EFTM first review: Logitech UE Air Speaker

When the Logitech UE Air speaker was announced last month we thought it looked bloody nice, but was a bit pricey. Now, we’ve got our hands on the first unit in Australia to put it through its paces.

Out of the box the size of the UE Air Speaker will surprise you – in a good way. It’s over 50cm wide and 16-17cm tall and it cannot be missed.

The fit and finish of the whole unit is impressive – the back is a matte black finish, with polished black port holes at each end. On top are three chrome circular controls while the front is a curved fabric wrap from end to end.

On top the controls are two buttons and a dial, one button for mute, one for power, and a central dial for volume control.

Power and Mute lights appear alongside the buttons when active, with another power button on the front of the unit on the pop out iPod dock.

As an iPod/iPhone dock it’s simple to use and offers impressive sound. The app that installs when you first plug it into the speaker allows Treble and Bass control from the screen of your device.

When connected you are prompted to set-up the WiFi on the Air Speaker to allow the unit to show its real charm by activating AirPlay from your iOS device.

As with any AirPlay device once you are in the same WiFi network as the speaker you have the ability to push any audio content from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to the Air Speaker with the press of a button.

The sound quality is impressive – at all volumes you get a deep and rich sound that will blow you away. While the physical speaker quality itself may not rival a Bose or Sonos, the simplicity of use and integration with Apple’s AirPlay standard makes the UE AirSpeaker a top choice if you’re after a wireless speaker solution.

At $499 this is an expensive unit, however once you see the build and hear the sound quality you’ll agree it’s money well spent. That said, the prices will undoubtedly be lower at the retail level, and you should always ask for a better price!

Price: $499
Web: Logitech