It may just look like a regular iPod dock, but it feels like so much more! Logitech’s Rechargeable Speaker S715i is a speaker dock for your iPhone or iPod. It’s portable, easy-to-use, attractive, and it sounds darned good! Unplug it from the wall and blast your tunes wherever, because it has a built-in rechargeable battery capable of lasting 10 hours.

What’s in the Box

-Speaker
-Universal Power Supply
-Travel Case
-IR Remote Control
-User Documentation

Design

The Logitech S715i appears larger in the pictures. It’s actually quite compact, it’s a bit taller than an iPhone, 3.7” thick, and 19” wide. It weighs just 3.5 lbs. The S715i is an all around smooth device with some really nice curves, which is not a surprise from Logitech. It has a very high-tech look to it. The black mesh grill is translucent enough to see the drivers and tweeters. The speaker’s stand folds up into the dock, which helps it keep a thin form ideal for travel. When folding the stand behind the speaker it needs to click into place. The dock has 30-pin connector that pivots so it doesn’t require trays or adapters to accommodate iPhones and iPods. On the back of the device is a rubber cover over the auxiliary and power adapter ports. On the face of the speaker is a battery status LED and just three buttons: power, volume up, and volume down. All other controls can be accessed from the music device. The included remote has buttons for volume, track, power, play/pause, and even repeat and shuffle. The included carrying case doesn’t offer much padding or cushion, but it does have a slot to separate the AC adapter from the speaker. There is a velcro seal.

Features

The S715i Speaker Dock can play music from pretty much any device using its 3.5 mm auxiliary input. It will support all iPhone and iPod models (4th Gen iPods and newer) without the need for a tray or adapter in its trayless dock. The speaker sports two 3″ laser-tuned drivers, two .5″ tweeters, and four 2″ passive radiators. The battery is capable of lasting a whopping eight hours. The wireless remote is capable of turning your speakers on and off, adjusting volume, pausing music, shuffling, skipping, and repeating songs from up to 30 feet way. While the Speaker Dock is plugged in to a wall outlet, it will charge your iPhone or iPod. The power adapter is dual voltage, so S715i is great for traveling.

Performance

The speaker on the S715i is impressive from the first second you turn it on. The sound quality is rich and full. The bass is deep, the highs are crisp, and the mids are full and warm. On more than one occasion, I had to confirm I was not listening to my bookshelf speakers because I couldn’t believe the quality. The audio disperses very well throughout a room. When the S715i is unplugged from the AC adapter the volume gets lower and the bass is a little less present. Even with this slightly degraded experience, the speaker still excels. When the speaker dock is receiving power from the AC Adapter, it will charge your iPhone and iPod with the 30 pin dock connector. When it’s unplugged it stops charging. The speaker can get loud enough to provide ample tunes indoors to a small or medium sized party. For a party outside, you’d probably want to plug it in as it will get about 15% louder.

The little remote works very well. I was capable of using it 15 feet back with no problems. It’s nice that it includes shuffle and repeat buttons. It’s great that the dock doesn’t require iPod/iPhone adapters, but unfortunately it wouldn’t fit iPhone with a bumper case. It also will not be able to fit an iPad. The battery seems to last forever. It may not be able to last 10 hours on full volume, but it will get close.

Conclusion

It’s best to think of Logitech’s S715i Rechargeable Speaker Dock as a full sized speaker in a portable sized body. It really does offer full and rich high quality audio. It’s amazing being able to plop it down anywhere in or out of the house without devoting it a lot of space or finding a power outlet. The sound quality is much better than iLuv and iHome speakers. The S715i retails for $149.99, but we have seen it on Amazon for as low as $97.79. Even at $150, we’d say the S715i is a great buy, because after all it’s a high fidelity speaker that’s portable, easy to use, has a long-lasting battery, big sound, good looking form, remote, carrying case, and a 2 year warranty.

The Good: Little Device/Big Power, Superior Audio, Outstanding Battery, Remote and Carrying Case Included, Charges iOS devices, Smooth Form
The Bad: No Aux Cable Included, Carrying Case Is Not Padded, Rubber Cover over Aux and Power Plugs is Tricky to Pull Out

Chord Electronics is at it again with making something unique and yet hard to describe all at the same time. Not another update to the Chordette Gem but rather a new breed of ‘Universal Control Center’ -The Indigo. Just because it looks like an iPod dock – that doesn’t mean it actually is one. It is meant to be a control center for both digital and analog sources, wired or wireless.Included with the Indigo is a fully modded iPod Classic which the Indigo will turn into a high end music source. “Using the Chord supplied modified iPod Classic (option) a true digital output can be obtained to feed directly into our DAC circuitry.” Another cool feature is the ability to stream any audio from any A2DP enabled device.  Some of the digital inputs include SPDIF, AES, optical, USB, iPod and Bluetooth audio. The Indigo promises to turn that measley iPod Classic into a powerhouse of sound after being infused with every possible audio input passing through this system.  The price is bound to blow you away as well at £8000.