If you’re ready for a party, Studio19 of London has just the thing for you. A cylindrical multi-directional speaker that pumps out enough bass to get your neighbours fairly worried.

The Solo E500X is a Bluetooth speaker, though it’s also flexible enough to connect to your TV via HDMI and to a music source through an aux cable. One doesn’t quite expect that amount of loudness or bass from a Bluetooth speaker and perhaps it’s the fact that it takes that connectivity to another level that has won the product a couple of awards including an International Hi-Fi Award.

But back to what the Solo E500X looks like. Someone rudely likened it to one of those tall metallic ashtrays you see in public spaces. While that’s a bit unkind, it is roughly that shape but seems to float off the floor because it has a bright light underneath. This speaker has a lot of connectivity slots. You can connect a regular Type-C cable to charge it. You can actually play it while it’s charging, but the slots are all towards the top and look very awkward because the cable dangles. It should really have been close to the bottom of the speaker so you could hide wires easily.

Pairing this speaker is easy and can be a matter of one tap. And so is switching modes from TV to music and back as that too has a dedicated button. There’s also a button on the top to change the sound profile from ‘gaming’ to ‘movies’ to regular. Adding to that, there are equaliser sliders on top as well, and you have a lot of ways to fiddle with how your favourite music will sound. Other than volume, the other three sliders control bass, treble and mids. And yes, they do make a difference.

But through all of it, you’ll still find the bass quite heavy and preponderant and overwhelming. I like a bit of bass, even if it’s unrealistic, but on the E500X, it definitely goes overboard. Still, we Indians like a lot of boom and so there’s no telling how popular this speaker could be.

It’s good for a party in a small apartment and portable enough so that you can pick it up and take it to another room, but not light enough to take on a trip where you have to carry it a lot. It’s also not waterproof, so best not to position it where it can get splashed — such as near a pool or on the beach or in the midst of drink-spilling party-goers.

The Solo E500X is good for thumping sound and dance music, but if you want to lose yourself in classical music or songs with a lot of vocals, the bass may be too much. It’s impressive, all the same, but tough to recommend at the price.

Price: ₹42,500

Pros: Big sound, plenty of boom for bass lovers, multi-directional, has an equaliser system and several modes

Cons: Expensive for what it offers, no Wi-Fi connectivity, no app, very heavy bass, overwhelming mids and highs, sound quality not refined enough for audiophiles, some design inconveniences

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