (now Beyond the Box) at a local mall called Robinson's Galleria, I basically didn't know which wireless speaker I was gonna buy. I was assisted by a helpful and willing store clerk and let me sound test the options that they have in store. Out of the all wireless Bluetooth speaker brands that they had, I was immediately drawn to the sound quality of the Braven speakers.

The sound profile of the 6 watt Bravens had the most accuracy and balance out of the available options for a wireless Bluetooth speaker. The vocals were crisp and clear, the bass was present and didn't muffle up the treble, and the midrange is as clear as the treble. While listening to tracks with great vocals, I felt like I was in the studio with the artist because the vocals are reproduced in a very clean and crisp manner. The bass is also significant despite its size, the Braven 650 managed to reproduce low humming bass and high thumping bass sounds...it had a harder time reproducing the low bass frequencies, but it is there!

The Braven 650 also has APTX audio support for those devices that have it. It will supposedly yield better sound for compatible devices, but I haven't tried it out since Apple devices do not support the APTX standard.

As a speaker phone, the voice of the caller is clear and crisp and the mic worked well. Braven implements noise canceling for the phone calls, and that seems to work really well.

Conlusion

So why did I pick the Braven 650?

1. It sounds great.
2. It has a 20hr battery life.
3. Can recharge cellphones...or any device that requires 1 amp to charge.
4. Looks great.
5. Has a charger.

Another totally different reason was that me and my wife wanted to watch some TV shows and movies together, but she was not comfortable watching in the living room because of her pregnancy. I loaded the iPad with videos and tried watching with headphones, but the short cable length was limiting. So I got the Braven 650 and beamed the sound from my iPad to make it louder and watched in the comfort of our bed.

I bought mine ways back at roughly around Php8,500, but I think I saw these on sale in Astro Vision and can be purchased for less in other online sellers. In the US, the Braven 650 retails for $170 which isn't so far off from the Php price. There is a less expensive and more colorful Braven 570 that has the same sound profile and functions as the Braven 650 but it has a shorter battery life and does not support APTX. The Braven 570 has an SRP of $120. And if you need more information about the product, you can visit the Braven 650 page here.