TIBO Sphere 2 | Portable Wi-Fi & Bluetooth Speaker | Multi Room Battery Powered Hi-Fi Speaker with Internet Radio for Home or Outdoor Use | Minimum 8 Hours Playback Time | Black

Im not audiophile and for me speaker is great. Wifi, BT, Spotyfy connect work without any issue.

The Tibo Sphere 2 is the baby in Tibo's “Sphere” range of portable Wi-Fi & Bluetooth speakers – but it packs quite a punch for it's size and it looks good and is reassuringly heavy too. The designers have crammed a lot of features into a relatively small package with connectivity being very good, featuring WiFi and a 3.5mm audio jack socket as well as the wireless Bluetooth. The Bluetooth and Line-in work perfectly but the WiFi is a bit more temperamental, loosing it's router connection more than expected, and it's usefulness to you will depend to a large extent on which – if any - of the included services you subscribe to; radio is free but most music streaming services aren't. To use the WiFi features you will need to use the Tibo app for initial setup and for then for connecting to the various online services when connected – but there are also five memory buttons on the player itself for storing your favourite Internet radio stations. The associated app is really the biggest disappointment with the Tibo system as it is not all that intuitive to use and is very under-featured (I use the iOS version). With the player's choice of inputs, and the various online services, all having very different audio properties the need for a graphic equaliser function is essential – but one is not included in the app. Then there is the matter of setting the player's five memory buttons – that will get you scratching your head a bit! The radio buttons can only be set from within the TuneIn Radio section of the app – you can't just press and hold a button on the player itself. When you have found your station(s) on TuneIn and have it/them displayed in a list format (rather than full-screen) you will see a small speaker icon to the right hand side of the station name – touch it and you will then see the preset button list; just choose a number and store that station, then pressing the associated button on the speaker gives access to that station in the future.The Tibo Sphere 2 is certainly not a bad speaker, with some audio sources actually sounding pretty good, although the bass may be too well emphasised for some listeners, but generally the overall default sound quality needs a bit of tweaking to get the best from the speaker – and currently that is not possible using the app. The built-in battery is charged via a mains cable and a suitable power lead is supplied – the speaker can also be mains-powered when the battery is flat or charging. The Tibo Sphere 2 speaker is a bit of a mixed bag with many good features and a functional design being offset by a lack of basic usability – so what could easily have been a five star speaker just scrapes four stars at it's current price level.

I very much like the look and feel of this device. Designed and engineered in Britain, it's elegant and beautifully proportioned, and could be mistaken for something three times the cost if it had a B&O or BOSE badge on the front. The white version especially is glorious, reminding me strongly of the seminal designs of the great Dieter Rams. The acoustics on the other hand, need a bit of work.The main issue for me is the sound profile. On the plus side, the Sphere 2 is obviously sonically capable, with a wide frequency range. It can go from deep rumbling lows right up to frequencies high enough that for most adults only their pets could hear. And on the minus, the balance of these frequencies just isn't very comfortable at present. The overall impression is of a slightly boomy and at times intrusive bass, scooped upper mids and an upper treble range that's just way too shrill, to the point of being painful. An over-assertive treble can be headache inducing (a reason why some cheap headphones are tiring to listen to after a while) and the Sphere 2 has a definite ability to make me wince at times. All this could I'm sure be rectified with a firmware update, and I really hope that Tibo take steps to put it right because this spoils what would otherwise be a five star device! In addition to that, I humbly suggest they add a user adjustable graphic equaliser to the app, because most surprisingly there is none! There's just no tone control at all.While we're talking about the app, it's okay, but not really the best in the world. The GUI could be a little more attractive and intuitive but it does work, apart from an annoying tendency of mine to require re-registering of my Sphere 2 now and again for no apparent reason. The app currently has a rather low rating of 2.9 out of 5 on Play Store, but Tibo do appear to be very responsive to feedback, and keen to improve on what they're doing (always an encouraging sign)All the other aspects of the Sphere 2 are excellent. We're given a great range of input options to suit all likely situations, five direct access buttons on the front, and the option of mains operation or portable, using the internal rechargeable battery. Add that to the high quality of construction and great design, this has all the makings of a really great device. Once Tibo have issued a firmware update and addressed the EQ flaws I won't hesitate to return here and update my review. At the price being asked, and once the frequency balance is tamed, it will be a real bargain. Over to you then Tibo.