Forget full-blown home audio setups. Most companies these days seem to be going down the portable audio route. Be it for the Bose SoundLink Mini or Jawbone Jambox Mini, there seem to be more and more takers for a wireless sound system with every passing day.

JBL, which has already launched a bunch of wireless wireless options, such as the JBL Pulse and the JBL Flip2, had added one more to its lineup. The new JBL Voyager looks fairly futuristic, with a white flying-saucer shaped body. The Voyager seems ideal for those who never want to have to get into the tiny details of an audio system. The device virtually has no complicated controls. There’s only a clickwheel of sorts right at the front, which houses the power button, a Bluetooth control so you can pair up your smartphone or tablet to the speakers, the volume rocker and a button to make or end calls that you might receive on your smart device while it’s connected to the JBL Voyager.

The Voyager can be used facing-up or as a uni-directional speaker while it’s hoisted up on its tiny legs. The most innovative part about the Voyager is that the primary speaker itself can be detached from the main body. When you are connected via Bluetooth, like we were, you can detach the speaker and move it around the house while still streaming music through it. The in-built battery powers the speaker while you’ve detached it from the main dock, which houses the subwoofer. Consequently, if you’re looking for good bass, you have to have the speaker docked in.

The company says that the dual drivers and subwoofer together are supposed to be able to deliver the acoustics of a full-range JBL home audio system. We would say it definitely comes close. As a single speaker set-up, the sound quality on the JBL Voyager was pretty impressive and on par with most competitors in the market. While low on charge or while undocked, one could tell the audio quality suffered, but at all other times it was more than satisfactory. The volume levels are fairly reasonable and are enough to fill up a decently-sized room with music.

We played some new Billboard hits including Dark Horse by Katy Perry, Happy by Pharell Williams, Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo and Fancy by Iggy Azalea and we were more than satisfied with the acoustics.

If we were to compare it with the likes of the 2013’s Bose SoundLink Mini, the former matches up to the SoundLink Mini with respect to volume levels as well as overall sound quality. For it’s price, the JBL Voyager isn’t a bad speaker to own, especially considering how nifty the design is. You could just leave it by your side-table or carry it with you to the car on your way to work and it would perform both those roles nicely.

We listened to the JBL Voyager for about three hours on end and it still hadn’t run out of charge. The company claims it can play music for up to 5 hours at a stretch.

When we finally plugged the power in, we could tell the quality of audio instantly improved. You also have the option to charge your smartphone or tablet through the Voyager, which sweetly includes a USB cable for charging. The slot lies right next to the Voyager’s power cable and the 3.5mm jack with which you can connect your device to stream music from.

₹19,990

Love – Compact, futuristic design, decent audio quality

Hate – Bass suffers when speaker is detached

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