LSTN Apollo Ebony Wood Dual-Driver Portable Bluetooth Speaker with Built-in Microphone

First off this thing is gorgeous. Paired in a snap and sounds great for being such a small package. The only issue I have right now is that when paired to my iPhone the lowest allowable volume is still too loud when sitting on my office desk for background music. It's either muted or overpowering. Could be a deal breaker for my use but am waiting to here back from support to see if it's a simple fix. I guessing it is and if it proves to be I will upgrade to 5 stars.Day 2: found another issue. to work around the volume control issue above I opted to use the aux cable instead of Bluetooth. volume control works as it should but, if the cable is not plugged into a device such as a phone while still plugged into the LSTN speaker the speaker makes a horrible buzzing sound. so, you cant just hook up your phone or ipod as needed without also disconnecting the cable from the speaker each time. I guess another option would be to turn the unit off each time but for me that don't really make sense as I am going to and from my desk all day. the plan at least was to leave the unit on and plugged into the charger and ready to go when needed. down graded to 2 stars now :(

Doesn't sound bad, would be phenomenal in an office or other low key situation. Sexy little unit.

Don't know what the hate (one star) is about, but I have used this for over a year and works just fine.It looks amazing, sound pretty good and goes well with my furniture.

The sound is average the price is high -

Even though it was an accidental purchase (one click buy on mobile not fun) it's a great speaker base was great could still hear lyrics at high volume. Packaging was great also. If I had 300$ to blow on a speaker I would definitely consider this one.

Sound quality was not as I expected. Especially for the price. Returned it.

I purchased a LSTN Apollo bluetooth speaker after considering the Sony x33, UE Boom, JBL Charge 3, and the Bose Soundlink Mini (all owned by friends, except the Charge 3, which I have only demoed in store). I'll get into comparisons below.First on the LSTN: it is a bass heavy sound, particularly indoors. When I say bass heavy I do not mean it's going to rattle your teeth - keep in mind this is still a battery powered speaker. The sound is not quite balanced. The lows are amplified, even at low listening levels. This is great, however, for listening outdoor – where I typically use this speaker. I took this to a recent event and found the sound very pleasing outside. It produces the most bass from a comparable sized speaker that I have heard. At louder levels, the bass amplification minimizes and the speaker gets closer to balance. I did not hear any distortion in the sound, even at max volume, but like I said the speaker characteristics change depending on the sound level. From an all-out loudness standpoint, the Bose and JBL got louder, but not by that much. Bass levels at max volume were comparable from the Bose, JBL and LSTN, with the JBL edging the LSTN out for the most, max-volume, bass. Still, the bass was tighter and more accurate with the LSTN. All-in-all, I preferred the LSTN for listening outdoors. I still like the Sony speakers for low-mid level indoor listening. They have a great balance and smoothness to the mid and upper range sounds. The Bose is next for indoor listening on my list. I took a half star from the rating for not the most pleasing sound in all aspects.The material and construction on the LSTN are superb – second to none. It is a head turner. The only caveat is the USB plug – the plug is recessed a bit and some of my standard micro-USB cables do not fit into the slot. The provided micro-USB cable works great and works for other devices, but still, this could have been an easy fix for the company to make the slot somewhat wider. I took a half star off the rating for this.I got about 6 to 6.5 hours of play time at mid-volume (average). It took about 4 hours to charge the device full. I also was able to plug an external power bank into the speaker and run it after the internal battery died. This feature can effectively make this an unlimited play time if you have enough external battery power to keep it running.I also found the following case fits the LSTN Apollo well:  for Amazon Tap Portable Bluetooth Speaker hard Shockproof Carrying Storage Travel Case Bag by co2CREA I am very happy with the LSTN Apollo for my purpose (outdoors listening) but would recommend different speakers based upon each individual's use/expectation. Here are some of my thoughts on the other speakers:The Sony x33 is a great low-mid level speaker but distort easily with volume. The battery also is notorious for depleting quickly at higher volume.The Bose Soundlini Mini is a great all around champ. It sounds balanced with some bass amplification at all levels and never distorts. Although it does not produce my favorite sound in any circumstance, it is close almost in all circumstances. It is also the smallest device on the list. Great balance of features.The JBL Charge 3 is unique in that it is the only waterproof speaker on my list. If I had a pool at home, this would be a no brainer champ – But I don’t. I do not find the slight bass at max volume enough of a benefit to offset the lack of speaker balance at most volumes. The bass tends to be a bit boomy also. It is also a larger speaker – not great for travel.

The sound quality on this speaker is phenomenal! I had my speaker always on and connected through bluetooth to my echo dot and it worked great.BUT after 6 months it would not hold a charge any longer. Even when plugged in, it would start emmitting a low battery signal/tone. I reached out to LSTN and they replaced the speaker for me. 6 months later, the same issue occurred with my new speaker. I have reached out several times to LSTN again and they will not respond. I also saw they stopped selling this model. I assume it has something to do with the battery malfunction, but I am very disappointed that they will not even return an email or attempt to replace this with a newer model if this is a common issue.